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Lent is a season of penance and ascetical warfare. The enemy is concupiscence, the world, and the devil. The goal is pure hearts so that we can joyfully celebrate the resurrection of our Lord at Easter, the greatest feast of the liturgical year. In a way, Lent should be a microcosm of our entire struggle on earth, just as the Paschal feast of Easter is a microcosm of our heavenly triumph in Christ. Yet, a good Lent takes focus and discipline, and it can easily be wasted.In my own experience, I often begin the lenten season with the best of intentions. I imagine...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Moses New International Version (NIV) 11 Now the Lord had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. 2 Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.” 3 (The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.) 4 So Moses...

February 14, 2015Memorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop    Reading 1 Gn 3:9-24 The LORD God called to Adam and asked him, “Where are you?”He answered, “I heard you in the garden;but I was afraid, because I was naked,so I hid myself.”Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked?You have eaten, then,from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!”The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me— she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.”The LORD God then asked the woman,“Why did you do such a...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Moses New International Version (NIV) 21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. 23 No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived. 24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the Lord. Even your women and children may go with...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Stand Firm Joshua 1:9 “ …Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

February 13, 2015Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Gn 3:1-8 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animalsthat the LORD God had made.The serpent asked the woman,“Did God really tell you not to eatfrom any of the trees in the garden?”The woman answered the serpent:“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;it is only about the fruit of the treein the middle of the garden that God said,‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’”But the serpent said to the woman:“You certainly will...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Stand Firm Psalms 18:31-36 For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?—the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Moses New International Version (NIV) 10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them 2 that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord.” 3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God...

February 12, 2015Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Gn 2:18-25 The LORD God said: “It is not good for the man to be alone.I will make a suitable partner for him.”So the LORD God formed out of the groundvarious wild animals and various birds of the air,and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;whatever the man called each of them would be its name.The man gave names to all the cattle,all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals;but none proved to be the suitable partner...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Moses New International Version (NIV) 13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, 14 or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have stretched out...

February 11, 2015Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Gn 2:4b-9, 15-17 At the time when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens— while as yet there was no field shrub on earthand no grass of the field had sprouted,for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earthand there was no man to till the soil, but a stream was welling up out of the earthand was watering all the surface of the ground—the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the groundand blew into his nostrils the breath...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Moses New International Version (NIV) 8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. 9 It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on people and animals throughout the land.” 10 So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on people and animals. 11 The magicians could not stand...

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. . .Luke 12:32

 February 10, 2015Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin    Reading 1 Gn 1:20—2:4a God said,“Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures,and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky.”And so it happened:God created the great sea monstersand all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems,and all kinds of winged birds.God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying,“Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas;and let the birds multiply on the earth.”Evening came, and morning followed–the fifth day. Then God said,“Let the earth bring forth all kinds...

Saintly Siblings Br. Isaac Augustine Morales, O.P.Over the centuries God has raised up countless saints in his Church, leading men and women from all walks of life along various paths to sanctity. Particularly striking are those saints who came from the same family. One thinks, for example, of St. Monica, whose perseverance in prayer we can thank for the conversion of St. Augustine, one of the greatest minds in the history of the Church. Among the first disciples of Jesus, St. Andrew brought his brother Simon, who was to become head of the Church, to Jesus (Jn 1:40-42). In...

2Chronicles 7:14 If My People, which are Called by My Name, Shall Humble themselves, and Pray, And Seek My Face, and Turn from their Wicked Ways; Then will I Hear from Heaven, and will Forgive their Sin, And will Heal their Land.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Moses New International Version (NIV) 9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worship me.” 2 If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, 3 the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys and camels and on your cattle, sheep and goats. 4 But the Lord will make a distinction between...

February 9, 2015Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Gn 1:1-19 In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss,while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said,“Let there be light,” and there was light.God saw how good the light was.God then separated the light from the darkness.God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”Thus evening came, and morning followed–the first day. Then God said,“Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters,to separate one body...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Moses New International Version (NIV) 20 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 21 If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered...