On the Road to Easter

Well, yesterday was First Friday and the Church was overflowing for the noon Mass. I left the gym and prayed for green lights as I knew I would have trouble finding a parking place. The lights were green and I found a space and arrived five minutes before the Mass; I have a nameless friend with a big, really lovely smile, who often keeps a place for me or I do the same for her as we like the second bench in from of the reader which is on the right side when you face the altar. Every other church has the readers on the left when you are facing the altar. Anyway, the Church was full of small children and at least ten altar boys! I think these children must be home-schooled as they show up on First Fridays when school is in session.
Well, my spiritual thought today is based on something I read in the morning yesterday and liked enough to copy it here for you:

It was under the title "Pope Took Late Confessor's Cross and comes from the Miami Herald Wire Services.

Pope Francis confessed that he took the rosary cross of his late confessor from his casket and wears it to this day in a fabric pouch under his cassock. He said he did so telling the late priest, "Give me half of your mercy."
Francis made the revelation during an informal chat with Roman priests about the need to be merciful to their flocks. He told the story of the "great confessor" of Buenos Aires who had heard confessions from most of the diocesan priests as well as from Pope John Paul II when he visited Argentina.
Francis said he kept the cross in his shirt pocket for years, but that the cassock he wears now as pope doesn't have a pocket. He now keeps it in a little pouch underneath.
"And whenever a bad thought comes to mind about someone, my hand goes here, always," he said, gesturing to his heart. "And I feel the grace, and that makes me feel better."

Don't you love this? I think the world would be different if we all tried to do something like this!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

This day coming in Lent is always a fun day in spite of the seriousness of the season. I wish you all a good day and a restful Sunday full of joy for the hope our new Pope brings to the whole world.

Preparing for Sunday

I am late today but want to post to prepare for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. Again, there is a choice of readigs as we can use the Mass for the last Scrutiny which has the Gospel of the woman taken in adultery or the calling back to life Lazarus who had been dead four days when Jesus went to the tomb and told his dead friend to "come out!" Both Gospels are rich for reflection. Let us take John 11: 1-45 that begins with Jesus hearing that Lazarus was ill. The message Mary and Martha, his sisters, sent to Jesus is, "Master, the one you love is ill." Jesus said that this illness is not to end in death but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it. So, Jesus remains two more days and when he finally goes Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days. John tells us that "Jesus wept." Here we see the human Jesus who loved and grieved. Then he acts as the Son of God and has the stone removed and calls Lazarus forth from the tomb. This is a miracle that causes many of the Jews to believe in Jesus and certainly must have caused his enemies to want to get rid of him.
I made a retreat in Chile once and remember this meditation so vividly although I cannot remember the preacher of the retreat. The idea is that we were all dead and needed to hear Jesus call us forth from the tomb - Sal Fuera! Come out; be set free and begin to live seems to have been the theme.