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Lenten Calendar & Family Lenten Program

by Filed Under: Lent

JOYfilledfamily Lenten Calendar 2011 16x20

My Lenten Calendar Inspiration – Shower of Roses

This year’s Lenten calendar has slightly changed from last year.
I print my calendar at Costco Photo in 16×20 ($5.99) for the family down stairs and 8×10 ($1.49) for bedrooms upstairs.
Here is the link to the PDF version of my 2011 Lenten Calendar.  I’d be more than happy to share the digital file with anyone who is interested. 
Email me your request – JOYfilledfamily{at}gmail{dot}com.
**UPDATE** I’m happy to share this Lenten Calendar for your personal use.  I will gladly send out the 2011 Lenten Calendar – JPEG file at any time in the Lenten Season.  Please do not hesitate to ask.  It’s never too late!

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Not much has changed in our Lenten program this year.  As always, we look to simplify.  We use free resources or resources we already have on hand.
Family Goals For Lent:*

  • Grow in CHARITY
    • Be Charitable.Be Useful. Be Gentle. Be Joyful. Forget about self. ALL FOR!
  • Increase prayer life and grow in devotion to Our Blessed Mother
  • Learn more about the lives of the saints
  • Reclaim our family Adoration time
  • Clean physical house by simplifying and purging
  • Clean spiritual house by almsgiving, works of mercy, and spiritual readings  

*these are in addition to our personal Lenten programs
Lenten Activities: listed on the calendar

  • Lent for Children: A Thought a Day (daily)
  • Update the bean jar for sacrifices/almsgiving (daily)
  • Review personal Lenten program chart (daily)
  • Pick Cleaning item out of jar & perform assigned task from the Lenten Cleaning Calendar (Mon.-Sat.)
  • Adoration (Thursday)
  • Stations of the Cross (Friday)
  • Select family almsgiving activity for the week (Sun.)

in addition to the children’s collection for the Bishop G’s Maternity Home and simplifying our home by donating new and old items to the homeless shelters.

  • visit the elderly/sick in the rest home
  • pray at the abortion clinic
  • provide service to the pregnancy resource center
  • cook meal for Father
  • cook meal or invite family to home for meal
  • invite someone to Mass
  • provide additional service to Parish

Daily Prayer Intention:

  • Mon – End to Abortion
  • Tue – Conversion of Family
  • Wed – Godparents & Godchildren
  • Thur – Pope Benedict XVI & Priests
  • Fri – Souls in Purgatory
  • Sat – Vocations
  • Sun – Poor, homeless, and those in great need

