Third Sunday of Lent

March is the month dedicated to Saint Joseph

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 26 Unauthorized Association with the Excommunicated - Ch 31 Qualifications of the Monastery Cellarer

Come, let us bow down in worship.

SAINT JOSEPH, GUARDIAN AND PROTECTOR,

MARY, QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

We proclaim Christ crucified ...

Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

(1 Cor 1:22, 24-25)

The world lives unmindful of the sufferings of Jesus, which are the miracle of miracles of the Love of God ... Christ crucified is the work of love, the most stupendous work of the love of God. The bottomless sea of the love of God, where virtues are found, where one can lose oneself in love and sorry.

(Saint Paul of the Cross, 1694-1775)

Welcome to the Third Sunday of Lent in the month of March dedicated to Saint Joseph, spouse of the Mother of God, guardian of the Redeemer, most diligent protector of Christ; dear Joseph, strong, obedient, faithful. We continue to pray for those preparing to enter the Church at Easter who today receive the First Scrutiny. May they persevere and grow in faith. And so may all the faithful. I believe, help my unbelief. 

Some time ago I quoted Willi Graf (1918-1943), who said, "To be a Christian is perhaps the hardest thing to ever become in life." It is true. Otherwise, why would Father Jacques Phillipe (b. 1947) bother to tell us that "the Christian life is a combat, a war without mercy." We proclaim Christ crucified, certainly a stumbling block to Jews and Greeks alike (see 1 Cor 1:23), and countless others. 

However, we are called and so we respond. Rely on the strength of God. Need we question, "Is the Lord in our midst or not?" (Ex 17:7). I think not. The Lord is in our midst, here, there, and everywhere. Keep the faith; keep going. For, "what the world is in particular need of today is the credible witness of people ... capable of opening the hearts and minds of many to the desire for God and for true life" (Pope Francis, Porta Fidei 15). However, we have to start with ourselves. By God's grace, I am what I am.

We are to hear the words of the Father applied to ourselves: This is by beloved Son ...

The entire Christian life can be understood as the progressive knowing of ourselves as the Father's beloved children. The project of the Christian life is to train our ears to hear these words and our hearts to accept them ...

To encounter Christ is to encounter ourselves. When we behold his glory, we learn our lofty calling and goal. When we listen to His words, we learn the path to such glory.

(Father Paul Scalia, priest in the diocese of Arlington, VA, son of Justice Antonin Scalia, d 2016, who served on the United States Supreme Court for 30 years)

The sword of the spirit, the word of God, must abound in your mouths and hearts. Let all you do have the Lord's word for accompaniment.

(Saint Albert of Jerusalem, 1149-1214)

Our charity should not know limits; it cannot exclude anyone on earth, in purgatory, or in heaven.

(Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, 1877-1964)

Love of our neighbors is the greatest act of gratitude that we can show God for His love. Love is the first thing that God requires of us, and whoever walks in His love remains in God and God in them!

(Blessed Franz Jaegerstaetter, 1907-1943)

Abide in the love of Jesus Christ; always sit before His face; walk along with Him; converse with Him unceasingly.

(Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara of the Holy Family, 1805-1871)

A man without love, a religious without love is like a shadow without sun, totally nothing ... Love is the soul, light, and life of the religious life and of each human association.

(Saint Stanislaus Papczynski, 1631-1701)

United in faith and prayer, we go forth and listen to Saint Benedict when he quotes from the Book of Sirach: "A kind word is better than the best gift" (see Rule of Saint Benedict, 31:14/Sirach 18:17). Thank you for being there, faithful readers. 

Be joyful, keep the faith, and do the little things.

(Saint David of Wales, 6th century, his last words)

SAINT KATHARINE DREXEL,

SAINT VIGNAL,

SAINT SAMPSON,

SAINT MAGLIORE,

SAINT CASIMIR JAGIELLON, PATRON SAINT OF POLAND AND YOUNG PEOPLE, 

SAINT KIERAN,

SAINT JOHN JOSEPH,

SAINT KYNEBURGHA,

SAINT COLETTE OF CORBIE,

SAINTS PERPETUA AND FELICITY,

SAINT STEPHEN OF OBAZINE, CISTERCIAN ABBOT,

SAINT JOHN OF GOD,

SAINT SENAN, BISHOP,

SAINT DUTHAC,

SAINT FELIX,

SAINT FRANCES OF ROME,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: We've had a bit of snow; it's wet and heavy. Let us kneel before the Lord who made us.

© Gertrude Feick 2024