Quote/s of the Day – 20 March – Friday of the Third Week of Lent
“At the end of your life,
you will be judged by your love.”
“So when you leave prayer to serve some poor person,
remember, that this very service,
is performed for God. “
Lenten Reflection – 20 March – Friday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: Hosea 14:1-9 (2-10), Psalm 81:6-11, 14, 17, Mark 12:28-34
“…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” …Mark 12:30-32
Daily Meditation:
Fill our hearts with Your love!
REFLECTION – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment.” And He could have stopped there. Yet, Jesus adds something that was not asked by the doctor of the law. He says, in fact: “And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (v. 39). And in this case too, Jesus does not invent the second commandment but takes it from the Book of Leviticus. The novelty is in His placing these two commandments together — love for God and love for neighbour — revealing that they are in fact inseparable and complementary, two sides of the same coin.”…Pope Francis – Angelus, 26 October 2014
Intercessions:
Thanks be to Christ the Lord, who brought us life by His death on the Cross.
With our whole heart let us ask Him:
By Your death raise us to life.
Teacher and Saviour,
You have shown us Your fidelity and made us a new creation by Your passion,
– keep us from falling again into sin.
Help us to deny ourselves today,
– and not deny those in need.
May we receive this day of penance as Your gift,
– and give it back to You through works of mercy.
May we see with Your eyes, everyday!
– and become images of You.
Master our rebellious hearts,
– and teach us generosity.
Closing Prayer:
Prayer Before The Crucifix
By St Vincent Strambi CP (1745-1824)
Jesus, by this saving sign,
bless this listless soul of mine.
Jesus, by Your feet nailed fast,
mend the missteps of my past.
Jesus, with Your riven hands,
bend my will to love’s demands.
Jesus, in Your Heart laid bare,
warm my inner coldness there.
Jesus, by Your thorn-crowned head,
still my pride till it is dead.
Jesus, by Your muted tongue,
stay my words that hurt someone.
Jesus, by Your tired eyes,
open mine to faith’s surprise.
Jesus, by Your fading breath,
keep me faithful until death.
Yes, Lord, by this saving sign,
save this wayward soul of mine.
Amen
“If we look forward to receiving God’s mercy,
we can never fail to do good,
so long as we have the strength.
For if we share with the poor,
out of love for God,
whatever He has given to us,
we shall receive according to His promise,
a hundredfold in eternal happiness.
What a fine profit, what a blessed reward!
With outstretched arms He begs us
to turn toward Him, to weep for our sins
and to become the servants of love,
first for ourselves, then for our neighbours.
Just as water extinguishes a fire,
so love wipes away sin.”
Our Morning Offering – 20 March – Friday of the Third Week of Lent
I Beg You, O Lord
By St Peter Canisius SJ (1521-1597) Doctor of the Church
I beg You, O Lord
to remove anything
which separates me from You,
or You from me
Remove anything
that makes me unworthy of Your sight,
Your control,
Your reprehension,
of Your speech and conversation,
of Your benevolence and love.
Cast from me,
every evil that stands in the way
of my seeing You,
hearing, tasting,
savouring and touching You,
fearing and being mindful of You,
knowing, trusting, loving
and possessing You,
being conscious of Your Presence
and as far as maybe, enjoying You.
This is what I ask for myself
and earnestly desire from You.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 20 March – Saint Maria Josefa of the Heart of Jesus (1842-1912) – Virgin, Nun, Founder of the Congregation known as the Servants of Jesus of Charity, Apostle of Charity, she had a particular devotion to the Holy Eucharist, the Passion of Christ and Devotion of the Blessed Virgin. Born as María Josefa Sancho de Guerra was born on 7 September 1842 in Vitoria, Basque Country, Spain and died on 20 March 1912 in Bilbao, Vizcaya, Spain of natural causes. Patronage – The Servants of Jesus of Charity.
LIFE AND WORKS
Maria Josefa of the Heart of Jesus, eldest daughter of Bernabe Sancho, chair-maker and of Petra de Guerra, housewife, was born in Vitoria (Spain) on 7 September 1842 and was baptised the following day. According to the custom practiced then, she was confirmed two years after, on 10 August 1844. Her father died when she was seven years old, her mother prepared her for the First Communion, which she received at ten years old. At the age of fifteen she was sent to Madrid to some relatives to receive education and a more complete formation. The characteristic traits of her infancy and childhood were – a strong piety to the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary, a remarkable sensibility towards the poor and the sick and an inclination to solitude.
She returned to Vitoria at the age of eighteen and manifested to her mother the desire to enter in a monastery, feeling an attraction to the cloistered life.
From adulthood, Blessed Maria Josefa used to repeat: “I was born with a religious vocation.” Only that, looking at the circumstances, it shows that she passed various experiences but not without listening to different suggestions of wise churchmen, before finding the definitive form of her vocation. She was, in fact, to be on the point of entering to the Conceptionists Contemplative of Aranjuez in 1860 but was prevented by the occurrence of a grave sickness of typhus. Her mother helped her to overcome the disappointment.
On the succeeding months, it seemed to her understanding that the Lord calls her to a type of religious active life. For this, she decided to enter in the Institute of the Servants of Mary, recently founded in Madrid by Saint Soledad Torres Acosta. With the coming of the time of her profession, she was assailed with grave doubts and uncertainty on her effective call in that Institute. She opened her soul to various confessors and from their advices she felt that she was mistaken in her vocation.
The meetings with the holy Archbishop Claret (St Anthony Mary Claret) and the serene conversations with the same Saint Soledad Torres Acosta, gradually arrived at the decision of leaving the Institute of the Servants of Mary form a new religious family, that had for its aim, the exclusive assistance to the sick in the hospitals and in their homes. Sharing this same ideal with three other Servants of Mary, who with the permission of Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, went out together with her with the same purpose.
The new foundation was made in Bilbao in the spring of 1871, when Maria Josefa was twenty nine years old. Since then, and for the succeeding forty one years, she was superior of the new Institute of the Servants of Jesus. She embarked on difficult trips to visit the different communities until a long sickness confined her in the house of Bilbao. Obliged to stay in bed or in an armchair, she continued to follow the events of the various communities within and outside Spain, through a painstaking correspondence. On her death, on 20 March 1912, which happened after long years of suffering, there were 43 houses founded and the number of her Sisters reached, more than one thousand.
