Lenten Programme 2018

Transcription

1 . Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes Westville Lenten Programme 2018 Longing for Light HOLY WEEK From Darkness to Light

2 Scripture: Mark 14: PALM SUNDAY 25 MARCH Our journey through Lent bring us to the beginning of Holy Week. Now the journey intensifies and this week we will be led into a deep darkness as we choose to join Mary, the Apostle John and Mary of Magdala at the foot of the cross. Only once we have experienced that can we truly celebrate with meaning and enthusiasm the resurrection of Jesus at Easter. At Mass today we already began to experience what this week holds for us as we listened to and participated in the Passion according to St. Mark. How can we not be deeply touched, affected and overwhelned by the account of the Lord s Passion? Surely this must touch us in deep and profound ways! If and when we are then Holy Week becomes a deeply important and significant time in our lives. What will you be doing this Holy Week? How will you observe this special time? When someone we love dies we are puzzled and confused how life can continue as normal despite our grief. It is the same this week. Life continues as usual but for us, the followers of Jesus, it is a roller coaster ride of emotions. We will go from the shouts of Hosana echoing through the streets of Jesusalem today to the cries of Crucify Him, Crucify Him on Friday. On Holy Thursday we will gather with Jesus in the Upper Room to witness him wash the feet of his disciples and to institute the Sacraments of Eucharist and Holy Orders. Our voices will fill the church as we sing Glory to God in the highest and the bells ring as we celebrate the New Covenant created by Jesus giving us his Body and Blood. Then at the end of Mass we will fall silent as the Blesseed Sacrament is transferred to the Altar of Repose, the altar and sanctuary are stripped and the procession departs in silence. Then it will be our time to stay awake and keep watch with Jesus at the Altar of Repose. Good Friday is our opportunity to walk with Jesus along the road to Calvary, to be Simon of Cyrene there to help Jesus to carry his cross, to be Veronica wiping the blood, sweat and tears from his face and to be amongst the women of Jerusalem weeping for him. Only once we have done this can we really experience the joy of the Resurrection and come to a profound sense of our personal renewal in faith this Easter and have a foretaste of what awaits us at our personal resurrection at the end of our lives. So, where will you be this Holy Week? s Plan your Holy Week today. Make it a special time of spiritual renewal. Go to confession if you havent been already, observe the Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil. Lord Jesus, your passion, suffering and death gave so many people an opportunity to be with and there for you and they failed. Today I commit myself to walk with you and to share in your self-sacrificing love so that I may die to my sinful past and rise to a renewed life and faith with you at Easter. Amen. MONDAY 26 MARCH

3 Scripture Isaiah 42:1-7 Reading the Bible is one of our greatest pleasures but sometimes it is very difficult to interpret and even to understand. The Book of Isaiah was written many years before Jesus came to live on earth but when we read this passage we have to wonder whom he is writing about, if not Jesus? The prophet is telling us about a person who is a delight to God and has so many virtues; He brings true justice. He does not use harsh words. He does not bring people down. He is faithful in all he does. This is truly someone special and being appointed by God to be a covenant to us, we can only assume that Isaiah is writing about Jesus and why not! Jesus was coming to be the Light of the nations was he not? Let s assume that Isaiah is not talking about Jesus, but someone else. Who could that person be? Could it be me? Do I live up to these virtues? Can I be the light that is not hidden that allows my graces and blessing (given by God) to be shared by all the nations. Isaiah lived in the hope that all would listen to what God had sent him to tell us just as Jesus does. God has sent him to create a new covenant. He is the one who, through the Holy Spirit, appoints us to come into His Light. In fact He makes us into the Light, that can be seen and shared by all! This Holy Week think of yourself as being the servant referred to by Isaiah in this passage. Don t shout out aloud your intentions. Just go about doing it! The Holy Spirit will do the rest. Father Thank for the strength that you give to me to accomplish your will. May I have the courage to lift the cover off the light that you have made me so that your name will be glorified. Amen TUESDAY 27 MARCH Scripture Isaiah 49: 1-6 John 13: 21-33, 36-38

