MEMORIAL OF SAINT WALBURGA, ABBESS AND BLESSED SEBASTIAN OF APARICIO, RELIGIOUS

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT (YEAR B)

SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ FEBRUARY 25, 2024

Greetings beloved family and Happy Second Sunday of Lent! May God’s grace and mercy be with us all during this season of our Lenten journey🙏

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | Sunday of 2nd week of Lent, February 25, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass Readings and Homily on Sunday of 2nd week of Lent, February 25, 2024 on EWTN” |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | February 25, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | February 25, 2024 |

Pray “Chaplet of the Divine Mercy from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | February 25, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |

Today’s Readings: Second Sunday of Lent (Year B), February 25, 2024
Reading 1, Genesis 22:1-2, 9, 10-13, 15-18
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19
Reading 2, Romans 8:31-34
Gospel, Mark 9:2-10

40 Days in the Desert. A Lenten journey with our Lord | Day Eleven – Second Sunday of Lent: Contrast | https://mycatholic.life/books/40-days-in-the-desert-a-lenten-journey-with-our-lord/second-sunday-of-lent-contrast/

A PRAYER TO WALK HUMBLY THROUGH LENT: Father, In Micah 6:8, You say, “O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Today we choose to walk humbly with You. We choose to live by Your Holy Spirit and to follow Your lead. Help us to hear You clearly, for we do not want to walk by pride or self-sufficiency, we want to walk with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen 🙏

God of goodness and mercy, hear my prayer as I begin this Lenten journey with you. Let me be honest with myself as I look into my heart and soul, noticing the times I turn away from you. Guide me as I humbly seek to repent and return to your love. May humility guide my efforts to be reconciled with you and live forever in your abundant grace. Transform me this Lent, heavenly Father. Give me the strength to commit myself to grow closer to you each day. Amen🙏

LENTEN FAST AND ABSTINENCE (Lenten Fast and Abstinence regulations from the USCCB): Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence.

For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards

Members of the Eastern Catholic Churches are to observe the particular law of their own sui iuris Church. If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the “paschal fast” to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily His Resurrection.

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY: MONTH OF THE PASSION OF OUR LORD: The month of February is traditionally dedicated to the Passion of Our Lord in anticipation of the liturgical season of Lent. In this month, we begin to meditate on the mystery of Jesus’ sufferings which culminated in his death on the Cross for the redemption of mankind. Saints who had a special devotion to Christ’s passion include St. Francis of Assisi, who was the first known Saint to receive the stigmata; St. John of the Cross; St. Bridget of Sweden; and St. Catherine of Siena.

On this special feast day, as we continue our Lenten journey, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to remember our beloved late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on the first memorial anniversary of his death. We pray for the repose of his gentle soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May the gentle soul of Pope Benedict XVI and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

During this season of Lent, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏

PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏

A PRAYER FOR PEACE: Lord Jesus Christ, You are the true King of peace. In You alone is found freedom. Please free our world from conflict. Bring unity to troubled nations. Let Your glorious peace reign in every heart. Dispel all darkness and evil. Protect the dignity of every human life. Replace hatred with Your love. Give wisdom to world leaders. Free them from selfish ambition. Eliminate all violence and war. Glorious Virgin Mary, Saint Michael the Archangel, Every Angel and Saint: Please pray for peace. Pray for unity amongst nations. Pray for unity amongst all people. Pray for the most vulnerable. Pray for those suffering. Pray for the fearful. Pray for those most in need. Pray for us all. Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us. Jesus, hear our prayers. Jesus, I trust in You! Amen 🙏

Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for today, Second Sunday of Lent | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Mark 9:2–10

“This is my beloved Son”

“Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them. As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus takes His disciples, Sts. Peter, James and John away from the sea of Galilee, up a high mountain, Mount Tabor. There, on that mountain, they were given a new perspective on Jesus. They saw Him as they had never seen Him before, transfigured, his clothes dazzling white. According to Mark’s Gospel, it was immediately after the encounter between Jesus and His disciples at Caesarea Philippi that Jesus took them up to the mount of transfiguration. The Lord was revealed in His Divine Glory to His three disciples, St. Peter, St. James and St. John, at Mount Tabor. It was there that the Lord was Transfigured in glory, as His Divinity that has been hidden in His Humanity shone through, and made it clear that He is truly the Son of God, the Divine Word of God Incarnate, and not just merely the Son of Man or a Prophet. There, Jesus revealed another face of God, the glorious face of God, and Jesus Himself was declared to be the Son of God. It is through this revelation that our Lord Jesus has shown us the love of God made flesh, personified and becoming tangible and approachable to us all. He offered on our behalf the perfect offering of His own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, on the Altar of His Cross, at Golgotha or Calvary, which was exactly at the same site of Mount Moriah. Jesus’ disciples saw Him in a way they had never seen Him before. They saw Him with new eyes. The glorious face of God was a face that Peter was very much at home with. Indeed, Peter wanted to prolong this moment as much as possible. ‘It is wonderful for us to be here’, he exclaimed, ‘let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah’. However, Peter had to learn that the glorious Son of God who so enthralled him was also the suffering Son of Man who so repelled him. That is the significance of the word from the mountain addressed to St. Peter and the other disciples, ‘Listen to Him’, listen to Jesus when He speaks of Himself as the Son of Man who has to suffer and die. The two faces of God that Jesus displays, the suffering face and the glorious face have to be held together. Fundamentally, Jesus only reveals one face of God, the face of love. God’s love for us, God’s loyalty to us, was such that God was prepared to allow His Son to die for our sakes. St. Paul declares in today’s second reading, ‘God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up to benefit us all’. In our first reading today, Abraham’s loyalty to God was so great that he was prepared to sacrifice his son to God. Even though God did not ask this of Abraham in the end, the incident reveals human loyalty to God at its most complete. Abraham’s loyalty to God is a sign of God’s loyalty to us. God is so loyal, so faithful, to us that God is prepared to give us His Son, even though that entailed His cruel and untimely death. Jesus declared that no one has greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Jesus’ death on the cross revealed the face of God to be the face of a greater love.

As St. Paul the Apostle in his Epistle to the Romans reminds us in today’s second reading, God revealed His greater love for us also in raising His Son from the dead, in giving His Son back to us, the Son who now stands at the right hand of God pleading for us. Here indeed is a love that is beyond any human love, a love that prompts St. Paul to ask his triumphant question at the beginning of today’s second reading: ‘With God on our side, who can be against us?’ St. Paul the Apostle spoke of how Christ, the Son of God, has redeemed us all by His suffering and death, as He offered Himself as the perfect and most worthy sacrifice for the atonement of our sins, through which all of us are forgiven and made whole once again, reunited and reconciled to God, our loving Father and Creator. God did not spare His own Beloved Son for our sake, in showing His ever strong and enduring love for us, and as the tangible and real example of how He is and has always been faithful to the Covenant that He had established with us all.

