Lent Week 5

March 21, 2021

Some parishes cover the statues and veil the cross for the final two weeks of the Lenten season. This practice stems from the time when the Passion of the Lord was read on the Fifth Sunday of Lent as well as on Palm Sunday, and the final two weeks of Lent were referred to as “Passiontide.”

Highlighting God’s abiding love, the readings this Sunday describe a love that is written on our very hearts. This love is the reason for Jesus’ acceptance of suffering and death and the foundation for his fidelity to his relationship with God, His Father. In the First Reading we hear that God chooses to embed His covenant in the depths of our being, in our hearts. From the covenant with Noah and “all living creatures” we are now involved in a very personal and intimate relationship with God. The reading from Hebrews tells us Jesus “learned obedience from what he suffered” and “became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” In the Gospel passage, when Jesus is informed that people want to see him, he talks about producing much fruit by dying and being glorified by God and drawing all things to himself.

Think

What does having God’s law written upon your heart mean to you?

What would you ask God to do in order to “create a clean heart” for you?

“Obedience” comes from a Latin word meaning “to listen.” Set aside some time for silence and in the silence be attentive to God’s abiding love within you.

Our loving God does not shield us from suffering. Think about the suffering Christ endured for your sake. What new meaning can you find in the suffering you experience in your life or see in our world?

Pray

Teach me to Listen
Teach me to listen, O God, to those nearest me, my family, my friends, my co-workers.
Help me to be aware that no matter what words I hear, the message is,
 “Accept the person I am. Listen to me.”
Teach me to listen, my caring God, to those far from me
the whisper of the hopeless, the plea of the forgotten, the cry of the anguished.
Teach me to listen, O God, to myself.
Help me to be less afraid to trust the voice inside — in the deepest part of me.
Teach me to listen, Holy Spirit, for your voice,
in busyness and in boredom, in certainty and doubt, in noise and in silence.
Teach me, Lord, to listen.  Amen. 
~John Veltri, S.J.

Act of Love
O my God, I love you above all things with my whole heart and soul, because you are all good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you. I forgive all who have injured me and I ask pardon of those whom I have injured. 
Amen.

Learning Christ
“Teach me, my Lord, to be sweet and gentle in all the events of life: in disappointments, in the thoughtlessness of others, in the insincerity of those I trusted, in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied. Let me put myself aside to think of the happiness of others, to hide my little pains and heartaches, so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.

Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path. Let me so use it that it may mellow me, not harden or embitter me; that it may make me patient, not irritable; that it may make me broad in my forgiveness, not narrow, haughty or overbearing.

May no one be less good for having come within my influence. No one less pure, less true, less kind, less noble for having been a fellow‐traveler in our journey toward eternal life. As I go my rounds from one distraction to another let me whisper, from time to time, a word of love to You. May my life be lived in the supernatural, full of power for good, and strong in its purpose of sanctity.

Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere. Flood my soul with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life may be only a radiance of Yours. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus. Amen.
~Cardinal Newman

Pray the Rosary Meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries
The Agony in the Garden
The Scourging at the Pillar
The Crowning with Thorns
Jesus Carries His Cross
Jesus Dies on the Cross

Pray the Stations of the Cross
Check your parish website for days and times for praying the Stations of the Cross.

Act

Set aside time to begin preparing to celebrate Holy Week and renewing your baptismal commitment. Visit these links for Holy Week resources for all ages:

Holy Week Resources for Families - Sadlier

Holy Week Resources - Loyola Press

Ultimate Guide for Celebrating Holy Week With Kids

Try to arrange or rearrange your calendar/schedule so you are able to participate in The Sacred Paschal Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. The Triduum is the peak liturgical celebration of the Church recalling the institution of the Eucharist and the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. Check your parish website or bulletin for the times these liturgies will be celebrated.

Talk with your parish Coordinator or Director of RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults), or one of your other parish ministers, about writing a note or card for those celebrating the Easter Sacraments or being welcomed into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil.