I know that Thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withheld from Thee.Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore have I uttered what I understood not, things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak; I will question thee, and declare thou unto Me.I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee.Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

Lent begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday. Lent is a season of repentence and inner reflection. You should be examining your life and seeing where it can be changed for the better. We as Christians are called to repent and be sorry for our shortcomings and allow God to forgive us. We will be made clean by our confessions and our contrition.

On Ash Wednesday, ashes are placed on our foreheads as a visible outward sign of our repentence. So, when others see you tomorrow, they will know you are a Christian. They will also know that you are sorry for your sins and aim to do better. By the way, the ashes come from the burning of palms from Palm Sunday the year before.

As the passage says, we don’t know everything and we know that nothing can be withheld from God. He knows all. I hear things but now my spirit sees what God wants for my life. I repent in dust and ashes.

During this Lenten season, let’s not get all caught up in what we are “giving up for Lent”. Let’s focus on giving of ourselves to God and one another. I try to give up a material thing but I also try to add something to my Lenten season. Over the 40 days, I try to increase my prayer life and do something for others as well. God gave us His Son, who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us. The least I can do is give up candy for 40 days.

Take the time this Lent to look at your life. What can you change? How can you make things better? How can you serve God more? Take these 40 days to slow down and listen for God’s voice in the silence of your heart.

1 Corinthians 10:31

Brothers and sisters,Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,do everything for the glory of God.Avoid giving offense, whether to the Jews or Greeks or the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in every way,not seeking my own benefit but that of the many,that the may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Many people have preached and written about giving your whole life to God. Yes, people are willing to give the big things in life – praying for health, wealth and happiness. But how about the small things? God looks at all we do, not just the grand gestures.

When you really give everything to God, you will see how your life will change. God loves that we do good things for others and help out through charitable works. But He also loves the everyday things that we all do if they are offered to Him. I mean things like doing the dishes, paying your bills, driving your son to soccer practice and vacuuming your carpets.

Everything – and I mean everything – you do should be offered to God for His glory. If you do all to the best of your abilities, God will see that. And we are called to do this in the silence of our hearts   – not to announce it to the world so they can see how great we are.

Do everything with your best effort and God will be pleased. And when you don’t have your best effort in you, go to Him and He will provide for you. Your little everyday ordinary offerings to Him will benefit many people. God will use your daily offerings to help others in need, maybe even someone who is struggling to give his ordinary things to God. And one day, someone else’s offering will benefit you.

Look at it this way – even the everyday mundane moments of life are gifts from God. Be grateful to Him that you have these little moments – many people worldwide don’t even have the luxury  of having dishes to wash or a house that needs the rugs vacuumed.

All for His Glory – and He will give you all that you need in this world and the next.

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But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;  let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them,  that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord;  you cover him with favor as with a shield.

My football team, the New York Giants, just won the Super Bowl. The feeling that one gets when their team wins it all is sometimes indescribible. Yet, the feeling you will get when God blesses you and shields you is a million times more happy and amazing. God will always be there for you if you just have that faith and dedication toward Him. If you just allow yourself to be swept up in God’s glory, He will take you places you have never gone before.

And when times are hard, He will shield you with his wings. He will protect you and guide you through the hardest of times. It’s easy to love God when things are going right. It’s hard to love Him when things are going wrong. But, we are called to love Him always.

You will sing for joy knowing that God has everything under control. We sometimes try to do it all ourselves and put pressure on ourselves. God makes it so easy for us — just let Him handle it.

The Giants’ victory parade is today and all the fans will feel elated and excited. The feeling is overwhelming. God’s love for us is overwhelming also. Keep the faith in Him and He will take care of you. God’s victory parade is more important than any sports championship one. Rejoice in Him!

My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart.  In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things.   I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us.  In His name, my God, have mercy.      Amen.

This is the modern version of the Act of Contrition. For those who are not Catholic, this is recited at Confession right before the priest absolves you of your sins.

