Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Lavishly the just give to the poor. Their generosity shall endure forever; their horn is exalted in honor.
- Psalms 112:9/

Reflection: It is not enough for us to reach out and help those in need. We must help them to discover the values that enable them to build a new life and to take their rightful place in society with dignity and justice.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: O Lord, may I not be satisfied with handing the poor a fish when I can teach them how to fish. Let me not only fill their stomachs with food but also take the time and energy to fill their spirits with dignity.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Whatever you do in word or in work, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
- Colossians 3:17

Reflection: Above all it is my conviction that all work is a fundamental dimension of human existence on the earth. This is true of all work--from the simplest to the most difficult, from the less paying to the most rewarding.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: Lord Jesus, let my work be productive and meaningful, and my attitude toward work be positive and generous. May I always remember that in my work I am working with You to create the world in Your image.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Monday, March 29, 2010

Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for that which endures unto life everlasting, which the Son of Man will give you.
- John 6:27

Reflection: The Eucharist is in no way alien to the building of a new world. Rather, it is the principle and source of inspiration. For the Lord Jesus is the foundation of a new humanity that is reconciled and fraternal.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: May the Sacrament of Your Body and Blood, O Lord, teach me to be bread that is broken to feed the hunger of a starving world and wine that is outpoured to satisfy the thirst of a world dying of spiritual thirst.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Friday, March 26, 2010

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 4:4

Reflection: Do not seek to be numbered among the learned and clever whose numbers seem destined by the combination of circumstances to increase. Be truly poor, meek, eager for holiness, merciful, pure of heart. Be among those who bring to the world the peace of God.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: Teach me Your ways, Lord Jesus, for You were meek as a lamb in Your suffering, and yet You transformed the world. Teach me the true wisdom of Your Kingdom.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Thursday, March 25, 2010

And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we saw His glory...as the only-begotten of the Father.
- John 1:14

Reflection: The Divine is united to the human. The invisible has become visible. The infinite has assumed a human form. Humanity has been accepte3d into the unity of the Divine Person of the Word.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: Lord Jesus, as Your dear Mother Mary gave her "fiat" when she responded, "Let it be done to me according to Your word" (Luke 1:38), so too may I learn to cooperate with God's will.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Over this [salvation] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you are sorrowful by various trials.
- 1 Peter 1:6

Reflection: The Spirit creates joy, and joy is effusive. This, too, is a testimony that you can and must offer to people of our time, so often made cold and unhappy by selfishness.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: O Lord, fill my heart with joy both so that I may experience true Gospelljoy and so that I may share that joy with those who have forgotten the true meaning of joy.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Each of you must give according as you have decided in your heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.
- 2 Corinthians 9:7

Reflection: Because all are entrusted with the vast area of charity and material assistance, I invite you to give generously. Give for the maintenance and support of seminarians, for the formation of the laity, in particular of catechists, for the construction of churches, schools, hospitals, and social work.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: O Lord, grant that I may remember that what I have received from Your Providence, I have received in trust. Teach me to use these gifts with great generosity.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Monday, March 22, 2010

Keep me, O God, for in You I trust...My Lord are You. Apart from You I have no good.
- Psalms 16:1

Reflection: We are working for the Kingdom of God, and we do not do so with the gloomy spirit of those who see only insufficiences or perils. We work with the firm trust of those who know that they can count on the victory of Christ.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: Direct my eyes, O Lord, upon the truth of the Kingdom, upon the love that conquers, and upon the hope that never fails.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Friday, March 19, 2010

So Joseph, arising from sleep, did as the Angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife.
- Matthew 1:24

Reflection: Joseph obeyed. Filled with joy, he offered up the tremendous human sacrifice that was asked of him. He would be the father of the one born not of flesh, but from love. He was publicly the husband, but really only the guardian, the witness and defender of the immaculate virginity and the Divine Maternity of Mary.
- Pope John XXIII

Prayer: Joseph, spouse of the Virgin Mother of God, teach me increasingly all the Divine truth and all the human dignity contained in the vocation of spouses and parents.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Thursday, March 18, 2010

Christ has set us free. Therefore, stand fast and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery [to sin].
- Galatians 5:1

Reflection: If we are to respect people in their integrity, we must educate them to do good with a sense of responsibility; with a capacity for self-discipline and also with the external help of law and authority.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: O Lord, by my words and actions may I teach others the importance of living a morally ordered life. May I show others that this type of life is not enslavement but the true freedom of the children of God.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Wednesday, March 17, 2010

I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling...with a demonstration of the Spirit's power.
- 1 Corinthians 2:3