Lenten Resources:
kids

teens & adults

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Now it is only right that, before we arrive at that glory of impassibility and immortality which began in Christ, and which was acquired for us through Christ, we should be shaped after the pattern of Christ’s sufferings.  It is then only right that Christ’s liability to suffer should remain in us too for a time, as a means of our coming to the impassibility of glory in the way He himself came to it. ~Meditations For Lent – St. Thomas Aquinas,  (1-2 85 5 ad 2.)
~~~
Prayers for a blessed and fruitful Lenten Season.
Pax Christi,

No Flower More Fair

by Filed Under: Birthday, Friends, Girls, Rose, Rose GFG

Rose will be 16 on March 29.  Dad and I asked her what she would like to do for her birthday.  She asked to have her annual bday retreat with me.  I assured her that we would go on retreat and that we wanted to give her a special treat this year.  I came up with elaborate  ideas, all of which, she rejected.  She asked to have friends come over for the day.  She was thrilled when dad and I told her she could have them spend the night.  We’ve opted out of sleepovers for the children.  This seemed like the perfect opportunity for a first for Rose, sweet fun.

We decided to have Rose’s party prior to her birthday and Lent.  We wanted her and her friends to go all out.  It would be a “Fat-Tuesday Weekend.”

We attended first Saturday Mass and Sodality/Little Flowers.  Then we loaded the girls up in the two getaway vehicles. 

The Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the The Congregation of the Children of Mary, has for its object to assemble its members at the feet of the Mother of God, to dedicate them in a very special manner to the veneration and service of the Blessed Virgin, and to place them under her particular patronage and protection both in life and at the hour of death.

A person truly devout to Mary will be enrolled in her Sodality; will celebrate her feasts very piously; will wear her scapular and medal; will venerate her images and visit her shrines; will love to read books on her life and virtues, and will endeavor throughout the year, but especially in May, to imitate her example. Certainly, a girl, a woman, cannot be said to have a true devotion to the Mother of God unless she honors and invokes her by frequent and fervent prayers. ~ Father Lasance, Catholic Girl’s Guide

16th bday party

The girls had a blessed time together.  They had wholesome girl fun together, outdoors, without any technology.  It was refreshing to witness 10 girls, ages 15-18, enjoying each other’s company – being in the world but far removed from being of the world.  We gave thanks to God for blessing Rose with beautiful friends, inside & out.

Your innocence guard with the utmost care—
Once lost, there is nought that loss can repair.
How sweet the fragrance it sheds around—
No flower more fair on earth can be found.

~ Father Lasance, Catholic Girl’s Guide

 

girlfriends

True friends seek to promote the good and happiness of each other. ~ Father Lasance, Catholic Girl’s Guide

friends JOY 
What friendship out to be, for it ought to be pure and true, like gold and precious stones. ~ Father Lasance, Catholic Girl’s Guide

Pax Christi,

Poor Clare Nuns

by Filed Under: Nuns, Pilgrimage, Poor Clare Nuns, Religious Orders, St. Clare of Assisi, Vocations

We strive to live in continual and joyful penance, imitating Christ’s emptying of Himself and making more evident our love of God and neighbor. ~ Poor Clare Nuns of Los Altos

The Immaculate Heart Monastery of the Poor Claresmonastery JOY

Our last visit here was seven years ago.  Rose was only 8 years old at the time and Sparkles was months old.  Rose was deeply touched by the lives of these faithful sisters.  In fact,  one day, several weeks after the visit, we found Rose sleeping on her bedroom floor.  Turns out, she had been sleeping on the floor since our visit to the Monastery.  She recalls it being her Lenten sacrifice. 

Clare from her cloister proclaimed to the world what life was really all about. In the bull giving approbation to her Rule on August 9, 1253, Pope Innocent IV wrote:
"Because you, beloved daughters in Christ, have held the pomps and pleasures of the world of no account and, following the footprints of Christ himself and of his most holy Mother, have chosen to live enclosed in body and to serve the Lord in highest poverty so that with mind unencumbered you may be servants of the Lord, we, approving in the Lord your holy way of life, with fatherly affection do gladly desire to grant benevolent support to your requests and holy desires."

st mary magdalene relic visitWe were able to visit the Poor Clare’s portress after we venerated St. Mary Magdalene’s relic.  The children enjoyed this special time with the ever joyful nun, Sr. Margret Mary.  She spoke to us from behind her screen.

Why do you speak through a screen in the parlor?
