Plant three rows of peas:
Peace of mind
Peace of heart
Peace of soul
Plant four rows of squash:
Squash gossip
Squash indifference
Squash grumbling
Squash selfishness
Plant four rows of lettuce:
Lettuce be faithful
Lettuce be kind
Lettuce be obedient
Lettuce really love one another
Plant three rows of turnips:
Turnip for meetings
Turnip for service
Turnip to help one another
Water freely with patience and cultivate with love.
There is much fruit in your garden because you reap what you sow.
To conclude our gardening
We must have thyme:
Thyme for God
Thyme for study
Thyme for prayer
Showing posts with label Lent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lent. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2011
Some Ideas for a Holy Lent
Take 30 minutes to pray, ask the Holy Spirit’s guidance, look over this activities list for the Season of Lent, and make a few practical Lenten resolutions. Be careful. If you try to do too much, you may not succeed in anything.
During the Season of Lent, get up earlier than anyone else in your house and spend your first 15 minutes of the day thanking God for the gift of life and offering your day to Him.
Get to daily Mass. If you can’t do Mass daily, go to Mass on Fridays in addition to Sunday and thank Him for laying his life down for you. Maybe you can go another time or two as well.
Spend at least 30 minutes in Eucharistic adoration at least one time during the week. Recover the Catholic tradition of making frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament throughout the week, even if it is only for 5 minutes.
Get to confession at least once during the Season of Lent after making a good examination of conscience. In addition to the penance assigned by the priest, fulfill the conditions necessary for a plenary indulgence.
Make a decision to read at least some Scripture every day. Pray the Liturgy of the Hours. You can buy a one volume edition or a full four volume edition, or read ‘Magnificat.’
Make the Stations of the Cross each Friday of the Season of Lent either with a group or by yourself.
Pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary often during Lent, especially on Friday and Wednesday. The glorious mysteries are especially appropriate on Sundays. Joyful and Luminous mysteries are great on other days.
Make it a habit to stop at least five times a day, raise your heart and mind to God, and say a short prayer such as “Jesus, I love you,” or “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” or “Lord, I offer it up for you.”
Pray each day for the intentions and health of the Holy Father.
Pray each day for your bishop and all the bishops of the Catholic Church.
Pray for your priests and deacons and for all priests and deacons. Pray for the millions of Christians suffering under persecution in various Muslim and Communist countries around the world.
Pray for the evangelization of all those who have not yet heard and accepted the Good News about Jesus.
Pray for your enemies. In fact, think of the person who has most hurt you or who most annoys you and spend several minutes each day thanking God for that person and asking God to bless him or her.
Pray for an end to abortion on demand in the United States. Pray for pregnant women contemplating abortion. Pray for our troops and for others in harm’s way.
Find a form of fasting that is appropriate for you, given your age, state of health, and state of life.
Find a written biography of a Saint that particularly appeals to you, and read it during the Season of Lent. When Easter comes, don’t drop the new practice you’ve begun during the Season of Lent! Make a permanent feature of a deeper Christian life!
During the Season of Lent, get up earlier than anyone else in your house and spend your first 15 minutes of the day thanking God for the gift of life and offering your day to Him.
Get to daily Mass. If you can’t do Mass daily, go to Mass on Fridays in addition to Sunday and thank Him for laying his life down for you. Maybe you can go another time or two as well.
Spend at least 30 minutes in Eucharistic adoration at least one time during the week. Recover the Catholic tradition of making frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament throughout the week, even if it is only for 5 minutes.
Get to confession at least once during the Season of Lent after making a good examination of conscience. In addition to the penance assigned by the priest, fulfill the conditions necessary for a plenary indulgence.
Make a decision to read at least some Scripture every day. Pray the Liturgy of the Hours. You can buy a one volume edition or a full four volume edition, or read ‘Magnificat.’
Make the Stations of the Cross each Friday of the Season of Lent either with a group or by yourself.
Pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary often during Lent, especially on Friday and Wednesday. The glorious mysteries are especially appropriate on Sundays. Joyful and Luminous mysteries are great on other days.
Make it a habit to stop at least five times a day, raise your heart and mind to God, and say a short prayer such as “Jesus, I love you,” or “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” or “Lord, I offer it up for you.”
Pray each day for the intentions and health of the Holy Father.
Pray each day for your bishop and all the bishops of the Catholic Church.
