FOURTH WEEK OF LENT
SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ MARCH 11, 2024
NOVENA TO SAINT JOSEPH: Beginning March 10–18, 2024 (in preparation for the Solemnity of Saint Joseph on March 19, 2024. Novena Links below.
Greetings beloved family and Happy Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent! May God’s grace and mercy be with us all during this season of our Lenten journey🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary | March 11, 2024 on EWTN” |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | March 11, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | March 11, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | March 11, 2024 |
Pray “Chaplet of the Divine Mercy from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | March 11, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |
Today’s Bible Readings: Monday March 11, 2024
Reading 1, Isaiah 65:17-21
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-13
Gospel, John 4:43-54
Novena to St. Joseph – Full | EWTN – https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/st-joseph-full-novena-13879
Novena for the Solemnity of St. Joseph – United States Conference of Catholic Bishops | https://shorturl.at/tvKPT
40 Days in the Desert. A Lenten journey with our Lord | Day Twenty-Three: True Heights | Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent | https://mycatholic.life/books/40-days-in-the-desert-a-lenten-journey-with-our-lord/day-twenty-three-true-heights/
40 Days at the foot of the Cross. A Gaze of Love from the Heart of our Blessed Mother Mary | Day Twenty-Three – The Sentence of Death | https://mycatholic.life/books/40-days-at-the-foot-of-the-cross/day-twenty-three-the-sentence-of-death/
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 MARCH: MONTH OF SAINT JOSEPH: “His was the title of father of the Son of God, because he was the Spouse of Mary, ever Virgin. He was our Lord’s father, because Jesus ever yielded to him the obedience of a son. He was our Lord’s father, because to him were entrusted, and by him were faithfully fulfilled, the duties of a father, in protecting Him, giving Him a home, sustaining and rearing Him, and providing Him with a trade”
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH – For the new Martyrs: We pray that those who risk their lives for the Gospel in various parts of the world inflame the Church with their courage and missionary enthusiasm.
During this Liturgical season of Lent, we continue to meditate on the mystery of Jesus’ sufferings which culminated in His death on the Cross for the redemption of mankind.
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, we pray for the repose of their gentle souls 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 their gentle souls 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 Africa, 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/
SAINTS OF THE DAY: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Eulogius of Cordoba, Martyr and Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we humbly pray for God’s grace, strength and protection during this season of Lent.
Lord God, heavenly Father, you know that we are set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: Grant us such strength and protection, to support us in all danger, and carry us through all temptations; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord…Amen🙏
SAINT EULOGIUS OF CORDOBA, PRIEST AND MARTYR: St. Eulogius of Cordoba (9th c.) was a priest from a prominent Christian family in Cordoba (Cordova), Spain. Ordained to the priesthood, he was placed at the head of the most important ecclesiastical school in Spain, which then flourished at Cordova. His virtues, to which he joined assiduous fasting and prayer, gained for him universal esteem. He was well-educated, humble, gentle, friendly, and a gifted leader with the charism of encouragement, especially towards Christians facing martyrdom. In his time Cordoba was the capital of the Muslim conquerors of Catholic Spain. The Muslim leaders allowed Christians to live in relative peace until in the year 850, a violent persecution broke out against the Christians when some of the Muslim population began converting to Christianity. As one who encouraged the Martyrs, St. Eulogius was cast into prison together with his Bishop and many priest. While in prison St. Eulogius read the Bible to his companions and exhorted them to faithfulness in the face of martyrdom. He wrote an Exhortation to Martyrdom to two other young female converts, the virgins Flora and Mary, who were facing threats, instructing them that no matter how terribly they were physically abused, it could not harm their souls, and that they must fight for their faith till death and leave God to defend His Church. Sts. Flora and Mary, were then beheaded on November 24, 851. These two Saints promised to pray for their companions, and six days after their death St. Eulogius and the others were freed. The persecution continued and St. Eulogius became the support of the dispersed flock, encouraging a group of the Martyrs who were martyred in 853. He wrote their story, entitled Memoriam of the Saints, which is permeated by and ardent zeal and spirit of martyrdom.
In 858, it became St. Eulogius’s turn to suffer for his Faith. After his release, St. Eulogius was later jailed again for hiding a young female convert, a virgin named Leocritia (or Lucretia) of a noble family of the Moors who fled from her family in fear of her life. She sought his protection against her irate parents. He hid her among friends for a time, but eventually they were all discovered and condemned to death. St. Eulogius’ judge offered him escape if he would weaken the practice of his religion, but instead St. Eulogius preached the Gospel to the presiding court. He was immediately beheaded on March 11, 859, and St. Leocritia four days later.