4 We all have a bit of Judas in us. On the surface we appear to be good Christians, but behind this façade lurks another being, one who betrays just as Judas did. Furthermore just as it did for Judas, the day or time of temptation will come for each of us. Our Judas day will come for sure, just as it did for all the Apostles. For Judas it started when he first helped himself to an amount of cash from the money he was keeping for the Apostles. When he was not apprehended he probably became more venturesome and helped himself again. This lowered his barrier against theft, bribery and other sins. When the Jewish leaders made him the offer of a large sum of money to betray his master, the temptation for more was too much for him to ignore. He agreed and was paid thirty pieces of silver, a fortune in his day. When we were children we were tempted to sin in small ways and quite possibly our temptations lowered our resistance to sin. The frequency of our sinning increases especially if we are not caught out. Gradually sinfulness grows, just as it did for Judas. This is why our so-called small sins are so insidious. They can be the doorway to bigger and greater sins, sins that tear us away from God and are far more difficult to avoid or resist. What is worse, these sins can become a bad habit which will prompt us to ignore or even overlook them as sins, and so we continue along our sinful path, failing to make even the smallest effort to avoid sin in the future. But there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel, and Isaiah sums it up when he says I have worked but how hopeless it is! I have used my strength, but have accomplished nothing. Yet, I can trust the Lord to defend my cause; He will reward me for what I do. Yes there is hope especially if we allow Jesus into our lives and place all our complete faith, hope and trust in Him. To follow Isaiah s advice we must first evaluate our lives and be ruthless in our selfcriticism. We must highlight all the errors that are present in our lives. Then we must establish what makes us fail in certain areas and having established the causes of our sinfulness, we must introduce some sort of distraction or remedy backed by prayer and a good confession. Lord God, you are my helper in my many needs. Help me to recognise my sinfulness while guiding me to turn my life around by listening to your Son Jesus and by receiving Him in the Blessed Sacrament as often as I can. Give me the courage and wisdom to follow him more closely this Holy Week. Amen. Scripture: Matthew 26: WEDNESDAY 28 MARCH : Why did Judas need to betray Jesus? We tend to forget that Jesus was not a readily recognisable person in Jerusalem and He did not stand out from the crowd. Jesus was away from Galilee with thousands of outsiders who had come to Jerusalem for the

5 Passover. The city was busy and a daytime arrest in the actual city would have been impractical. After Jesus said to the Jews Before Abraham was, I am they wanted to stone Him but He disappeared into the crowd. Following what they considered to be his offensive preaching in the synagogue they were even more determined to do away with him. In the crowded city of Jerusalem He was not very distinctive. The Pharisees would not arrest Him during the day because He was always surrounded by people who believed in Him. They had to do it at night where there were no streetlights or cellphone torches! They had to do it in an isolated spot and they had to send Roman soldiers to capture Him. He would not have been known to these soldiers and they needed someone to point Him out. Judas had a vital part to play in the apprehension of Jesus. From before the beginning of time, God knew Judas would treacherously betray his Son. In no way did God force him to do so. Satan entered his mind with the temptation of money. Judas was in charge of money and collections. Scripture reveals that possibly he never believed that Jesus was the Messiah and when Jesus announced He was going to die and not take over Jerusalem, Judas saw the writing on his wall. Did he really have a deep relationship with the Saviour? After the trecherous deed of betraying the Saviour he could possibly have asked God for forgiveness. He would have needed spiritual power which Jesus came to bring to overcome the horror of his deed. Perhaps he did! Peter the apostle also denied Jesus BUT he had come to believe in the saving power of Jesus and he asked for forgiveness and repented of his sin and later became the first Pope. Such is the power of forgiveness! When in our trying circumstances we do not believe in Jesus as the Son of God, we give the devil an open door to tempt us to act and behave in ways we would not have. This Holy Week be alert to the events that challenge your belief so that you do not fall into the trap that Judas set for himself. lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil Almighty God, enable me to understand these words. Protect me from the evil one that I may resist the temptation to put myself and my selfish motives and needs first. Help me to love with the love of Jesus who gave his life for my salvation and for the salvation of all mankind. Amen. Scripture: John 13: 1 15 HOLY THURSDAY 29 MARCH The story is told of Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, amongst other things, who woke one morning, picked up the newspaper and read his own obituary! His elder brother, Ludwig, had in fact died, but the journalist had confused the names. Alfred read that he was to be remembered as the king of dynamite. That disturbed him greatly; there was nothing about any good that he had done in the world. So he decided to use his fortune for good, and established the Nobel Peace Prize.