Our first reading today from the Book of Genesis details the moment when God called on Abraham to bring his beloved son, Isaac, the promised one, to Mount Moriah to be offered and sacrificed to God. Isaac was the son whom God had promised to Abraham, which he and his wife, Sarah, would have even though they were unable to have any child beforehand. God had given Isaac miraculously and then suddenly, as we heard, He asked Abraham to offer and sacrifice this same precious son to Him. Yet, despite any sorrow or surprise that Abraham might have experienced, he obeyed the Lord and listened to Him. Abraham brought Isaac to Mount Moriah to be offered and sacrificed to the Lord, and he faithfully obeyed the Lord as he has always done, not sparing even his precious son in doing so. The Lord saw all that Abraham had willingly done, and therefore told Abraham later on, that he had been truly faithful to Him, and to the Covenant which he had made with him, that he did not spare even his own son, and faithfully obeyed God in this matter. Thus, God sent an Angel to stop Abraham from sacrificing his son, and a ram to be offered and sacrificed instead of Isaac, on top of that Mount Moriah. Thus, Isaac was spared and protected from harm, while God blessed Abraham and his descendants for the faith which he had shown. Mount Moriah is a very important and significant place, as later on, it would be the site where the great city of Jerusalem would be established and built. And it was in Jerusalem, at the same site of Mount Moriah, that the Lord Himself would send us His Son to be offered, sacrificed and broken up for our sake, in parallel to what Abraham and Isaac had experienced many centuries previously. There is a clear parallel between the occurrence in the case of Abraham’s offering of Isaac and the Lord offering His own Son, to be a worthy sacrifice for the sake of the atonement of our many sins. Not only that God had sent to us His Beloved Son, but He also spared us all from certain destruction through the same Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

We can fail to appreciate what is all around us; we can devalue what is really worthwhile. We can even be tempted to destroy what is deserving of our love and appreciation. Abraham in our first reading climbed a mountain to destroy his son, believing this was what God was asking of him. Sacrificing children to the gods was part of the pagan religious culture in which Abraham lived. Abraham had to learn that this was not what God was asking of him. God’s words, ‘Do not harm him’, stopped Abraham in his tracks. On the mountain, God was calling Abraham to cherish life not to destroy it. In a similar way, God calls us to cherish life, to celebrate the wonder of life in all its forms, as the disciples celebrated the wonder of Jesus on the mountain. Then we might find ourselves saying more often, ‘it is wonderful to be here’. Our calling as people who have been so loved by God in this way is to show the face of Christ to others. It is that face alone that will do us justice as people who have been baptized into the body of Christ and who have received the Spirit of Christ. Our ultimate destiny in heaven is to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. Our calling is to show forth something of that image here and now. As God invited the disciples on the mountain to see Jesus more deeply, He invites us to see each other more deeply, to relate to each other in a way that acknowledges the wonder of our being.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures this Sunday, the Second Sunday of Lent, all of us are presented with the story of the sacrifice and offering of Isaac by Abraham on Mount Moriah as asked by the Lord in our first reading, and then, we heard about how God offered and gave us all His own Beloved and only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, so that He could be the source of our salvation and hope, as elaborated by St. Paul in his Epistle in our second reading. Lastly, we also then heard of the account of the glorious Transfiguration which the Lord Jesus experienced at Mount Tabor, before three of His disciples, which revealed to them and all of us, of the true nature of the Lord, and of His mission henceforth. Let us all therefore make good use of this time and season of Lent which has been provided for us, so that we may reevaluate our path in life. Let us all remember the great love which God has shown us through His giving of His Son for us, to suffer and die for us on the Cross, so that by His death and glorious Resurrection, He has provided us all with the sure path out of the darkness and evil. Let us all turn away from the path of wickedness and evil, and embrace wholeheartedly from now on, the way of the Lord. During this season of Lent, may our every actions, words and deeds henceforth be truly filled with faith and commitment to God, and may we become good role models and inspirations for our fellow brethren all around us. Amen 🙏

SAINTS OF THE DAY: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Walburga, Abbess (Patron Saint against plague, rabies and coughs, sailors, mariners, and farmers, and against hydrophobia, famine, and storms) and Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio, Religious (Patron Saint of Travelers, Drivers, Road builders and Transportation industry). Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we humbly pray for Saint Walburga to help all those who are sick and dying and those suffering from the Coronavirus Pandemic and may Blessed Sebastian intercede for all travelers, drivers and all those who work in the transportation industry, we pray for their safety and God’s protection especially during this inclement weather.🙏

