Lenten Cyber Retreat - Week 3
March 8th, 2010- Fr. Tim Hayes, EGL 1
Lent Sunday III March 7, 2010
Year C Readings http://www.usccb.org/nab/030710c.shtml
The First Scrutiny teaches us to Thirst for Holiness
God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. “This is my name forever; thus am I to be remembered through all generations.” Exodus 3:15
God is with us in a living relationship. When we seek the source of our strength in the midst of life’s struggles, we will always find God, the God Who Is and Was and Ever Shall Be. God reveals that He has heard our cry and His longing is to set us free. When we respond to God’s Presence and acknowledge Him for Who He Is, we are drawn into His living involvement with His People. If we do not give God first place in our lives, we must repent. Our lives are meant to bear fruit in bringing others to an awareness of the Truth. This entails knowing and living in accord with the Truth. Jesus’ call to repentance can be heard in the Sacramental life of the Church, especially in the Sacrament of Penance. Confession is good for the soul. Be reconciled to God!
From Pope Benedict XVI:
By nature, [man] is open to sharing freely, but he finds in his being a strange force of gravity that makes him turn in and affirm himself above and against others: this is egoism, the result of original sin. Adam and Eve, seduced by Satan’s lie, snatching the mysterious fruit against the divine command, replaced the logic of trusting in Love with that of suspicion and competition; the logic of receiving and trustfully expecting from the Other with anxiously seizing and doing on one’s own (cf. Gn 3, 1-6), experiencing, as a consequence, a sense of disquiet and uncertainty. How can man free himself from this selfish influence and open himself to love?
3/ 8 MONDAY: But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, though testified to by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
Do I have an attitude that opens up to God’s Justice, the Righteousness that He manifests to all? How open in my spirit to those outside of my usual circle of relationships? To those most in need?
3/ 9 TUESDAY: For there is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.
Am I able to admit humbly to my own sinfulness? Where do I claim glory that is not truly mine? Do I make distinctions between myself and others that God does not make?
3/10 WEDNESDAY: They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, Whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by His Blood, to prove His righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed, through the forbearance of God–to prove His righteousness in the present time, that He might be righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
Prayer Intention: Justice for the marginalized: the homeless, those in poverty, refugees and all who are ill.
3/11 THURSDAY: Therefore, since we have a great High Priest Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.
Do I have a clear understanding of my own share in the Priesthood of Jesus Christ and my interdependence with others who share that Priesthood – clergy, religious and laity? How do I hold fast to this confession? Does my life show evidence of this?
3/12 FRIDAY: Abstinence from meat with the whole Church.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One Who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.
Am I aware of how my weaknesses bring me closer to Christ and His embracing of the human condition in its full reality? How am I being tested now and where do I discover the strength to endure?
3/13 SATURDAY: So let us confidently approach the Throne of Grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.
What petitions do I bring personally to the Throne of Grace? What aspect of Divine Mercy is entrusted to me to make known by my life and prayer in relation to others?
3/14 SUNDAY Worship with the community.
The Justice of God Has Been Manifested through Faith in Jesus Christ.”
What does my Faith in Jesus Christ reveal to me about God’s Justice today? How do I respond to this new awareness? How am I in need of deeper conversion?