Her holy death caused great impact to Bilbao and in numerous localities where she was known through the houses of her Institute. In the same way, her funeral had an extraordinary resonance. She was buried in the municipal cemetery of Bilbao. In 1926, her fame of sanctity grew and her mortal remains were transferred to the Mother House of the Institute and have been buried in the chapel there ever since.
SPIRITUALITY
The writings and the testimonies of the eye-witnesses put in evidence the central points of the spirituality of Blessed Maria Josefa:
1) Great love to the Eucharist and of the Sacred Heart.
2) Profound adoration to the mystery of Redemption and intimate participation to the sufferings of Christ and to his Cross.
3) Total dedication to the service of the sick in a context of contemplative spirit.
Here are some significant expressions taken from her writings:
“The charity and mutual love constitute even in this life, the paradise of the community. Without the cross we cannot live, wherever we go, because the religious life is a life of sacrifice and of abnegation. The foundation of greatest perfection is the fraternal charity.” (Don Pablo B. Aristegui, Beata Maria Josefa del Cuore di Gesù, Mensajero, Bilbao, 1992, p. 97).
“Don’t believe sisters, that the assistance consists only in giving medicines and food to the sick. There is another type of assistance that must never be forgotten and it is the assistance of the heart, that adjusts and enters in sympathy with the person who suffers and goes to meet his necessities.” (Ibidem, p. 100).
CHARISM TO SERVE THE SICK
The particular footprint imprinted by Mother Josefa to the Institute of the Servants of Jesus reflects her interior experience of a soul consecrated to the charitable service of the neighbour, especially to the sick, in a climate of contemplative spirit. We find her concept well expressed in the Directorio de Asistencias, written by herself, where it is understood and affirmed, that the Servants of Jesus provides for the sick, that she accompanies even to the door of eternity, a blessing better than that of a missionary, who with his preaching calls those who are lost to the right path of life.
“In this manner, as written in the functional manuals of our Institute, designed to procure the corporal health of the neighbour, is elevated to a great height, making our active life more perfect than that of a contemplative, as taught by the angelic teacher St Thomas, who speaks about the works directed to the salvation of souls derived from contemplation.” (Directorio de Asistencias de la Congregación Religiosas Siervas de Jesús de la Caridad, Vitoria, 1930, p. 9).
With this spirit, the Servants of Jesus, from the death of their Mother Maria Josefa and until now, have continued their service to the sick, with a generous offering of their lives in complete imitation of their Foundress.
Furthermore, in conformity to the progress of times and the necessities of the modern life, from the primary end of the assistance to the sick, the assistance to old persons in residences and the reception and assistance to the children in day care centres, some others were added, such as – provision of food to the indigents, centres for those afflicted with AIDS, day care centres for the aged, pastoral health care and other works of beneficence and charities, above all in the poorest places of Latin America and Asia.
Today, the 1,050 Religious of the Institute of the Servants of Jesus are present in Spain and in other countries such as Italy, France, Portugal, Chile, Argentina, Columbia, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Dominican Republic, Paraguay and Philippines.
ITINERARY OF THE CAUSE
A few years after the death of Mother Maria Josefa, the Institute of the Servants of Jesus planned to start the Cause of the Canonisation but because of the adverse circumstances due to the Spanish civil war of 1936 and the Second World War, was able to realise the plan only after almost thirty years.
a) On 31 May 1951, was the start of the Informative Ordinary Process in Bilbao.
b) On 7 January 1972 the Decretum super introductione Causae.
c) On 7 September 1989 was promulgated the Decretum super Virtutibus.
d) On 27 September 1992 she was solemnly beatified in Saint Peter’s Square.
e) The Consistory took place on 10 March 2000 where the Holy Father St John Paul II fixed the date of her Canonisation for 1 October 2000. … Vatican.va (translated from Spanish).
Prayer for the Intercession of St Maria Josefa
We bless You, Lord,
because You have chosen Saint Maria Josefa of the Heart of Jesus,
to make Your merciful love present in the world of pain.
Grant us the grace,
that through her intercession,
our request may be granted
………… (make the request)
and may her example help us to clothe ourselves
with the knowledge of the goodness and love of Your Divine Heart,
for the sick, elderly and children.
Heart of Jesus, health of the sick.
Have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, strength of the elderly.
Have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, friend of children.
Have mercy on us.
For more images in the Museum in the Birth home of the Saint in Bilbao, Spain and in the Reliquary in the Motherhouse:
https://www.siervasdejesusmadrid.org/qui%C3%A9nes-somos/nuestra-fundadora/museos
Bl Ambrose Sansedoni of Siena
Anastasius XVI
Archippus of Colossi
St Benignus of Flay
St Cathcan of Rath-derthaighe
St Clement of Ireland
St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
Bl Francis Palau y Quer
St Guillermo de Peñacorada
St Herbert of Derwenwater
Bl Hippolytus Galantini
Bl Jeanne Veron
Bl John Baptist Spagnuolo
St John Nepomucene
St John Sergius
St Jósef Bilczewski (1860-1923)
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/20/saint-of-the-day-20-march-st-josef-bilczewski-1860-1923/
St Maria Josefa of the Heart of Jesus/Sancho de Guerra (1842-1912)
St Martin of Braga (c 520–580)
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/03/20/saint-of-the-day-20-march-st-martin-of-braga-c-520-580/
St Nicetas of Apollonias
St Remigius of Strasbourg
St Tertricus of Langres
St Urbitius of Metz
St Wulfram of Sens
—
Martyrs of Amisus – 8 saints: A group of Christian women martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. The only details we have are eight of their names – Alexandra, Caldia, Derphuta, Euphemia, Euphrasia, Juliana, Matrona and Theodosia. They were burned to death c 300 in Amisus, Paphlagonia (modern Samsun, Turkey).
Martyrs of Rome – 9+ saints: A group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Nero. We know nothing else about them but the names Anatolius, Cyriaca, Joseph, Parasceve, Photis, Photius, Sebastian and Victor.
Martyrs of San Saba – 20 saints: Twenty monks who were martyred together in their monastery by invading Saracens.
They were martyred in 797 when they were burned inside the San Sabas monastery in Palestine.
Martyrs of Syria – 3+ saints: A group of Christians who were martyred together in Syria. We know nothing else about them but the names Cyril, Eugene and Paul.
Thought for the Day – 19 March – The Solemnity of the Feast of St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
“If it is true that the importance of his God-given role upon earth is the measure of a Saint’s greatness, then with the exception of Mary, none is greater than St Joseph.
He was chosen by God as the head of the Holy Family, as the most chaste spouse of the Mother of God and the foster-father of Jesus Christ.
