Readings for Saturday 12 April 2014
Ez 37:21-28. Ps Jer 31:10-13, r/ v 10. jn 11:45-56. www.catholicbishops.ie/readings
In order to gather together scattered humanity, God called Abraham, a wandering Aramean shepherd, to be the father of a multitude of nations. The people descended from him would be entrusted the promise that one day God would gather all his children into the unity of the Church.
Pope Francis on Twitter
“Jesus teaches us to not be ashamed of touching human misery, of touching his flesh in our brothers and sisters who suffer. (EG 270).”
Follow Pope Francis @Pontifex
Excerpt from Evangelii Gaudium The Joy of the Gospel
“Keeping our missionary fervour alive calls for firm trust in the Holy Spirit, for it is he who “helps us in our weakness” (Rom 8:26). But this generous trust has to be nourished, and so we need to invoke the Spirit constantly. He can heal whatever causes us to flag in the missionary endeavour. It is true that this trust in the unseen can cause us to feel disoriented: it is like being plunged into the deep and not knowing what we will find. I myself have frequently experienced this. Yet there is no greater freedom than that of allowing oneself to be guided by the Holy Spirit, renouncing the attempt to plan and control everything to the last detail, and instead letting him enlighten, guide and direct us, leading us wherever he wills. The Holy Spirit knows well what is needed in every time and place. This is what it means to be mysteriously fruitful!” – Evangelii Gaudium 280
Veritas – Sacred Space for Lent 2014
A trusted daily Lenten prayer resource, the eighth annual Sacred Space for Lent 2014 is drawn from the wildly popular Jesuit website sacredspace.ie and the bestselling series of Sacred Space books. It is the engaging, life-filled companion Christians desire for their Lenten journey. For more information see www.veritas.ie.
Stations of the Cross for Our Times
The Third Station:Jesus Falls for the First Time
We Remember the Cross of Jesus:
Here Jesus shows us that being heroic does not mean staying
on one’s feet at all costs. Being
heroic means getting up again after
falling and starting off on the road
chosen. Human beings will never
resign themselves to stay flat on the
ground. Like Jesus, they will get up
again, pick up their crosses and keep
on searching for a promised land of
total liberation.
We Name the Crosses of Today:
Look at Jesus fall under his cross. He might have
fallen into the gutter or be slouched into a doorway on skid
row. He doesn’t look much like God there, but he didn’t look
like God when he fell into the dirt on the way to Calvary
either. The crowds look on with disdain at this man whom
they see as a sinner, who has been condemned to death by
the authorities.
Like the crowd, we often have only condemnation and
rejection for those we see as sinners. We judge them
without knowing about their trials, scourging and crowning
with thorns. Do we even suspect the part we might have
played in knocking them down? What do we do to help
them?
We Pray:
Jesus, it’s easy to see your image in saints. Help us to see
you in the sinners too. You had a place in your heart for the
divorced Samaritan woman, Zacchaeus, the good thief, and
for those who crucified you. Give us this same
compassionate heart.
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.
