Who hurts you? Abraham Lincoln

When Abraham Lincoln became the president of America, his father was a shoemaker.  And, naturally, egoistic people were very much offended that a shoemaker’s son should become the president.   On the first day, as Abraham Lincoln entered to give his inaugural address, just in the middle, one man stood up.  He was a very rich aristocrat.  He said, “Mr. Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used to make shoes for my family.”  And the whole Senate laughed; they thought that they had made a fool of Abraham Lincoln.

Lent 1st Week, Tuesday, Mar 3

Jesus teaches about prayer:  “This is how you are to pray."

Two men were arguing about religion. As the argument heated up, the one man shouted at the other,

"1'll bet five bucks you don’t even know the Lord’s Prayer.” "I’ll take that bet," the other shouted.

Then he began praying, "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” The other man looked at him in amazement and said, "III be darned! You win! I didn't think you knew it.”

Sometimes we might just as well be praying “Now I lay me down to sleep” as praying the Lord's Prayer. For we pray it without really thinking about what we are saying.

Mar '20: Reflections from CSC Scholastics from Pune

Lent 1st Week, Monday, Mar 2nd: Reflection & Liturgy

Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18 / Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus talks about judgment

"I was hungry and you gave    me   food,"

Mike Peters won the 1981 Pulitzer prize for political cartoons. Reporter Joe Urschel asked him, "How did you feel when you got the news?"

“I couldn’t believe it," said Mike.

Lent 1 Sunday A - Liturgical Prayers

A. I Will Serve

B. Forty Days to Easter 

Greeting

We are gathered in the name of Jesus.
He brought us life instead of death;
by his obedience he made up for our disobedience.
May his grace and peace be always with you.
R/ And also with you.

Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Feb 29th - Reflection & Liturgy

Isaiah 58:9-14 / Luke 5:27-32 

God speaks: “Help others and I will help you.”

A woman named Linda was in a state mental hospital. She said she was without hope for the future and without faith in God. Then one day she happened to notice a small sign: “Volunteers needed to help the elderly.” She says she doesn’t know why she responded to that sign, but she did. Several months later she wrote about her experience, “Each day spent with these elderly patients awakened something within me.” Linda’s experience with the elderly patients restored not only her faith in the future but also her faith in God.

Friday after Ash Wednesday, Feb 28th: Reflection & Liturgy

Isaiah 58:1-9 / Matthew 9:14-15 

This is the fast I want: “Share your bread with the hungry.”

Under the listing of “Dog” in the yellow pages of the Evanston, Illinois, telephone directory there is an ad for American Pet Motels. Here are some of the services these kennels provide for their clients’ pets. Deluxe and imperial suites FM music in every room Beauty salon Senior citizens’ care plan Daily cookie breaks When the initial humor of the ad fades, we suddenly realize that we take better care of our pets than we do of the poor.This is the kind of thing God confronts us with, through the prophet Isaiah, in today’s reading.

Lentan Thoughts, Decisions and Activities

To be spectacular is so much our concern that we, who have been specta­tors most of our lives can hardly conceive that to be unknown, unspectac­ular, and hidden can have any value.

How do we overcome this all-pervading temptation? It is important to realize that our hunger for the spectacular - just as our desire to be relevant - has very much to do with our search for self-hood. Being a person and being seen, praised, liked, and accepted have become nearly the same for many. Who am I when nobody pays attention, says thanks, or recognizes my work? The more insecure, doubtful, and lonely we are, the greater our need for popularity and praise.

Lent: Stories and Illustrations

ILLUSTRATIONS: 

From Father Tony Kadavil’s Collection: 

1) Alluring music of the Sirens:

In Greek mythology the sirens are creatures with the heads of beautiful women and the bodies of attractive birds. They lived on an island (Sirenum scopuli; three small rocky islands) and with the irresistible charm of their song they lured mariners to their destruction on the rocks surrounding their island (Virgil V, 846; Ovid XIV, 88). They sang so sweetly that all who sailed near their home in the sea were fascinated and drawn to the shore only to be destroyed. When Odysseus, the hero in the Odyssey, passed that enchanted spot he tied himself to the mast and put wax in the ears of his comrades, so that they might not hear the luring and bewitching strains. But King Tharsius chose a better way. He took the great Greek singer and lyrist Orpheus along with him. Orpheus took out his lyre and sang a song so clear and ringing that it drowned the sound of those lovely, fatal voices of sirens. The best way to break the charm of this world’s alluring voices during Lent is not trying to shut out the music by plugging our ears, but to have our hearts and lives filled with the sweeter music of prayer, penance, word of God, self control, and acts of charity. Then temptations will have no power over us (RH).  

Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Feb 27th: Reflection & Liturgy

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 / Luke 9:22-25

 I set before you life and death: “Choose life!”

Sometimes news reporters embarrass us by the insensitive questions they ask people, especially people who have just suffered a major tragedy. For example, a news reporter asked John Cogan, a 51-year-old victim of terminal cancer, “What are your feelings as you face death?” Cogan stunned the reporter and his audience by saying: “There’s a joy I can’t express deep down inside me. I feel perfectly free. . . .I want to reach out and embrace the whole universe.” Cogan’s terminal illness had set before him the choice of life or death. He chose life—eternal life.