The Word Incarnate, the Lord and King of Heaven and earth, was obedient to him, as was the Blessed Virgin, the holiest of creatures.
He lived for thirty years in the company of Mary and was the chaste guardian of her virginity and divine motherhood.
He had the privilege of clasping the holy Infant to his breast and of providing, by his labour, for the needs of Him, whose omnipotence, causes the corn to sprout and brings forth the many fruits of the soil.
In this regard, St Joseph is greater than any of the Angels, for none of them was ever entrusted with such a sublime mission.
For this reason, we should love him, in the same way as he loved his most chaste spouse, Mary and, his foster child, Jesus.
Knowing that he will certainly protect us, we should entrust all our cares and needs to him.”
Quote/s of the Day – 19 March – The Solemnity of the Feast of St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church
“Go, then to Joseph and do all, that he shall say to you,
Go to Joseph and obey him, as Jesus and Mary obeyed him,
Go to Joseph and speak to him, as they spoke to him,
Go to Joseph and consult him, as they consulted him,
Go to Joseph and honour him, as they honoured him,
Go to Joseph and be grateful to him, as they were grateful to him,
Go to Joseph and love him, as they love him still.”
“He was there to show Jesus to the world
and to hide Him when need arose,
to protect and nourish Him
and then to follow Him
at a distance and remain in the
shadows of the Lord’s mysteries,
shadows which were
every now and then,
lit with a heavenly radiance,
by the light touch
of a passing angel.”
“Be in good spirits
under the fatherly mantle of St Joseph,
a place of safest refuge
in trials and tribulations.”
Bishop of Acqui, Italy and Founder of the Oblates of Saint Joseph
“Ite ad Joseph!
Go to Joseph with extreme confidence,
because I do not remember
having asked anything from St Joseph,
without having obtained it readily.”
More St Joseph Quotes from the Saints here:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/19/quote-s-of-the-day-19-march-st-joseph/
Lenten Reflection – 19 March – The Solemnity of the Feast of St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church, Readings: 2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16, Psalm 89:2-5, 27, 29, Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22, Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24
When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers,
I will raise up your offspring after you,
who shall come forth from your body and I will establish his kingdom. …2 Samuel 7:12
DAILY MEDITATION:
“He has so much to say to us, in this time, of a strong sense of being orphaned.”
“And this man, this dreamer, is able to accept this duty, this grave duty. He has so much to say to us, in this time, of a strong sense of being orphaned. And so this man takes the promise of God and carries it onward in silence, with strength, he carries it onward so that God’s Will might be done. He is the man who doesn’t speak but obeys, the man of tenderness, the man capable of carrying forward the promises so that they might become solid, certain, the man who guarantees the stability of the Kingdom of God, the paternity of God, our sonship as children of God.
I like to think of Joseph as the guardian of weaknesses, of our weaknesses too, he is able to give birth to so many beautiful things from our weaknesses, even from our sins.” … Pope Francis
For thy steadfast love was established forever,
thy faithfulness is firm as the heavens.
Psalm 89:2
Intercessions:
Christ our Lord came among us as the light of the world, that we might walk in His light
and not in the darkness of death. Let us praise Him and cry out to Him:
Let Your word be a lamp to guide us.
God of mercy, help us today to grow in Your likeness,
– that we who sinned in Adam may rise again in Christ.
Let Your word be a lamp to guide us,
– that we may live the truth and grow always in Your love.
Teach us to be faithful in seeking the common good for Your sake,
– that Your light may shine on the whole human family by means of Your Church.
Touch our hearts to live in trust of Your saving help,
– and to make amends for our sins against Your wisdom and goodness.
Closing Prayer:
St Joseph, be our Protector
By St Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)
St Joseph,
be always our protector.
That your internal spirit of peace,
silence, honest work and prayer
in the service of the Church
give us life and happiness
in union with your blessed Spouse,
our Sweet and Immaculate Mother
in the strong and mild love to Jesus,
Glorious and Immortal King
of the centuries and the people.
Amen
One Minute Reflection – 19 March – The Solemnity of the Feast of St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church, Readings: 2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16, Psalm 89:2-5, 27, 29, Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22, Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24
When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home … Matthew 1:24
REFLECTION – “When the divine goodness chooses someone to receive a special grace, it gives him all the charisms he needs, which greatly increases his spiritual beauty. This is wholly confirmed in the case of Saint Joseph, legal father of our Lord Jesus Christ and rightful husband of she, who is Queen of the world and Sovereign of angels. The eternal Father chose him to be provider and faithful guardian to his chiefest treasures, namely His Son and His bride – a function he faithfully fulfilled . That is why the Lord said: “Good and faithful servant, come, share your master’s joy” (Mt 25,21).
If you compare Joseph with all the rest of Christ’s Church, is he not the one who has been specially chosen, through whom Christ came into the world in regular and respectable fashion? So, if the whole of holy Church is indebted to the Virgin Mary, because it was she who enabled it to welcome Christ, after her it is to Saint Joseph that it owes a recognition and honour without compare.
Indeed, it is he who brings the Old Testament to an end, it is in him that the dignity of patriarchs and prophets receives its promised fruit. He alone possessed in reality what divine goodness had promised to them. Nor indeed should we doubt that the closeness and respect Christ showed to Joseph during His earthly life, as a son to His father, were ever denied in heaven, rather, He enriched and completed them. So, with reason, the Lord adds: “Enter into your master’s joy”.
PRAYER – Blessed Joseph, remember us, intercede with the help of your prayers to your adopted Son and may you likewise make the blessed Virgin, your spouse, to be favourable towards us, for she is the mother of Him, who, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns world without end.” … St Bernadine of Siena (1380-1444) – Sermon on Saint Joseph
Our Morning Offering – 19 March – The Solemnity of St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Guardian of Jesus and Patron of the Universal Church, Patron of Fathers, Patron of the Dying, Patron of Workers.
Saint Joseph, Be Our Guide!
By Fr Michael Gannon (1927– 2017)
Look down to us, Saint Joseph,
Protector of Our Lord,
Who followed you through deserts,
And gave you blessed reward.
Our foes are yet about us,
Be strength now at our side,
Be light against the darkness.
Saint Joseph, be our guide!
We venerate your justice,
The gospels praise your name,
You are the Saint all humble,
Who gained eternal fame.
In your devoted family
Our souls in trust confide,
Direct our way to heaven.