PRAYER: God of power and mercy, through Your help St. Eulogius has overcame the tortures of his passion. Help us who celebrate his triumph to remain victorious over the wiles of our enemies. Amen🙏
SAINT SOPHRONIUS OF JERUSALEM: St. Sophronius of Jerusalem was called the Sophist because of his knowledge of Greek. A courageous leader of the Jerusalem Church during the Islamic conquests of the seventh century. Patriarch Saint Sophronius I was an ardent opponent of monothelitism. He was born in Damascus, Syria, around the year 560, St. Sophronius came from an esteemed family and received a deep philosophical education. His early devotion to God grew into an inclination toward monastic life, and while still young he entered a monastery in Palestine. He became a friend and student of John Moschus, his fellow monk who would become an important spiritual writer in the Eastern Christian tradition. The Zoroastrian Persians – long-standing military rivals of the Byzantine Empire, hailing from present-day Iran – invaded Palestine in 605. As a result the two monks fled first to Antioch and then Egypt. But their flight became a spiritual quest, taking John and Sophronius to many monasteries throughout the Middle East. Moschus’ memoir of their travels, entitled “The Spiritual Meadow,” survives and is still read in the Church to this day. The two monks’ foremost patron was Saint John the Almsgiver, patriarch of Alexandria, with whom they stayed for a time until the Persians conquered the city in 614. The Zoroastrian invasion of Egypt forced the kindly patriarch back to his homeland of Cyprus, while Sophronius and John Moschus took refuge in Rome along with a group of other monks. Moschus, regarded as a saint by some contemporary Eastern Christians, died in Rome during 619.
Jerusalem, the future site of Sophronius’ patriarchate, was the subject of violent disputes even before the rise of Islam. Captured by the Persians in 614, it was not retaken by the Byzantines until 628. The Christian reconquest of the city was triumphant, after the long wars with the Zoroastrian empire. But the triumph would be short-lived: By that time the Islamic founder Muhammad had begun his conquests, which would continue under his successors the caliphs. Eastern Christendom also suffered internally during the 620s, with a recurrence of doctrinal controversy over the person of Christ. During the 630s, Sophronius prominently opposed the “monothelite” heresy – whose adherents supposed Jesus had only one will, the divine. This error denied Christ’s human will, making him less than “true God and true man.” Saint Maximus the Confessor, the greatest opponent of monothelitism, was taught and mentored by Sophronius. Chosen to lead the Church in Jerusalem during 634, Sophronius continued to oppose the monothelite heresy. But he soon faced a more tangible threat from Caliph Umar and his army of followers. The Muslims beseiged Jerusalem for two years during Sophronius’ patriarchate, forcibly depriving the city’s residents of food. The patriarch could only save the lives of his people by negotiating a surrender with the caliph. Thus, Jerusalem fell to Islam for the first time in 637. Heartbroken, St. Sophronius died the following year in 638. Patriarch St. Sophronius’ stand against monothelitism was vindicated near the end of the seventh century, when the heresy of “one will” in Christ received formal condemnation at the Sixth Ecumenical Council in Constantinople. But the Jerusalem Patriarchate remained vacant for many decades after St. Sophronius’ death: a successor was not appointed until 705. Jerusalem, meanwhile, would not pass back into Christian hands until the First Crusade of 1099.
Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem ~Pray for us 🙏
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🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS
Bible Readings for today, Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ John 4:43-54
“Go, your son will live”
“At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. When He came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed Him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast. Then He returned to Cana in Galilee, where He had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to Him and asked Him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. While the man was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. Now this was the second sign Jesus did when He came to Galilee from Judea.”
In today’s Gospel reading from the Gospel of John, Jesus was critical of those who would not believe unless He did signs and wonders in response to their bidding. In the course of the Gospels several people come up to Jesus and demand a sign before they will believe in Him. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus addresses an official at the court of Herod as one such person, ‘You will not believe unless you see signs and wonders’. However, the royal official believed without waiting for Jesus to perform the sign, the miracle of the healing of his son. There are two signs our Lord Jesus Christ performed at Cana. The first sign being Jesus’ changing of water into wine at the wedding feast and today’s Gospel reading is the second and less well known of the two signs. In the first Cana scene, the mother of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary showed great trust in Jesus’ word, ‘Do whatever He tells you’, she told the servants. In this second Cana scene, the royal official also showed great trust in Jesus’ word. When Jesus said to him, ‘Go home, your son will leave’, according to the Gospel, ‘the man believed what Jesus had said and started on his way’. He did what Jesus told him, he went home, trusting Jesus’ promise that his son would live. The royal official believed and trusted Jesus’ word, without needing to first see the cure that he so desperately wanted for his son.
