NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Six
"From the rebellion against childlike dependency on You. Deliver me, Jesus." This morning as I prayed this petition a scene from a movie I recently watched came to my thoughts. The scene is three brothers on a battlefield, all three are wounded but two are seriously wounded. One of the young men, as he lies suffering on the ground, looks to his brother and simply says, "I want Mom." This "childlike" heart of knowing where our comfort comes from should indeed be the heart that we have for God our Father. He is our strength in all of life's struggles and joys; He is always with us; no further away than a thought or a whisper. The Entrance Antiphon of today's Mass is appropriate: "To you I call; for you will surely heed me, O God; turn your ear to me; hear my words. Guard me as the apple of your eye; in the shadow of your wings protect me." May we turn to God today with childlike hearts filled with longing for His love! May we bring our needs and the needs of others before Him, knowing that He desires what is best for us. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.
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NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Five
"From all suspicion of Your words and promises. Deliver me, Jesus." Every time I pray this petition in the Litany of Trust one particular homeless young man comes to my heart. This young man when having a bad day has expressed how he doesn't trust God. With everything he sees around him, he does not believe that God is trustworthy, his words not mine. What makes my heart ache is that this young man falls into the trap of today, which I see in so very many people. This trap is where God gets no credit for the good in our lives yet, He gets blamed for all of the bad. There never seems to be any self-reflection of our own personal role in the ups and downs of life. Remember, God does not want puppets - He wants sons and daughters who love and trust Him. He will never force Himself upon us, He always waits for an invitation from us. May we open our hearts today and invite God in to order and make new the struggles we feel. May the good Lord replace our suspicion and fear today, may He replace it with hope and trust. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Four
"From the fear that trusting You will leave me more destitute. Deliver me, Jesus." As I prayed with this petition, I realized once again that learning to trust God does come with the challenge (which can be difficult) to give up my focus on me - what I want. Truly trusting Him leads me to seek what He wants in my life, rather than what I want. In fact, trusting God calls me to examine every day my "wants" vs my "needs". Often I find what I want is not what I need and will therefore never bring me happiness. Will following God leave us destitute, NEVER. If we examine with an open heart, we will clearly see that He always leads us to and provides for, our needs - that is if we are doing our part as well! Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Three
"From the false security that I have what it takes. Deliver me, Jesus." Sometimes in our lives we come up against some struggles that are just too much for us to handle alone. Or, we find ourselves unable to conquer our weakness, faults and addictions. Jesus promises that He is always there as our strength to handle and conquer any struggle, hurt, illness or difficulty. Do we turn to our Father, God when we need His strength? Do we turn to Him when we need His wisdom, His eyes to see things as He sees them? Let us humble ourselves to recognize when God's strength alone is what we need! Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Two
"From the fear that I am unlovable. Deliver me, Jesus." On what do we base our worth? Do we measure ourselves by our job, our finances, our beauty or weight, or our education? Worse yet, do we measure ourselves by our struggles, our falls or the opinions of others? There is only one opinion, one Other that we should care about - the One who loves us unconditionally. We are priceless in the eyes of God and those are the only eyes that matter! Repeat to yourself often, "I am beautifully and wonderfully created and I am loved", and know that it is true! Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. NOVENA OF TRUST - Day One
"From the belief that I have to earn Your love - Deliver me, Jesus" From the belief that I have to earn Your love.... Do we know in our hearts that God's love is freely given and showered upon us? Do we realize that nothing we do can earn more love from God - as He gives us all of His love? "My Divine Heart is so passionately in love with [humanity] that it can no longer contain within itself the flames of its ardent charity." - Revelation to Saint Margaret Mary Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. NOVENA OF TRUST BEGINS TOMORROW!
Tomorrow, the Feast of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, we begin our Novena of Trust. Twenty-Nine days of "marinating" in the Litany of Trust written by the Sisters of Life. The Novena will be available on our Facebook Page and on our website - Director's Page. Each day we will take one petition from the Litany and allow it to settle into our hearts. A suggestion would be for you to give 10 minutes (or more if you have it) each day to sit with this Novena, giving intentional focus to your prayer. How will the Lord guide your thoughts and your experiences? Who might He ask you to pray for? With so many challenges to our peace of heart in the world today, may we take this opportunity to sit together and ponder the Voice of God! Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. Recently I was sharing with our Prayer Partners that over the last several months I have come to realize that though the need is great in our communities for food support and such, the greater need I often see in those we serve is for them to know the love of God.
The motherly heart within me longs for each person to know their own personal worth (and strength) in this very LOVE which is God; to know that each day is a new day in God. When we turn to God it doesn't matter what happened yesterday, two weeks ago, or 20 years ago - what matters is what you do today! So, following a prayerful inspiration, beginning Friday, October 16th - on the Feast of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, the Saint of the Sacred Heart, we will begin a 29 Day Novena of Trust for our visitors here at Joseph's House and the success of our upcoming Thanksgiving Assistance Program. A Novena, based on the days Our Lady and the Apostles spent in the Upper Room after the Ascension of Christ, is a time to pull ourselves away and open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit and the Voice of God. Though Novena's are usually 9 days or 9 weeks in length, ours will be a little longer, a little extra time to focus on the Lord and His desires for our lives. Will you join me? My Novena, as I mentioned above will be offered for the visitors here at Joseph's House and the success of our upcoming Thanksgiving Program. What, or who, will you offer your Novena for? More details and information coming tomorrow! Photo by See The Holy Land - Flickr: Mount Zion, CC BY-SA 2.0 |
Director -Deacon Dennis Moore
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