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Your Life is not about you - Fr. Robert Barron

3/19/2014

Day 15 of Lent and Fr. Robert Barron's Lenten Reflection says: "... But one message at the heart of the Christian faith is this: your life is not about you. It is about God and God's purposes for your life. And so Jesus affirmed: "You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test." God tests people all the time in the Bible, but he himself should never be tested. Fr. Barron suggests we ask ourselves: "Are you the center of attention? Do you allow God to test you?"

O Saint Joseph, Lover of Poverty! Solace of the wretched! Be our friend in time of suffering, and help us appreciate the virtues we can harvest through struggle and sacrifice. Keep us away from the snares of pride and self-importance. Let us remember the poverty of our Lord so that we can dutifully imitate his life in humility and obedience. Amen.

Can I be like Jesus? When I can rise above the three temptations that Jesus encountered in the desert and make God the clear centre of my life, then, I'm ready to do God's work in the world.

Today is St. Joseph's Feast Day - patron Saint of Canada among many others. In light of how God tested the foster father of Jesus and our foster father, we might ask ourselves, "How is He testing me during this Lent? What does He want me to do? What is my response? Can I be like St. Joseph after he got his sight back?

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Voices of the Voiceless - Frontline's Rape in the Fields

3/18/2014

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Sexual assault and rape are always difficult to prove in court. For justice to prevail on a large scale for these abused workers, a number of problems need to be addressed: collect data for statistical and front-of-mind purposes, ensure training through the value chain on rights, duties, obligations and promoting awareness not to mention co-operation and prevention.

Tonight PBS's FRONTLINE will air an encore presentation of the duPont-Columbia Award winning Rape in the Fields, their 2013 investigation of the hidden reality of rape on the job for undocumented women working in America’s farms, fields and factories.

Fear of deportation engendered a veil of open silence among victims which has been lifted somewhat with this documentary. Brave women volunteer to relate their own stories of the high price they pay to provide for and protect their families in the hope that it will not happen to other women. Mature audiences only due to subject matter.

Check your local listings for TV viewing or watch on-line now. Read the progress to date in the fight for secure fields and packing houses.

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Being the heart of Christ in our world

3/13/2014

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How can I use the guidelines opposite?
Where am I repelled by myself and/ by others?
What/How can I change to answer the needs in & around me?

Here is an interesting and worthwhile Bible Study from Endhunger.org

From God's love for us to our love for God, our bountiful, abundant father and shepherd - our call to see God in others, to be just, to fight for JUSTICE for all:

Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Isaiah 58:6-7
(New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition)

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Jesus asked us to follow him...

3/11/2014

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Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands,
Yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes,
You are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours.,

St. Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

‘Francis, go repair my house, which, as you see, is falling into ruin."

Prayer before the Cross

Most High, glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of my heart
and give me
true faith,
certain hope,
and perfect charity,
sense and knowledge,
Lord, that I may carry out
Your holy and true command

The San Damiano Crucifix above is an icon. An explanation of each image is available here by simply placing your cursor over a section of the Cross.

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Fasting and Feasting - Food for JPIC thought and action

3/10/2014

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Fasting and Feasting
Lent can be more than a time of fasting.
It can also be a season of feasting. A time to...
Fast from judging others; feast on Christ living in them.
Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life.
Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.
Fast from thoughts of illness; feast on the healing power of God.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on joy.
Fast from worry; feast on trust.
Fast from guilt; feast on freedom.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from negativity; feast on affirmations.
Fast from stress; feast on self-care.
Fast from anxiety and fear; feast on faith.
Fast from hostility; feast on peace.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from apathy; feast on enthusiasm.
Fast from suspicions; feast on truth.
Fast from idle gossip; feast on spreading good news.
Fast from words that wound; feast on words that heal.
Fast from talking; feast on listening.
Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.
Fast from problems that overwhelm us; feast on prayer.
Fast from everything that separates us from God;
Feast on everything that draws us to God.
Source: We Dare to Say: Praying for Justice and Peace, eds. Sylvia Skrepichuk and Michel Côté, Novalis
Thank you to Esperanza Donovan, ofs, Immaculate Conception Fraternity, Montreal, for reminding us about this verse.

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Your Life is not about you - Fr. Robert Barron

Voices of the Voiceless - Frontline's Rape in the Fields

Being the heart of Christ in our world

Jesus asked us to follow him...

Fasting and Feasting - Food for JPIC thought and action

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