We continue on our Lenten Journey into HOLY WEEK
Our reading for today, Monday March 29, 2021 is by Luffina Lourduraj
“Give importance to those people who give importance to you.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Good morning God,
Six days before his death, Your Son Jesus sat with Lazarus, and ate dinner with his friends. (Lazarus is the friend that Jesus raised from the dead)
Your gospel tells us, Martha served, and Mary knelt at Jesus’ feet.
She anointed his feet with expensive perfume.
Judas, the disciple who was about to betray him, said out loud that it was a waste of expensive oil and perfumes. For the record, Judas was a thief, and a liar and money ruled his life. He was acting like they could have used the extra money spent on the oil and perfume to help the less fortunate.
Let’s be honest, Judas didn’t care about the poor, at all, he just wanted to fill his own pockets and to make Mary feel ashamed.
Often, it’s hard for us to discern and decide what is best in most situations.
When do we give something up that’s important to us…when do we let our pride or greed, or gluttony get the best of us?
How do we figure out what’s most important when the world might tell us it’s a total waste of time and energy and money?
We are called to be Martha and Mary.
We need to be busy preparing and serving, and sometimes we just need to be at Your Son’s feet, learning and listening.
Give us ears to hear You and eyes to see You.
As we move through Holy Week, let us prepare for the greatest example of love humankind has ever known.
Amen.
We ask for this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Our Lady – Pray for us!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Our thought for today, Tuesday March 30, 2021 is by Shaila Touchton
“An egoistic man loves boasting about himself and about his positions, titles, achievements, and his accomplishments before others. Boasting steals the credit from the One to whom it is due.
We need to boast about God, not about ourselves.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord God,
The message of the cross is difficult to take.
How can death give way to life? How can weakness be strength?
Yet your word says that Jesus, being God,
Took on human flesh
And suffered the worst kind of death.
How can this be?
This message is indeed difficult to take.
Your knowledge of us is wiser than our brain can comprehend.
Your weakness is greater than our strength.
Help us to know that none of us can boast before you.
People that boast and brag have no real idea that every good thing comes from You and You alone!
That amazing talent in soccer? It’s not really yours to brag about. God gave you that athletic ability!
The nice house you live because your parents are blessed to have amazing jobs – yeah, not your place to be bragging about all you have and where you get to vacation. Your parents have been gifted their opportunities and your parents did the best they could do…you? You’re just the lucky person who gets to enjoy the fruits of their labour.
So, you’ve been told many times that you are beautiful or handsome…you have a ton of followers on Instagram and Tik Toc…everyone wants to be with you or be like you! Let’s be honest in our prayer today…big deal! Looks fade and bodies break down. The way you look now, you won’t look like that in 15 years!
Being humble with your looks and being respectful of your body, is a true sign of humble person.
The only person we can boast and brag about is knowing God and believing in Christ.
Let us put it this way in our prayer this morning…
“God, the maker of the stars, would rather die for you than live without you. And that is a fact. So, if you need to brag, brag about that.”
Let us pray that again…
“God, the maker of the stars would rather die for you than live without you. And that is a fact. So, if you need to brag, brag about that.”
In God’s name, we ask you to help our unbelief. May we love You and walk in the way Jesus taught us.
In his name,
We ask for this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our Lady – Pray for us!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Our thought for today, Wednesday March 31, 2021 is by Brené Brown
“Love is not something we give or get; it is something that we nurture and grow, a connection that can only be cultivated between two people when it exists within each one of them – we can only love others as much as we love ourselves. Shame, blame, disrespect, betrayal, and the withholding of affection damage the roots from which love grows. ”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear God,
It’s brutal to think that it was one of Jesus’ own friends who betrayed him. One who sat by him, who broke bread and had dinner with him.
You didn’t point the finger and name Him.
You didn’t make him feel small or guilty before he sold you for a small bag of 30 silver coins.
You let Judas make his choices and then it let You, Jesus, make Yours.
Even in the darkness, surrounded by soldiers and a severed ear of a soldier on the ground, You reattached the ear and forgave Judas before he even knew what he had really done!
Give us strength, we pray, to walk faithfully with Jesus,
even when the road we walk is rocky, even when the message of the cross seems like foolishness, and yes, even when we feel betrayed by family and friends.
You, Lord, are always faithful.
We stumble, we become lost, but you are steady and sure. You always bring us home.
Give us the grace to endure our troubles,
Let us grow and cultivate our love for You and one another!
Through your son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Our Lady – Pray for us!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Our prayers for today, Thursday April 1st, 2021 HOLY THURSDAY will be available on YouTube from 8:30 – 11:30 for our school community and after 11:45 am for the general Notre Dame public.
May your Holy Thursday be one of service to others.
May Good Friday remind you that the only thing that kept Jesus on that cross was His love for you!
May Easter Sunday remind you of the great promise that we have ever been given. There ARE many rooms in His Father’s house and Jesus died and rose from the dead to prepare your room there. He’s waiting for You!
God bless you all during this Blessed Easter Season!
Chaplain Wayne