Stephen Parish Family in the Hamilton area. Pam Long and her husband Bob are the parents of three children and grandparents to three grandchildren, all who bring great joy and hope for the future. Become aware of the cross she or he is carrying. Prayer:Dear Jesus, help us this day and always to expand our knowledge of our neighbors, not limiting ourselves to those we know or who live next door, and to work for the good in their lives, valuing it above our own.Ĭlosing: Meet someone new today, either in person or through media accounts. Then we will be choosing life, not just here for ourselves, but also for our neighbors and for eternity with God. If we are choosing life as God asks and Jesus shows, we will work to remove the perils that our neighbors face in their lives, just as we would do it for our children. We must become aware and engaged with our neighbors who did not choose poverty, homelessness, sickness, violence in their neighborhoods and climates that are changing and threatening their homes and ability to feed their families. In the Gospel Jesus makes it clearer: “whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” So we’ve got to give our life to Jesus by doing what we can to change the difficult conditions of others’ lives. The two greatest commandments? We know that answer by heart! Love God and love our neighbor. We learn we are to love God, walk with Him and keep his commandments, statutes and decrees. In today’s scriptures the author of Deuteronomy points to a broader understanding of choosing life. We are called to so much more and should embrace the deeper meaning of choosing life as much as we embrace that sweet little one we cradle in our arms. It is a temptation (and we’re only in the second day of Lent!) to limit the call to “choose life” to giving birth to a child.

More importantly there are the sacraments, which give us the grace to see Jesus walking with us throughout our lives. And then there are the birthday parties and other milestones, all happy reasons for cherishing life. This is a great occasion to revel in new life. Reflection: What great parties we have when a child is born and baptized into the faith. Invitation to Prayer: Dear Jesus, let me shoulder the cross before me this day, particularly when I think I have no time, energy or resources to care for my neighbor.

He was ordained in 2016 and completed his licentiate in canon law through The Catholic University of America in 2022.įebruary 23: Thursday after Ash Wednesday For what spiritual intention can I offer up these small sacrifices?įather Jason Williams serves as Chancellor of the Archdiocese as well as Master of Ceremonies to Archbishop Schnurr. Prayer: Lord, as I embark on this spiritual campaign of forty days, help me to convert my heart more and more to you, not so as to be noticed by others but solely for love of you who have given everything for love of me.Ĭlosing: Consider the motivations for your practical resolutions to pray, fast, and give alms this Lent. In so doing we more perfectly become who he created us to be. May he grant us that grace, to learn to live more like him during these forty days, to better reflect his image and likeness to a world in need of his presence. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, then, make the likeness of God shine more clearly from our lives. Almsgiving is an antidote to vanity, because it teaches us to think more of others and their good rather than remaining focused only on ourselves. Fasting is an antidote to sensuality, because we intentionally set aside even legitimate pleasures that we find in this life, knowing that our ultimate fulfillment is in heaven. Prayer is an antidote to pride, because through prayer we contemplate God and his ways rather than our own. Both then and now, these disciplines help us to be less focused on ourselves and more committed to God and to loving others as he does. Jesus himself encouraged his disciples to practice the spiritual works of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The prophet Joel exclaims, “Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast, call an assembly gather the people!” The Lord has indeed taken the initiative as he calls out to us, “Return to me with your whole heart,” but it is up to each one of us to respond to this invitation.Įach year we are blessed with the gift of this holy season to examine our lives, root out from them that which is not of God, and allow ourselves to be more conformed to the goodness for which he created us.

Reflection: Lent is not a time to sit idle and wait for God to act. Invitation to Prayer: “Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness” (Psalm 51: 3)

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