Readings for Monday 24 March 2014 (3rd Week of Lent)
2 Kg 5:1-15. Pss 41:2-3; 42:3-4, R/ Ps 41:3. Lk 4:24-30. www.catholicbishops.ie/readings.
Naaman, the Syrian, learned to obey God’s will, and went and washed in the Jordan. he was cleansed. Jesus reminds us that salvation of a gift of God. These are reminders to us the baptised and to those preparing for Baptism.
Saint Macartan
Memorial may be made today of Saint Macartan, bishop. Saint Macartan belongs to a very early generation of saints in Ireland and is recognised as the first Bishop of Clogher. He is known as Saint Patrick’s ‘Trean Fhear’ or ‘Strong Man’ for his dedication and faithfulness. Saint Macartan is Patron of the Diocese of Clogher.
Pope Francis on Twitter
“Confirmation is important for Christians; it strengthens us to defend the faith and to spread the Gospel courageously.”
Follow Pope Francis on Twitter @Pontifex.
Excerpt from Evangelii Gaudium The Joy of the Gospel
“The Gospel offers us the chance to live life on a higher plane, but with no less intensity: “Life grows by being given away, and it weakens in isolation and comfort. Indeed, those who enjoy life most are those who leave security on the shore and become excited by the mission of communicating life to others”. [4]When the Church summons Christians to take up the task of evangelization, she is simply pointing to the source of authentic personal fulfilment. For “here we discover a profound law of reality: that life is attained and matures in the measure that it is offered up in order to give life to others. This is certainly what mission means”.[5] Consequently, an evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral! Let us recover and deepen our enthusiasm, that “delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow… And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervour, who have first received the joy of Christ”.[6]” – Evangelii Gaudium 10
Video: Bishop Donal McKeown on Lent
Bishop Donal McKeown, Bishop-elect of Derry Diocese offers a reflection on Lent.
Click here for video.
Daily Lenten Prayers
(i) We pray for the Church;
may it lead people to worship the Lord our God
and serve him alone.
(ii) We your parish;
that we may reach out to those in need and truly live out our
calling as a community of God’s people.
Trócaire and Lent 2014
Check out all the information on this year’s Trócaire Lenten campaign and read Enestina’s story on www.trocaire.org/lent . Enestina is the girl on this year’s Trócaire box.
Stations of the Cross
Click here for the Stations of the Cross led by Father Paul Clayton Lea, a priest of the Archdiocese of Armagh.
Resources on the Vatican website for Lent 2014
The Vatican is collating all the resources for Lent 2014 on a special link on the home page of www.vatican.va. It includes the catechesis, addresses and homilies of the Holy Father, information on liturgical events and video and other multimedia content. Click here to access it.
The Meaning of Lent
The English word ‘Lent’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Lencten, meaning ‘Spring’. In other languages the word comes from the Latin, Quadragesima – a period of 40 days. In the Christian tradition the forty days is understood to refer to a time of intense prayer and preparation; we remember the biblical stories of Noah and the flood of 40 days, the forty years the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness and Christ’s forty day fast in the desert in preparation for his earthly ministry.
