Opening Prayer: Let us pray   for the grace to respond to the Word of God. God our Father, help us to hear your Son. Enlighten us with your word, that we may find the way to your glory. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,  who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,  one God, for ever and ever.

Alternate Opening Prayer: Let us pray   in this season of Lent for the gift of integrity. Father of light, in you is found no shadow of change but only the fullness of life and limitless truth. Open our hearts to the voice of your Word and free us from the original darkness that shadows our vision. Restore our sight that we may look upon your Son who calls us to repentance and a change of heart, for he lives and reigns with you for ever and ever.

Daily Lent Prayer
"Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall declare your praise."

Opening Prayer:

God our Father,
teach us to find new life through penance.
Keep us from sin,
and help us live by your commandment of love.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Readings:   Daniel 9:4-10, Psalm 79:8, 9, 11, 13, Luke 6:36-38

Daily Meditation:
Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.
Today's lesson is about mercy -
God's mercy for us first, and our mercy toward others.
We renew our penance -
all the ways we are trying
to change the patterns of our life that need healing.

Lord, do not deal with us as our sins deserve.
   Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;
   may your compassion quickly come to us,
   for we are brought very low.
Lord, do not deal with us as our sins deserve.
   Help us, O God our savior,
   because of the glory of your name;
   Deliver us and pardon our sins
   for your name's sake.
Lord, do not deal with us as our sins deserve.
Psalm 79
 

Today's Daily Reflection

Intercessions:
Blessed be God the Father for his gift of this sacrifice of praise.
In the spirit of this Lenten season, let us pray:
Instruct us, Lord, in the ways of your kingdom.

God of power and mercy, give us the spirit of prayer and repentance,
-with burning love for you and all mankind.
Help us to work with you in making all things new in Christ,
-and in spreading justice and peace throughout the world.
Teach us the meaning and value of creation,
-so that we may join its voice to ours as we sing your praise.
Forgive us for failing to see Christ in the poor, the distressed and the troublesome,
-and for our failure to reverence your Son in their persons.

Closing Prayer:
Lord,
your commandment of love is so simple
and so challenging.
Help me to let go of my pride,
to be humble in my penance.
I want only to live the way you ask me to love,
to love the way you ask me to live.
I ask this through your son, Jesus,
who stands at my side
today and always.

Daily Lent Prayer

Opening Prayer:

Lord,
watch over your Church,
and guide it with your unfailing love.
Protect us from what could harm us
and lead us to what will save us.
Help us always,
for without you we are bound to fail.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Readings:  Isaiah 1:10, 16-20; Psalm 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23; Matthew 23:1-12

Daily Meditation:
Protect us from what could harm us.
Today's lesson is about being on guard against religious hypocrisy -
always a potential trap, as we grow in our desire.
Again, we turn to our God for help, our God whose love is "unfailing."

To the upright
 I will show the saving power of God.
     Why do you recite my statutes,
     and profess my covenant with your mouth,
     Though you hate discipline
     and cast my words behind you?
To the upright
I will show the saving power of God.
Psalm 50

Today's Daily Reflection

Intercessions:
God the Father has given us his only Son, the Word made man,
to be our food and our life. Let us thank him and pray:
May the word of Christ dwell among us in all its richness.

Help us in this Lenten season to listen more frequently to your word,
-that we may celebrate the solemnity of Easter with greater love for Christ, our paschal teacher,
-that we may encourage those in doubt and error to follow what is true and good.
Enable us to enter more deeply into the mystery of the Anointed One,
-that our lives may reveal him more effectively.
Purify and renew your Church in this time of salvation,
-that it may give an even greater witness to you.

Closing Prayer:
God in heaven and in my life,
guide me and protect me.
I so often believe I can save myself
and I always end in failure.
Lead me with your love away from harm
and guide me on the right path.
May your Spirit inspire the Church
and make us an instrument of your love and guidance.
Thank you for your care for me.

Daily Lent Prayer

Opening Prayer:

Father,
teach us to lead good lives,
encourage us with your support
and bring us to eternal life.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Readings: Jeremiah 18:18-20; Psalm 31:5-6, 14, 15-16; Matthew 20:17-28

Daily Meditation:
Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.
Jesus is telling us about his Passion, Death and Resurrection - for us.
Too often we are fighting over which of us is the greatest.
To take this journey with him, is to take a journey
that draws us to be with him in it and like him:
a servant of love for others.

"The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Today's Daily Reflection

Intercessions:
Let us give thanks to God, our Father:
through the power of the Spirit he purifies our heart and strengthens us in love. Let us humbly ask him:
Lord, give us your Holy Spirit.

Help us to receive good things from your bounty with a deep sense of gratitude;
-and to accept with patience the evil that comes to us.
Teach us to be loving not only in great and exceptional moments,
-but above all in the ordinary events of daily life.
May we abstain from what we do not really need,
-and help our brothers and sisters in distress.
May we bear the wounds of your Son,
-for through his body he gave us life.

Closing Prayer:
God of Love,
through this Lenten journey,
purify my desires to serve you.
Free me from any temptations to judge others,
to place myself above others.
Please let me surrender even my impatience with others,
that with your love and your grace,
I might be less and less absorbed with myself,
and more and more full of the desire
to follow you, in laying down my life
according to your example.

Daily Lent Prayer

Opening Prayer:

God of love,
bring us back to you.
Send your Spirit to make us strong in faith
and active in good works.