Saint Joseph, be our guide.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 19 March – Blessed Sibyllina Biscossi (1287-1367) OP Blind Dominican Virgin and Recluse, Penitent, Miracle-worker – also known as Sibyllina of Pavia, Sybil – Additional Memorials – 20 March (Pavia, Italy) and 23 March (Order of Preachers). Patronages – Children whose parents are not married, illegitimacy, loss of parents, housemaids. Her body is incorrupt. 
The Roman Martyrology says of her – In Pavia, in Lombardy, Blessed Sibyllina Biscossi, Virgin, who became blind at the age of twelve, spent sixty-five years imprisoned alongside the Church of the Order of Preachers, shining with its interior light many who flocked to it.
“All things work for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). How many of us would have the faith to trust in God’s providence as did this holy woman? As Mother Angelica has witnessed, true faith is knowing that when the Lord asks you to walk into the void, He will place a rock beneath your feet. True faith is to be able to praise God in all things, to say with Job, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).
Sybillina’s parents died when she was tiny and as soon as she was old enough to be of use to anyone, the neighbours, who had taken her in at the time she was orphaned, put her out to work. She must have been very young when she started to work, because at the age of 12, when she became blind and could not work any more, she already had several years of work behind her.
The cause of her blindness is unknown but the child was left doubly destitute with the loss of her sight. The local chapter of the Dominican tertiary sisters took compassion on the child and brought her home to live with them. After a little while of experiencing their kind help, she wanted to join them. They accepted her, young though she was, more out of pity than in any hope of her being able to carry on their busy and varied apostolate.
They were soon agreeably surprised to find out how much she could do. She learned to chant the Office quickly and sweetly and to absorb their teaching about mental prayer as though she had been born for it. She imposed great obligations of prayer on herself, since she could not help them in other ways. Her greatest devotion was to Saint Dominic and it was to him she addressed herself when she finally became convinced that she simply must have her sight back so that she could help the sisters with their work.
Praying earnestly for this intention, Sybillina waited for his feast day. Then, she was certain, he would cure her. Matins came and went with no miracle, little hours, Vespers– and she was still blind. With a sinking heart, Sybillina knelt before Saint Dominic’s statue and begged him to help her. Kneeling there, she was rapt in ecstasy and she saw him come out of the darkness and take her by the hand.
He took her to a dark tunnel entrance and she went into the blackness at his word. Terrified but still clinging to his hand, she advanced past invisible horrors, still guided and protected by his presence. Dawn came gradually and then light, then a blaze of glory. “In eternity, dear child,” he said. “Here, you must suffer darkness so that you may one day behold eternal light.”
Sybillina, the eager child, was replaced by a mature and thoughtful Sybillina who knew that there would be no cure for her, that she must work her way to heaven through the darkness. She decided to become a anchorite and obtained the necessary permission. In 1302, at the age of 15, she was sealed into a tiny cell next to the Dominican church at Pavia. At first she had a companion but her fellow recluse soon gave up the life. Sybillina remained, now alone, as well as blind.
The first seven years were the worst, she later admitted. The cold was intense and she never permitted herself a fire. The church, of course, was not heated and she wore the same clothes winter and summer. In the winter there was only one way to keep from freezing–keep moving–so she genuflected and gave herself the discipline. She slept on a board and ate practically nothing. To the tiny window, that was her only communication with the outside world, came the troubled and the sinful and the sick, all begging for her help. She prayed for all of them and worked many miracles in the lives of the people of Pavia.
One of the more amusing requests came from a woman who was terrified of the dark. Sybillina was praying for her when she saw her in a vision and observed that the woman–who thought she was hearing things–put on a fur hood to shut out the noise. The next day the woman came to see her and Sybillina laughed gaily. “You were really scared last night, weren’t you?” she asked. “I laughed when I saw you pull that hood over your ears.” The legend reports that the woman was never frightened again.
Sybillina had a lively sense of the Real Presence and a deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. One day a priest was going past her window with Viaticum for the sick, she knew that the host was not consecrated and told him so. He investigated and found he had indeed taken a host from the wrong container.
Sybillina lived as a recluse for 65 years. She followed all the Masses and Offices in the church, spending what few spare minutes she had working with her hands to earn a few alms for the poor.
She is buried in the Dominican church in Pavia
Her cultus was confirmed in 1853 by Pope Pius IX and she was Beatified by him on 17 August 1854.
From the General Calendar of the Order of Preachers on her Feast Day:
Let us Pray:
O God, who wast pleased to enlighten the soul of Blessed Sibyllina, Thy Virgin , with admirable splendour, though she was deprived of bodily sight, grant, through her intercession, that, enlightened with light from above, we may despise earthly things and earnestly strive after those that are eternal. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
O Lord, enkindle our hearts with the fire of the Spirit, who wonderfully renewed Blessed Sibyllina. Filled with that heavenly light may we come to know Jesus Christ crucified and always grow in Your love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Ghost, one God, forever and ever.
St Joseph (Solemnity)
St Joseph!
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/03/19/saint-of-the-day-19-march-the-solemnity-of-st-joseph-spouse-of-the-most-blessed-virgin-mary-mother-of-god-and-patron-of-the-universal-church/
St Adrian of Maastricht
St Alkmund of Northumbria
St Amantius of Wintershoven
Bl Andrea Gallerani
St Apollonius of Braga
St Auxilius of Ireland
Bl Clement of Dunblane
St Colocer of Saint-Brieuc
St Corbasius of Quimperlé
St Cuthbert of Brittany
St Gemus
Bl Isnard de Chiampo
Bl Jan Turchan
St John the Syrian of Pinna
St Lactali of Freshford
St Landoald of Maastricht
St Leontinus of Braga
St Leontinus of Saintes
Blessed Marcel Callo (1921-1945) Martyr
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/19/saint-of-the-day-19-march-blessed-marcel-callo-1921-1945-aged-23-martyr/
Bl Mark of Montegallo
St Pancharius of Nicomedia
Blessed Sibyllina Biscossi OP (1287-1367)
—
Martyrs of Sorrento: A group of three sisters and a brother who were martyred together. We have little more than their names – Mark, Quartilla, Quintilla and Quintius. They were martyred in Sorrento, Italy, date unknown.
Mark
Quartilla
Quintilla
Quintius
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War
• Blessed Alberto Linares de La Pinta
• Blessed Jaume Trilla Lastra
Thought for the Day – 18 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
“We must all experience privation, because everybody, has to do without something, in this life.
