May the Lord Pour Out All His blessings upon you as we bring you the readings of today’s Holy Mass I share with you now the readings for Thursday after Ash February 15th 2024 collect prayer Lord Our God you love us and invite us to share in your own life and
Joy through a deeply personal decision help us to choose you and life and to always remain faithful and loyal to this fundamental Choice through the power of Jesus Christ your son who was loyal to you and to us now and forever reading from the book of
Deuteronomy Moses spoke to the people saying see I have set before you today life and good death and evil if you obey the Commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today by loving the Lord
Your God by walking in his ways and by keeping his Commandments decrees and ordinances then you shall live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering
To possess but if your heart turns away and you do not hear but are LED astray to bow down to other gods and serve them I declare to you today that You Shall Perish you shall not live long in the
Land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death blessings and curses choose life so that
You and your descendants may live loving the Lord your God obeying him and holding fast to him for that means life to you and length of days so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to
Give to your ancestors to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob the word of the Lord responsorial Psalm response blessed is the man who has put his trust in the Lord blessed is the man who does not follow
The advice of the wicked nor does he enter the path of Sinners nor does he sit in the meeting of the cnics but the joy of it is the law of the Lord and He meditates on his law day and night
Blessed is the man who has put his trust in the Lord it will be like a tree planted on the edge of the ditch bears fruit in its season and its leaves do not wither and whatever he undertakes
Has a good end blessed is the man who has put his trust in the Lord not so the wicked not so they will be chaff that the wind carries away for the Lord protects the path of the righteous
But the path path of the wicked ends badly blessed is the man who has put his trust in the Lord reading from the holy Gospel According to Luke at that time Jesus said to his disciples the son of man must undergo great suffering be rejected by the elders Chief priests and
Scribes be killed and on the third day be raised then he said to them all if any want to become my followers let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me for those who want
To save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will save it what does it profit them if they gain the whole world but lose or forfeit themselves the gospel of the
Lord reflection of today’s Gospel goel in these early days of Lent the readings Focus us on the fundamentals if yesterday Ash Wednesday invited us to focus our Gaze on God today calls us to recognize our capacity to make decisions in our lives and the consequent responsibility for the
Decisions we make to be responsible means to be able to account for what we do or do not do for why we act in a certain way it is not enough to say I didn’t know or I didn’t think about
It or I didn’t realize or I was told to do it or everyone was doing it the great gift that God has given us along with life is freedom the ability to decide for ourselves what we want or do not
Want to do with our lives what we want to be or not to be it is true and we must be aware of it that our freedom is limited I would even dare to say very limited it is conditioned by the family
In which we have grown up by Culture by our own personal character limitations by many things but still there remains a glimmer of freedom and it is our responsibility to become more and more free from all those conditioning factors as Paul says for freed Christ has set us free Galatians
51 today’s first reading confronts us with this capacity of ours to choose between life and death between good and evil to follow God is to choose good and Life to reject him is to choose evil and
Death let’s be realistic not always does putting the word God first mean that we have chosen good and life in the name of God many many wars have been waged and many heads have been cut off in
The name of God many people have been excluded and marginalized and condemned to death choosing life and good is choosing fraternity Justice closeness understanding and mercy it is ultimately to follow God in our freedom and responsibility we must make the appropriate decisions to choose good
And Light or in other words to follow God it is possible that in some specific decision we may make mistakes but at least the intention should always be to do good for my brothers and for
Myself join me to pray brothers and sisters as we conclude this encounter with the word of God which has filled us with light and hope let us lift our hearts to the Lord in in a farewell prayer
Heavenly Father we thank you for this day you have gifted us for the opportunity to hear your word and nurture our Spirits with your message of love and salvation we ask for forgiveness for our shortcomings and the times we have strayed from your path open our hearts to conversion and help
Us live according to your teachings illuminate our minds to understand your word and give us the strength to practice it in our daily lives may we be Witnesses of Your Love in the world and Carry Your Light to every corner of the earth we entrust to you our brothers and sisters who are
Suffering the sick the poor the marginalized and all those in need of your comfort accompany them in their pain and give them hope for a better future bless our families and our loved ones may our homes be spaces of peace love and unity where your presence Reigns we pray for peace in
The world an end to Wars and violence May Harmony Prevail among nations and may all men and women live in harmony and Brotherhood finally we ask for your blessings upon our church that it may remain faithful to its mission of proclaiming the gospel and serving the people of God May
Our Shepherds guide us with wisdom and discernment and may all Christians be instruments of Your Love love and mercy we ask this through Jesus Christ Our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit amen May the blessing of almighty god father Son and Holy Spirit descend
Upon us and accompany us always in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit amen thank you for listening to the readings and reflection of today’s mass remember that it is very simple to support our mission you just have to subscribe and share with your family and friends the word
Of God received in the reading and reflections of today’s Gospel I wait for you on a new occasion
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