4th Sunday of Lent
That story about the prodigal son is so familiar, and so challenging. And it is always told in the past tense. But the story unfolds in time and for years — it was long unfinished, with a son living far away, unheard from and unreconciled. Who is a prodigal in your life right now? Are you not speaking to someone you once loved? Is a daughter or son, colleague or mentor, friend or family member m…issing from your dinner table because of conflict? What step toward coming home can you take right now? Is it possible to pick up hope after you’ve hardened your heart, to simply talk to God about it, to comfort someone aching with the unknown, to welcome a prodigal who isn’t yet ready to go home? At every point in the prodigal story, the father is hoping for the son to come home again. We can join in that hope, for ourselves and for others, at any and every point in the story. May our efforts be a participation in the homecoming of all who are lost.
Prayer of the Faithful: For those who are lost to come home, we pray to the Lord.
Text: CCCB – National Pastoral Initiative of Life & the Family #CatholicYYC #SundayMass
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Between the burning bush and the fig tree, this week’s readings demonstrate that God’s gardening is a bit different than ours. As you make your way through Lent, working to sacrifice and pray, to grow virtue and meditate on Christ’s suffering, now is God at work doing something with your life that you would find hard to see? In what ways could your life be a burning bush, or a tree struggling to p
Jesus allows His closest friends to witness the Transfiguration to prepare them for His upcoming passion. In moments we feel defeated, let us recall those times when we experienced God’s particular presence and power.
“If in Christ we have been tempted, in him we overcame the devil. Do you think only of Christ’s temptations and fail to think of his victory? See yourself as tempted in him, and see yourself as victorious in him. He could have kept the devil from himself; but if he were not tempted he could not teach you how to triumph over temptation.” St. Augustine
Luke’s parable speaks of blind spots, the splinters large and small, which prevent us from seeing. Good trees don’t bear rotten fruit. And in the midst of this we hear the reminder that if we are truly disciples, followers of Jesus, we will have what we need to speak and act in the manner of Jesus.