LAETARE SUNDAY

So we are already half-way through Lent.  As a matter of fact in just two weeks we have Passion or Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week.  We have had a meeting to decide on a schedule and hopefully will be ready for the great days of the year -- THE SACRED TRIDUUM.

During Lent I help with a lot of penance services in the parishes in this deanery.  I have already helped two evenings at the parish at Madison and this evening I will help at the parish here in Norfolk.  The parish here is quite large and we usually have about ten priests from the deanery helping with confessions.  This coming week they will also have a day for confessions for the grade school and high school located just down the road from where I live.  They have both a Catholic grade and high school.  Also, later this week I will go to Stanton to help with the confessions one evening.

Both the Sisters and the nursing home have a rather nice rose or pink chasuble for Laetare and Gaudete Sunday.  So I wore them today.  Here are a couple pictures.

Myself with Sister Barbara.  Sister Barbara is the

sacristan and also does all the decorating in the

sanctuary.  Notice the decorations for this Sunday.  

Sister Barbara always has a smile on her face.

Our weather continues to go back and forth.  Today it is somewhat cloudy but warm -- supposed to get up to 70 or more.  But, tomorrow it is supposed to get cold again and stay pretty cool all week.  We still have had practically no moisture all winter.

I had to have some work done on my computer this last week.  Evidently I had picked up a virus or malware someplace.  So I had to pay a company some  money to remove that and clean up my computer and all of it was done electronically.  I could watch them work on my computer.  I could not of course see the person but I could see the work being done.

I guess the monks at home are busy getting ready to move out of the monastery as soon as the students leave.  I'm glad I have already done that.  I cleaned out my room completely before I left and did not even store anything.  Anything I wanted to keep or thought I might need I brought with me.  

I pray you all have a blessed Lent during these last days before Easter.  Today we had that beautiful Gospel account of the young boy, born blind, being healed of his blindness by Jesus and eventually come to full faith in Jesus.  That is what we also are trying to do during this Lent.  In imitation of Jesus and, in our present day, with Pope Francis, may we all learn to be merciful.  "It is mercy I desire, not sacrifice."

Here is a little prayer that was given to me when I was in the hospital after the shooting in 2002.  I still say this prayer everyday:

Acceptance prayer:

My Jesus, I ask you with all my heart for your love.

Only your love will help me to accept my sufferings

and carry my cross in such a way that I may be your 

true follower.

O Lord Jesus, graciously accept the sacrifice of my

sufferings for the temporal and eternal salvation of myself

and my loved ones.  

Jesus, my dearest Lord and God, my Teacher and Redeemer,

have mercy on me.  Most Holy Spirit be my consoler.

Prayer written originally by Blessed John Newmann.