Thursday after Ash Wednesday – 7 March -“Let him take up his cross daily and follow Me”

Thursday after Ash Wednesday – 7 March

“Let him take up his cross daily and follow Me”

Lord, help us to see in Your Crucifixion and Resurrection an example of how to endure and seemingly to die in the agony and conflict of daily life, so that we may live more fully and creatively.   You accepted patiently and humbly the rebuffs of human life, as well as the tortures of your Crucifixion and Passion.   Help us to accept the pains and conflicts that come to us each day, as opportunities to grow as people and become more like You. Enable us to go through them patiently and bravely, trusting that You will support us. Make us realise that it is only by frequent deaths of ourselves and our self-centred desires, that we can come to live more fully,
for it is only, by dying with You, that we can rise with You.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

(A Gift for God – prayers and meditations)

Daily Meditation:
The Journey Begins

God has revealed Himself in Christ.   Let us praise His goodness and ask Him from our hearts:
Remember us, Lord, for we are Your children.

Teach us to enter more deeply into the mystery of the Church,
– that it may be more effective for ourselves and for the world as the sacrament of salvation.
Lover of mankind, inspire us to work for human progress,
– seeking to spread Your kingdom in all we do.
May our hearts thirst for Christ,
– the fountain of living water.
Forgive us our sins,
– and direct our steps into the ways of justice and sincerity.

Closing Prayer:
Lord,
Let everything I do this day and in this season of Lent
come from You, be inspired by You.

I long to be closer to You.
Help me to remember, that nothing is important in my life
unless it glorifies You in some way.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day of my life and keep saying,
“Tomorrow, I will spend more time in prayer”
but now my longing meet Your love and I want to do it now.
Help me to rely on You for help.

Please, Lord, remind me that “perfection”
isn’t the crazy, “successful” way I try to live my life
but a perfection of my most authentic, real self.
My “perfection” might be holding my many flaws in my open hands,
asking You to help me accept them.

Make me whole Lord and help me to find You in the darkness of my life.
Let me reach out in this darkness and feel Your hand and love, there to guide me.

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.