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Sunday, February 24, 2008
EIGHT MILLION PAGES READ AT justFRED.ca??? YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS???
Priere Du Jour - Prayer of the Day!!!!
SPIRITUAL LIVING
Prayer and Devotions
Shocking Transformation
by Matthew Reinhardt, Regnum Christi
Resolution: Invite someone to go to Sunday Mass today.
February 24, 2008
Third Sunday of Lent
John 4: 5-42
So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you." Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?" Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?" They left the city and were on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat something." But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, 'Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor." Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world."
Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank you for these moments of silent prayer. I need you to transform me, because I can do nothing without your grace. I open my heart to embrace the plan you have for me on this day. Only with your grace can I be faithful to everything you ask of me.
Petition: Lord, shock me in this prayer. Radically transform my life!
1. “Christ”: Politically Correct? On a cold December night in Iowa in 1999, the Republican Party primary debate was coming to an end. One of the final questions posed to the six candidates was, “What political philosopher or thinker do you most identify with and why?” When it came to then-Governor George W. Bush, he answered, “Christ, because he changed my heart.” After a weighty pause the moderator said, “I think the viewer would like to know more on how he’s changed your heart” to which Bush responded, “Well, if they don’t know, it’s going to be hard to explain. When you turn your heart and your life over to Christ, when you accept Christ as the savior, it changes your heart. It changes your life. And that’s what happened to me.”
2. Shocking Transformation A change of heart and a change of life is what happened to the Samaritan woman when she unexpectedly came across Christ, who was tired out from his long journey. When they first meet, she addresses Jesus simply as “a Jew.” As her respect grows for the man sitting by the well, she begins to call him “Sir.” Jesus opens her heart to conversion, and she states, “You are a prophet.” As our Lord begins to quench her thirst for divine love, she sees in him the possibility of freedom from her broken life: “He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” Her thirst is satiated when Christ reveals himself as the Messiah, and she is totally transformed. With her heart and life now forever changed, she exclaims with the whole town, “We know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
3. An Apostle Is Born Who is Jesus Christ for me? Is he simply a historical figure who lived 2,000 years ago? Maybe Jesus is just someone to be respected for the many human achievements he accomplished during his life? Or he is a savior once loved, but now somewhat forgotten? As Catholics, Christ must be everything for us! He is the Messiah, the Savior of the world. If my vision of Christ has been fogged by routine, temptations, and the ups-and-downs of life, I need a change of heart and a change of life. Christ did this to the Samaritan woman 2,000 years ago, and he can do it to me today. Allow him to transform you in this prayer, so with him you can transform the world!
Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, I am amazed at the transformation of the Samaritan woman. One short conversation with you, and her broken life was restored with meaning and an important mission. You know my need for you, Lord, so I beg you to transform me today and throughout Lent, to prepare my soul for Holy Week.
Resolution: I will invite someone to go to Sunday Mass today.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
How does that song go? I saw her standing there.....
Saw her again one hour later.....
Jack Keir going on 60 days without a smoke!!!!
I wish I could quit!!!!
I wonder how Brad Woodside is doing???
I wonder how Brad Woodside is doing???
LASTING IMPPRESSIONS WAS A BUSY SPOT FRIDAY!!!!
They design what you want on a program.
Then the huge machine does all the work!!!!
After that's all done? The busy crew puts the finishing touch on the jackets!!!
...and out the door it goes!!!!!
You wish to have a team jacket done for a school or business???
Lasting Imppressions is the place to go!!!! I might add it's very cheap!!!
Sure help me getting my message across.
Down the States? These guys would have Armed Guards walking close-by!!!!
New Brunswick is a beautiful place to live!!!!
So far so good!!!!
So far so good!!!!
New Anti-Irving message in the downtown area of Saint John???
Well? If you're not allowed to write Anti-Irving letters to the Editor?
I might add there's no talk shows?
What can a person do?
Priere Du Jour - Prayer of the Day!!!!
SPIRITUAL LIVING
Prayer and Devotions
Coming Back to the Father
by Father Todd Arsenault, LC
Resolution: Make sure that you make a good examination of conscience today.
February 23, 2008
Saturday of the second week of Lent
Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So to them he addressed this parable. "A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.' So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, 'How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers."' So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.' But his father ordered his servants, 'Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' Then the celebration began. Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, 'Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, 'Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.' He said to him, 'My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'"
Introductory Prayer: I come before you, Lord, a sinner in awe of your great love and mercy. I believe in you, and I put you at the center of my life. I humbly put all that I am before you and, like the apostles, recognize my littleness before your grandeur. With the help of the Blessed Mother’s intercession, I place this meditation into your hands, trusting that you will give me the graces that I need most.
Petition: Lord, help me to recognize my complete dependence on you for grace to live according to your will. Help me to detach myself more each day from the enslaving clutches of sin and vice in my life.
1. Living for the Moment The younger son had it fixed in his head that he was losing out on life. He wanted to be where the action was, and he wanted to be there now. Much of what he perceived to be good was as he imagined, but it didn’t go much further than just having a good time and doing things as he pleased. He was reckless, and he caused much hurt by his actions. In life, it is so easy for us to put ourselves before others and to get what we want. We can find ourselves hurting those we love most. Christ is calling us to see our life not through the mindset of living for the moment, but through the eyes of eternity.
2. Reality Check The young man loses everything. He hits rock bottom. All that he had before is a distant memory. He remembers how secure he was when he was living with his father; he remembers how good even the hired hands had it. He sees that he has nothing to keep him where he is – out of his father’s grace – and so he begins the march back to his father. When we mess up and sin, we need to have this same attitude of contrition. Lent is a time wherein we can renew our relationship with Christ through the sacrament of confession. Like the younger son, we need to humble ourselves, realize that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and make our way back to the Father.
3. The Father Receives Us with Open Arms There wasn’t even time for the son to finish his prepared speech when his father smothered him with kisses and hugs and treated him like royalty. The Father treats us like this each time we run to him for forgiveness. He wants to hear our repentance, but more than anything he wants to build us up through his grace and presence in our life. This is the Father’s greatest joy: to have us back, safe and sound in his grace. He loves us so much that he makes this sacrament available to us 24/7. He wants our heart.
Conversation with Christ: Christ, thank you for the grace of confession whereby I am reunited to the Father of mercy. I am a sinner and have wandered far from you in my life. Yet you never give up on me; you seek me out and draw me back to yourself. With your grace I continue to strive to overcome my faults, defects and sins.
Resolution: I will make sure that I make a good examination of conscience today.
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