Some people are never in good health. Besides their actual sufferings, they have to put up with their inability to work or to enjoy themselves.
Others, have no means of earning their livelihood. Their lives are a daily battle, not merely against poverty but against squalor and wretchedness. They have not enough bread to eat, nor have they homes where they and their families, can live.
In families where there is no such want, on the other hand, there may be no peace in the home.
Individuals, too, can lack peace of soul, because they are ridden by false ambition or jealousy.
Other people have a plentiful supply of this world’s comforts but, are destitute of the most necessary thing in life, which is goodness.
They are depressed because they have become slaves to sin.
Is there any remedy for all these privations and sorrows?
Yes! we must embrace our cross.
We must turn confidently to God and ask Him that may be resigned to doing without, those temporal things, of which we are deprived.
We must ask Him for the grace to rise from our sins and climb towards Christian perfection.
There is no use in revolting, nor, in despairing.
There is no real happiness in this world.
If we are vexed and rebellious, our cross grows heavier.
If we accept privation from God’s Hands, we are soon consoled.“
Quote/s of the Day – 18 March – The Memorial of St Cyril of Jerusalem (c 313-386) Father and Doctor of the Church
“After all, He saved the thief
on the holy hill of Golgotha
because of one hour’s faith,
will He not save you too,
since you have believed? “
“Since Christ Himself has said,
“This is My Body”
who shall dare to doubt
that It is His Body?”
On how to receive Holy Communion in the hand in the Fourth Century:
“Approaching,
do not come with thy palms stretched flat
nor with fingers separated.
But making thy left hand a seat for thy right
and hollowing thy palm,
receive the Body of Christ,
responding Amen.”
Lenten Reflection – 18 March – Wednesday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9, Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20, Matthew 5:17-19
“Think not that I have come to abolish the law
and the prophets, I have come,
not to abolish them but to fulfil them.”…Matthew 5:17
Daily Meditation:
The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
“In Him the promise made through the shadows of prophecy stands revealed, along with the full meaning of the precepts of the law. He is the one who teaches the truth of prophecy through His presence and makes obedience to the commandments possible through grace.
In the preaching of the holy Gospel all should receive a strengthening of their faith. No-one should be ashamed of the Cross of Christ, through which the world has been redeemed.
No-one should fear to suffer for the sake of justice, no-one should lose confidence in the reward that has been promised. The way to rest is through toil, the way to life is through death. Christ has taken on Himself the whole weakness of our lowly human nature. If then we are steadfast in our faith in Him and in our love for Him, we win the victory that He has won, we receive what He has promised.
When it comes to obeying the commandments or enduring adversity, the words uttered by the Father should always echo in our ears – “This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased, listen to Him.” … St Pope Leo the Great (400-461) – An excerpt from Sermo 51
He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 147:20
Intercessions:
Blessed be God, the giver of salvation, who decreed that mankind should become a new creation in Himself, when all would be made new. With great confidence let us ask Him:
Lord, renew us in Your Spirit.
Lord, You promised a new heaven and a new earth; renew us daily through Your Spirit,
– that we may enjoy Your presence forever in the heavenly Jerusalem.
Help us to work with You to make this world alive with Your Spirit,
– and to build on earth a city of justice, love and peace.
Free us from all negligence and sloth,
– and give us joy in Your gifts of grace.
Deliver us from evil,
– and from slavery to the senses, which blinds us to goodness.
Closing Prayer:
O Sweet Name of Jesus
By Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
O sweet Name of Jesus,
holy above all names
in heaven and on earth
and to which every knee,
both of men and of angels in heaven,
on earth and in hell bends.
You are the Way of the just,
the Glory of the saints,
the Hope of those in need,
the Balm of the sick,
the Love of the devout
and the Consolation
of those that suffer.
O, Jesus be to me a help and a protector
so that Your Name may be blessed for all times.
Amen
“Where can we fix our gaze, then, throughout this Lenten journey?
Upon the Crucified One.
Jesus on the cross is life’s compass, which directs us to heaven.
The poverty of the wood, the silence of the Lord, His loving self-emptying,
show us the necessity of a simpler life, free from anxiety about things.
From the cross, Jesus teaches us the great courage involved in renunciation.”
Basilica of Santa Sabina
Ash Wednesday, 6 March 2019
One Minute Reflection – 18 March – Wednesday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9, Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20, Matthew 5:17-19 and the Memorial of St Cyril of Jerusalem (c 313-386) Father and Doctor of the Church
“Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.”…Matthew 5:17
REFLECTION – “Grace, which was formerly veiled, so to speak, in the Old Testament, has been fully revealed in the Gospel of Christ by a harmonious disposition of the times, just as God usually disposes of everything with harmony… But within this wonderful harmony we notice a great difference between the two ages. On Sinai the people did not dare draw near the place where the Lord was giving His Law; in the Upper Room, the Holy Spirit comes down on all those assembled there, while waiting for the fulfilment of the promise (Ex 19:23; Acts 2:1). In the first instance, the finger of God inscribed the laws on tablets of stone but now, it is in human hearts, that He writes it (Ex 31:18; 2 Cor 3:3). Formerly the Law was written without and brought fear to sinners but now, it has been given to them within, to make them righteous…
Indeed, as the apostle Paul says, everything written on the stone tablets, “you shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill…, you shall not covet” and whatever other commandments there may be, are summed up in this saying: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself. Love does no evil to the neighbour, hence, love is the fulfilment of the Law” (Rm 13:9f.; Lv 19:18)… This charity has been “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rm 5:5)….St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor On the spirit and the letter, 28-30
PRAYER – Protect Your family, Lord and strengthen us with Your consoling presence. Help us in our way to follow Your commandments and live as disciples of love. Look now on Your chosen people, grant us the light of Your Spirit and bring us forever to eternal life. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Your Son and our Mother, be ever our protective shield. St Cyril of Jerusalem, pray for us all that we may always remain true to the Cross of Christ and our Holy Mother Church, amen. Through Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 18 March – Wednesday of the Third week of Lent
I Want to Love You, My God
By St Anthony Mary Claret (1807-1870)
I want to love You, my God,
with all my heart,
with all my being,
with all my strength.
I consecrate to You,
my thoughts, desires,
words and actions,
whatever I have
and whatever I can be.
Let me use what I have
for Your greater honour and glory,
according to Your will.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 18 March – Saint Anselm of Lucca the Younger (1036-1086) Bishop, Confessor – born in 1036 at Mantua, Italy and died on 18 March 1086 at Mantua, Italy of natural causes. Patronage – Mantua, the city of his birth and death, honours him as its patron.
