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Introduction to Lent 2017
This Lent, we at Heart of Mary Women’s Fellowship are excited to start a "Journey to Sainthood" with each of you.
When I was a little girl, I used to look at some of the older members of our church who went to daily mass and spent time in adoration, and I thought, “When I am old like them, I am going to have so much time to spend with Jesus!” It makes me laugh now when I think of it because for some reason my childish mind thought that my relationship with God was something that could wait until I was older and “had the time.” Well, let me tell you ladies, now is that time to renew and strengthen your relationship with the Lord! The Lord is calling each and every one of us to be saints, exactly where we are in our lives. He is calling us to be saints whether we are mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, and in any other vocation or situation we are in.
One of my biggest struggles is that I look at the lives of the saints and think that they are so much holier than I am (they totally are!), and I really get discouraged by this. There are saints who go weeks without eating and live only off of the Eucharist, saints who bring thousands of souls to the Lord, and saints who give their entire lives for the Lord. It is so hard not to look at the stories of the lives of saints and not get discouraged, but I heard some great advice one day as I was listening to a priest’s homily. He said that the stories of saints that we read and hear about are really only their “Facebook” or “Instagram” pages. He said that we are only seeing snapshots of their lives, and that they most likely experienced a lot of the monotony and routine that we experience in our daily lives. Have hope! I want you to believe that the Lord is calling you to be a saint and that you can achieve it! The more lowly we are, the more of an opportunity we are giving the Lord to work great miracles in our lives.
Finally, I would like to walk you through how this journey will be set up through Lent. Every two weeks there will be another “level” or area of ourselves that we are going to look at. The first two weeks we are going to look at how the Lord is calling us interiorly to be saints. The second two weeks will be our call to sainthood in our families. The last two weeks will be our call to sainthood in our daily lives and in the world. At the end of each day’s study there will be a set of prayers that you are invited to pray and petition for the Lord’s help and guidance on your journey. I want you to know that you are being prayed for each day and that we hope that through this study you are able to fully understand how the Lord is calling you to be a saint.
Prayer for Holiness
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.
Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love only what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.
Guard me so, O Holy Spirit, that I may always be holy. Amen.
Peace of Heart
Almighty and Eternal God,
Give me, I beseech You,
the great gift of inward peace. Command the winds and storms of my unruly passions.
Subdue, by Your grace,
my proneness to love
created things too much.
Give me a love of suffering for Your sake. make me forbearing and kind to others, that I may avoid quarrels and contentions. And teach me constantly to seek after and to acquire that perfect resignation
to Your Holy Will
which alone brings interior peace. Amen.
