Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me, for I am afflicted and poor. Keep my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God.

God does everything He can to help us. He has given us the Scriptures and the Church to teach us how to imitate His Beloved Son. He leads us through the Holy Spirit so we might walk in the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He listens to our prayers and answers them for our betterment. He helps us to overcome our afflictions and showers us with spiritual riches. He will keep our lives safe and reward those who trust in Him. He will never abandon us because He is our God and our Heavenly Father.

Do we listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as well as God listens to us? How can we be more devoted to the God who has sacrificed and given so much for us? In what ways can we proclaim we are Christians to the rest of the world? 

O Lord, help us to walk in your truth.

Amen.

First Friday in Ordinary Time

Do not forget the works of the Lord! What we have heard and know, and what our fathers have declared to us, we will declare to the generation to come The glorious deeds of the LORD and his strength.

The world is a distracting place. It can make us forget all sorts of things. Our responsibilities, our loved ones, even our God. It’s so easy to overlook God in a world full of people, places, and things that are crying out, “Look at us!” We can go from moments of devotion to moments of distraction in the blink of an eye. But this is part of the struggle we all have as Christians. It isn’t easy to constantly recall the debts and gratitude we owe God for all He has done for us. However, we must try our best and when we do remember God, we must throw ourselves entirely into declaring His glorious deeds and strength through our thoughts, words, and works. For if we do not remind the world of God, then we have failed in our duty as a Christian to be a light to all the nations.

What distractions are vying for our attention? How can we bring God to the forefront of our lives? What can we do to proclaim God to all the world?

O Lord, let us never forget the works you have done for us.

Amen.

Ninth Monday in Ordinary Time

Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.

Through His Divine Power, God has bestowed on us the gift of His Divine Image. He has made each one of us in His Likeness with all the goodness that comes from Him. The world may try to distract and corrupt us, but if we trust in God, then we shall be able to overcome our evil desires and escape from corruption. God even goes so far as to give us a roadmap to salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, who showed us how to supplement our faith with virtues, to grow in knowledge, to temper our passions with self-control, to endure all things for God, to devote ourselves to the proclamation of the Good News, to have mutual affection for God and His children, and to love with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths.

Do we take the time to contemplate what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God? Are we following the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Christ? What can we do to overcome our evil desires and choose the good thoughts, words, and words of God?

O Lord, grant us the virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, devotion, mutual affection, and love that we need to be your good and faithful followers.

Amen.

Thirty-Fourth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

But the God in whose hand is your life breath and the whole course of your life, you did not glorify. By him were the wrist and hand sent, and the writing set down. "This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, TEKEL, and PERES. These words mean: MENE, God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it; TEKEL, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians."

We should all hope we don’t suffer the same fate as King Belshazzar. However, there are times in our lives when we are tempted to act like him. We fall into deadly sins and instead of our thoughts, words, and works giving glory to God, we take the glory for ourselves. We let our pride and selfishness blind us from giving God the credit for our successes. He is the source of all Good and deserves all glory, praise, and thanksgiving. If we fail to amend our lives, then like King Belshazzar, we shall find our days numbered, our souls found wanting, and our possessions divided. However, if we give our lives over to God completely, then He shall find us worthy to stay with Him in Heaven, give us spiritual treasures beyond counting, and provide us endless days.

Are we allowing our pride and selfishness to keep us from living in accordance with God’s commandments, teachings, and inspirations? In what ways are we giving glory to God? Do we recognize God as the source of all Good, the center of our lives, and the summit of our faith?

O Lord, we give you all glory, praise, and thanksgiving.

Amen.

Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs

Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion, who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.

Jesus is the mystery of our devotion. He was manifested in the flesh for us. He was vindicated by the spirit before, during, and after his life on earth. He is seen and glorified by the angels in heaven and the church on earth. He is proclaimed and believed in throughout the world by his faithful followers. Jesus is the source, center, and summit of our faith and he should be at the core of all we do. Sometimes we fail to be as devoted to him as we should, but it is during those dark times of the soul that we most need to redouble our efforts to be truly devoted to him and his teachings.

Are we as devoted to Jesus as he deserves? What are we doing to manifest him in the world through our words and works? How can we become better proclaimers of his Good News and Glory?

O Lord, help us to have great devotion to you throughout our lives.

Amen.

Thirteenth Thursday of Ordinary Time

Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the LORD’s messenger called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. “Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the messenger. “Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.”

We have to be willing to give up what we love for God. God might not ask us to sacrifice in the same way as He did Abraham, but every day He does ask us to sacrifice the things we like and love to do what is right and good. We might have to give up TV or computer time to help a neighbor or listen to someone in need of a friendly ear. We might be asked to pull up our roots and move to a new place in order to follow where we know God is calling us. We might have to fast from fatty or sugary foods to become healthier people. We might have to give up our time, talents, and treasures to the Church or charities in order to make a difference in other people’s lives. Whatever it might be, we must be willing to sacrifice everything we hold dear to do God’s Will. Then and only then, will we prove that we are truly devoted to God.

Are we willing to give up what we love for God? How can we develop the habit of putting God’s Will before our own? What sacrifices is God asking us to make today?

O Lord, give us the devotion to withhold nothing from you.

Amen.

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God…

Just like Simeon, we are called by God to be righteous, devout, filled with the Holy Spirit, and willing to wait for consolation. In order to be righteous, we need to reorder our lives so that knowing, loving, and serving God and His children come first. We also are asked to be devout in our faith, not letting anything discourage us from doing God’s Will. Additionally, we are challenged to invite the Holy Spirit into our every thought, word, and work so that we can better manifest Christ in the world. Last but not least, we need to cultivate a spirit of patient perseverance in our lives. Not everything will turn out how we imagined or hoped for, but if we remain faithful to God, then He will console us when we need it most and throughout eternity.

Are we righteous and devout like Simeon? Have we emptied ourselves of worldly things so that the Holy Spirit can fill us with grace? Are we willing to wait for our consolations no matter how much we might suffer along the way to Heaven?

O Lord, give us the graces we need to be righteous, devout, holy, and patient.

Amen.