"Upon first entering the church, there is a fire, a fervency, a desire to serve God in this new place that burns brightly; however, as they fuel for that fire tends to be sparse it is of short duration. Soon, from whatever cause, the fire has died down and is banked, the embers are rarely stirred beneath their fine white covering of ash. Such a faith provides a certain warmth and glow, but not the all-consuming blaze that the Lord would like of us. "Lent is a time to consider how to move once again toward that intimacy, toward an all-out conflagration rather than a simple house-warming fire. It is a time of renewal--not of hardship. The hardships of Lent are incidentals that receive entirely too much of our attention. Fasting, Prayer, and Alms are not strange entities to pull out only at this season--rather they are constants.
Lent is a time to consider all of our activities and to integrate them into the one goal of serving the Lord. "
From An Invitiation to Intimacy
Today let us begin and end the day in prayer. There is no set prayer, rather, let all prayers we say be from the heart. Remember today the image of true love - the Cross. Ask our Lord how much He cares and loves you. And what does He do? He opened up His arms and died for us so that you might have life and be able to live with Him for all eternity.
Today let us offer our abstience from meat up in prayer for those who are starving and hungry and will go to bed without any food. And let our prayers be for them and for all believers and non-believers that we might all grow in a deeper love for the One True Love - Our Savior, Crucfied.
Prayer to Our Lord Jesus Crucified:
Heavenly Father; in the holy name of your Son Jesus, crucified for my sins, and in the Love of the Holy Spirit, I come very humbly before you, with sorrow for my sins. Through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, which I live as I receive Him in the Holy Eucharist.
Lord Jesus crucified; I humbly speak to you, in the Presence of Mary our Blessed Mother. I acknowledge that you suffered so much for me and for all, and that we are indebted to you forever. Lord Jesus; I appreciate very much your sufferings for me and for the rest of humanity. I thank you for saving me through your crushing pain, through your many wounds, through your tiredness and agony and through your Precious Blood shed with so much pain and love for us; through your difficulty to breath, through your sweat and tears, through your merciful patience, through every effort that you made and through your total offering for my sins and for the sins of the whole world.
Lord I complain sometimes when I have a little misfortune, a wound or when I am sick or tired, rejected, despised or prosecuted. But you were covered through your entire body with painful wounds; you were pierced with pain by the crown of thorns, you were stripped of your flesh by the scourging, you were insulted with terrible blasphemies, you were spat upon, you were humiliated, you were inflicted new wounds upon your wounded shoulder by the crushing weight of the cross, you were inflicted more wounds upon your wounds by the brutal stripping of your garments, you were pierced painfully by the nails on the cross, you were hanged upon the cross to bleed painfully to death, you suffered asphyxiation as you found it very painful to breathe, and yet your physical agony was only part of your suffering compared to your spiritual agony because you are God, and your holy soul was sorrowful unto death as you surrendered your life in exchange for our eternal life.
You saw the ingratitude of men for your great sacrifice, and you suffered for the pride of our sins, for the aggressiveness of those whom you created with so much love, for the hatred of men who always receive all your love if only they come to you. My Lord Jesus crucified, I come humbly before you, everlasting fountain of healing and life, Powerful source of our Resurrection, food for our souls in the Holy Eucharist, eternal refuge of Divine Light, gate to the Majesty and Glory of the Father and our only hope and salvation.
Divine Merciful Lord, I pray and beseech on behalf of all humanity for your Mercy and compassion, for your healing and blessings and for our Salvation. O, Precious treasure from Heaven, you who are hidden to the proud, fill my heart with humility and purity that I may be worthy to receive the promises of everlasting life in your Glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord into your Sacred Heart I place my heart united to all my needs and desires, I present humbly my petitions, please deign to listen to my plea, embrace me with your love, respond to my soul, look at me your child who comes attracted by your love.
My Lord Jesus; In your crucified body I reverently place my sinfulness, my sicknesses and those of the people that I pray for; since you bore our diseases and infirmities, since you endured our sufferings and paid for our sins. Please dissolve them in your mercy; grant me these petitions in your holy name and in the name of your sorrowful mother, my mother. Amen.
"It hasn't gotten to my desk yet. When one gets there, we'll find out, and I suspect I'll sign it."Update: The Legislature has added exceptions in cases of rape and incest. Although the Catholic Church does not approve of any exceptions because all life is sacred, I do hope this will become law. We need to limit and outlaw abortions - children deserve life.
The Holy Father's audience given at the Ash Wednesday Mass is available online now. Here is only a segment of it:
"Yesterday on approaching the Most Blessed Sacrament, I felt myself burning and I had to withdraw. I am astounded that so many who receive Jesus are not reduced to ashes." St. Gemma GalganiThe blogger at lDymphna's Well posted these words, and I was blown away by their validity. In the Eucharist we have the True Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. We have the most supreme gift to the human race - Our Lord Himself. Last night I went to Mass for Ash Wednesday, and it left a profound impact on my soul. Right before the consecration, when the bread and wine become Jesus Christ, the priest began, "On the night He was betrayed..."
"Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice" (1 Cor 11:27-28).
We have begun the long penitential season of Lent. I am asking my fellow Catholics to please prayerfully offer to God your sufferings in reparation for our sins and those of the whole world as well as for the Holy Father and the souls in purgatory.
"In these days of Lent, I think of the fact that everything that is born in nature needs preparation, even if it is fundamentally hidden. Thus it is for the seed in the earth, so it is for the fetus in the mother's womb, so it is for the known and unknown stars and planets that have lived for infinite generations, and of which we have received news, particularly in the last century.