Saint Walburga and Blessed Sebastian ~ pray for us🙏

SAINT WALBURGA, ABBESS: St. Walburga (710 – 779 A.D.) was born in 710 near Devonshire, in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex in southern England.  She was the daughter of St. Richard the Pilgrim (Saxon King)  and Wuna and sister to Sts. Willibald and Winebald. Her parents prayed with their family of at least six children at the cross on their country estate. In 720, when St. Walburga was about  eleven years old, her father and two elder brothers set off as pilgrims to the Holy Land in Rome. St. Richard died at Lucca, Italy, but the youths reached Rome where St. Wunibald (c.701-761) became a monk, while St. Willibald (c.700-787) went on to the Holy Land. While her father and family went on the pilgrimage, she was placed in a convent famous for its holiness. She was well educated according to her rank, became a nun, and lived there for twenty-six years. When Abbess of Heidenheim, St. Walburga chose her nun Huneberc, a kinswoman, to write their biographies.  Thus we discover that her great kinsman was St. Boniface (c.675-754), the Apostle of Germany, who needed missionaries. Her uncle, St. Boniface, then brought her to what is now Germany to help him evangelize that country and establish the Church there. In 741, St. Boniface created the diocese of Eichstätt, consecrating St. Willibald, also a Benedictine monk, as its first bishop. In 752 Walburga’s family founded a monastery at nearby Heidenheim with St. Wunibald as its abbot. In this missionary activity she joined her brothers who were also laboring for the faith in that country. Because of her education she was able to document the travels of her brother in the Holy Land, and for this work she became the first female author of England and Germany. According to Legend, in about 748, the zealous St. Walburga left England to aid the work of evangelization. She went to Tauberbischofsheim, Germany where St. Lioba, the Wimborne-educated abbess and fellow kinswoman of St. Boniface, was to help Saint Boniface in his missionary work. When St. Wunibald died in 761, she was asked to become abbess of Heidenheim.  Obediently she came with some nuns to face the difficult task of ruling both monks and nuns. One dark night, according to a legend significantly derived from a living tradition, she went alone to a noble’s home, prayed all night at this dying child’s bedside and by dawn the girl was healed. Prayerfully and patiently she persevered until her death on February 25, 779 and was buried at Heidenheim. She was known as a miracle worker and healer both in her life and after her death. St. Walburga’s relics have the miraculous property of exuding oil to which many cures have been ascribed through the centuries.

During the 870s, St. Walburga’s remains were solemnly brought to Eichstätt for re-interment in the cathedral beside St. Willibald’s.  However, the oxen drawing the cart refused to go further than a small church to which some canonesses were attached. This was taken as a sign from God, and there she was interred.  In 893 as some of her relics were being transferred elsewhere a cripple, on touching the holy reliquary, was healed and devotion to her developed rapidly. In 1035 the Eichstätt canonesses were replaced by the foundation of Abtei St. Walburg, a Benedictine monastery of nuns existing to our own day, and over the centuries countless pilgrims have prayed at her shrine.  From the 1850s these nuns have founded daughter houses in the U.S.A. and England, and devotion to her has spread far and wide. It is from this same monastery that the founding Sisters were sent forth to the “American missions” in 1931 at St. Vincent Archabbey, Seminary and College, Latrobe, PA. She is renowned for her powerful and compassionate intercession on behalf of the sick, the dying, the distressed and all who pray with deep faith, she was a noted healer. She was canonised on 1 May c. 870 by Pope Adrian II. Saint Walburga is the Patron Saint against plague, rabies and coughs, sailors, mariners, and farmers, and against hydrophobia, famine, and storms.

PRAYER: Saint Walburga, through your intercession, we pray for all those who are sick and dying with special intentions for those who are terminally ill and those suffering from the coronavirus disease… Amen🙏

BLESSED SEBASTIAN OF APARICIO, RELIGIOUS: Bl.Sebastian (January 20, 1502 – February 25, 1600) was born in 1502 into a poor family of Galicia, Spain, his parents were Spanish peasants. Bl. Sebastian worked at a domestic servant and laborer. In 1531, he emigrated to Mexico, settling first in Varacruz and later in Puebla of the Angels. After transporting freight and then mail, eventually he built roads to facilitate agricultural trading and other commerce. He became rich by building roads. Yet, he continued to lead a simple life, sleeping on a mat and eating the poorest food while contributing generously to the needy.  His 466-mile road from Mexico City to Zacatecas took 10 years to build and required careful negotiations with the indigenous peoples along the way.

