Day 3: Wednesday, March 22, 2017

2017 Busy Catholic’s Online Lenten Retreat

Living Lent With Love

Day Three

Wednesday, March 22

Today’s Scripture

(Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9)

Now therefore, Israel, hear the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to observe, that you may live.… See, I am teaching you the statutes and ordinances as the LORD, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to possess. Observe them carefully, for this is your wisdom and discernment in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “This great nation is truly a wise and discerning people.” For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and ordinances that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today? However, be on your guard and be very careful not to forget the things your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your heart as long as you live, but make them known to your children and to your children’s children….

Pope Francis’s Comment

You can’t have a family without dreams. Once a family loses the ability to dream, children do not grow, love does not grow, life shrivels up and dies. So I ask you each evening, when you make your examination of conscience, to also ask yourselves this question: Today did I dream about my children’s future? Today did I dream about the love of my husband, my wife? Did I dream about my parents and grandparents who have gone before me?

 (Meeting with Families, Manila, January 16, 2015)

Let us Pray

Loving God, I had no say over choosing the family into which I was born. But I do have something to say about the family in which I live at this moment. I know how we can be flawed, broken and discouraged by our human limitations. I also believe that, with your grace, my family can come together, work, pray and play together to reflect your relationship of enduring love and forgiveness. May I always remember that you are at the center of who we are as family. Amen.

Material in this year’s online retreat is excerpted with permission from Living Lent with Love.

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