Second Wednesday of Advent

The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound. Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles' wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.

God doesn’t get tired of us. He loves us just as much when we are saintly and when we are sinful. He does not force us to do anything, but rather lets us choose. He wants us to be good and faithful servants because we love Him and He is willing to wait patiently for us to come to Him. His unwavering love does not grow faint or weary, but that doesn’t mean His Love and Mercy for us will trump His Justice. If we fall into sin, He is more than willing to forgive us. However, we need to be contrite for our sins and honestly desire to amend our lives. We might not always succeed, but we should not grow weary of trying to be holy. God gives us every strength and grace we need to overcome the temptations we face. He gives us spiritual vigor during our times of trial and will renew us after every battle with our sinful selves. If we let Him, He will grant us wings which will bear us to heaven and eternal life.

Do we give thanks to God for being so patient with us? Are we truly grateful for the love, mercy, and support He has given us throughout our lives? How can we express our thanks for all God has done for us?

O Lord, give us your strength and vigor.

Amen.

Twenty-Seventh Tuesday in Ordinary Time

If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand? If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered.

Thank goodness God doesn’t mark our iniquities! Instead, He offers us forgiveness and mercy. He allows us to wash away and cleanse our sins though the sacrament of reconciliation. He allows us back into His good graces if we come to Him with humble and contrite hearts, confess our sins to a priest, and do penance. What a wondrously loving God we have! One who is willing to forgive and forget our sins if we are willing to be humbled before Him.

Do we appreciate how forgiving and merciful God is to us? Do we mark the iniquities committed against us? What can we do to be more forgiving of ourselves and others?

O Lord, may you be revered forever for your mercy and forgiveness.

Amen.

Ascension of the Lord

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since through the blood of Jesus we have confidence of entrance into the sanctuary by the new and living way he opened for us through the veil, that is, his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy.

It is important to wash clean our consciences on a regular basis. We all need healing from sins. We all need to come to God with humble and contrite hearts. We all need to make good confessions to free ourselves from the wickedness and snares of the Devil. The sacrament of reconciliation is a great source of hope for all of us. There should be no fear of such a wonderfully freeing experience. Instead, we should go confidently into the confessional and speak to God from the depths of our souls and allow Him to wash away our sins and cleanse us of our iniquities. It was for this purpose that Jesus Christ came into the world and we would do well to make use of God’s Divine Mercy.

Do we seek God’s cleansing sacrament as frequently as we should? Do we allow God to work His Divine Mercy within us? How can we lead others to the sacrament of reconciliation?

O Lord, thank you for the cleansing waters that flowed from your wounds.

Amen.

First Wednesday of Lent

A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me. 

It can be difficult to have a steadfast spirit in the world. We are constantly tempted by sins, bombarded by distractions, and struggling with our weaknesses. It can be very spiritually draining to fight off these things over and over again, especially our bad habits. Evil thoughts can weigh our hearts down and lead us astray. However, the beautiful thing about being Christians is the knowledge that God wants to forgive us and will do everything He can to save us. He will grant us mercy and graces to help us overcome every spiritual obstacle. Through the sacraments, He renews our spiritual reserves and makes it possible for us to avoid sins, ignore distractions, and conquer our weaknesses. He will not spurn us if we come to Him.

What sins, distractions, and weaknesses do we need to overcome? How can we do so with the help of the sacraments? What can we do to help others to conquer their obstacles to holiness?

O Lord, create a clean heart within us and renew our spirits.

Amen.

Friday after Ash Wednesday

A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.

God will not spurn us if we come to Him with hearts that are contrite and humble. God wants us to come to Him and seek forgiveness for our sins and imperfections. He wants to shower us with His Mercy as an example of what we should for those who trespass against us. He wants to wipe out our offenses and wash away our guilt. He wants us to be cleansed of evil and filled with goodness and compassion.

How can we become humbler and more contrite in our hearts? What can we do to imitate God’s Mercy and Compassion in our own lives? How can we be as good as our Heavenly Father is good?

O Lord, grant us humble and contrite hearts.

Amen.

Ash Wednesday

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned. Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.

During the time of Lent, we are called to reexamine our lives and realign them with God’s Will wherever we have gone astray. We all have areas in our lives where we can do a better job of being Christians. Sometimes we fail in small ways. Other times we fail in big ways. Thankfully for us, we have a loving and merciful God, who is full of kindness and goodness. He is more than willing to forgive our weaknesses and wipe out our offenses. And if we come to Him in the sacrament of reconciliation and confess our sins with humble and contrite hearts, He will wash away our guilt and cleanse us so we are once again worthy of being His children.

