Time of Grace
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)
Living as a disciple of Jesus is a choice we have to make again and again day after day. It’s a continuous process of doing what is right and just, keeping the commandments and practicing the teachings of Jesus in our daily lives. Spiritual disciplines—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help us recognize more clearly our need for the Lord’s grace and mercy to lead lives that are holy. Therefore, taking time to look at our own discrepancy is important during this time of grace. What’s alienate you from God and from one another?
Today, make a gesture of reconciliation with someone from whom you are alienated.
Lord Jesus, you came to heal our wounded and troubled hearts. I beg you to heal the torments that cause anxiety in my heart; I beg you, in a particular way, to heal all which are the cause of sin. I beg you to come into my life and heal me of the psychological harms that struck me in my early years and from the injuries that they caused throughout my life. Lord Jesus, you know my burdens. I lay them all on your Good Shepherd's Heart. I beseech you---by the merits of the great, open wounds in your heart---to heal the small wounds that are in mine. Heal the pain of my memories, so that nothing that has happened to me will cause me to remain in pain and anguish, filled with anxiety. Heal, O Lord, all those wounds that have been the cause of all the evil that is rooted in my life. I want to forgive all those who have offended me. Look to those inner sores that make me unable to forgive. You who came to forgive the afflicted of heart, please, heal my own heart. Heal, my Lord Jesus, those intimate wounds that cause my physical illness. I offer you my heart. Accept it, Lord; purify it and give me the sentiments of your Divine Heart. Help me to be meek and humble. Heal me, O Lord, from the pain caused by the death of my loved ones, which is oppressing me. Grant me to regain peace and joy in the knowledge that you are the Resurrection and the Life. Make me an authentic witness to your Resurrection, your victory over sin and death, your living presence among us. Amen. (A Prayer for Healing, The Catholic Company)
Hail Mary full of Grace…
Peace in Christ,
Father Vincent-Vuong Nguyen
P.S.
Lenten Penance Services in the Bay Area:
March 19 Tuesday 7:00 PM St. Hyacinth
March 20 Wednesday 7:00 PM St. Mary La Porte
March 21 Thursday 7:00 PM St. Many, LC
March 26 Tuesday 7:00 PM St. Clare
March 28 Thursday 7:00 PM St. Paul
April 2 Tuesday 7:00 PM Mary Queen
April 3 Wednesday 7:00 PM St. Luke
April 4 Thursday 7:00 PM St. Helen