6 The last thing that Jesus did before he was arrested, tortured and crucified, was to wash the feet of his disciples. This was an act of great humility that was normally reserved for the lowest servant in a household. Is this how we remember Jesus? Or do we remember Him for the institution of the Eucharist, or for the raising of Lazarus, or for the healing of lepers, the blind, the lame and the deaf? Do we remember Him, and worship Him for His incredible sacrifice of love in the giving of His life on the Cross so that you and I could be redeemed in the sight of God the Father? Whatever way we remember Him, it all comes down to the motivation of LOVE. That is the example the Lord gave with whatever He did it was all done out of LOVE. How are we living up to that example? He asked us to serve others. Can you find a way to do that today, or in the days to come? Eucharist means service! Go to the Mass of the Lord s Supper this evening. After Mass spend some time in prayer with Jesus at the Altar of Repose as He prepared for the worst ordeal of His earthly life. Father, help me to be like Jesus. Help me to find ways to serve others, and help me to be motivated, as He was, with real love. My my reception of the Holy Eucharist tonight inspire me to be of service in the imitation of Jesus. Amen. Scripture: John:19: GOOD FRIDAY 30 MARCH How difficult it is to even think about the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ! If someone who was not a Christian asked us to explain what the Lord s suffering and death on the cross meant to us, it would be difficult to put it into words. Our emotions get in the way. The right words just won t come! Many Christians withdraw, shutting out the world around them during Good Friday services, when the gospel account of Christ s passion is read. We watch the procession of people who Venerate the Cross in silence. One by one, each person makes a profound statement of their love for Jesus in their own unique way. Words are not needed. Their emotions show on their faces and in their body language. Words may fail us when we contemplate Christ s death, but our hearts do not. Saint Peter had a hard time handling his emotions when the soldiers came for Jesus. He immediately defended him with his sword and cut off the ear of the High Priest s servant. Jesus calmed the situation down by telling Peter to put away his sword, because he needed to do what his Father wanted. We think we know the story about the passion and death of Jesus on the cross really well because we ve heard it so often. Every year, however, we notice a little difference. For an example, after the soldiers arrested Jesus, Peter stood with the servants and guards warming himself by a fire, because it was cold. Have you ever thought about it being cold or a little cool during the day when Jesus was crucified? Most depictions of Jesus passion show him bloodied and sweating a lot, but it may not warm at all. The cold is something we may not have even considered, when Jesus hung dying on the cross, naked,

7 cold and alone. All human decency and dignity was taken away from Jesus in the last moments of his life. Thankfully, the gospel account of Jesus s death on the cross today is not as detailed as the Passion on Palm Sunday but it is also very difficult just to think about Mary s suffering as she stood beneath the cross, watching her beloved son die. The pain must have felt like a knife cutting into her heart, just like Simeon had predicted at the Presentation in the Temple. Standing by helplessly, watching his life slowly slipping away and there was nothing she could do. There was nothing Jesus could do to ease her pain while she watched him die, but give her to John. He gave his mother to John, to love her and take care of her for him after he was gone. They needed each other. We need Mary too, in our own moments of weakness. We are not as strong as her. When our own faith falters and we are not so sure about our own lives anymore, we should try to remember what Jesus said in the last moments of his life on earth, to Behold, your mother. Mary is our mother now. She guides us back to her son. Jesus came to deliver us from the world and to call us home to His everlasting Kingdom and this he did through his own suffering. He went before us to open the way, but unless we follow Him His sacrifice means nothing. The way to Heaven is to strip ourselves of the things of the world that prevent us from following Jesus. Today think about what really matters in your life and what it is that will lead you to eternal life. Father, help me to do what is right and just. Strengthen me to follow the Way of the Cross, a holy path marked out for me by the Saviour that will lead me to the Kingdom of Heaven. Holy Mary, faithful at the cross, pray for us; good St Joseph, pray for us. In the name of the Father, + the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. HOLY SATURDAY 31 MARCH Scripture: Romans 6:3-11 As Christ was raised from the dead by the Father s glory, we too might live a new life. We have travelled together over these past six weeks of Lent and now we reach the climax of this holy season. After the devastating events of yesterday - Good Friday, we are called to a quiet time of prayer and reflection on this Holy Saturday. Jesus body was laid to rest in the tomb and the apostles had retreated to safety fearful of what might happen to them as followers of Jesus. Although Jesus spoke often about His passion, death and resurrection, it is quite possible that they were quite traumatised and confused as to what would happen next. They had given up so much to follow Him and now it seemed like all their best efforts had come to nothing. Jesus had been crucified and they were lost and alone. There are so many people in our world today who are also lost and alone because they have never come to know Jesus. For them Holy Saturday will be just like any other Saturday and Easter revolves around marshmallow eggs and chocolate bunnies. But for

8 those of us who have felt the power and presence of Jesus in our life, we wait with eager expectation for Jesus to rise from the cold, dark tomb to the glory of His Resurrection! St. Paul writing to the Romans explained that we who are baptised went into the tomb with Jesus where we died to sin and through faith we have been raised to new life through Him. It is through our faith in the resurrection that we are given the hope of our own glorious resurrection and the promise of life everlasting in the presence of God. Go to the Easter Vigil tonight. It is one of the most powerful celebrations in the Liturgical Year with beautiful readings tracing the history of salvation as well as striking imagery. It is also an opportunity for you to support those Catechumens and Candidates who will be Baptised and Received into Full Communion with us tonight. Father, You love each one of us so much that you gave us Jesus as the perfect sacrifice to take away our sins and the darkness of death. I pray especially today for those people who have never come to faith. In my celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus help me to be a beacon of the light of Jesus in my home, to my family and to all whom I meet. Amen These Daily s for Lent 2018 are written by Fr. Desmond Nair, Deacon Mark Wardell, Lawrence Surgeson, George Cominos, Irene Helsdon, Tony Clewlow and Veronica Donnelly. Please acknowledge the authors when copying and distributing. We wish you a Blessed Easter. Through the Resurrection of Jesus may you be renewed in faith, hope and love.