Anselm was a medieval Bishop of Lucca in Italy and a prominent figure in the Investiture Controversy amid the fighting in central Italy between Matilda, countess of Tuscany and Emperor Henry IV. His uncle, Anselm preceded him as Bishop of Lucca before being elected to the papacy as Pope Alexander II, owing to this, he is sometimes distinguished as Anselm the Younger or Anselm II.
He was nephew of Anselm of Lucca, the Elder, who ascended the Papal throne as Alexander II in 1061.
In the year 1071 Alexander II designated Anselm as Bishop of Lucca and sent him to Germany to take investiture from Henry IV. Anselm went to Germany but was loath to receive the insignia of spiritual power from a temporal ruler and returned without investiture.
In 1073 Gregory VII, successor of Alexander II, also appointed Anselm Bishop of Lucca but advised him not to accept his ring and crosier from Henry IV. For some reason, Anselm accepted investiture from Henry but soon felt such remorse that he resigned his Bishopric and entered the Order of St Benedict at Padilirone, a monastery of the Cluniac Reform, situated near Mantua.
Gregory VII ordered him to return to his episcopal see at Lucca. Anselm returned reluctantly but continued to lead time life of a monk until his death.
St Anselm was Inspired, like Gregory VII, with a holy zeal to reform the clergy, he wished to impose stricter discipline upon the Canons of his Cathedral. Most of the Canons refused to submit to Anselm’s regulations and in 1081 he was expelled from Lucca with the help of the Emperor and his antipope, Guibert.
Anselm then retired to the castle of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, whose spiritual adviser he was. Some time later he was made Papal Legate of Lombardy with instructions to rule over all the Dioceses which, during the conflict between pope and emperor, had been left without Bishops.
St Anselm was well versed in the Scriptures and wrote some exegetical and ascetical works. In his work “Contra Guibertum et sequaces ejus” he shows the unlawfulness of lay-investiture and defends Gregory against the Antipope Guibert. He also made a collection of canons which afterwards were incorporated into the well-known “Decretum” of Gratian.
Two biographies were written about the Bishop-saint shortly after his death on 18 March 1086, aged 50. He was Canonised by Pope Victor III in 1087. His relics reside in the cathedral of Mantua.
St Cyril of Jerusalem (c 313-386) (Optional Memorial)
Father and Doctor of the Church
Biography:
Saint of the Day – 18 March – St Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387)
—
Bl Aimée-Adèle le Bouteiller
St Alexander of Jerusalem
St Anselm of Lucca the Younger (1036-1086)
St Braulio of Saragossa
Bl Celestine of the Mother of God
Bl Christian O’Conarchy
St Edward the Martyr
St Egbert of Ripon
St Eucarpius of Nicomedia
St Felix of Gerona
St Finan of Aberdeen
St Frigidian of Lucca
Bl John Thules
St Leobard of Tours
St Narcissus of Gerona
Bl Roger Wrenno
St Salvator of Horta
St Trophimus of Nicomedia
—
Martyrs of Nicomedia – Commemorates the Christians who were martyred anonymously, either singly and in small groups, by local pagans in the area of Nicomedia prior to the year 300 and who may have been over-looked in the waves of Diocletian persecutions that resulted in the deaths of thousands.
Thought for the Day – 17 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest in which she puts her young – your altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God! Happy they who dwell in your house! Continually, they praise you” (Psalm 83:1-5).
It is in these colourful words that the Psalmist expresses his longing for the house of God, where he can retire to pray and find comfort for his soul.
The Saints also found happiness in long hours of prayer before their Creator.
Any consolation which the world can give us is shadowy and elusive compared with the peace which God gives those, who, in the greatness of their faith and love, shut out all thought of earthly things in order to kneel before His Tabernacle and converse with Him.
If we need consolation, let us look for it before the Altar.
Only there, will our unlimited desire for true and lasting peace find satisfaction.”
Quotes of the Day – 17 March – Tuesday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: Daniel 3:25, 34-43, Psalm 25:4-9, Matthew 18:21-35
“Then Peter came up and said to him,
“Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me
and I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus said to him,
“I do not say to you seven times
but seventy times seven.”
“If you do not close your ear to others,
you open God’s ear to yourself.”
“If you want God to know that you are hungry,
know that another is hungry.
If you hope for mercy, show mercy.
If you look for kindness, show kindness.
If you want to receive, give.
If you ask for yourself what you deny to others,
your asking is a mockery.”
Bishop of Ravenna, Father & Doctor of the Church
An excerpt from his Sermon 43
Lenten Reflection – 18 March – Tuesday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: Daniel 3:25, 34-43, Psalm 25:4-9, Matthew 18:21-35
“Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?” …Matthew 18:33
Daily Meditation:
Make us one in love and prayer.
“What is human mercy like? It makes you concerned for the hardship of the poor. What is divine mercy like? It forgives sinners…
In this world God is cold and hungry in all the poor, as He Himself said (Mt 25:40)… What sort of people are we? When God gives, we want to receive, when He asks, we refuse to give? When a poor man is hungry, Christ is in need, as He said Himself: “I was hungry and you gave me no food” (v. 42). Take care not to despise the hardship of the poor, if you would hope, without fear, to have your sins forgiven…
What He receives on earth He returns in heaven.
I put you this question, dearly beloved – what is it you want, what is it you are looking for, when you come to church? What indeed if not mercy? Show mercy on earth and you will receive mercy in heaven. A poor man is begging from you and you are begging from God, he asks for a scrap, you ask for eternal life… And so when you come to church give whatever alms you can to the poor in accordance with your means.” … St Caesarius of Arles (470-543) – Sermon 25
Intercessions:
Blessed be God, the giver of salvation,
who decreed that mankind should become a new creation in Himself,
when all would be made new.
With great confidence let us ask him:
Lord, renew us in Your Spirit.
Lord, You promised a new heaven and a new earth; renew us daily through Your Spirit,
– that we may enjoy Your presence for ever in the heavenly Jerusalem.
Help us to work with You to make this world alive with Your Spirit,
– and to build on earth a city of justice, love and peace.
Free us from all negligence and sloth,
– and give us joy in Your gifts of grace.
Deliver us from evil,
– and from slavery to the senses, which blinds us to goodness.
Closing Prayer:
O Lord and Master of My Life
Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian (306-373)
Father & Doctor of the Church
O Lord and Master of my life,
give me not a spirit of sloth, vain curiosity,
lust for power and idle talk.
