JMJ+OBT
Omnia Pro Iesu Per Mariam!
Omnia Pro Iesu Per Mariam!
Near the middle of the Lenten Journey to Holiness of Life in Christ, we take time to REJOICE "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal Life." (St. John 3:16). We REJOICE that our BELIEF IN JESUS, THE ONLY SON OF GOD, has grown and matured during this Holy Season of Lent. Yes, we have more maturity and growth ahead of us, but we REJOICE in this Lenten Journey of grace, favor and formation.
It is our BELIEF IN JESUS that has given us the victory over the many temptations that have appeared to us in this Lenten Journey in the desert. It is the Holy Spirit Who has LED us to LISTEN to the Word of God that tells us we can do all things IN CHRIST. It is the Holy Spirit Who has revealed that our relationship with the Most Holy Trinity is the most ESSENTIAL aspect of our lives. In fact, we have come to BELIEVE that We belong to God and everything else is incidental in our lives. It is the Holy Spirit Who has instructed us to DEPEND ON GOD. Coming to this BELIEF is cause for REJOICING.
We now renew our commitment to this Lenten Journey and our dedication to the holy practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. We realize that prayer is a gift of God and true prayer is realized in a living relationship with the Divine Person of the Holy Spirit. We realize that fasting frees us from our narrow selves so that we may serve the All Holy, Just and Beautiful Will of God Our Father. We realize that the ultimate almsgiving is the gift of Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist, and Jesus teaches us to give all of ourselves to our brothers and sisters so that they, too, may find the Eucharistic mystery of Life.
As we live in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, let us learn in the School of Mary to keep our vision fixed upon the face of Christ. We are being LED by the Holy Spirit to empty ourselves (kenosis) so that we can be filled with Christ and have communion (koinonia) with God and all mankind in time and eternity. We are on a Lenten Journey to union with Christ in the Paschal Mystery. We are on our way to Holy Week and the Easter Triduum. Our Lady is here to help us BELIEVE IN JESUS. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
REJOICE that you have been called and chosen to join Jesus this Holy Season of Lent. Renew your BELIEF IN JESUS. Continue to be LED by the Holy Spirit in the process of kenosis and koinonia. Ask Our Blessed Mother to help you keep your vision fixed upon Jesus as we get nearer to the gift of the Cross of Christ and the fulfillment of the Divine Plan of Our Father.
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Through the intercession of Our Lady, St. Joseph, St. Michael, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. John, St. James, St. Therese, St. Rita, St. Philomena, St. Jude, St. Nicholas, St. Alphonsus, St. Peter Chrysologus, St. Zachary, St. Elizabeth, St. John the Baptist, St. Perpetua, St. Felicity, St. Francis, St. Veronica Guiliani, St. Joan of Arc, St. Louis, St. Joseph Calasanz, St. Padre Pio, St. Patrick, St. Bridget, St. Columban and all the Holy Angels and Saints may you be abundantly blessed in the Covenant of Communion of the Most Holy Trinity, with my Priestly blessing,
Father Zachary of the Mother of God, SOLT
