Category: Prayers

“Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me Your paths.” –Psalm 25:4 . Mass Readings: March 21 First: Isaiah 50:4-7; Resp: Psalm 22:8-9,17-20,23-24; Second: Philippians 2:6-11;Gospel: Luke 22:14–23:56 God first taught His ways to His people by giving them His Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1ff). His people lost their way, so God “tried again” (Jer 18:4). He sent them prophets to teach them His ways, and promised to write His laws and ways upon their hearts (Jer 31:33). God’s people struggled to grasp His ways (Is 55:8). God’s next step was to send Jesus as a Teacher to teach...

“When Joseph awoke he did as the angel of the Lord had directed him and received her into his home as his wife.” –Matthew 1:24 Mass Readings: March 20 First: 2 Samuel 7:4-5,12-14,16; Resp: Psalm 89:2-5,27,29;Second: Romans 4:13,16-18,22; Gospel: Matthew 1:16,18-21,24 In 1870, “a difficult time in the Church’s history, Pope Pius IX, wishing to place her under the powerful patronage of the holy patriarch Joseph, declared him ‘Patron of the Catholic Church’ ” (Guardian of the Redeemer, Pope St. John Paul II, 28). In 1889, Pope Leo XIII explained further what the Holy Spirit was doing through Pope Pius...

“The son grew angry at this and would not go in; but his father came out and began to plead with him.” –Luke 15:28 Mass Readings: March 18 First: Genesis 17:3-9; Resp: Psalm 105:4-9; Gospel: John 8:51-59 We always hear about the prodigal son, but his older brother was at least as prodigal. The older brother looked good but was just as alienated from his father as the younger brother. The younger brother did not feel worthy to be called his father’s son (Lk 15:18). However, the older brother spoke of life with his father as slavery (Lk 15:29). He...

“The Stone which the builders rejected has become the Keystone of the structure. It was the Lord Who did this and we find it marvelous to behold.” –Matthew 21:42 Mass Readings: March 17 First: Daniel 3:14-20,91-92,95; Resp: Daniel 3:52-56; Gospel: John 8:31-42 If we repent in our sinfulness, slavery, and misery, the Lord will take the worst in our lives and make it the best. The Lord manifests His almighty power not just by doing great works but by making the greatest miracles out of the worst sins, injustices, and defeats. “God makes all things work together for the good”...

“More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it?” –Jeremiah 17:9 Mass Readings: March 16 First: Numbers 21:4-9; Resp: Psalm 102:2-3,16-21;Gospel: John 8:21-30 Because the human heart is more tortuous, twisted, and deceitful than all else and is beyond remedy, we should: give our hearts to the Lord, Who alone probes the mind and tests the heart (Jer 17:10), receive a new heart through Baptism (Ez 36:26), live our Baptism by loving the Lord with all our hearts (Mt 22:37), go to Confession frequently and regularly to prevent our hearts from becoming hardened (see...