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Creighton University Online Ministries Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer Third Week of Lent: March 12-18, 2023 |
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The Third Week of LentWe now begin the time in Lent when on the third, fourth and fifth Sundays of Lent. During this year we will use the Cycle A readings for
the Scrutinies of the RCIA program. On the Third Sunday, that includes John's gospel of
the woman at the well. (For more information, see Praying
the Gospels of Weeks 3, 4 and 5.) The Fourth Sunday of Lent brings the story of the man born blind from John's Gospel. His disciples ask, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus heals the man who now sees more clearly than the Pharisees the true identity of Jesus. “I do believe, Lord.” At some Masses, we will hear the Scrutinies for RCIA candidates. |
Daily Prayer This WeekThis is a pivotal week of Lent. We can solidify the patterns we have begun or we can make a new start, if we haven't been able to get started yet. If we have begun to recognize what needs realigning in our lives and have begun to fast and abstain from some things that get in the way of our relationship with the Lord, then we are engaging in a struggle. We are likely uncovering resistance and experiencing our personal sinfulness face-to-face. This is all preparing us for a deeper conversion, a readiness for reconciliation with God and the graces that will allow us to be a source of reconciliation with others. This is the time when we begin to see and experience how much God loves us at a new and more personal level. These graces prepare us to keep our eyes focused on Jesus in the weeks ahead - to learn from him, to fall in love with him more deeply and to be drawn to imitate him more completely. If we are just getting started with our Lenten journey, renewing our desires for these graces will be all we need to begin with a renewed openness. God does not need a lot of time to convince us of his love for us. This is a week about God's love for us and our call to love others the same way. It is a week to keep our daily focus on naming a desire each morning. The day ahead will shape what we ask for as our feet hit the floor in the morning. Pausing to thank the Lord for this day and to ask for the grace to let our mind and heart be renewed in the concrete circumstances, relationships and obligations of our day. Throughout the day, we can then return to those desires in background of our awareness. Our request for the Lord's help is always there and our consciousness of it will help us make the choice we desire to make, to let go of what we need to let go of, to add what we need to add. This will take us deeper and deeper into self-awareness and a sense of our need for a Savior, who is right there to embrace us and give us the graces we ask for. |
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