Today is the anniversary of my Baptism - following the advice of Pope Francis, I try to recall my Baptismal date every time I use holy water - “Every time we come back or go out, making the sign of the cross with that water, we remember that we are baptized.”
4. Pray the Rosary every day. One practical way to follow through on this is to carry a Rosary in your pocket. Here is a video to watch while praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary to meditate upon the life of Jesus through the eyes of Mary: https://t.co/4AymGV1vjc
Need a resolution for the New Year? Here are four ideas:
1. Read the Bible for 15 minutes daily - begin with the Gospels. To have a structured plan, you could follow along with this Bible in a Year reading plan and podcast with @AscensionPress: https://t.co/7jvZVBp5n9
3. Keep a Mass journal with takeaways & reflections from every Mass you attend. One way to do this is to create a note on your phone & keep a running log with each Mass you attend. You could also use a notebook or get a Mass Journal from Dynamic Catholic: https://t.co/egL2XHT4at
John 6:53-54 - Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day"
https://t.co/5eA8Ey6Jxv
Pope Francis: "Free and heartfelt forgiveness is...a reflection of God’s own infinite ability to forgive .... Those who truly forgive do not forget. Instead, they choose not to yield to the same destructive force that caused them so much suffering. They break the vicious circle."
“Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20).
https://t.co/RcAomxeSSw
Challenge for the week: Check your phone’s screen time report for this past week & commit to spending that amount of time in prayer in the coming week.
For example, if I spent 3 hours on Twitter last week, I’ll pray 3 hours throughout the course of this week.
Grace will follow.
"Prayer & praise breaks the current of worldly thoughts. & this is the singular benefit of stated worship, that it statedly interferes with the urgency of worldly excitements.
Our daily prayer, morning & evening, suspends our occupations of time & sense." -St. John Henry Newman
If you don’t often go to confession, try going once a month for a year. Then, ask yourself, have I grown in virtue, overcome sins and bad habits? Am I am more joyful, at peace and more generous? Do I love God and neighbor more? The answer will be YES. Then, you will keep going!
From Hosea at Mass today - “Thus says the LORD: When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the farther they went from me...”
May I allow myself to receive the love of God today and not hide in shame or fear.
From the prophet Hosea at Mass today: "Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety; break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain down justice upon you."
Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice!
Psalm 115 at Mass today: "Their idols are silver and gold, the handiwork of men. They have mouths but speak not; they have eyes but see not . . .
Their makers shall be like them, everyone that trusts in them."
May I choose today to not trust in idols but in God who cares for me
My conscience every time I decide to open Twitter:
“Now all the Athenians as well as the foreigners residing there used their time for nothing else but telling or hearing something new” (Acts of the Apostles 17:21).
Relevant Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 60) at Mass today:
Response - Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.
“You have rocked the country and split it open; repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering. You have made your people feel hardships...”