Introduction

The Week of Ash Wednesday

Theme: Preparation for the Journey

Ash Wednesday

(Joel 2:12-18; Psalm 51:3-6, 12-14, 17; 2 Corinthians: 5-20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18)

To pray is to walk in the presence of God, which calls us to compare our daily life with the Lord’s wishes and encourages us to be receptive to the action of the Holy Spirit.

Set aside time to be completely with God in prayer.

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1:1-4, 6; Luke 9:22-25)

As we journey with the Lord, we forget ourselves and become more present to him. With humility we stand before the Lord and resolve to sin no more because we wish to conform ourselves to the will of God.

Resolve how to learn how to love Him more.

Friday after Ash Wednesday

(Isaiah 58:1-9; Psalm 51:3-6, 18-19; Matthew 9:14-15)

We realize that on our journey, we fail. During these times we ask God to have mercy on us and forgive us. Contrition then leads to peace with God, ourselves, and others.

Meditate on Jesus’ call to forgive others just as God forgive us.

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

(Isaiah 58:9-14; Psalm 86:1-6; Luke 5:27-32)

Help me to see suffering as an opportunity for purification and an occasion of growth and holiness. Thus will I unite myself to you, my crucified Lord.

Be a partner in Jesus suffering

The First Week of Lent

Theme: The Eucharist

First Sunday of Lent

(Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Psalm 91:1-2, 10-15; Romans10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13)

Our intimacy with Christ in the Eucharist should be the center of our personal life and a focal point of our spirituality.

Give thanks to God for the gift of the Eucharist.

Monday of the First Week of Lent

(1 Peter 5:1-4; Psalm 23:1-6; Matthew 16:13-19)

If we would truly succeed at giving ourselves wholeheartedly to God in our Holy Communions, we would gradually be transformed in Jesus.

Bring the presence of the love Jesus to someone today.

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

(Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 34:4-7, 16-19; Matthew 6:7-15)

Unity comes only from Christ in the Eucharist, Mary, and the proclamation of the Universal Call to Holiness.

Be the sign of unity in your job today

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

(Jonah 3:1-10; Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19; Luke 11:29-32)

Holy Communion, received daily if possible, is our primary source of holiness.

Pray that your love for the Eucharist may give you strength.

Thursday of the First Week of Lent

(Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25; Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8; Matthew 7:7-12)

I believe that I eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood, even though my senses do not grasp this. This is the meaning of faith.

Pray today for those who do not believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Friday of the First Week of Lent

(Ezekiel 18:21-28; Psalm 130:1-8; Matthew 5:20-26)

Every time we ‘eat’ Jesus in the Eucharist, we ‘eat’ his death in order to participate in his resurrection. Thus we proclaim the boundless love of Christ who gave his very self to us.

Share your love and treasure with the poor.

Saturday of the First Week of Lent

(Deuteronomy 26:16-19; Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8; Matthew 5:43-48)

Participation in Eucharistic Adoration is a manifestation of our sacrificial love.

Perform acts of kindness for those around you.

The Second Week of Lent

Theme: Serve God by Serving Others

Second Sunday of Lent

(Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Psalm 27:1, 7-9, 14-14; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36)

As Christ spent all his life for others, so Christians must assume self-giving and service for their neighbor as a norm of life.

Visit or phone an elderly, sick , or homebound person today.

Monday of the Second Week of Lent

(Daniel 9:4-10; Psalm 79:8-9, 11, 13; Luke 6:36-38)

If someone asks a favor, do it gladly when you can; if you cannot, excuse yourself sincerely; in any case, do not give the impression that you have been bothered.

Do some act of service for someone you dislike .

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

(Isaiah 1:10, 16-20; Psalm 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23; Matthew 23:1-12)

For those who ask nothing of you, nor want anything from you, give them the gift of a most attentive prayer.

Say a decade of the rosary for a friend.

Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

(Jeremiah 18:18-20; Psalm 31:5-6, 14-16; Matthew 20:17-28)

We may tend to forget our responsibility when it concerns happenings in another continent. Each of us in involved in the hunger, sickness, faith, and sin of everyone else. So, if we want to save the world, we must convince people to love God and neighbor and not ignore the spiritual formation of others.

Make a donation to Haiti if you can.

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

(Jeremiah 17:5-10; Psalm 1: 1-4, 6: Luke 16:19-31)

The measure of our love for God is our love for neighbor. We must love those who live around us and see in them the image of God. Love is light and brings serenity at home, life and strength outside.