Grant this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Readings:  Jeremiah 17:5-10; Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6; Luke 16:19-31

Daily Meditation:
Bring us back to you.
The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is our lesson today.
We beg to be open to the workings of the Spirit,
that we might not settle for the consolations of this life alone.

Jesus then said, "I am the one who raises the dead to life!
Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die.
And everyone who lives because of faith in me will never really die.
Do you believe this?"
John 11

Today's Daily Reflection

Intercessions:
God has revealed himself in Christ.
Let us praise his goodness, and ask him from our hearts:
  Remember us, Lord, for we are your children.

Teach us to enter more deeply into the mystery of the Church,
 - that it may be more effective for ourselves and for the world as the sacrament of salvation.
Lover of mankind, inspire us to work for human progress,
 - seeking to spread your kingdom in all we do.
May our hearts thirst for Christ,
 - the fountain of living water.
Forgive us our sins,
 - and direct our steps into the ways of justice and sincerity.

Closing Prayer:
Loving God,
I hear your invitation, "Come back to me"
and I am filled with such a longing to return to you.
Show me the way to return.
Lead me this day in good works I do in your name
and send your Spirit to guide me and strengthen my faith.
I ask only to feel your love in my life today.

Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle

Opening Prayer:

All-powerful Father,
you have built your Church
on the Rock of St. Peter's Confession of faith.
May nothing divide or weaken
our unity in faith and love.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Today's Readings: 1 Peter 5:1-4; Psalm 23:1-3a, 4, 5, 6; Matthew 16:13-19

Daily Meditation:
The Journey Begins

There are so many lessons for our journey in this prayer. 
It starts with God's inspiration. 
From the beginning, God breathed life in us
the Holy Spirit guides us and
St. Peter and his successors have led us as a Church.
The grace for all we are about to do comes from God. 
Today we pray to be open to it. 
Today we also acknowledge that for us to what we need to do these six weeks,
we need God's continuing help. 
Each day, with every prayer, every sacrifice, every act of generosity
we will need help, which can only come from God. 
And, finally, we need God's guidance to persevere to the end. 
There will be tough choices, not only between good and evil,
but choices about what is the greater good. 
We may even be called to do something quite heroic and self-sacrificing. 
A wonderful prayer.  Easy to remember, even memorize. 
It is possible to say it every day.

Today's Daily Reflection

Intercessions:
Beloved friends, we have inherited heaven along with the apostles. Let us give thanks to the Father for all of his gifts:
  The company of apostles praises you, O Lord.

Praise be to you Lord for the banquet of Christ's body and blood given to us through the apostles,
 - which refreshes us and gives us life.
The company of apostles praises you, O Lord.
Praise be to you, Lord, for the feast of your word prepared for us by the apostles,
 - giving us light and joy.
The company of apostles praises you, O Lord.
Praise be to you, Lord, for your holy Church, founded on the apostles,
 - where we are gathered together in your community.
The company of apostles praises you, O Lord.
Praise be to you, Lord, for the cleansing power of baptism
and penance that you have entrusted to your apostles,
 - through which we are cleansed of our sins.
The company of apostles praises you, O Lord.

Closing Prayer:

Lord,
Like Peter, I am sometimes so afraid,
yet you made him the rock of your Church.

I long to be closer to you.
Help me to remember that nothing is important in my life
unless it glorifies you in some way.

It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day of my life and keep saying,
"Tomorrow, I will spend more time in prayer,"
but now my longing meets your love and I want to do it now. 
Help me to rely on you for help.

The prayer asks you that I reach perfection.
Please, Lord, remind me that "perfection"
isn't the crazy, "successful" way I try to live my life,
but a perfection of my most authentic, real self.
My "perfection" might be holding my many flaws in my open hands,
asking you to help me accept them.

Heal me, Lord, and help me to find you in the darkness of my life. 
Let me reach out in this darkness and feel your hand and love there to guide me.

Opening Prayer:
God our Father,
by your gifts to us on earth
we already share in your life.
In all we do,
guide us to the light of your kingdom.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Readings:   Micah 7:14-15, 18-20; Psalm 103:1-4,9-12; Luke 15:1-3,11-32

Daily Meditation:
We must celebrate and rejoice.
The Saturdays of Lent have a wonderful spirit.
Our lesson today takes us to the parable of the two sons:
 - one who is ungrateful and leaves, but returns, and
 - one who will not accept the forgiveness
   the father lavishes on the other.

The Lord is loving and merciful,
slow to anger, and full of love;
the Lord is kind to all, and compassionate
to all his creatures.
Entrance Antiphon

Today's Daily Reflection

Intercessions:
Let us always and everywhere give thanks to Christ our Savior, and ask him with confidence:
  Lord, help us with your grace.

May we keep our bodies pure,
  - as temples of the Holy Spirit.
May we offer ourselves this day to the service of others,
  - and do your will in all things throughout the day.
Teach us to seek the bread of everlasting life,
  - the bread that is your gift.
May your Mother, the refuge of sinners, pray for us,
  - and gain for us your loving forgiveness.

Closing Prayer:
God of infinite love,
you shower me with limitless gifts in my life.
In my every thought and action today
guide me to the bright and loving light of your kingdom.
Help me to be aware of
the many ways you allow me
to share in your life so intimately today.
Thank you for the gifts you have placed in my life.
Let me be grateful every moment of this day.