Sunday February 3rd. 2008

What should we do?

Prayer

Payer is the very  “bread and butter”   of our spiritual existence. Unless we make time for prayer, we can never really come to know God truly as our Father..

 

Holy Mass:  Mass is the greatest prayer we can offer to Almighty God, for we are offering him his own Son in  the sacrifice of the mass. The bread and wine is ours, and we offer it to God as a gift. At the consecration of the mass, through the power given to the  priest on the day of his ordination, it becomes the living body and blood of Christ. So our gift of his crucified Son is now the most precious offering we can make to God, our Father.  In return, God offers us his most precious gift—the body and blood of his Son to be the very food of our soul in holy communion.

There is mass every day of the week, shared between St. Margaret’s and St. Joseph’s. Why not come to a weekday mass once or twice in the week? There are a multitude of graces we can receive at each mass.

 

Stations of the Cross

Devotion to the passion and  sufferings of Christ is the quickest way to holiness, the saints tell us—and they should know. There are Stations of the Cross each Sunday evening at 6 p.m. followed by Benediction, and each Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m., followed by holy mass. Why not come and join us with your family and accompany Our Lord on his way from Jerusalem to Calvary?  A number of parishioners come to church during the day and make their own private Way of the Cross.  Pamphlets are available.

 

The Rosary

This is a most beautiful prayer which is so pleasing to our Lady, for it recalls all the principal events of Jesus’ life in which she was so intimately involved. It is a prayer you will love to say daily, for there are so many graces and blessings attached to it. It takes approximately 15 minutes to say—and it is like a spiritual perfume in our midst.

 

Spiritual Reading

Read a portion of the bible each day.  The New Testament is the story of Our Lord’s life on this earth, and tells us of his love and compassion for each of us.  The Old Testament has many rewarding and inspiring chapters. Start with the life of Ruth, and then the life of Esther—deeply moving  stories of women of faith, and then Tobit. Find a good spiritual book, and spend as much time as you can reading  it.  It will give food for your soul and inspiration for your prayers.

LENT  

A time to pray and reflect

For many Catholics, Lent means simply giving up certain pleasures from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. Penance and self-discipline are good for the soul, and what we impose on ourselves helps to unite us more closely to the sufferings of Our Lord. But, there is more to Lent than that, although penance is still a good foundation on which to build the rest of this holy season..

Lent is above all a time for prayer and reflection. We should have a good look at our lives, and ask ourselves, honestly and sincerely before God, just how satisfied we are with the way we live?

It can be quite a shock when we realise how little time we give to God each day, for we can be so consumed with our own worldly affairs.

Our Lord says to us: “Give me your time, and I will give you eternity”