AD SENSE

Lent 1 Sunday C - Liturgy

Greetings (See Second Reading)
May the Word of God be near you,
on your lips and in your heart.
May your lips confess here
that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.
May his grace be always with you.
R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
A. Jesus Went Through Our Temptations

People of God, you who are tempted to let consumers' goods make you their slave and prisoner, Jesus refused to be fascinated by them and he wants us to hunger for people, for prayer and for God. People of God, you who are tempted to impress people and to control them, Jesus came to bring the power of love and he tells you to serve God in people. People of God, you who are tempted to create your own idols and to make yourself the center of the world, Jesus wants us with him to worship only God. With him who overcame our temptations we confidently enter this Lent.

Ash Wednesday

  1.     From Fr. Tony Kadavil’s Collection 
Introduction
Ash Wednesday (dies cinerum) is the Church’s Yom Kippur or the “Day of Atonement.” Its very name comes from the Jewish practice of doing penance wearing “sackcloth and ashes.” In the early Church, Christians who had committed serious sins were instructed to do public penance wearing sackcloth and ashes. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of full fast and abstinence. Fasting is prescribed to reinforce our penitential prayer during the Lenten season. The prophet Joel, in the first reading, insists that we should experience a complete conversion of heart and not simply sorrow for our sins. Saint Paul in the second reading advises us “to become reconciled to God.” Today’s gospel instructs us to assimilate the true spirit of fasting and prayer.

5 Sunday C: You'll be Catchers of People



Michel DeVerteuil
General comments

The miraculous catch of fish was a historical event in the life of Jesus, but also a symbol of the deep conversion experiences which God grants us from time to time and which set us on a new course in our lives. These  experiences usually occur at times when we feel we are stagnating – as spouses, parents, friends, church leaders, ministers, or managers in the work place.

4 Sunday C: Wanted: Prophets, Dead








Prophets comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable
*****
Michel DeVerteuil General comments
The incident related in today’s gospel story is a precious moment of grace for the people of Nazareth, one that we too experience from time to time – Jesus invites them and us to stop hiding behind their false identity and come to the truth of themselves.
We all need to feel special; the problem is how we go about fulfilling that need. The easy – but false – way is to take the short cut of finding our “specialness” in belonging to a group that considers itself superior to others. We find our “specialness” in our sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, or from the fact that we are married, are “old boys” or “old girls” of some school, university graduates, have a job, or own our homes.

3 Sunday C: Jesus' Mission


3rd Advent C from Padir Neylu

From Catholic Ireland:

Jesua reads the scripture
Michel DeVerteuil General comments
The reflection below is on the second part of the reading – verses 16 to 21 –a story of how Jesus read the Bible and how he wants us his followers to read it (and teach it).