A. Because of our vow of enclosure, which of its nature seeks to express its reality in signs. And this also explains the low brick walls and ivy-covered fencing which surround our property. That is, we are perfectly content to remain on our monastery grounds for the love of God because, as our loved Mother Mary Francis has written, "God is enough, and everything else is not enough."

Sparkles shared our family with her and wrote down our names for prayers.  Sweetie sought special prayers since her name sake is St. Clare of Assisi.  Papi shared his enthusiasm and Dragonfly attempted to jump through the grille into Sr. Margret Mary’s arms.  The children left their coloring pages as a reminder to the nuns that little ones will be praying for them.

God is everything for us.
God is life. God is power.
God is truth. God is goodness
God is beauty. And, in the end,
God is our happiness.
ALLELUIA!

~Pope Paul VI

RESOURCES:

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image

We were also able to visit with sisters from Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará.

The name “Servants” (Servidoras) is a reference to (a) the faithful women who stood at the foot of the cross (Luke 8: 1-3) and (b) the term used by St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort in his True Devotion, 56.

The second part of the name, “of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará” (del Señor y la Virgen de Matará) refers to the Crucified Christ and His Blessed Mother as found on the Cross of Matará worn by the sisters, since Jesus on His Cross and the Virgin Mary must be the foundations of our spirituality.

Sister Incarnation told us her vocation story.  She had us all laughing with he self proclaimed humility.  Rose was drawn to her down-to-earth personality.

Dragonfly took a special liking to all the nuns this special day.

papi and sister incarnation He went straight for Sr. Incarnation and enjoyed her crucifix, Cross of Matara.

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May we all find our way to the foot of the cross during this blessed time of year, Lent.

Pax Christi,

L-E-N-T

by Filed Under: Lent

by Johnette Benkovic – full article can be found here.

…So, how do we make this a good Lent – one that is well-prepared and one that yields lasting fruit in our spiritual life?

Maybe the name of the season itself provides us with help.

L-E-N-T

L – Look into your heart.

Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate the aspect of your being that most needs to grow into the image and likeness of God. Is it a virtue you need to acquire? A familiar sin you need to break? A bad habit you have befriended? Lent is not so much about giving up as giving in. Giving in to the grace of conversion always available to us.

E – Engage the battle.

The best way to do this is to know you are in a battle – with the devil, with the world, and often with yourself! Wake up in the morning and put on your fighting gear (Ephesians 6: 10-17). Name the vice you want to overcome and the virtue you need to acquire it. Set out to slay this dragon of your soul with the sword of truth and the weaponry of virtuous action.

Check yourself half-way through the day. How are you doing? Readjust your battle gear if needed. Get up if you have fallen. Check yourself at the end of the day? Did you win more than you lost? Yippee, if so! No worries, if not. Set out more determinedly tomorrow. And do not let the evil one sap your strength and your determination!

N – No turning back.

In Luke 9:62, Jesus reveals an important reality to a potential disciple: “Whoever puts his hand to the plow but keeps looking back is unfit for the reign of God.” Once we have resolved to grow in a certain virtue or break with a certain habit, sin, or weakness, don’t give up. Plow this area of your being with fortitude, perseverance, and long suffering. Fight temptation, avoid the near occasion of sin, and move forward with hope and confidence in God. 

T – Turn to the means of victory Holy Mother Church provides us.

Daily prayer, the sacraments of the Church, more frequent attendance at daily Mass, and holy devotional practices help us develop interior muscle and strength. They feed us, sustain us, purify us, and heal us. The graces they provide fortify our good resolve with supernatural life and move us more swiftly and easily on the path of holiness and truth.

Quinquagesima Sunday

by Filed Under: Lent, Pre-Lent, Quinquagesima Sunday

[Quin.jpg]

QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY

(kwngkw-js-m)

DOUBLE, SECOND CLASS / PURPLE

 

March 6 – SAINTS PERPETUA AND FELICITAS
Martyrs

 

Excitement and tension are in the prayers and lessons of today’s Mass. There is an appreciation of what Christ our Leader must endure for mankind’s redemption, and a joy at the sure outcome of His warfare with Satan. We are confident that love will triumph.

Baptism commits everyone to carry a cross, especially the cross of consistent, unobtrusive charity. As Jesus commanded the blind man of Jericho to be brought to Him, so He commands His members to bring to Him those who need Him as their light and their love. We fulfill our own baptismal promises by helping others to renounce Satan and to put on Christ.

