Spiritual Lift
Welcome to our Weekly Spiritual Lift for the week beginning 20th March to 26th March 2023.
May the gracious inspiration of the Holy Spirit be with you and guide you this week as we continue through the Holy Season of Lent.
Month of March prayer focus: Saint Joseph.
During the month of March, we ask the prayers and intercession of Saint Joseph, Husband of Our Lady and Foster-Father of Our Lord Jesus. Saint Joseph is the Patron Saint of workers, and he is also the spiritual protector of the Holy Church of Christ on earth.
Saint Joseph, pray for us. Amen.
Prayers for Ecuador and northern Peru earthquake yesterday 19.3.2023.
We pray for the people of Ecuador and northern Peru who have been hit with the devastating earthquake yeterday. May the International Community of Nations help and support them in whatever ways they can. We give thanks for all the local people, emergency services and relief workers who are assisting and helping to find those who have survived this disaster. May many more survivors be found and receive the help they need.
Let us ask:
Saint Mariana de Jesus, pray for them. Amen.
Lent 2023:
During the Season of Lent, we are encouraged to go deeper with the Lord and renew our faith, through prayer, fasting and charitable giving.
Season of Lent: We are now in the Fourth Week of Lent. Lent lasts for 40 days and the three 'pillars' of Lent are PRAYER, FASTING and GIVING. The number 40 has many references in scripture (over 120 mentions) and it has spiritual significance. There are many Bible study websites online which you could access to discover more.
40 days was seen as a time of reflection and preparation for future events. Jesus chose to spend 40 days and nights in the wilderness to pray and fast as a means of communing deeply with His Heavenly Father. This time spent in the desert helped Him to clear His mind and prepare mentally, emotionally and spiritually for the three years of ministry that would follow and which would culminate in His Passion, Death and Resurrection.
Prayer and preparation during Lent-Thanksgiving for the Gift of the Holy Eucharist and Sacred Passion of the Lord.
Lenten Preparation – PRAYER - Lent helps us to focus and meditate upon the precious gift of the Lord's Body and Blood and the Holy Eucharist and His many Sufferings and Death in His Sacred Passion.
A beautiful prayer we can continue to pray into and during the Season of Lent to help us is the Divine Mercy Chaplet. This prayer is traditionally prayed at the Hour of Mercy which is 3pm every day, and is the time when Jesus died on the Cross. More information about this devotion can be found here in the link below and how to pray it from the Divine Mercy.org website and resources.
How to Recite the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy | The Divine Mercy
You can pray this Chaplet on a set of ordinary Rosary beads, and it is traditional for each of the five sets of beads as we pray the prayers to either remember:
The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary: (The Agony in the Garden; The Scourging at the pillar; The Crowning with thorns; The Carrying of the Cross; The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus)
For The Five Sacred Wounds of Jesus: (His pierced Hands and Feet and Heart/Side.)
Praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet reminds us of God's wonderful and deep love for us because in John 3:16 NRSV Catholic Edition we read, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
God's love and mercy is deep and everlasting. During this holy Lenten Season, let us draw closer to our loving God and thank Him for all that He is as we seek to grow in our love and faith.
Lenten preparation - FASTING: Is there something that you have chosen to give up for Lent this year? FASTING does not have to be simply giving up that favourite snack or bar of chocolate. Perhaps, you might want to think about giving up something different this Lent?
Have you thought about FASTING to help support caring for our planet home? You could consider doing things and give things up which can support green initiatives - examples might be - turning lights off when not in a room, switching appliances off standby, turning off the tap when brushing your teeth. Simply type in "Eco ideas for Lent" into your internet browser to find out more! Here is a link to the fantastic resources available from CAFOD.
Family Lent Calendar (cafod.org.uk)
CAFOD Lent Appeal - GIVING:
This year's CAFOD Lent campaign is linked to the ongoing Climate Change crisis affecting our world, and in particular, those who are the poorest as it is devastating land and crops. Here is a link to this year's campaign to walk 200km during the 40 days of Lent. The Big Lent Walk.
The Big Lent Walk (cafod.org.uk)
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The Big Lent Walk - 200km in 40 days to help fight global poverty. cafod.org.uk |
As we are now in the Season of Lent our Cycle of Prayer has changed focus too. Here is the link for the Liturgy Office website with more details of this Season's Prayer Intentions for Lent.
Liturgical Calendar | Season of Lent (liturgyoffice.org.uk)
Cycle of Prayer | Lent (liturgyoffice.org.uk)
Here is a link to material from the excellent Catholic Online website.
Easter / Lent - Catholic Online
Here is a link to the fantastic resources for Lent from the Holy Father's Missionary Charity in the world, Missio.
Our Scripture Verse for this week: Fourth Week of Lent:
Our weekly scripture for your encouragement and inspiration comes from the Book of the Psalms. (Psalm 23) May God's holy word bless and guide us this week. Let us give thanks to God for the gift of scripture as we journey through the Season of Lent.
"The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me to revive my drooping spirit."
Calendar of Saints and special feast days this week for you.
Monday 20th March
Blessed John of Parma
Bl. John of Parma - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online
Tuesday 21st March
Saint Enda (Saint of Ireland)
St. Enda - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online
Wednesday 22nd March
Saint Lea
St. Lea - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online
Thursday 23rd March
Saint Turibus of Montenegro
Friday 24th March
Saint Oscar Romero Day
Saturday 25th March
Annunciation of the Lord
The Annunciation - Encyclopedia Volume - Catholic Encyclopedia - Catholic Online
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The Annunciation - Encyclopedia Volume - Catholic Encyclopedia - Catholic Online The fact of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is related in Luke 1:26-38 . The Evangelist tells us that in the sixth month after the conception of St. John the Baptist by Elizabeth, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the Virgin Mary, at Nazareth, a small town in the ... |
Saint Margaret Clitherow
(A Saint from York, England and who is also one of the 40 Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation in England and Wales)
Sunday 26th March
5th Sunday of Lent (Passiontide begins)
Here is the lnk to some fantastic resources found on Catholic.org. More details here:
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Catholic Online - World's Catholic Library World's Catholic Library. Find saints, prayers, bible, daily readings, catholic news and everything Catholic. |
Holy Father's Prayer Intention for March:
March 2023:
Holy Father's Prayer Intention for March 2023:
We pray for those who have suffered harm from members of the Church; may they find within the Church herself a concrete response to their pain and suffering.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us. Amen
Here below is the link to the Missio Website which has some fantastic resources and it is the Holy Father's Missionary Charity in the world.
Our weekly prayer as we continue through the Lenten Season:
Prayers are taken from the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, of Your dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and the sins of the whole world. Amen.
For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Amen.
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Amen.
Let us ask.....
Our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Divine Mercy of God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Our Lady of the Magnificat, pray for us. Amen
Our Lady of Lourdes, Patroness of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, pray for us. Amen.
St John Henry Newman, pray for us. Amen.
Blessed Dominic Barberi, pray for us. Amen.
St Nicholas, Patron of Ukraine, pray for all people affected by the conflict and unrest and may God grant His peace for that part of the world in these days. Amen.
Blessings to you all on this day.