Do we take time to examine our lives and our consciences to realign them with God’s Will? Do we take advantage of the sacrament of reconciliation whenever we need to? How can we be as merciful to others as God is with us?

O Lord, be merciful for we have sinned.

Amen.

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Indeed the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

At the end of our lives, we will all be asked to render an account to God. There is nothing we can keep hidden from Him. Nothing He won’t see. We will see ourselves as God sees us... the good, the bad, and everything between. He will show us what we did right and what we did wrong. He will cut through all our illusions and reveal our true selves, virtues and vices, faith and doubt, hope and despair, love and hate. Thankfully, the sacrament of reconciliation can wash away our iniquities and cleanse us of our sins and if we make regular use of this source of grace we shall have nothing to fear from the Lord. We might not be perfect as our Father is perfect, but He will know we were humble and contrite and tried our best to be good and faithful servants and His Divine Mercy will be poured out upon us.

Are we leading our lives in such a way as to build up virtues and graces or are we tearing down our spirits with vices and selfishness? Do we make regular use of the healing sacrament of reconciliation? How can we cultivate spirits that are humble and contrite?

O Lord, give us the graces we need to render a good account for ourselves before you.

Amen.

Fourteenth Tuesday in Ordinary Time

When Ephraim made many altars to expiate sin, his altars became occasions of sin. Though I write for him my many ordinances, they are considered as a stranger's. Though they offer sacrifice, immolate flesh and eat it, the LORD is not pleased with them. He shall still remember their guilt and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt.

Just because we feel sorry for our sins doesn't mean they will be forgiven. Just because we confess our sins doesn't mean we are absolved. Just because we try to make things right with those we've sinned against doesn't mean we've paid the full price. We need contrition, confession, and penance, all together, to truly be forgiven. We can't leave out one or two of these elements of reconciliation and think we are freed from our sins. We need to be humble and contrite, firmly intending to avoid temptations and sin no more. We need to make a good confession, which means examining our consciences in a serious manner. We need to do our penance with a spirit of thanksgiving and joyfully. When all of these are present, then and only then are we forgiven.

Do we firmly intend to avoid temptations and evil? Do we make contrite and meaningful confessions? Do we seek to make amends with God and all whom we have harmed through sin?

O Lord, make our hearts into true altars of forgiveness.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr

Then Jehoiachin, king of Judah, together with his mother, his ministers, officers, and functionaries, surrendered to the king of Babylon, who, in the eighth year of his reign, took him captive. And he carried off all the treasures of the temple of the LORD and those of the palace, and broke up all the gold utensils that Solomon, king of Israel, had provided in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had foretold.

There are consequences to doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. Although He is merciful, He is also just. He can reach His limit and say, “No more.” He will turn us over to our enemies and let them take away all that we have and bring us low. He does this not out of spite, but out of love... in hopes that we might learn from our mistakes and make amends for our sins. It is up to us to humble ourselves and ask for God’s forgiveness and if we are contrite, then He shall grant us His Divine Mercy and restore us to a life.

Do we presume too much on God’s Mercy? What can we do to make amends for our faults and failings? How can we cultivate humble and contrite hearts?

O Lord, we surrender ourselves to you and pray that you might carry off all our evil inclinations and cleanse us of our sins.

Amen.

Thursday within the Octave of Easter

Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.

Repentance is key to our faith. God knows we are not perfect and so He sent His Son to die for us so our sins might be washed away. Jesus broke his Body and poured out his Blood to feed our faith and cleanse our offenses. All we have to do is come to God with humble and contrite hearts and accept the saving grace He offers us through the sacraments. If we do so, then He will refresh our souls and lead us to eternal life with Him. Of course, true repentance isn’t always easy. Sometimes it requires us to give up something we enjoy. Other times it requires us to amend our lives and strive to be better people. However, the sacrifice God asks of us is a mere drop in the bucket when compared to the ocean of Divine Mercy He has prepared for us.

What sins do we need to repent for? How can we cultivate humble and contrite hearts? Are we willing to accept God’s grace and all that it will require from us?

O Lord, convert our hearts and wipe away our sins.

Amen.

Fifth Saturday of Lent

I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the LORD, who make Israel holy, when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.

God’s sanctuary is within all of us. He wants to dwell within our hearts and as long as we keep them clean from sin... He is with us. However, if we do fall into sin, then we need to take the time and effort to cleanse ourselves and rededicate our whole being to doing God’s Will. We do this through the sacrament of reconciliation. In a way, each time we are reconciled with God, we re-proclaim our relationship as members of the Body of Christ. When we make a good act of contrition and do penance, then we are freed from our sins and given a new opportunity to make ourselves into worthy dwelling places of the Lord.