~~~

Prediction of the Passion

From Divine Intimacy by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.

PRESENCE OF GOD
O Jesus, give me light to understand the mystery and value of Christian suffering.

MEDITATION
Lent is approaching and our thoughts turn spontaneously to the sorrows of Jesus. Today’s Gospel (Lk 18: 31-43) brings us an announcement of the Passion. The prediction is clear: “The Son of Man…shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked and scourged and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will put Him to death; and the third day He shall rise again.” However, as on the other occasions, the Apostles “understood none of these things, and this word was hidden from them”. They did not understand because they imagined that Jesus’ mission was like an earthly conqueror’s and that He would re-establish the kingdom of Israel. Since they dreamed only of triumphs and of occupying the first places in the kingdom, any allusion to the Passion upset and scandalized them. To those who dream only of prosperity and earthly glory, the language of the Cross is incomprehensible. Those who have a purely material ideal of life find it very difficult to understand any spiritual significance, and especially that of suffering. St. Paul said that Christ Crucified was “unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness” (1 Cor 1:23). Rebuking St. Peter, who at the first mention of the Passion had exclaimed, “Lord, be it far from Thee, this shall not be unto Thee,” Jesus had said, “Go behind Me, Satan….because thou savourest not the things that are of God, but the things that are of men” (Mt 16: 22,23). To human wisdom, suffering is incomprehensible; it is disconcerting; it can lead one to murmur against divine Providence and even to lose all trust in God. However, according to the wisdom of God, suffering is a means of salvation and redemption. And as it was necessary “for Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into His glory (Lk 24,26), it is also necessary for the Christian to be refined in the crucible of sorrow in order to attain to sanctity, to eternal life.

It was not until after the descent of the Holy Spirit that the Apostles fully understood the meaning of the Passion; then, instead of being scandalized, they considered it the greatest honour to follow and to preach Christ Crucified. The human eye has not sufficient light to comprehend the value of the Cross; it needs a new light, the light of the Holy Spirit. It is not by chance that in today’s Gospel, immediately after the prediction of the Passion, we find the healing of the blind man of Jericho. We are always somewhat blind when faced with the mystery of suffering; when it strikes us in what we hold most near and dear, it is easy to get lost and to grope our way like blind men through uncertainty and darkness. The Church invites us to repeat today the blind man’s prayer of faith:”Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The world id often astonished at the suffering of the good, and instead of encouraging them in their reliance on God, seeks to turn from Him by urging them to defiance and false fear. Our passions themselves, our innate tendencies toward pleasure, often cry out to us and try, by a thousand pretexts, to prevent us from following Jesus Crucified. Let us remain steadfast in our faith, like the poor blind man. He was not disturbed by the crowd that tried to keep him from approaching Jesus, and he did not give up when disciples remonstrated with him and wanted him to be quiet; he only shouted his prayer “even more loudly”.

Let us cry to he Lord from the bottom of our hearts: “De profoundis clamavo ad te, Domine; Domine audi vocem meam!”(Ps 129). Let us ask, not to be exempt from suffering, but to be enlightened at its value. “Lord, that I may see!” As soon as the blind man recovered his sight, he immediately followed Jesus, “glorifying God!”. The supernatural light which we seek from the Lord will give us the strength to follow Him and to carry our cross as He did.

COLLOQUY
O Jesus Christ, Son of the eternal Father, our Lord, true King of all things! What didst Thou leave in the world for Thy descendants to inherit from Thee? What didst Thou ever have, my Lord, save trials, pains, and insults? Indeed Thou hadst only a beam of wood to rest upon while drinking the bitter draught of death. Those of us, then, my God, who desire to be Thy true children and not to renounce their inheritance, must never flee from suffering, Thy crest is five wounds!….O my Jesus, the Cross is Your standard; I should be ashamed to ask to be delivered from it. From one evil only I ardently beg You to preserve me: from any deliberate sin, however slight. O Lord, I beg You by the merits of Your sacred Passion to keep all sin far from me. But as for other evils – bodily or spiritual sufferings, physical pain or mental anguish – I beg Your light and strength: light to understand the hidden meaning which they have in the plans of Your divine Providence, light to understand the hidden meaning which they have in the plans of your divine Providence, light to believe firmly that every sorrow or trial, every pain or disappointment, is planned by You for my greater good; strength not to let myself be influenced by false maxims of the world or led astray by the vain mirage of earthly happiness, strength to accept suffering of any kind with courage and love.

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RESOURCES:

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