When I was younger, I was always nervous about going to Confession. I wasn’t nervous about telling the priest my sins; I was nervous about remembering the Act of Contrition. We practiced it all the time in school yet I always found myself missing a part of it. Even today, I stumble when I say it ( good thing the words are in the confessional at my church!)

Now, as I teach my own second graders the Act of Contrition, I find myself trying to understand the meaning of this powerful prayer. I am telling God that I have sinned, that I indend to not do the same sin again and for God to have mercy on me. To me, the most important part of this prayer is the fact that we need God’s help to achieve any of this. We recite “I firmly indend, with your help to sin to more and avoid whatever leads me to sin”.  We need to ask God for His forgiveness and His help. We can do nothing without God.

This Saturday, my religious education class will be going to Confession for the first time. They are nervous but looking forward to it.  I am as well since it will give me the opportunity to go to Confession and recite that Act of Contrition. I take those words to heart as I tell God of my shortcomings, of which He already knows.

We all make mistakes – but make no mistake about this. God will always forgive you if you are sincere and contrite.

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  When you read the above passage, it’s easy to be grateful for all the good things in your life. It is almost impossible to be grateful for the troubles that arise in your life. But we are called to do this.  The idea of being grateful for ALL things is in the Bible many times. But, how do you do this?

The way I look at it, even in hard times, there are things to be grateful for. Having trouble at work?  Be grateful you even have a job. Personal relationships on the skids? Be grateful that you have people around you that you have built a relationship with. Things just not going your way? Be grateful that you have a God who cares and is there for you in all situations.

You may not feel like God knows your pain but He does. Sometimes we need to go through hard times to come through it as a better person. Look at September 11th. Yes, it was a horrendous day in our nation and the evil one was truly front and center that day. But look at the aftermath. Our country was never so united as in the days after that tragedy. The outpouring of love and caring that took place nationwide was amazing. And finally, our police and firefighters were appreciated for all that they do every day.

In all circumstances, give thanks. You’ll find that when you do, things have a way of working out for the best. God is always there, always listening, always providing. Trust in Him and all will be well.

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Thomas Merton,Monk and Writer

God, we have no idea where we are going. We do not see the road ahead of us. We cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do we really know ourselves, and the fact that we think we are following your will does not mean that we are actually doing so. But we believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And we hope we have that desire in all that we are doing. We hope that we will never do anything apart from that desire. And we know that if we do this you will lead us by the right road, though we may know nothing about it. Therefore, we will trust you always though we may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. We will not fear, for you are ever with us, and you will never leave us to face our perils alone.

I am going to deviate from my usual Scriptural postings to talk about this prayer. It was written by Thomas Merton who was a Monk and a writer. He wrote many works, including The Seven Storey Mountain which is a great read about his life and the struggles even a holy man like Merton went through.

I love this prayer and say it every day. It has everything in it that a person could want – admitting that we know nothing of what we are to experience, stating that we don’t really know if we are doing God’s will but hope that we are, and the faith that God will provide for us and lead us down the right road if we just place our trust in Him.

I can identify with this prayer totally. It is a prayer for the regular person – we don’t know what’s ahead, we hope we are living a good life and if we leave everything to God, all will work out. This simple prayer says it all. After the Our Father, this is my favorite prayer.

Merton was a wonderful writer and his style is very easy to follow. He doesn’t preach at you – he relays life experiences that he has learned valuable lessons from. He was a regular guy who became a monk and priest and was a shining example of how someone should live their life. I would highly recommend reading some of his works.

So, with this prayer in mind, I pray ” God, Thomas Merton was right. I have no idea where I am going and I hope that I am living the life You want me to live. Please guide me through my good and bad times. Help me to help others and know in my heart that You will provide for me. I am never alone because You are with me till the end of time.”

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Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;Make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, using praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders. Glory in His holy name;Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.  Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually. Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth, O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!  He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth.