What are we doing to keep ourselves clean of the stains of sin and indifference? How can we make our hearts into pristine temples to the Lord? Are we making the best effort we can to seek God’s Forgiveness through the sacrament of reconciliation?

O Lord, dwell within us and help us keep ourselves clean of sin.

Amen.

Fourth Thursday of Lent

Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, "I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage." So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.

We are all sinners in one way or another. We all deserve God's Wrath for the evils we've done and the good we've failed to do. It is only by the saving grace of God's Divine Mercy that we have the opportunity to be spared condemnation. However, God doesn't just give us salvation without us work towards it. He wants us to be loving and merciful as He is loving and merciful. He wants us to be good and faithful as He is good and faithful. He wants us to be contrite and penitent as He is forgiving and just. He is willing to let His blazing wrath die down, if we are willing to come to Him in the sacrament of reconciliation and make amends for our sins and failings.

What are our sins? Are we genuinely contrite for the wrongs we've done and the goods we've failed to do? Are we making use of the sacrament of reconciliation as often as we should?

O Lord, we come to you with contrite hearts. Relent and grant us your mercy.

Amen.

Third Tuesday of Lent

But with contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received; As though it were burnt offerings of rams and bullocks, or thousands of fat lambs, So let our sacrifice be in your presence today as we follow you unreservedly; for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame. And now we follow you with our whole heart, we fear you and we pray to you. Do not let us be put to shame, but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy. Deliver us by your wonders, and bring glory to your name, O Lord.

If we are leading the Christ-like life, then we are living sacrifices. We might not be dying on a physical cross, but we are dying to ourselves day after day. We give our faith to God without reservation, we offer prayers with contrite hearts and humble spirits, asking our Heavenly Father for forgiveness. We trust in God’s Mercy and so we are merciful. We follow God with our whole heart and so we lead others closer to Him. We fear letting the Lord down and so we raise ourselves up and do His Will without reservation or hesitation. We strive to do our best as Christians and hope God’s Kindness and Mercy will deliver us from all evil and our own weaknesses.

How can we cultivate contrite hearts and humble spirits? How can we make ourselves into living sacrifices? What do we need to do in order to follow God with our whole being?

O Lord, we sacrifice ourselves to you, deliver us by your wonders.

Amen.

First Wednesday of Lent

Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day's walk announcing, "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed," when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.

Although we might not meet a Jonah in our lives, that doesn’t mean we aren’t all being warned by God to change our ways. We might have certain sins and imperfections we fall into again and again. These spiritual weaknesses need to be addressed with the same contrition, hope, and determination as the people of Nineveh. We might not put on sackcloth, sit in ashes, or fast on nothing, but we do need to turn away from our evil ways and make amends with God. If we do make things right with Him, then we shall be saved from destruction and death. God will take pity on us and give us another chance to prove we love Him more than our sins and failings.

What do we need to repent for and fast from? How can we amend our lives? What actions can we take to put God first and foremost in our lives?

O Lord, we repent for all our sins and imperfections.

Amen.

Third Saturday of Advent

For he is like the refiner's fire, or like the fuller's lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD. Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in the days of old, as in years gone by.

These words have been used to describe John the Baptist and Jesus, but they also describe what the sacrament of reconciliation does for all of us. It offers us a chance to be refined and purified. It removes our impurities by burning them away. In a similar way, the sacrament of reconciliation can rid us of our imperfections and sins, granting us the grace to become worthy vessels of God’s Will on earth. By seeking forgiveness with contrite hearts and doing our penances, we are emptied of all our sins and transformed into pleasing and faithful followers.

Do we make ourselves available to the sacrament of reconciliation and the graces it offers us? Are we willing to allow God to burn away our imperfections and refine our souls? How can we becomes living vessels, bearing God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace to all the world?

O Lord, refine and purify us.

Amen.

Thirty-Third Saturday of Ordinary Time

"Into what tribulation have I come, and in what floods of sorrow am I now! Yet I was kindly and beloved in my rule." But I now recall the evils I did in Jerusalem, when I carried away all the vessels of gold and silver that were in it, and for no cause gave orders that the inhabitants of Judah be destroyed. I know that this is why these evils have overtaken me; and now I am dying, in bitter grief, in a foreign land."

