Lent Begins Today

I've written a Lenten devotional that you might find a great help this Lent: The Power of the Cross: Meditations for the Lenten Season.

What is it?

Daily Meditations based on the Gospel Readings of the day from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday…

• For Use as a private Lenten Devotional or
• For Use as in a Group Bible Study

Praise for The Power of the Cross: Meditations for the Lenten Season :

National Catholic Register
Weekly Book Pick February 2005

For launching into Lent, Clare Siobhan recommends "The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life" by Michael Dubruiel.

And from those who've used it in the parish as a small group devotional:

We just finished studying your book "The Power of the Cross: Meditations for the Lenten Season"– ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!!!!!!.
It was soooo Catholic and thank you for speaking the truth. We have a lot of Catholics out there (including myself) who missed these lessons over the last 20 years. We have made Catholicism what we wanted it to be. Not how is really is. I believe your book opened the eyes of a lot of the ladies in the group.

Vickie Loftis, Women's Bible Study, San Juan Del Rio Catholic Church, Switzerland, FL

“The Power of the Cross” will be our text for adult education classes during Lent. Keep on writing!

Pastor, Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Sarasota, FL

Check inside the book on Amazon to sample what the book is like.

I also did a weekly series on KVSS in Omaha, NE that remains online in podcast format for those using the book to have as a supplement to the book.

Ash Wednesday Thought From "God Alone Suffices"

From God Alone Suffices:

"Though full of dignity, created in the image of God, and redeemed by the blood of the Redeemer, a person remains only ashes, and his body turns to dirt after death. If we would acknowledge this truth that permeated the lives of saints, even in a limited way, each one of us would have a deep awareness of our nothingness. We would acknowledge that we are a handful of ashes loved by God, dirt in which the Creator of the universe wants to dwell."

Beginning of Lent Meditation

From Lenten Meditations:

Do you want to know the secret to making this Lent truly a life changing event?Stop thinking that you are different. I know the message you get from almost every corner of the world these days is that you are unique, one of a kind--sort of like a snowflake! There is an element of truth to that, but it is not the whole truth. Because you are also just like every other human being living on this planet.Jesus wasn't like everyone else--but he did not "deem eqaulity with God" and as Saint Paul said to the Philipians, that is something "to be grasped at."So have a change of mind--repent! Stop thinking of yourself in terms of how you are different from everyone else, i.e. stop praying like the pharisee in the Gospels. Stop worrying about this group of sinners or that group and see yourself as part of all of those or more correctly all of us sinful human beings.Then start genuinely praying, "Lord have mercy on us," Lord be generous with us. We are beggars before your throne.Let the ashes on your forehead mark you as just another in the crowd of dreadful need of Jesus the savior, not as a mark of what a great Christian you are--because quite frankly if you think the latter you really aren't that great of a Christian. Humility is the key to following Christ and being a Christian.

Ash Wednesday--Pope Benedict's General Audience

From the Vatican:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today – Ash Wednesday – we begin our Lenten journey in a spirit of prayer and penance. From the earliest days of the Church, Lent has been a special time of preparation for Baptism. For those already baptized, Lent is a time of conversion and renewed faith. It is a time to "exercise" our desire for God by opening our hearts to the new life offered to us in Christ. Jesus exhorts us to "repent and believe in the Gospel". Only conversion can lead to true happiness, and God’s grace is needed to inspire and sustain our efforts to direct our hearts completely to him.

Conversion consists in recognizing that we depend entirely on God, who created us and redeemed us in Christ. In my Lenten message this year, I wanted to emphasize God’s immense love for us, and to invite all Christians, together with Mary and the Beloved Disciple, to draw near to the Lord, who gave his life for us on the Cross. The Cross – the definitive revelation of God’s love and mercy – is the only way to enter this mystery of saving love. This Lent, by a more fervent participation in the Eucharist, may we learn to enter more deeply into the Paschal Mystery and to "re-give" Christ’s love to others, especially the suffering and those in need.\

I am pleased to greet the pilgrimage group from the Diocese of Jelgava in Latvia, led by Bishop Antons Justs. Upon all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, especially those from England, Wales, Ireland, Finland, Japan and the United States, I cordially invoke God’s blessings for a fruitful and spiritually enriching Lent.

Office of Readings Podcast

I couldn't find one online (there is one for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer), so I'm setting out to do one. I have three days available and I'll try to keep at least two-three days ahead of schedule.

Of all the hours the Office of Readings makes the most sense as a podcast because it largely is made up of two substantial readings-one from Scripture, the other from a Church Father, Saint or Council.

RSS URL: http://odeo.com/channel/286253/rss.xml

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Lenten Meditations

Lenten Meditations

Pope Benedict's Latest Q & A

With Roman Seminarians last Saturday, from Zenit.

A second-year theology student asked: "How one should address shortcomings within the Church in the most serene and responsible way?"

"Not an easy question," the Holy Father said with a smile. "But the Lord knows, he knew from the beginning that there is sin in the Church. "

And for our humility it is important to acknowledge this and to see the sin not only in others, in the structures, in the high hierarchical offices, but also in ourselves, thus being more humble with ourselves and learning that, before the Lord, one's position does not count, but what counts is to be in his love and to make his love shine."

"How is one to behave in the face of pain?"

Benedict XVI underlined the need to make it understood above all that suffering is an essential part of human maturation.

Jesus himself, the Holy Father continued, said that he had to suffer for the salvation of the world and that whoever wishes to follow him must take up his own cross.

"We are always like Peter who says to the Lord: 'No, Lord!'" the Pontiff observed. "'This cannot be the case, you must not suffer, we do not want to carry the cross, we want to create a more human, more beautiful kingdom on earth.'

"This is totally mistaken: Whoever promises a life that is only happy and comfortable, lies, because this is not the truth of man and then one flees to false paradises and precisely in this way one does not arrive at joy but at self-destruction."

Benedict XVI explained that Christianity proclaims joy to us, a joy that grows in the way of love, a path that is, however, linked to the cross. Yet, there is an obligation in the face of suffering, he said: "We must do everything possible, to overcome humanity's suffering and to help suffering people -- there are so many in the world -- to find a good life and to be freed from evils caused by ourselves: famine, epidemics, etc."

A student asked how they should relate to human weakness, when one is aware of being very far from true coherence with one's yes to God.

"It is good to acknowledge one's own weakness because in this way we know that we have need of the Lord's grace," the Pope answered. "The Lord consoles us. In the college of the apostles there was not only Judas but also the good apostles.

"Peter fell, and so many times the Lord reproached his slowness, the apostles' closed hearts, the little faith they had. Therefore, it shows us that no one of us is up to the loftiness of this great yes."

And in this awareness, added the Holy Father, there is also an attitude of continuous conversion: "To acknowledge that we are in need of a permanent conversion, and that we have never simply arrived; to accept our frailty but to stay on the path, not to give in but to go forward and through the sacrament of reconciliation to be converted ever again by a new beginning and thus grow, mature through the Lord, in our communion with the Lord."