But give to me, Thy servant,
a spirit of soberness, humility, patience and love.
O Lord and King,
grant me to see my own faults
and not to condemn my brother.
For blessed art Thou to the ages of ages.
Amen
O God, be merciful to me a sinner.
O God, cleanse me, a sinner.
O God, my Creator, save me
and for my many sins forgive me!
One Minute Reflection – 18 March – Tuesday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: Daniel 3:25, 34-43, Psalm 25:4-9, Matthew 18:21-35 and the Memorial of Saint Jan Sarkander (1576-1620) Priest and Martyr of the Seal of Confession
“I forgave you all that debt because you besought me and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?”… Matthew 18:32-33
REFLECTION – “We must wash one another’s feet in the mutual daily service of love. But we must also wash one another’s feet, in the sense, that we must forgive one another ever anew. The debt for which the Lord has pardoned us is always infinitely greater than all the debts that others can owe us….not to allow resentment toward others to become a poison in the depths of the soul. It urges us to purify our memory constantly, forgiving one another whole-heartedly, washing one another’s feet, to be able to go to God’s banquet together.”…Pope Benedict XVI (Holy Thursday homily 20 March 2008)
PRAYER – Almighty God, we thank You for Your endless mercy. We are sinners but trust in Your merciful forgiveness when we turn to You in sorrow. Open our hearts, make them forgiving to our brother, teach us Your mercy. May Mary, Mother of Sorrow, pray for us. Grant that the prayers of St Jan Sarkander may continue to defend us, as he did in the world. We make our prayer through our forgiving Saviour, who even to those who killed Him, turned to them in love and mercy and asked You for their forgiveness. In union with the Holy Spirit, one God, for all eternity, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 17 March – Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
Excerpt from St Patrick’s Breastplate – Christ be Near
St Patrick (c 386 – 461)
Christ be near, at either hand,
Christ behind, before me stand,
Christ with me, where’er I go,
Christ around, above, below.
Christ be in my heart and mind,
Christ within my soul enshrined,
Christ control, my wayward heart,
Christ abide and ne’er depart.
Christ my life and only way,
Christ my lantern, night and day,
Christ be my unchanging friend,
guide and shepherd to the end.
We have this prayer and his own story in one of the few certainly authentic writings of Patrick – his Confessio, which is above all an act of homage to God for having called Patrick, unworthy sinner, to the apostolate.
Saint of the Day – 17 March – Saint Jan Sarkander (1576-1620) Priest and Martyr of the seal of confession, Confessor – born on 20 December 1576 at Skotschau (Skoczow), Austrian Silesia (in modern Poland) and died by being covered in flammable material and set on fire on 17 March 1620 at Olomouc, Moravia (in the modern Czech Republic). Patronages – the Seal of Confession, Confessors, Moravia, Persecuted Christians. St Jan Sarkander was married for a short period of time before he became widowed and pursued a path to the Priesthood where he became active in the defense of the faith during a period of anti-Catholic sentiment and conflict. He himself was arrested on false accusations as a means of silencing him and he refused to give in to his tormentors who tortured him for around a month before he died. His body is incorrupt.
Jan Sarkander was born on 20 December 1576 in Poland into a Silesian household as the son of Georg Mathias Sarkander and Helene Górecka. He had one sister and three other brothers – Nicholas (a priest himself), Paul and Wenceslas. His father died in 1589 and so he moved alongside his mother and siblings to Příbor. His mother remarried and he ended up having a half-brother Matthew as a result. Sarkander believed he was going to become a Priest but dropped the idea and instead married and settled in Brno. The marriage was short lived for his wife died not too long after (in 1607) the couple married, they were childless. He then decided to resume his studies for the Priesthood.
He studied at the Olomouc college from 1597 until 1600, when due to the plague, he was forced to transfer to the Charles University in Prague where he graduated with a master’s in philosophical studies. He obtained further education from the Jesuits in Prague and received his doctorate in philosophical studies in 1603. He continued theological studies in Austria from 1604. He later underwent theological studies at the Graz University and passed his examinations on 21 December 1607. He was made a sub-deacon on 20 December 1608 and elevated into the diaconate on 16 March 1609.
On 22 December 1607 he received the minor orders from Cardinal Franz von Dietrichstein. The Bishop of Olomouc, Jan Křtitel Civalli ordained him to the Priesthood on 22 March 1609 in Grozin and he was assigned to work as a parish priest in Olmütz (Olomouc) and later he was sent to Holešov. Baron von Lobkowitz from Moravia supported Sarkander’s efforts to re-Christianise the region but the rich anti-Catholic landowner, Bitowsky von Bistritz opposed him to the extent, where he wanted Sarkander killed. 
The Thirty Years War began in 1618 and it saw a bitter conflict between the Protestants and Christians and this forced him to flee to Poland on 17 May 1619 for a brief period of time when the Protestants occupied Hollenschau. He returned that November. Polish forces moved into the area in 1620 and battle seemed imminent. He visited the field commander with the Eucharist in a monstrance as a shield – the forces saw him come and this prevented battle from taking place. The Jesuits also helped him to reconcile 200 non-Christians to the faith but the non-Christians were severely angered by this.
In 1620 – during the ongoing Bohemian Revolt – Protestant Moravian Estates (under von Bistritz) accused Sarkander of being a traitor and instigator and so he was tortured in the Olomouc prison. He was taken to Olmütz where he was tortured for a confession (as well as for revenge) and to also provide them with information on Sarkander’s friend Lobkowitz. One reason for him being tortured was due to his refusal to divulge what was said under the seal of confession.
Sarkander was covered in flammable material and was set on fire. He did not die outright but it took a month until he died of the injuries he sustained. Lighted candles as well as feathers soaked in oil and sulfur placed on him and ignited. The rack was used on him on 13 February and again on the 17 and 18th; it would last two to three hours. In 1720 his remains were exhumed and were deemed to be incorrupt.
The “Saint Jan Sarkander chapel” stands on the place of his torture at the top of Michael’s Hill. The original torturing rack and Sarkander’s gravestone are preserved here as well.
St Jan’s remains reside at the Cathedral of Jan Sarkander at Olomouc (in modern Czech Republic). The people immediately began to venerate John Sarkander and to ask for his Beatification. He was Beatified on 6 May 1860, at Saint Peter’s Basilica by Pope Pius IX and Canonised on 21 May 1995 at Olomouc, Czech Republic by St Pope John Paul II.