Do a secret act of kindness for a neighbor or coworker.

Friday of the Second Week of Lent

(Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28; Psalm 105:16-21; Matthew 21;33-43, 45-46)

When we are tempted to ask ourselves how far we have to go in caring for our brethren, remember that Christ could have redeemed us with one drop of his blood. Instead he chose to shed all of his blood for our salvation. If he loved us so much, how can we place limits on our love for others?

Help without expecting anything for your good deed.

Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

(Micah 7:14-15, 18-20; Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32)

Jesus, grant us the ability to be for others your light, your heart, your hands: that we may walk with them toward you and together reach our Father in heaven.

Pray for those who are in need of healing.

The Third Week of Lent

Theme: Relationships

Third Sunday of Lent

(Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15; Psalm 103: 1-4, 6-8, 11; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9)

Jesus took our relationship of love with him seriously. He is continuously in our midst with his grace, power, love, light, gifts, with the Holy Spirit, and through the Church.

Pray for those who do not yet know or believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Monday of the Third Week of Lent

(2 Kings 5:1-15; Psalm 42:2-3, 43:3-4; Luke 4:24-30)

Spiritual values, salvation, and holiness of our brethren must be our first interest, with everything else oriented toward these spiritual values.

Brighten your corner of the world.

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

(Daniel 3:25, 34-43; Psalm 25:4-9; Matthew 18:21-35)

The family, by its very nature, is a natural place for self-giving love, and a small mirror of the generative, creative, and redemptive love of God. God loves the family members singly, but he also loves the family as a unit, and the family unit responds to that divine love.

Do something to help your family respond to the divine love that surrounds them.

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

(Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9; Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20; Matthew 5:17-19)

Within the family, all members are brothers and sisters because they have a common, essential need and capacity for love. All members love one another and their love extends to all who come close to the center of their love.

Reach out to a family member who is estranged or distant because of a misunderstanding.

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

(Jeremiah 7:23-28; Psalm 95:1-2,6-9; Luke 11:14-23)

All who cross your path are your brothers and sisters, but those persons with whom you usually associate are even more so your brothers and sisters – approach them as though you have always known them.

Be kind to all those you meet today, for Christians need no pecking order.

Friday of the Third Week of Lent

(Hosea 14:2-10; Psalm81:6-11, 14, 17; Mark 12:28-34)

Having ‘some love’ for your brothers and sisters is not enough; you must love them with the maximum love willed by Christ, for they are true companions on the way toward perfection.

Let your prayers be followed by acts of kindness.

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

(Hosea 6:1-6; Psalm 51:3-4, 18-21; Luke 18:9-14)

Are there not brothers and sisters among us who do not answer the call to love because they do not have faith, live in sin, prefer mediocrity, or simply ignore the call? The world must face these problems in a spirit of universal brotherhood which is lived truly only when rooted in Christ.

Pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary for those you need to forgive..

The Fourth Week of Lent

Theme: Responding to God’s

Redemptive Love

Fourth Sunday of Lent

(Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 34:2-7; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3,11-32)

Redemptive love is the love of the Father, which in Christ and the Spirit saves and sanctifies us. We respond to this love by offering our lives as instruments to continue the Father’s love.

Pray that the peace of Christ may touch the lives of those who oppose us.

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Isaiah 65:17-21; Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13; John 4:43-54)

There is no reason for God – the Infinite, the Self-Sufficient, the All-Powerful – to love us with such a tender love. We can only bow our heads with humility and joyous acceptance.

Set aside time to be completely with God in prayer. Resolve to learn how to love Him more.

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12; Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9; John 5:1-16)

Christ did not die to redeem humanity as a whole, but to redeem every single individual. God invites us to respond to the maximum. Since each person’s ‘maximum’ is different, it is as if God gently asks us, “My son, my daughter, give me your heart.”

Witness by your daily life that you live by the truths of the Gospel.

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Isaiah 49:8-15; Psalm 145:8-9, 13-14, 17-18; John 5:17-30)

The measure of our love for God is our love for our neighbor. We must love those who live around us and see in them the image of God.

Do something kind for your neighbor today.

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Exodus 32:7-14; Psalm 106:19-23; John 5:31-47)

The mystery of God’s love is made manifest in Jesus himself. We human beings learn the meaning of love through human experience. However, since Jesus became a human person, he is capable of loving with a human love, as well as a divine love.

Pray that your belief and faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior, may be strengthened.

Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16; Psalm 89:2-5, 27, 29; Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22; Luke 2:41-51)

When Christ spoke to us of poverty, chastity, meekness, generosity, love, and sacrifice, he did not propose this as an impossible reality, but as an aim toward which we must strive.

Trust and follow God’s providence and action in your own life.

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Jeremiah 11:18-20; Psalm 7:2-3, 9-12; John 7:40-53)

We are called to live our call to the fullest and to proclaim the message of God’s limitless love; this must be an appeal for an ongoing conversion.

Examine your conscience and make an Act of Contrition.

The Fifth Week of Lent

Theme: Learning Humility from Mary

Fifth Sunday of Lent

(Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 126:1-6; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11)

Holiness is the ability to accomplish in our life God’s project as Mary did. Mary said ‘yes’ and lived it in her daily life.

Strive to do God’s Will in your life as Jesus taught by His example and works.

Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent

(Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62; Psalm 23:1-6; John 8:1-11 or 12-20)

O Mary, we your children come to you. Pray for us, O Mary, even when we do not come to you. Help us to see that we are all brothers and sisters in the warmth of your maternal heart.

Pray the “Lord’s Prayer” to give thanks for the only-begotten Son, our Savior, and the gift of eternal life.

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

(Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 102:2-3, 16-21; John 8:21-30)

For Mary, the future was an adventure in the Spirit. We, too, must be open to the work of the Spirit, ready to accept the risk, the pain, as well as the joy of our adventure in the Spirit.

Observe a fast today and give extra time to prayer

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

(Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95; Daniel 3:52-56; John 8:31-42)

We may ask in what sense we can imitate Mary, who is too far removed from us by her Immaculate Conception. She is not an example only, for she is our mother. We have trust that as our mother, she will help us with her love, her prayers and the knowledge she has of us and our difficulties.

Whether weary or cheery, in everything give thanks as Mary did.

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent – Feast of the Annunciation

(Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10; Psalm 40:7-11; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38)

At the Annunciation Mary said ‘Amen’ and thus received the seed of Christ in her womb. Do we realize that every time we say ‘Amen’ as we receive Holy Communion, we have just done what Mary did? (Teresa Monaghen)

Try and make time to receive the Eucharist today for busy people need lots of nourishment.

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

(Jeremiah 20:10-13; Psalm18:2-7; John 10:31-42)

Look at Mary, not only from the standpoint of what exalts her, but also at what brings her close to us, for she had to live with intense faith just as we do.

Pray the Rosary for those most in need of God’s mercy and help.

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

(Ezekiel 37:21-28; Jeremiah 31:10-13; John 11:4-56)

Mary is someone on whom God was able to depend and to place his trust. Can he depend on us?

Pray for the wisdom to know God’s will and the strength to do it.

Holy Week

Theme: From Hosanna to Halleluia!

Palm Sunday

(Luke 19:28-40; Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24; Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 22:14 – 23:56)

Be faithful to your call. Know that the suffering you bear, in union with that of Christ this week, is a precious leaven that brings both the world and the Church closer to God

Monday of Holy Week

(Isaiah 42:1-7; Psal27:1-3, 13-14; John 12:1-11)

Whenever possible let others who suffer know that there is value in suffering for universal sanctification.

Tuesday of Holy Week

(Isaiah 49:1-6; Psalm 71:1-6, 15, 17; John 13:21-33, 36-38)

There is never a vacation from the Cross. It is not an option, but the core of Christianity, which when really lived is the ultimate expression of ‘maximum love.’

Wednesday of Holy Week

(Isaiah 50:4-9; Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31, 33-34; Matthew 26:14-25

Christ taught us that we are to exercise abandonment to God’s providence. We must do everything out of love, so that God’s kingdom may indeed come.

Holy Thursday

(Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14; Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15)

Eucharistic Jesus, show me your face, welcome me into your heart, reveal the Father to me, grant me your Spirit.

Good Friday

(Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12; psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25; John 18:1 – 19:42)

A person who is devoted to Christ Crucified will frequently ponder his sorrows, since the passion reminds us of God’s infinite love and inspires us to respond without any limits.

Holy Saturday

(Genesis 1:1 – 2:2 or 1:1, 26-31; up to six additional readings may follow; Psalm 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Luke 24:1-12)

Our prayer must be rooted in hope. It requires the strength of grace while we await its complete fulfillment in eternal life.

Easter Sunday

(Acts of the Apostles 10:34, 37-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9)

I thank you, Father, for your Son, Jesus Christ, Eternal Word made flesh, and our Brother, who with his life-death-resurrection has made us new human beings.