Readings for Thursday 10 April 2014
Gn 17:3-9. Ps 104:4-9, R/ v 8. Jn 8:51-59. www.catholicbishops.ie/readings
The God of Abraham and Jesus is beyond and outside time. He is before the Father now to remember for us the past goodness of God so that now in our present time it may continue. In the Eucharist when we remember his Passion, death and Resurrection, we are in a position to join with him and through him to make intercession for the whole world.
Pope Francis on Twitter
“Lent is a time of grace, a time to convert and live out our baptism fully.”
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Excerpt from Evangelii Gaudium The Joy of the Gospel
“Jesus’ whole life, his way of dealing with the poor, his actions, his integrity, his simple daily acts of generosity, and finally his complete self-giving, is precious and reveals the mystery of his divine life. Whenever we encounter this anew, we become convinced that it is exactly what others need, even though they may not recognize it: “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23). Sometimes we lose our enthusiasm for mission because we forget that the Gospel responds to our deepest needs, since we were created for what the Gospel offers us: friendship with Jesus and love of our brothers and sisters. If we succeed in expressing adequately and with beauty the essential content of the Gospel, surely this message will speak to the deepest yearnings of people’s hearts: “The missionary is convinced that, through the working of the Spirit, there already exists in individuals and peoples an expectation, even if an unconscious one, of knowing the truth about God, about man, and about how we are to be set free from sin and death. The missionary’s enthusiasm in proclaiming Christ comes from the conviction that he is responding to that expectation”. Enthusiasm for evangelization is based on this conviction. We have a treasure of life and love which cannot deceive, and a message which cannot mislead or disappoint. It penetrates to the depths of our hearts, sustaining and ennobling us. It is a truth which is never out of date because it reaches that part of us which nothing else can reach. Our infinite sadness can only be cured by an infinite love.” – Evangelii Gaudium 265
Video: Bishop William Crean on Trócaire and Lent 2014
Bishop Crean reflects on how Trócaire’s work is improving the lives of so many people in developing countries. Click here to view the video.
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
1: Jesus is Condemned to Die
We remember the Cross of Jesus:
Jesus was captured at night,
taken away by soldiers,
stripped of his garments,
interrogated, tortured, crowned
with sharp thorns and now
handed over to be condemned
to death by Pontius Pilate –
death on a cross.
We Name the Crosses of Today:
Jesus is condemned unjustly by those who did not
Crosses of Today understand him and by those who were frightened of what
he did and said. Perhaps they sensed that this man could
make a difference, that he could turn their world upside
down.
We continue to condemn people unjustly today. People are
condemned because of the colour of their skin, their gender,
their beliefs, because they are born with a disability,
because they don’t conform to our way of thinking, the list
is endless. There are also the people who have been justly
condemned, who have been found guilty, served their
sentence and asked for forgiveness. Does our society really
forgive; really believe that people can change or do we
continue to condemn them over and over again?
We Pray: Jesus, what a terrible injustice to see you condemned to
death. Your own people, the Roman judges and the soldiers
didn’t recognise that you were the Son of God. Give us the
grace to see, respect and love you in all people, both
innocent and guilty. Change our hearts that we may see
with new eyes those we might otherwise condemn.
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.