NO BETTER TIME

?Listen! This is the hour to receive God?s favor; today is the day to be saved!? ? 2 Corinthians 6:2

  I once met a 60-year-old man who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was   extremely wealthy, the vice president of a large bank, but had a mediocre relationship with God. He went to Mass on Sundays but didn?t have a personal relationship with Jesus. His wife knew that I was renewed, so she invited me to pray with him. She wanted him to receive the Lord in his heart before he passed away.
      I spoke to him for a few minutes about how I came to know the Lord and what He had done in my life. I asked him if he wanted the same, and he said yes. So we prayed. That day, he accepted Jesus in his heart and gave over his life to Christ. Two weeks later, he passed away, but they say it was the most peaceful death anyone could experience. This story reminds me of how faithful God is in seeking the lost even until the very last minute. But we don?t have to wait until we?re on our deathbed. Now is the best time to receive His mercy and grace. George G.

REFLECTION:
In need of God?s favor, grace or forgiveness?

Run to Him today. Lord, I come to You this moment...

Joel 2:12-18

Lent is a time to pause a moment and examine the direction of our lives. It is a time to reflect before the celebration of Holy Week and Easter about the state of our relationship with God and whether or not we should be changing any aspects of our lifestyles to better reflect the Christian calling that we espouse. It is the promise of Easter, just as it is the promise of hope in the words of Joel that help us to endure the pain of addressing our sinfulness and seeking to put in place in our lives structures that will serve the call to holiness.

12 Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; 13 rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. 14 Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing, offerings and libations for the LORD, your God. 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion! Proclaim a fast, call an assembly; 16 gather the people, notify the congregation; assemble the elders, gather the children and the infants at the breast; let the bridegroom quit his room, and the bride her chamber. 17 Between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep, and say, ?Spare, O LORD, your people, and make not your heritage a reproach, with the nations ruling over them! Why should they say among the peoples, ?Where is their God??? 18 Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on his people.

P S A L M

Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17

R: Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

1 [3] Have mercy on me, O GOD, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. 2 [4] Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. (R) 3 [5] For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always. 4 [6] ?Against you only have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight? (R) 10 [12] A clean heart create for me, O GOD, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. 11 [13] Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me. (R) 12 [14] Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me. 15 [17] O LORD, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise. (R)

2nd READING

2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2

Do not wait until tomorrow to change your sinful ways as for all you know tomorrow may not come. This may be a somewhat liberal paraphrase of a portion of today?s text from St. Paul, but it captures the idea that Paul had when he wrote nearly 2000 years ago. The only thing more amazing than the actual preservation of this text is that it is equally relevant to a reader today as it was then. The writings of the Scriptures have this timeless nature because they are God?s Word encompassing His call to and offer of salvation to all people.

  
20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. 6: 1 Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says: ?In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.? Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

G O S P E L

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Ultimately, to reflect properly upon our lives we need to do this alone with God. Nothing can substitute for silence when it comes to meeting with God face to face in order to reflect upon the state of our lives. This can be a challenge to us in the midst of such a noisy and busy world. However, it is worth the effort in the long run. Why not try it this Lent? Try to organize at least two or three days that you can spend alone with the Lord. I bet it will improve your faith life beyond expectation.

1 ?Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. 2 When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, 4 so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 5 When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 16 ?When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

my reflections

think: Lent is a time to pause a moment and examine the direction of our lives.

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God?s special verse/thought for me today________________

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T O D A Y ? S BLESSING LIST

hank You Lord for: ____________________________________

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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Deuteronomy 25-27

GETTING TO KNOW THE SAINTS
Saint Catherine Ricci
Saint Catherine Ricci was born Alessandra Lucrezia Romola on April 23, 1522 at Florence, Italy. She adopted the name Catherine after she entered the novitiate in 1535.
       The young Alessandra considered the Blessed Virgin her true mother since her mother had died when she was still an infant and it was only her godmother who raised her. As a child, the girl could speak with her guardian angel. When she was six, she moved to a convent school in Montecelli where she developed a devotion to the Passion of Christ. Her father stopped her from her chosen vocation. Catherine fell ill and only when he approved did she recover. Thus, she entered the Dominican tertiary and adopted the name Catherine.
      Catherine received visions from the Lord and had ecstasies. This created problems and doubts among the other sisters. On one occasion, she declared that she received a ring from the Lord as a sign of her union with him. To her it was a gold set with a diamond, but to everyone else, it was just a red lozenge and a circlet around her finger. Catherine was a stigmatist. For 12 years since she was twenty, Catherine would experience weekly ecstasies of Christ s passion from noon Thursday until 4:00 p.m. Friday. People came to see her and this provided a venue for sinners to repent.
        Saint Catherine died on February 2, 1590 at Prato, Italy. She was beatified by Pope Clement XII on November 23, 1732 and canonized by Pope Benedict XIV on June 29, 1746.

  http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03444a.htm
  http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintc18.htm

We begin once again our Lenten journey. Let us focus our attention on the Second eading for now. St. Paul affirms that we are all called to be ambassadors for Christ. What does this mean? Put simply it means that each of us, according to God?s will for our lives, is to give witness to the truth of the Gospel to the world. Through the witness of our lifestyle, we must be calling out to the world to change its ways and repent of sin and live holy and righteous lives.
      This sounds like an enormous responsibility and at one level it is, however, to be realistic, all it is is a call to be obedient to the will of God as best we can. God cannot ask any more from us than this! On the other hand, this is not just an incidental little thing. God?s calling, as we learnt yesterday, will involve sacrifices and endurance. It will mean being ready to allow God to lead us on the adventure of our lives. It will mean experiencing situations where we will have to place our trust in God and let go of any hope of remaining personally in control of the situation. This is a good thing not a bad thing! It means that we have to come to a place of entrusting our lives to God so that He will be better able to form us in His ways and use us to promote His Kingdom in the world.
      Jesus, even though He was Son of God, learnt obedience to the Father through the endurance of suffering and death. We can hardly expect our lives not to include something of this particularly as we know we are supposed to model our lives upon Jesus.
      Paul further tells us that now is the time and that we should not delay getting on with living a life of discipleship. Too often we miss opportunities to give witness to the Gospel because we delay our response to His offer of grace. Let us resolve this Lent to respond promptly to whatever God may be doing in our lives at this time. Fr. Steve T.

REFLECTION QUESTION: What is God saying to you about your faith life at the moment? Is He calling for any changes? What is your response?

Father, Your will is the perfect will for my life. Why do I find this so hard to believe? Help me to both believe and live it.

St. Severian, bishop and martyr, pray for us.