Pray for your priests and deacons and for all priests and deacons. Pray for the millions of Christians suffering under persecution in various Muslim and Communist countries around the world.
Pray for the evangelization of all those who have not yet heard and accepted the Good News about Jesus.
Pray for your enemies. In fact, think of the person who has most hurt you or who most annoys you and spend several minutes each day thanking God for that person and asking God to bless him or her.
Pray for an end to abortion on demand in the United States. Pray for pregnant women contemplating abortion. Pray for our troops and for others in harm’s way.
Find a form of fasting that is appropriate for you, given your age, state of health, and state of life.
Find a written biography of a Saint that particularly appeals to you, and read it during the Season of Lent. When Easter comes, don’t drop the new practice you’ve begun during the Season of Lent! Make a permanent feature of a deeper Christian life!
The Forty Days of Lent
Purification of Spirit through Fasting and Almsgiving
From a sermon by Leo the Great, 5th century
Dear friends, at every moment the earth is full of the mercy of God, and nature itself is a lesson for all the faithful in the worship of God. The heavens, the sea and all that is in them bear witness to the omnipotence of their Creator, and the marvelous beauty of the elements as they obey him demands from the intelligent creation a fitting expression of its gratitude.
But with the return of that season marked out in a special way by the mystery of our redemption, and of the days that lead up to the paschal feast, we are summoned more urgently to prepare ourselves by a purification of spirit.
The special note of the paschal feast is this: the whole Church rejoices in the forgiveness of sins. It rejoices in the forgiveness not only of those who are then reborn in holy baptism but also of those who are already numbered among God's adopted children.
Initially, men are made new by the rebirth of baptism. Yet there is still required a daily renewal to repair the shortcomings of our mortal nature, and whatever degree of progress has been made there is no one who should not be more advanced. All must therefore strive to ensure that on the day of redemption no one may be found in the sins of his former life.
Dear friends, what the Christian should be doing at all times should be done now with greater care and devotion, so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the apostles may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food but above all by the renunciation of sin.
There is no more profitable practice as a companion to holy and spiritual fasting than that of almsgiving. This embraces under the single name of mercy many excellent works of devotion, so that the good intentions of the faithful may be of equal value, even where their means are not. The love that we owe both God and man is always free from any obstacle that would prevent us from having a good intention. The angels sang: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. The person who shows love and compassion to those in any kind of affliction is blessed, not only with the virtue of good will, but also with the gift of peace.
The works of mercy are innumerable. Their very variety brings this advantage to those who are true Christians, that in the matter of almsgiving not only the rich and affluent but also those of average means and the poor are able to play their part. Those who are unequal in their capacity to give can be equal in the love within their hearts.
From a sermon by Leo the Great, 5th century
Dear friends, at every moment the earth is full of the mercy of God, and nature itself is a lesson for all the faithful in the worship of God. The heavens, the sea and all that is in them bear witness to the omnipotence of their Creator, and the marvelous beauty of the elements as they obey him demands from the intelligent creation a fitting expression of its gratitude.
But with the return of that season marked out in a special way by the mystery of our redemption, and of the days that lead up to the paschal feast, we are summoned more urgently to prepare ourselves by a purification of spirit.
The special note of the paschal feast is this: the whole Church rejoices in the forgiveness of sins. It rejoices in the forgiveness not only of those who are then reborn in holy baptism but also of those who are already numbered among God's adopted children.
Initially, men are made new by the rebirth of baptism. Yet there is still required a daily renewal to repair the shortcomings of our mortal nature, and whatever degree of progress has been made there is no one who should not be more advanced. All must therefore strive to ensure that on the day of redemption no one may be found in the sins of his former life.
Dear friends, what the Christian should be doing at all times should be done now with greater care and devotion, so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the apostles may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food but above all by the renunciation of sin.
There is no more profitable practice as a companion to holy and spiritual fasting than that of almsgiving. This embraces under the single name of mercy many excellent works of devotion, so that the good intentions of the faithful may be of equal value, even where their means are not. The love that we owe both God and man is always free from any obstacle that would prevent us from having a good intention. The angels sang: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. The person who shows love and compassion to those in any kind of affliction is blessed, not only with the virtue of good will, but also with the gift of peace.
The works of mercy are innumerable. Their very variety brings this advantage to those who are true Christians, that in the matter of almsgiving not only the rich and affluent but also those of average means and the poor are able to play their part. Those who are unequal in their capacity to give can be equal in the love within their hearts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)