Reflection: Our human brothers and sisters need to meet others radiant with serenity, joy, hope, and charity, in spite of the hardships and contradictions that overtake them. To be a witness to God's power operating in human frailty is not to alienate humanity, but to propose to it ways to freedom.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: Fill me with Your love, O Lord, so that I may freely choose to love. Teach me to share that love, especially with people who seem all but unlovable.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Love consists in this: not that we have loved God, but that He has first loved us, and sent His Son as expiation for our sins.
- 1 John 4:10

Reflection: God's love for us is freely given and unearned, surpassing all we could ever hope for or imagine. His love for us does not depend on whether we have merited or are worthy of it.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: Thank You, O Lord, for a love that knows no measure, and is so wondrous that I cannot even begin to fathom its greatness. I am overwhelmed at your love for me. I love You, Lord Jesus.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Monday, March 15, 2010

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope.
- Romans 15:13

Reflection: We cannot live without hope. We have to have some purpose in ojr life, some meaning to our existence. We have to aspire to something. Without hope, we begin to die. Hope comes from God, from our belief in God.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: I need You, O Lord. I cannot live without You. Be present to me, now, and every moment of my life to permeate me with hope that never dies.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer fro Friday, March 12, 2010

We have gifts differing according to the grace that has been given us...to be used according to the proportion of faith.
- Romans 12:6

Reflection: If the members who constitute the parish are numerically many, so are the gifts that the Holy Spirit incessantly distributes. So also are the initiatives that He awakens there according to the grace given to each member.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: O Lord, the gifts that You entrust into our care are intended for the good of all. Help me to examine my conscience as to whether I have sufficiently shared my talents with others, and enable me to be ever more generous in my use of Your gifts to me.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Thursday, March 11, 2010

Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil...spending forty days and forty nights [there].
- Matthew 4:1-2

Reflection: The season of Lent keeps inviting us, in a pressing way, to meditate on this great truth: love is of God. This is a living, present reality that we should never forget.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: Lord Jesus, as You spent forty days in the desert to prepare for Your mission, grant that my Lenten preparation may prepare me to celebrate the Holy Mysteries of Your Death and Resurrection.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Wednesday, March 10, 2010

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith that works through love.
- Galatians 5:6

Reflection: People today more willingly listen to witnesses than to teachers. If they do listen to teachers, it is because these teachers are also witnesses.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: O Lord, may I always give witness to my Faith through my actions as well as my words. May my actions always be a proclamation of Your love.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Monday, March 08, 2010

Blessed are they whose fault is taken away, whose sins are covered. Blessed are they to whom the Lord imputes no guilt.
- Psalms 32:2

Reflection: Even the memory of our sins does not discourage us any longer. We realize that God's mercy is greater than our sins and that God's pardon is a proof of His faithful lover for us.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: I give You thanks, O Lord, for Your wondrous mercy. may I never allow the guilt of my sins to separate me from the lover and forgiveness that You offer.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Friday, March 05, 2010

Whoever hears you hears Me. Whoever rejects you rejects Me. And whoever rejects Me rejects the One Who sent Me.
- Luke 10:16

Reflection: The Church cannot say what is bad is good, nor can she call valid what is invalid. She cannot fail to proclaim Christ's teaching, even when this teaching is difficult to accept.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: O Lord, give me the courage to accept and live the teaching of the Church. May I always be willing to review my life and hear the Church's call to conversion.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Thursday, March 04, 2010

The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest.
- Matthew 9:37-38

Reflection: Let us not only take care to defend ourselves from the contagion of evil but also to promote the good, sustain it, give witness to it, defend it, and multiply it. We must take responsibility for the fact that the world is suffering from evil stemming from our lukewarmness.
- Pope John XXIII

Prayer: Send me, O Lord, into the field for the harvest. Send me, to give witness to Your Word and Your love.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Tuesday, March 02, 2010

If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
- John 8:31-32

Reflection: Bein a Christian is not a secondary, questionable, changeable thing; it is not a subjective ideology. It is truth that happily transfigures and vivifies. The truth will make you free.
Pope Paul VI

Prayer: Lord Jesus, when I act as a Christian, I am most true to myself. But when I deny who I am by sinning, I am denying the very core of who I am: Your child. Let me always live in the truth of the children of God.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Monday, March 01, 2010

God saw that all He had made was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day.
- Genesis 1:31

Reflection: The new generations need to be helped to grow as free persons, to love truth and to be faithful to it. The search for the true, the beautiful, and the good is not a pragmatic exercise, but rather a cultural and ethical one. It is a service to human development and a way for evangelization.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: That which is beautiful in the world speaks of You, O Lord. Let me encourage art, music, literature, whatever is good and true so that these may be seen as celebrations of Your love.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)