The Season of Lent: Venturing Ever Deeper with Saint Francis

by Theresa Cavicchio

The liturgical season of Lent is upon us, with its many familiar symbolic associations: ashes, the Cross, penance, prayer, fasting, almsgiving. These and others are our annual companions as we travel the traditional 40-day journey that leads to Calvary and beyond.

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Make Lent 2022 a Time to Strengthen Your Marriage

The beginning of Lent is exactly one month from today. We all know that the  hectic pace of life has a way of reeling out-of-control, which often means neglecting what we cherish for the sake of doing what “has to get done.” Lent is the perfect time to reel it back in, to pay attention to what’s really important – including our marriage!

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Who was Mary Magdalene?

Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “They have taken my Lord,
and I don’t know where they laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
“Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,”
which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
‘I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.’”
Mary went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord,”
and then reported what he had told her.
                  -Jn 20:11-18 (via USCCB)
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Easter Sunday

April 4
Easter Sunday
Easter Hymn
Let us rise in early morning,
And instead of ointments bring
Hymns of praises to our Master,
And His Resurrection sing;
We shall see the Sun of Justice
Risen with healing in His wing.
Go ye forth, His Saints, to meet Him!
Go with lamps in every hand!
From the sepulcher He riseth;
Ready for the Bridegroom stand;
And the Pascha of salvation
Hail, with His triumphant band.
– St. John Damascene
For Reflection:
What hymns of praise am I bringing to the Risen Christ today? For what am I abundantly grateful?
  

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Holy Saturday

April 3
Holy Saturday
To Christ Crucified
  I am not moved to love Thee, O my Lord,
  By any longing for Thy Promised Land;
Nor by the fear of hell am I unmanned
To cease from my transgressing deed or word.
‘Tis Thou Thyself dost move me, — Thy blood poured
Upon the cross from nailed foot and hand;
And all the wounds that did Thy body brand;
And all Thy shame and bitter death’s award.
Yea, to Thy heart am I so deeply stirred
That I would love Thee were no heaven on high, —
That I would fear, were hell a tale absurd!
Such my desire, all questioning grows vain;
Though hope deny me hope I still should sigh,
And as my love is now, it should remain.
-Anonymous (16th or 17th C.)
Translated from the Spanish by Thomas Walsh
For Reflection:
On this Holy Saturday, I enter into the tomb with Jesus. What one area of my life is most in need of resurrection? How is Jesus showing me He wants to bring this part of me “back to life?”
  

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Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

April 2
Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion
“Who can measure the extent of My goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed Myself to be nailed to the Cross; for you I let My Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain.”
-Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska
For Reflection:
What is Jesus say directly to you through these words? What do you say back to Him? For the next nine days, pray the Divine Mercy Novena with receptivity and trust that you will draw from the fountain of the Sacred Heart the very grace you most need.
  

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Lenten Journey Through the Sorrows of Mary: Holy Thursday

April 1
Holy Thursday
While my body here decays
May my soul your goodness praise,
Safe in heaven eternally. Amen Alleluia.
For Reflection:
This final stanza of the Stabat Mater encourages us to consider the Divine Mercy that floods the heart of Our Savior, who gave Himself for us. In what one way do you most need to experience this Ocean of Mercy? Journal your response. As you read tomorrow’s GraceLine, hear the voice of Jesus talking to you.
  

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