Dear friend, Easter is less than 2 weeks away but in the days ahead I pray you are searching your heart for those things that may distance you from God and His son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Regrets we have from our past can distance us from God and God does not want anything that upsets you or takes your mind off His great love for you so think about it this way, regrets are like cement stones painfully holding down your soul from being lifted to God but prayer is a way to melt those heavy stones of regret allowing your soul to rise up to God and give Him all your focus, all your praise and all your gratitude. It also frees up your heart and soul to faithfully take in His love and mercy for your life. Another way to to deal with regrets is to consider any regrets as crosses to bear for God that disappointing past actions can have a huge impact on future happenings but if we talk to God and ask Him for His direction for our lives He will help us to know we can deal with anything. And, always remember, according to 1 John 1:9 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Lectionary 252
1st Reading – Numbers 20:4-9
From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road,
to bypass the land of Edom.
But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us.”
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
Responsorial Psalm – 102:2-3,16-18, 19-21
R. (2) O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
O LORD, hear my prayer,
and let my cry come to you.
Hide not your face from me
in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
and not despised their prayer.
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
“The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die.”
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
Verses before the Gospel
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;
all who come to him will live for ever.
Gospel – John 8: 21-30
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come.”
So the Jews said,
“He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”
He said to them, “You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”
So they said to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him.”
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for your great mercy and love. Help me to bear my crosses and to let go of any regrets that I may be holding on to. Speak to me and guide me through the rest of my life. Help me to set a loving example of how you work in my life so that I may teach others and demonstrate your light of truth to all I meet. May I always do what is pleasing to you dear God. I humbly ask this in your Son’s name, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen
May God bless you and yours and keep you all in His loving care!
Peace, love and joy in Christ Jesus!
Marie Antoinette
All life matters – from conception on!
His Righteousness 