Mid-day thoughts on the fourth Friday of Lent

Today's noon and afternoon readings in the divine office serve as a gentle reminder to us.

For those of us in Quadragesima who have not done our best to follow the journey and take steps to put Him first, don't lose courage: "Come back, says the Lord, and I will frown on you no more, since I am merciful and I shall not keep my resentment for ever. Come back, disloyal children, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 3:12,14). The Lord is forgiving and willing to give us chances - no matter how disloyal we are - but we must decide to put in the effort.

The afternoon reading from James also sparks a reminder to us about our faith in God - it is not a two-person relationship between me and the Father: "In the eyes of God our Father, pure unspoilt religion is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows when they need it, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world" (1:27). Our religion is a community, it goes far beyond us, and we must care for each other. God's will is for us to help the poor and needy. Is your shaped in His?

If you need to, please revisit our mission together on this journey. And if you've not succeeded as well as you would have liked thus far, it's not too late.

God bless you, my fellow sojourner!

Reminder to be Powered By Prayer!

Reminder that we will be gathering tomorrow evening to pray for Christ's light to shine in our lives.

Saturday, 28 March, we commemorate Earth Hour with (hopefully) 1 billion other people. But this, especially for us Catholics, is a good time to appreciate Christ as our Source of light, and to become ever more aware that without Him we live in nothing more than darkness.

Please join us, and if you really cannot be there, do spend a moment in prayer for us.

Once again,

POWERED BY PRAYER
Saturday, 28 March 2009
7.30 to 9.30pm
Church of the Holy Spirit (248 Upper Thomson Road)



God bless!

Sharing: the journey so far

Usually, I'd just fast from one item during Lent, forgetting about the aspects of Prayer and Almsgiving. But this year proved to be something different from me, something that changed when I embarked on this journey of Quadragesima. I didn't expect myself to be committing to a Lenten fast, more prayer, and almsgiving practice, all at one go! Neither did I expect to journey through Lent with a group of people, rather than just with myself.

So far, it's been an amazing, and yet very trying time for me during this year's Lent. With added abstinences and temptations to fight against (cos it seems like when you set yourself to do something, the temptation is only higher), I found myself praying hard for God to grant me strength to say No to the temptations that surrounded me, and eventually, growing stronger in faith in Him. I remember the first Thursday of Lent when I did my bread fast, and I didn't dare to tell my friends what I was eating (i.e. plain bread) even when they asked, for fear that they might not understand what I'm doing or if they would laugh at me, and also cos I thought that Matthew 6:16-18 meant for me to hide away my fast and not show that I'm fasting (but now, I found out that it doesn't entirely mean that).

During the first league of this Lenten race, denying myself of sweets and chocolates (what I set to fast from) was really tough too. I couldn't resist these, especially when chocolate was in small amounts in food items, where something in me would tell me "it's just a small amount, it's okay to eat it lah". I fell into these temptations many times, and once fallen in, it was so difficult to get out of it.

And yet, somehow (I'm sure it's by God's grace), I managed to get out of it.

It's amazing, to me, how God's helping me out in fighting temptations, when He allowed them to happen to me. Perhaps, all these temptations are ways not only for me to build up my self-control (when I say No to them), but also to build my relationship with God, to help me to trust in Him more, and even after this Lent's over, to remember that He's always here for me.

Thanks God. :)
And thank You for this time of Lent.



- posted on behalf of Amanda Lek

Prayer Intentions (23-29 Mar)

Here's are the intentions for the week 23-29 March.

Please print a copy of this, and remember to mention these people by name (you may simply read off the list if you wish) when you do your Lenten prayer each day this coming week.

1. For all mothers, may they be strengthen by God to continuously shower love and patience on their families and turn to our faithful God in times of uncertainty;
2. For Brenda, that in the loss of her father, she will depend more than ever on the ever-constant love of her Heavenly Father, who watches over her;
3. For Christentia, that she will continue in an honest search for Christ and recognize her belonging in His Body, the Church;
4. For Gabriel Ho, that he will discover the true meaning and appreciate the full value of friendship, by first recognizing Jesus as the best model of a friend;
5. For God's children who strayed away from the Catholic faith for some reasons or another. With God's grace, may we as the eyes and hands of Christ bring them home to where they truly belong;
6. For Justin Vetha, that his experience of and with the Holy Spirit in his life will spark off a start of a new life in Him;
7. For Mark Matthew, that he will, in God’s time and with God’s grace, allow the Lord into his life;
8. For Thaddeus Bang, that the Lord continue in guiding him on the road to change and keep the desire to journey with Christ burning in his heart;
9. For Valerie, Jeremy Teo, Adeline, Samantha, that they will each continue in an honest search for Christ and recognize their belonging in His Body, the Church;
10. For Veronica Teo, that the Holy Spirit continues to guide her in her journey in faith;
11. The health and well-bring of Peter James, who is undergoing treatment for cancer;
12. For all Quadragesima sojourners, that we may all find comfort in knowing that we have a group of friends who are on this Lenten journey with each other.

Lord, we love you only because we’ve seen how much you’ve loved us, yet you have loved us with an everlasting love. May we learn to place our trust in you, and leave our desires in your hands.

Print a copy of the intentions for the week.

If you're not on the journey yet, please join us.