What are you doing for Lent?
"WHEN
you fast, do not put on a gloomy look" Mt.
6:16
Talk about New
Year resolutions is always popular in the
national media, but talk about Lenten resolutions
is not nearly so popular. Yet studies have
consistently shown that Spring is a far better
time for making resolutions than the heart of
Winter.
As
you consider what to do for Lent, ask yourself:-
What change do I most need to make to be living a
truly healthy lifestyle?
Is there a sin
that needs to be dealt with?
Is there bitterness that you need to be delivered
from?
Is there someone with whom you need to be
reconciled?
Is there a hurt from the past that you need to
leave behind.
Does your relationship with God have sufficient
priority?
Is there sufficient time for prayer and the
sacraments?
Is there anything in your eating habits or
drinking habits that is unhealthy?
Is there any laziness in the way in which you are
living?
Are you taking enough exercise, being
sufficiently committed to your work and getting
enough rest? Do you have enough quality time for
your family?
Is there any change that you could make to help
those who have nothing; any change that you could
make to support the economy; any change that you
could make to help the environment?
Above
all, Do you have a vision for creating a little
bit of Heaven on earth in your own home, and
living in union with God who is LOVE?
God
Can Use Your Hurts
"God
brings good out of all things for those who love
Him, those who are called according to his
purpose." Romans 8:29
St. Patrick was
kidnapped as a 16 year old and forced to work as
a slave in all sorts of weather. This could have
made him very bitter. Instead he turned to God,
and had a mighty conversion experience. During
these six painful years, he also learned the
Celtic language and all about the Druids. When he
came back to Ireland as a missionary, he already
knew the language, knew the culture, and also
knew the type of bondage the Druidic religion
created. So those six painful years both led him
into a powerful relationship with Jesus, and
prepared him to be the perfect missionary to
Ireland. Other missionaries had come to Ireland
with little success. He came and converted
Ireland. So God brought immense good out
of every bad thing that ever happened to him. He
desires to do the same for you. Start
trusting God with the bad things that are
happening to you, learn to respond to them in
God's way, and He will bring blessing out of them
for you and for others. Trusting God with the bad
things is far from easy. The natural human
response is to desire recompense. God's way
however is forgiveness and patient trust.
Hearing
God's Voice
"Do
not rely on your own insight, but place your life
under God's lordship, and He will lead you into
the right path" Proverbs 3:6
Recently I was
seeking to hear God's voice on a very delicate
and sensitive issue where the stakes are very
high. I believe I heard it correctly, and I
followed all the steps I normally do when seeking
to be guided by God, but yet I am not fully sure.
With all the other voices both around us and
within us, becoming open to being guided by God's
voice is a challenging ongoing process. It
requires the humility to recognise that we could
get it wrong, that we could mistake some inner
voice within ourselves for God's voice. Being
able to distinguish between what our emotions are
telling us and God's voice, or even between the
other promptings in one's mind and God's voice,
requires quite a process of discernment.
Finding
God's Plan
"My
plans for you are peace and not disaster"
Bob Gass writes,
"It is not your job to decide what God wants
you to do; it is your job to discover it."
God does have a plan for your life, but finding
it involves quite a process of walking with God. In
recent years I have been praying hard for God's
guidance as to how my ministry could be continued
after my time. I have been asking God
whether it was His plan for me to join some other
group or even seek to form some sort of
institute. The one thing I never dreamed that I
would be doing is buying a cottage (or any
property) in Glendalough. While I often grieved
that no one had ever done it, I always felt that
that was somebody else's calling, and I have
often prayed that God would raise somebody up to
do it. Even when I saw the "For Sale"
sign on the cottage, and absolutely felt that I
had to be bought "for the Lord", I
still first looked around to see if anybody else
would be willing to do the buying. I now believe
that I acted 'in the Lord' in buying it and in
having a trust set up to own it. I am also
confident that it will still be there for the
Lord in 400 years time, and that my prayers for
the continuation of my ministry after my time are
in some way being answered through it. Sometimes
while we are thinking and planning, God has a
'surprise' waiting for us. It is
important that we never become so caught up in
our own agenda that we miss God's agenda and
plans.
Mary,
Our Mother
"I
am with you and I desire to inspire you"
Hebrews 12:1 tells
us that the saints are all around us encouraging
us on.
I feel that I
myself have been given a deeper experience of
that in recent times through my involvement in
Glendalough. The presence and inspiration of St.
Kevin has become a lived reality for me. I
believe that I feel his closeness, his desire for
renewal in the Church in Ireland today, his
desire for the raising up of people who will
totally dedicate their lives to God.
In the same way,
Mary is there for every person, truly with us,
desiring the very best for us. Open your heart to
her.
On
earth there is suffering. That is something that
nobody escapes.
There is also
temptation. There is a seed of greed,
selfishness, hatred, judgementalism and lust in
every heart.
We also have a limited
intellect, which even when it desires to
be guided by God will still often get it wrong.
Faced with
suffering, subject to temptation, and operating
from a limited intellect, we really do need help
from on high - from Jesus, from the Holy Spirit,
from Our Lady and from the saints.
"I
am with you and I desire to inspire you"
Click Here for Price List
Don't Miss
Don't miss the
March issue of The Curate's Diary. It contains
stories and reflections that will help you come
to a deeper relationship with Jesus.
|
