Readings for Thursday 20 March 2014
Jer 17:5-10. Ps 1:1-4, 6, R/ Ps 39:5. Lk 16:19-31. www.catholicbishops.ie/readings.
The Gospel story of the poor man Lazarus is about the choice that each one has to make of life or death. It is a responsible choice because we have Moses and the prophets, and Jesus himself, to show us the alternatives.
Pope Francis on Twitter
“Christian love is loving without counting the cost. This is the lesson of the Good Samaritan; this is the lesson of Jesus.”
Fasting, prayer and alms
Troscadh, urnaí agus déirc,
Aithrí ghéar is dóchas maith,
Sin é an teagasc a thug Mac Dé
Dá eaglais féin ar an bhfómhar tais.
Fasting, prayer and alms,
sharp repentance and good hope,
that is the teaching of the Son of God
to his own Church against the wet harvest.
Abhráin Diadha Chúige Chonnacht
Hyde, D.
Excerpt from Evangelii Gaudium The Joy of the Gospel
“There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter. I realize of course that joy is not expressed the same way at all times in life, especially at moments of great difficulty. Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved. I understand the grief of people who have to endure great suffering, yet slowly but surely we all have to let the joy of faith slowly revive as a quiet yet firm trust, even amid the greatest distress: “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is… But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness… It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam 3:17, 21-23, 26). – Evangelii Gaudium 6
Video: Bishop Brendan Leahy on the Creed
Bishop Brendan Leahy introduces the section of the Creed on God the Holy Spirit. For more on this series please see www.catholicbishops.ie/creed
Music
Click here to listen to Jesus, be the Centre by Michael Frye.
Meet Enestina, the girl on this year’s Trócaire Box. Click here for her story and please give what you can to Trócaire this Lent.
Daily Lenten Prayers
(i) We pray for young people and children;
may they be cherished and loved by their families
and the society in which they live.
(ii) We pray for one another;
may we respond to God’s invitation to be part of his kingdom,
that our lives may be shaped by God’s word and nourished
by our gathering around the table of the Lord.
Resources on the Vatican website for Lent 2014
The Vatican is collating all the resources for Lent 2014 on a special link on the home page of www.vatican.va. It includes the catechesis, addresses and homilies of the Holy Father, information on liturgical events and video and other multimedia content. Click here to access it.
The Meaning of Lent
The English word ‘Lent’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Lencten, meaning ‘Spring’. In other languages the word comes from the Latin, Quadragesima – a period of 40 days. In the Christian tradition the forty days is understood to refer to a time of intense prayer and preparation; we remember the biblical stories of Noah and the flood of 40 days, the forty years the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness and Christ’s forty day fast in the desert in preparation for his earthly ministry.