The big news in professional sports lately has been Tim Tebow, the quarterback for the Denver Broncos. It’s not his great play that is getting the attention. He hasn’t broken records or put up tremendous numbers for his team. The thing that everyone is talking about is his very public display of his faith in God.

Tebow always thanks God first whenever you  hear him speak. Many athletes have done this before, so why is this different? I think it’s because you sense with Tebow that he is quite sincere in his faith. He was raised by parents who were missionaries, so he grew up with faith as being the primary thing in his life.

Tim Tebow also thanks God for everything – losses as well as wins. He thanks God for the opportunity to play football and to be in the public eye so he can spread his faith in God. How many of us thank God for the failures in our own lives and look upon them as a learning experience and one that God wants us to go through for our benefit?

Tebow is a great example of someone who truly has the faith of Job. He is grateful to God for everything that happens to him. He is inspirational in his beliefs and we can all learn from him.

Tebow may not ever be compared to John Unitas or Peyton Manning in football circles, but there is no comparison for him in faith circles. Take a look at yourself and your faith journey  – where can you make improvements and grow in your faith?

Thank God in all circumstances and watch your faith carry you through the good and bad times. TimTebow will only play football for a handful of years but his faith will sustain him for his entire lifetime.

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And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

As a parent, part of my job is to be a guiding force in my children’s lives. As hard as I try, at times I fail. But in this passage, we know that the Lord never fails. He is always there for us, to guide us at all times.

I need to go to God more often and accept His guiding hand in my life. If I try to do everything on my own, I am setting myself up for failure. I want to be like that watered garden, being saturated with God’s light and love.

I can only deal with the joys and burdens of parenthood if I let my Father take charge of my life. He is the ultimate guide – the One who is always there in good and bad times. He is there for us even when we don’t want to admit that we need His guidance.

Let God guide you and you will never go down the wrong path.

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

My friend Rich is an amazing person. I met him through work and have known him casually for many years. He was a salesperson who worked with us for our technology needs. That is until recently.

Rich decided to take a year off from work to travel to underpriviledged countries and help people in need. He dropped everything and went to where he was needed. It is just amazing to me that someone would do this. I can’t imagine doing it myself even though I like to help people when I can.

Rich’s total dedication to what God has called him to do is nothing short of inspirational. He truly has listened to God’s commandments in loving his God and his neighbor.

Now, Rich has decided to do his charity work full-time. It’s hard to find the words to express how special this man is. Rich is living the word of God every day. What an incredible gift!

Now, not everyone is in the position to drop everything and devote their entire lives to doing this kind of work. But, situations arise every day in which we can be charitible, especially this time of year. Hold the door open for someone, let a car in front of you, say a nice word to someone. That’s all it takes.

Everyone is our neighbor. We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves.  It’s hard sometimes to be nice to people especially when they are not nice to you. But, think about what that person may be going through. Maybe they have recently been through a personal tragedy or are sick. We don’t know, but we can still treat others as we want to be treated.

My friend Rich is truly doing the work of God. We can all do so as well – just show kindness to others. It will make you appreciate what blessings you have.

Now the birth of JesusChrist was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.   Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Everyone knows the story of the birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. We have heard this Scripture read many times at our services. But have you really listened to the message?

For me, one of the most important parts of this passage is the part St. Joseph played. He was asked  to take Mary as his wife even though she was already pregnant with a child that was not his. Sure, he thought about just leaving her quietly so she wouldn’t be embarrassed. But, when the angel of the Lord came to him and asked him to still go through with it, Joseph said yes. What faith and courage Joseph had! Without his buy-in, the future would have been completely different for all of us.

So, on Christmas Day, when we are all focused on Mary and Jesus, don’t forget to include St. Joseph. His faith in God and His mission for him put into motion all God’s plans, which includes our salvation through His son, Jesus Christ. Thank you St. Joseph for also saying yes to God as Mary did.

Have a blessed Christmas!

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