Sometimes we don’t realize the evils we’ve done to others. We are blinded by our sins, our selfishness, our goods, our fame, and all sorts of worldly things. We only see the terrible things we’ve done in hindsight. Our reaction to this revelation of our own misdeeds can either be like Antiochus where we blame all the evils that have befallen us on our sins or we can try to make amends for what we’ve done and failed to do. We can tell those we have wronged, especially God, we are truly sorry for our failures. We can make good confessions with humble and contrite hearts. We can accept absolution from our priests and do penance for our sins. We can firmly promise to avoid those temptations that lead us into evil. Knowing we have done wrong should not paralyze us, but rather it should lead us to renew ourselves through the sacrament of reconciliation.

What evil things have we done to others? Have we sought God’s forgiveness for these sins? Have we made amends for our failings with those we have harmed?

O Lord, help us to make good confessions with humble and contrite hearts.

Amen.

Twenty-Ninth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace.

Every day we are tempted to obey our desires over what we know is right. Some days we have the willpower to resist. Other days we fall into temptation and sin. Thankfully, although we fall, we are also given a way to rise up again. Through the life, death, passion, and resurrection of Jesus, we were all given a chance at eternal life and use our bodies as weapons for righteousness. We have only to choose to obey God’s Will above our own and allow Him to lead us where we need to be. We might not follow in Jesus’ footsteps perfectly, but as long as we are contrite for our sins and genuinely wish to amend our lives, then God will find us and lead us back to the right path.

What desires do we obey before God? How can we put God before these wants? What can we do to sharpen our consciences and transform ourselves into weapons of righteousness?

O Lord, we present our bodies to you. Do with them what you will.

Amen.

Sixteenth Thursday of Ordinary Time

“I am coming to you in a dense cloud, so that when the people hear me speaking with you, they may always have faith in you also.” When Moses, then, had reported to the LORD the response of the people, the LORD added, “Go to the people and have them sanctify themselves today and tomorrow. Make them wash their garments and be ready for the third day; for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people.”

We all need to prepare ourselves for God’s Presence in our lives. We can do this in many ways from daily prayers to acts of sacrifice, but most effective is through the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation. When we go to God with contrite hearts, admit our sins, and accept His Mercy, we become spiritually clean. We sanctify ourselves through confession and making a firm commitment to God to sin no more. We wash ourselves in the saving grace of Christ and ready our souls to receive God not only in our everyday experiences, but in the Eucharist. Preparing ourselves for God is something we need to do on a daily basis because God is always with us.

In what ways do we prepare ourselves for God’s Presence? How can we cleanse and sanctify ourselves? Are the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist at the core of who we are and how we act?

O Lord, sanctify and wash us with you Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in.” These are offered according to the law. Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.

It doesn’t matter how much we sacrifice or offer to God in reparation for our sins if we are not truly contrite, do penance, and intend to sin no more. There is nothing we can do to make up for the weight of our sins and failings. All we can do is make up for what is lacking in Christ’s sacrifice, namely our contrition and acceptance of God’s Divine Mercy. When we sin against God we sin infinitely so and it is only through the infinite sin offering of Christ on the cross that we can be saved from the punishment that is rightfully ours. This is why Jesus had to die for us once and for all. By doing so, he offered each of us a means by which we could be consecrated to himself, filled with the Holy Spirit, and cleansed in the eyes of the Father. The difficult part for many of us is admitting we are wrong, doing penance, and amending our lives.

How can we cultivate contrite hearts? What can we do to recognize our sins and failings so that we can amend our lives? How can we give thanks to Jesus for his sacrifice for us?

O Lord, we want to be consecrated to you and do your will in all things.

Amen.

Third Friday of Lent

I will heal their defection, says the LORD, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them. I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily; He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth his shoots. His splendor shall be like the olive tree and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar. Again they shall dwell in his shade and raise grain; They shall blossom like the vine, and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

When we come to God contritely asking for His forgiveness, He is more than willing to absolve our sins, give us penance, and send us forth to sin no more. He wants to heal our every defection. He wants to have a reason to withhold His wrath and to love us freely. He wants to give us life-giving graces that will help us grow in faith, sustain our hope, and blossom in love for Him and His children. He wants to be at the very root of our every thought, word, and work. He wants us to bear good fruits and provide us with protection. He is Our Heavenly Father, Our Life-Giving Brother, and our Holy Spirit and if we accept Him into our lives, then we will flourish and prosper.

Do we seek our God when we have sinned? Do we appreciate everything He does for us through His Divine Mercy? How can we grow the Kingdom of God through our thoughts, words, and works?

O Lord, pour out your mercy on us so that we might blossom in faith, hope, and love.

Amen.