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Lent 2009 — Feb 25 - Apr 11
Easter - April 12th
Today - November 21, 2009
READINGS: Text | Audio
REFLECTIONS:
Video
Thought for the day
Mary is a woman who loves. How could it be otherwise? As a believer who in faith thinks with God’s thoughts and wills with God’s will, she cannot fail to be a woman who loves. We sense this in her quiet gestures, as recounted by the infancy narratives in the Gospel. We see it in the delicacy with which she recognizes the need of the spouses at Cana and makes it known to Jesus. We see it in the humility with which she recedes into the background during Jesus’ public life, knowing that the Son must establish a new family and that the Mother’s hour will come only with the Cross, which will be Jesus’ true hour (cf. Jn 2:4; 13:1). When the disciples flee, Mary will remain beneath the Cross (cf. Jn 19:25-27); later, at the hour of Pentecost, it will be they who gather around her as they wait for the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14).
Encyclical letter God Is Love (Deus Caritas Est), no. 41, December 25, 2005
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How We Pray Prayer is one of the three pillars of Lenten practice. Through prayer, we raise our hearts and minds to God in thanksgiving and praise. Prayer is our “vital and personal relationship with the true and living God.” During Lent, we place special emphasis on prayer and contemplation on the Passion and Death of our Lord through expressions of popular piety such as the Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross) and veneration of the Crucified Christ. Find a variety of resources here for Lenten prayer and contemplation. |
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Daily Readings and Reflections Read, hear, and reflect on the Word of God each day during Lent with the text and audio podcasts of the readings from the New American Bible and our daily video reflections, made possible by the Catholic Communication Campaign. Lectio Divino In his 2009 Lenten Message, Pope Benedict XVI has recommended the practice known as Lectio Divina as a focus for our Lenten prayer. Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba of Milwaukee, writing about the Synod on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church, defines Lectio Divina as follows: “Lectio Divina, or “Divine Reading” is an ancient practice developed by the early monks to make reading the Bible an attractive experience. A common method would suggest that an individual, or even better a small group of people, listen to a passage read aloud … or read it themselves. The participants first point out any word that struck them. Then they hear the same passage once more, and expand from a word to an idea reflected in the passage. After a third reading the members of the group take time to describe briefly about how the passage speaks to them and how it might throw light upon the work or worries of their lives.” Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy
Stations of the Cross (Via Crucis)
The Via Matris Modeled on the Via Crucis, the Via Matris focuses on seven particular incidents of sorrow in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mary associated with Christ’s passion.
 A Pietá is an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary cradling the broken body of the crucified Christ. It is considered the “highest expression of the Via Matris” and has been a source of inspiration for Christian art since the middles ages. View this video meditation on the world’s best-known depiction of the Pietá — Michelangelo's — from Picturing Mary Learn how to pray this Scripture-based prayer that is centered on the events of Christ’s life. Rosary Resources
Family and Personal Prayer Indulgences and our Spiritual Life | |
