❤ THANK YOU LORD ❤

For all that You gave me in the past years. Thank You for the sunshiny days and for the sad and cloudy ones; for the calm afternoons and the dark nights; for the love and for all beautiful and sweet things; for the flowers and the stars. Thank You for health and sickness, for sorrows and joys. Thank You for all You that gave me and all that You asked of me. 

Thank You Lord, for Your smiling face and friendly hand that kept me strong. Thank You for the loneliness, for the work, for the worries, for the fears, for the difficulties and the tears; and for everything that brought me closer to You. I saw Your loving hands and providence even in the negatives! Thank You, Lord.

Thank You for having kept me alive, for having given me shelter, warmth and nourishment. Thank you, Lord, for having given me friends and dear ones. Thank you for all that You created especially man and woman, whom You created in Your own image and likeness. Thank you for the innocent little children in the families and for good souls, who live according to Your will. Thank You Lord.

Thank You Lord for this year and all the 365 days of this year; I am ready to do whatever You wish, Lord, I am ready to follow You always in all circumstances, but I ask You for faith to see You in everything and everybody; hope, that I may not dismay; and charity to love You and others more each day; and to let You be loved among those around me. Give me patience and humility, detachment and generosity; give me Lord what is good for me which You alone know, for I do not know what is good for me I do not dare to ask. 

That my heart may be alert, my ears be attentive, my hands and mind active, and that I always may be ready to do Your Holy Will with Your grace.

Lord! Pour out Your grace and blessings upon all my beloved ones and grant the entire world Your peace. 

Thank You, Lord. Amen.❤✝

source: my FB friend Lori Potvin

When you pray, fast, and give alms

Are you hungry for God and do you thirst for his holiness? God wants to set our hearts ablaze with the fire of his Holy Spirit that we may share in his holiness and radiate the joy of the gospel to those around us. St. Augustine of Hippo tells us that there are two kinds of people and two kinds of love: "One is holy, the other is selfish. One is subject to God; the other endeavors to equal Him." We are what we love. God wants to free our hearts from all that would keep us captive to selfishness and sin. "Rend your hearts and not your garments" says the prophet Joel (Joel 2:12). The Holy Spirit is ever ready to transform our hearts and to lead us further in God's way of truth and holiness.

Why did Jesus single out prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for his disciples? The Jews considered these three as the cardinal works of the religious life. These were seen as the key signs of a pious person, the three great pillars on which the good life was based. Jesus pointed to the heart of the matter. Why do you pray, fast, and give alms? To draw attention to yourself so that others may notice and think highly of you? Or to give glory to God? The Lord warns his disciples of self-seeking glory - the preoccupation with looking good and seeking praise from others. True piety is something more than feeling good or looking holy. True piety is loving devotion to God. It is an attitude of awe, reverence, worship and obedience. It is a gift and working of the Holy Spirit that enables us to devote our lives to God with a holy desire to please him in all things (Isaiah 11:1-2).

What is the sure reward which Jesus points out to his disciples? It is communion with God our Father. In him alone we find the fulness of life, happiness, and truth. May the prayer of Augustine of Hippo, recorded in his Confessions, be our prayer this Lent: When I am completely united to you, there will be no more sorrows or trials; entirely full of you, my life will be complete. The Lord wants to renew us each day and give us new hearts of love and compassion. Do you want to grow in your love for God and for your neighbor? Seek him expectantly in prayer, with fasting, and in generous giving to those in need.

The forty days of Lent is the annual retreat of the people of God in imitation of Jesus' forty days in the wilderness. Forty is a significant number in the scriptures. Moses went to the mountain to seek the face of God for forty days in prayer and fasting. The people of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years in preparation for their entry into the promised land. Elijah fasted for forty days as he journeyed in the wilderness to the mountain of God. We are called to journey with the Lord in a special season of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and penitence as we prepare to celebrate the feast of Easter, the Christian Passover. The Lord gives us spiritual food and supernatural strength to seek his face and to prepare ourselves for spiritual combat and testing. We, too, must follow in the way of the cross in order to share in the victory of Christ's death and resurrection. As we begin this holy season of testing and preparation, let's ask the Lord for a fresh outpouring of his Holy Spirit that we may grow in faith, hope, and love and embrace his will more fully in our lives.

Lord Jesus, give me a lively faith, a firm hope, a fervent charity, and a great love of you. Take from me all lukewarmness in the meditation of your word, and dullness in prayer. Give me fervor and delight in thinking of you and your grace, and fill me with compassion for others, especially those in need, that I may respond with generosity.

source: From the desk of Don Schwager, 

hosted by Kairos Europe and the Middle East