In 1552, Bl. Sebastian retired to a place near Mexico City where he cultivated the ground and bred livestock. In time Bl. Sebastian was a wealthy farmer and rancher. Later at over sixty years of age he wed twice—but each time he was quickly widowed. His first wife’s motivation may have been a large inheritance; his was to provide a respectable life for a girl without even a modest marriage dowry. When his first wife died, he entered another virginal marriage for the same reason; his second wife also died young. At the age of seventy, he felt the call to the religious life. Giving all his wealth to the Poor Clares, he joined the Franciscans in Mexico City as a brother. Bl. Sebastian was sent to Tecali then assigned to the large community of more than 100-member of friars at Puebla de los Angeles south of Mexico City. St. Sebastian went out collecting alms for the friars and spent the last 25 years of his life as a begging brother. To obtain food for such a large community, he had to use large carts, drawn by oxen, and traveled donated by charitable people. His charity to all earned him the nickname “Angel of Mexico.” Bl. Sebastian worked day and night without complaining and in union with his Redeemer. as a result, the images of this venerable old man and his large cart have remained inseparably linked in the history and traditions of the City of Puebla of the Angels. Bl. Sebastian’s roads and bridges connected many distant places. His final bridge-building was to help men and women recognize their God-given dignity and destiny. He died on February 25, 1600, at the advanced age of ninety-eight and was beatified on May 17, 1787 by Pope Pius VI. He’s Patron Saint of Travelers, Drivers, Road builders and Transportation industry.

PRAYER: O God, You were pleased to give us Blessed Sebastian as a model and exemplar of Christian charity by sanctifying the activities of his daily life. Through his intercession, enable us to serve You ever with a pure heart in all the circumstances of our lives. Amen🙏

PRAYER INTENTIONS: We thank God for blessing us all with the gift of His precious son, may we be saved by the name of our Savior Jesus Christ! May the Lord grant us His grace as we continue to serve Him in spirit and in truth and as we begin the Lenten Season. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying. We particularly pray for sick children, those who are sick with convulsive disorder, mental illness, strokes, heart diseases, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. May God restore them to good health and grant them His Divine healing and intervention. May our Mother Mary comfort them, may the Angels and Saints watch over them and may the Holy Spirit guide them in peace and comfort during this challenging time. We pray for the safety and well-being of us all and our families, for peace, love and unity in our families, our marriages and our divided and conflicted world. Every life is a gift. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in peace with our Lord Jesus Christ Amen. For all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy and all those who preach the Gospel. For vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted Christians, for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest, for the conversion of sinners and Christians all over the world. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My Transfigured Lord, You spoke Your divine will to the great leaders of old on a high mountain. You also entrusted Your mission to the disciples on a holy mountain. Please give me the grace and determination I also need to journey with You up the mountain of prayer so that I will be entrusted with the mission You give to me. My Transfigured Lord, You revealed Your glory to these disciples as a way of helping them accept Your Cross. Help me to also embrace Your Cross in my life and to see clearly the glory that results from its embrace. I trust in You, dear Lord; help me to trust You more. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary, Saint Walburga, Abbess and Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio, Religious ~ Pray for us🙏

Thanking God for the gift of this day and praying for us all during this season of Lent, let us be renewed by prayer, fasting, and giving to the poor. We pray for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world. May God keep us all safe and well during these challenging times and may this season of Lent bring us all true salvation in Christ as we remain united in peace, love and faith. Have a blessed, safe and grace-filled Sunday and fruitful 2nd week of Lent ~ Amen🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