St Patrick (c 386-461) (Optional Memorial)
About dearly loved St Patrick:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/saint-of-the-day-17-march-st-patrick/
St Agricola of Châlon-sur-Saône
St Alexander
St Ambrose of Alexandria
Bl Conrad of Bavaria
St Diemut of Saint Gall
St Gabriel Lalemant
St Gertrude of Nivelles OSB (626-659)
About St Gertrude:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/saint-of-the-day-17-march-st-gertrude-of-nivelles-o-s-b-626-659/
Bl Gertrude of Trzebnica
St Jan Sarkander (1576-1620) Priest and Martyr
Bl Josep Mestre Escoda
St Joseph of Arimathea
Bl Juan Nepomuceno Zegrí y Moreno (1831-1905)
His life:
Saint of the Day – 17 March – Blessed Juan Nepomuceno Zegri y Moreno (1831-1905)
St Llinio of Llandinam
Bl Maria Bárbara Maix
St Paul of Cyprus
St Stephen of Palestrina
St Theodore of Rome
St Thomasello
St Withburga of Dereham
Martyrs of Alexandria – Also known as Martyrs of Serapis: An unknown number of Christians who were martyred together by a mob of worshippers of the Graeco-Egyptian sun god Serapis. They were Martyred in c 392 in Alexandria, Egypt.
Thought for the Day – 16 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
“When Jesus asked us to pray, He promised to answer our prayers.
“Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you” (Mt 7:7).
“If you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it to you,” (Jn 16:23).
God cannot break His promises.
Why, then, do our prayers often seem to remain unanswered?
There are several reasons but the main one is that which is pointed out by St James.
“You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss” (Js 4:3).
Some people say a few prayers with their lips only but without any real faith or confidence that they will be answered.
Jesus told the heartbroken father who begged Him to free his son from an evil spirit: “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (Mk 9:22).
Then He healed the unfortunate boy.
It is necessary to have complete confidence if we wish our prayers to be answered.
Other people ask for worldly favours without ever giving a thought to their spiritual welfare.
But Jesus taught us to act otherwise.
“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice and all these things shall be given unto you besides” (Mt 6:33).
There are those who look for favours, such as bodily health or riches which, if they obtained them, could lead to their spiritual destruction.
Sometimes God delays His answer in order to test our faith and perseverance.
It is important that we should pray with a right intention, with faith and perseverance and, with resignation to God’s Will.
We must realise clearly, God will grant us whatever is best for us, at the most suitable moment! Amen.”
Quote/s of the Day – 16 March – Monday of the Third week of Lent
“Jesus Christ
You have heard Him spoken of,
indeed the greater part of you are already His – you are Christians.
So, to you Christians I repeat His name,
to everyone I proclaim Him –
Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end,
the Alpha and the Omega.
He is the king of the new world.
He is the secret of history.
He is the key to our destiny.”
“When did Jesus reveal Himself as king?
In the event of the Cross!”
Lenten Reflection – 16 March – Monday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: 2 Kings 5:1-15, Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4, Luke 4:24-30
“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.” … Luke 4:24
Daily Meditation:
We cannot be saved without you.
“When His place becomes our place,
when His time becomes our time,
when His person becomes our life,
then the prophecies come to fulfilment in us.
Then Jesus is born within us.
He becomes the living God for me.”
Pope Francis
6 January 2019
Today we are reminded of the terrible irony – a prophet is not well received at home.
Jesus was not accepted by those who saw Him as all too human.
And, He was unable to act with power in their lives.
Is this Lenten season getting us out of our comfortable complacency,
and helping us see the prophetic one in our midst?
Is it helping us listen better, reach out with deeper longing,
find a greater intimacy with the only one who can save us?.
My soul is thirsting for the living God:
when shall I see God face to face?
Psalm 42
Intercessions:
Blessed be Jesus our Saviour.
Through His death He has opened up for us
the way of salvation.
Direct Your people Lord, in the path of true life.
Merciful God, in baptism, You gave us a life that is new
– may we ever grow in Your likeness.
Let us bring joy this day to those who are in need
– and draw us nearer to You, through the help we give them.
Help us to do what is right and good
– let us seek You always with all our heart.
Forgive us for the times we have hurt other people
– Lord have mercy on us.
Closing Prayer:
Merciful God,
Free Your Church from the sins of this world
and protect us from evil we see
and the evil we prefer to ignore.
We need Your guidance, Lord
for we cannot do this alone.
Only with Your help can we be saved.
Thank You for Your desire to save us and love us.
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
“He is the Gospel of God,
He is the Mercy of God,
He is the liberation of God,
He is the One who became poor
so as to enrich us with His poverty.”
One Minute Reflection – 16 March – Monday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: 2 Kings 5:1-15, Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4, Luke 4:24-30
“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.” … Luke 4:24
REFLECTION – “A doctor came amongst us to restore us to health – our Lord Jesus Christ. He discovered blindness in our hearts and promised the light that “eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered the heart of man” (1Cor 2:9).
The humility of Jesus Christ is the cure for your pride. Don’t scorn what will bring you healing, be humble, you for whom God humbled Himself. Indeed, He knew that the medicine of humility would cure you, He who well understood your sickness and knew how to cure it. While you were unable to run to the doctor’s house, the doctor in person came to your house… He is coming, He wants to help you, He knows what you need.
God has come with humility precisely in order that man might imitate Him. If He had remained above you, how would you have been able to imitate Him? And, without imitating Him, how could you be healed? He came with humility because He knew the nature of the remedy He had to administer – a little bitter, it is true but healing. And do you continue to scorn Him? He who holds out the cup to you and you say: “But what sort of God is this God of mine? He was born, suffered, was covered with spittle, crowned with thorns, nailed on the cross!” O miserable soul! You see the doctor’s humility and not the cancer of your pride. That is why humility displeases you…
It often happens that mentally ill people end up by beating their doctor. When that happens, the unfortunate doctor is not only not distressed by the one who beat him but attempts to treat him… As for our doctor, He did not fear being killed by sick people afflicted with madness, He turned His own death into their remedy. Indeed, He died and rose again.”…St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Lord our God, make us love You above all things and all our fellow-men, with a love that is worthy of You. May we look to Your Divine Son in love and imitation. Grant we pray, that by the prayers of the Mother of our Lord and our Mother, we too may be granted the grace to follow Your only Son, no matter our sufferings. We make our prayer, through Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever amen.
AnaStpaul 
You must be logged in to post a comment.