As Jesus earlier said, ‘you people, you Galileans, will not believe unless you see signs and wonders’. Here was a Galilean who did not need to see signs and wonders before he believed. He believed on the basis of Jesus’ word of promise, and, having believed, he then saw signs and wonders, the sign and wonder of his son’s healing. His son was healed exactly at the very moment that the Lord told the official that his son would be well. The Lord made an important point here for all the people and also for all of us, that we must truly believe in God and have faith in Him. In many ways this royal official is a model for all of us. Like him, we are all called to believe, without insisting on first seeing signs and wonders. We are to believe what Jesus says, and on the basis of that to keep setting out on our way. We are called to take Jesus at His word, as this man did, and to allow the Lord’s word to sustain us on our pilgrim journey. If we allow ourselves to be shaped and guided by the Lord’s word, we too will discover new life in unexpected places, just like the royal official who, on setting out in response to the Lord’s word, discovered on arriving home that his son was well again. This was the kind of faith the mother of Jesus called for at the wedding feast of Cana. If we take the Lord at His word, if we surrender to the Lord’s word of call and promise, we too, like the royal official, will come to see signs and wonders. Having taken the Lord at His word, we will see the Lord at work in a life-giving way, in our own lives and in the lives of others. The Lord has given us something wonder-full in His word. His word is often a word of promise, as it was for the royal official. It can also be a word of comfort, a word of call, or a word of challenge. Whatever form it takes, in the expression of one of the psalms, the Lord’s word will always be a lamp for our feet and a light for our steps.
In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, the Lord told all of His people of the reassurances of the coming of the good times when they would no longer suffer and when they would once again be filled with God’s grace and blessings. This message came at a time when the people of God had suffered a lot of sufferings, humiliations and difficulties, all because they had disobeyed against Him and refused to follow His Law and commandments. This resulted in the consequences and punishments that they had to endure, as God’s grace and guidance were withdrawn from them, and they had to contend with many obstacles and challenges from their neighbours and enemies. They experienced the results of their own folly in rejecting the generous love of their Lord and Master in exchange for worldly goods and riches. According to the reading, there is also another, even greater promise and reassurance from God of the new heavens and the new earth. Linking to the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle, which was actually a premonition of the end times, of the moment when God would remake all things, and renew the whole of Creation, when He would judge the Heavens and the earth, and take into account all of those living and the dead, everyone who have ever lived. This moment of reckoning was a hope to all those who have kept their faith alive in God, and who have suffered because of this faith, as the Lord promised to all of them that as long as they have been faithful to Him and full of trust in Him, then in the end, He shall lead them all to the new heavens and earth, to a life of perfection and bliss, when they shall not experience any more sufferings and sorrows. This is an affirmation of everything which the Lord has always told and promised to His people, that He would always be with them, guiding and protecting them, providing and strengthening them throughout all of their journey and ways. He wants each and every one of them eventually to return to Him, to be fully reconciled and reunited to Him, to be once again in His Holy Presence, casting aside their sins and wickedness, to be forgiven from all those evil deeds and actions. God has always been patient in guiding and correcting the mistakes and faults of His beloved ones, and He has called on all of them, and hence, all of us to come once again towards Him, that we may reject our sinful and wicked ways, becoming once again truly worthy of the Lord in all things, in our every actions, words and deeds.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded that each and every one of us should always focus our attention on the Lord our God, and believe in Him, putting our trust and faith in Him, in all the things which He has said and promised to us. God has revealed to us the assurances of His love and grace, and everything which He has promised us, and we should follow Him in all of our ways and in every moments of our existence. We are reminded that it is in God alone that we truly have hope and assurance of salvation and eternal life, and there is no way forward if we seek to follow other alternative paths that the world has offered to us. May the Lord, our most loving Creator, Father and Master continue to love us all always, and may He continue to encourage and strengthen us in our every resolve and efforts so that in all the things we say and do, in our every moments in life, we may always strive to be worthy of Him, and continue to walk ever more righteously and faithfully in His path. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and bless our every good efforts, endeavours and works, now and always. Amen 🙏
Let us pray:
My merciful Jesus, Your love for us is beyond what we will ever fathom. Your generosity is truly great. Help me to believe in You and to embrace Your holy will both in good times and in difficult ones. Help me, especially, to be open to the gift of faith, even when Your presence and action in my life seems silent. May those moments, dear Lord, be moments of true interior transformation and grace. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Eulogius and Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem ~ 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, fruitful, and grace-filled Fourth Week of Lent ~ Amen🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖
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