Palm Sunday of The Lord's Passion

Imagine This!

Use the power of your imagination to pray with this scene of Jesus’ Entry Into Jerusalem.  Walk along beside Jesus. 

Gaze at the crowd surrounding you and welcoming Jesus. 

Savor the experience of being with Jesus at this moment on his journey to Jerusalem.  Return often to the scene throughout the beginning of Holy Week.

    

Gospel Scene                                                           Mark 11: 1-10

So they brought the colt to Jesus and put their cloaks over it. 

And he sat on it.  Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 

Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out: “Hosanna! 

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 

Hosanna in the highest!”

Encountering Jesus        What do you See?  Hear?  Touch?

                                                                         Where are you / Who are you in the crowd?

Pray the mantra                 Praise to you, Lord, Jesus Christ… Hosanna!

Fifth Sunday of Lent

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,

it remains just a grain of wheat;

 but if it dies,

it produces much fruit.”

    

As you take a stroll through the fields of your life during this fifth week of lent, take stock of your Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and goods works.  God molds the grains of these actions to produce a rich harvest and bring salvation to the world.  Listen to the words of Jesus:

“Whoever serves me must follow me,

and where I am, there also will my servant be. 

    

John 12:20-33

    

Practice:       Letting go of myself to reveal God’s Presence in the world.

Prayer:          Create a clean heart in me, O God.                  - Psalm 51

The Dream of Joseph

Joseph, Patron Saint

of the

Universal Church

Joseph, Patron Saint

of the

Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny

     

Pray for Us

   

“… behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,

‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.

For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.

She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,

because he will save his people from their sins.’”

Luke 2: 41-51

Cluny Sisters today honor St. Joseph, their Patron and the dream and vision of their foundress, Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey that fueled her passion and zeal to go everywhere doing good.  Her love, compassion and respect for the dignity of all peoples gave birth in 1807 to the International Missionary Congregation, Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny.  Today they number 2,900 sisters in 60 countries around the world.

Dreams often leave us wondering and questioning, while at the same time confirming our call to live the Will of God in our lives.  On this feast day of St. Joseph, let us ask him to intercede for us that our dreams and visions will give birth to the Son of God in our midst.

  

Prayer For Dreamers

God of our waking and our sleeping, in every age, you have spoken to your prophets in dreams and visions and have promised that our sons and daughters shall prophesy through your Spirit.

Because of dreams, Joseph acted quickly to protect your only Son from harm. 

And through the revelation announced to Mary, you brought forth a new dream for the world.

Bless those who continue to seek you in dreams.  Open their ears to hear you in their visions, loosen their tongues to speak your word, strengthen their hands to respond swiftly in action, and embolden their hearts that what they hear in the dark they may proclaim in the light.

Make us all dreamers who tirelessly pursue the vision of your Kingdom.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  AMEN.

 - Adapted from Diana Macalintal, ‘The Work of Your Hands’