For Palm Sunday we had the treat of going to Mass with our Goddaughter Mia Clare, who is in town with her family visiting from Colorado. Her dad, Chris, is our daughter Sofia's Godfather. Mia and her big brother Max like to see who can make the smallest cross out of the palm branches...
Max made the smallest this year :)
For this week's photo challenge a beautiful stained glass window
in the hall at St. Bernadette Catholic Church.
Week 12 : Architecture - Windows Looking Out
A priest from our old parish once told me that "a hard Lent = a good Lent."
Lent isn't meant for perfection, rather it's for purification and preparation.
Purification through self denial which in turn prepares us to receive the grace and joy of the Resurrected Christ in our lives.
When we give up everything, He gives us everything we need....Himself.
We can't fully receive Christ when there's junk standing in the way.
We deny ourselves when we give up attachments to sin, whether it's past or present sin.
I didn't think I had an attachment to sin but I do.
I hold on to certain sins when I refuse to have them forgiven because I think they're too bad for God's mercy, that's like saying "no Lord, your dying on the cross just wasn't great enough for my sins."
I hold onto sins when I withhold forgiveness to someone who has sinned against me when instead I should pray, "forgive them for they know not what they do."
Looking inside ourselves and confronting this sort of selfishness isn't easy.
Harder still, is giving it up.
Just before Lent began, me and a dear friend shared via email the things we were gonna give up and our plans on deepening our prayer life. In less than a week I sent her a text asking her if Lent was over yet! I have failed at giving up selfishness and self pity, the two things that I want most to give up, my two greatest weaknesses. My loving husband reminded me that even though I may not have been able to totally give these up, what counts has been the honesty with myself about it and the effort that I've made in trying. It's been an extreme challenge just to acknowledge these weaknesses and even more so to be mindful of when they are in action. One thing that has helped during these times of mindfulness has been to say the Jesus prayer while acknowledging the particular sin,
"Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God,
have mercy on me
a sinner."
May you all have a blessed Holy Week and a Joy filled Easter!
Christ, come be our light!