Posted by RENEW | Filed under Lenten Prayers and Reflections, RENEW prayers | Mar 29, 2020 No Comments »

 
Adapted from The Word on Campus © RENEW International.

Posted by RENEW | Filed under Hear the Word! by Bill Ayres, Lenten Prayers and Reflections | Mar 27, 2020 No Comments »

Posted by RENEW | Filed under Lenten Prayers and Reflections, RENEW prayers | Mar 22, 2020 No Comments »

Posted by Bill Ayres | Filed under Hear the Word! by Bill Ayres, Lenten Prayers and Reflections | Mar 20, 2020 No Comments »

Posted by RENEW | Filed under Lenten Prayers and Reflections, RENEW prayers | Mar 15, 2020 No Comments »

 
Adapted from The Word on Campus © RENEW International.

Posted by Bill Ayres | Filed under Hear the Word! by Bill Ayres, Lenten Prayers and Reflections | Mar 13, 2020 No Comments »

A reading from the Book of Exodus
(Chapter 12:1-4a)
 
The Israelites have been wandering in the dessert for years since their escape from Egypt; they are hungry and, more importantly, thirsty. The complain to Moses:“Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die of thirst with our children and our livestock?” In Egypt, they led a horrible existence of slavery and violence; yet, that seems better compared to their present suffering. “So, Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people?’” The Lord instructs Moses to go to the rock of Horeb: “Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.”
 
So goes the continuing story of God’s relationship with the Israelites. With each crisis they face, their faith is tested and often beyond their ability to be faithful. No matter! God is always with them.
 
Thousands of years later, we continue face our own crises on personal and societal levels. A family member dies painfully, tragically, or unexpectedly. Sickness strikes. A relationship shatters. Addiction takes over a family. And then there are the crises of our society: hunger, poverty, injustice, racism, sexism, and now a creeping virus. Our relationship with God is tested in all these crises and many more.
 
The key to our relationship with God and our spiritual, emotional, and physical health is what God has said to us in the Hebrew Scriptures and what Jesus said in the Gospels: “I am with you always.”
 
 
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9)
 
“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Do you know someone who has a hardened heart, someone who can no longer hear God’s voice? Maybe your prayer for that person will reach his or her. It may take a while, maybe a long while, but do not give up. “I am with you.”
 
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans
(Chapter 5:1-2, 5-8)
 
Paul tells his brothers and sisters in Rome, “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope for the glory of God. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
 
Let’s read that last line again: “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” It is not as though the love of God is something outside of us. No, it is within us, because the very Spirit of God is in us. Do you believe that God’s Spirit is alive in you?
 
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
(Chapter 4:5-42)
 
This is the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well, and it links with our first reading about water flowing from a rock through the power of God.
 
“Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well…. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her ‘Give me a drink.’” The Samaritan woman then asks, “‘How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman for a drink? For Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans….’ Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you ‘Give me a drink’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’”
 
The woman is skeptical and asks him, “Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I will give will never thirst; the water I will give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
 
This woman has had a hard life, with five different husbands, but Jesus does not condemn her. She believes in him and tells everyone in town about him. Jesus winds up staying there two days, and, “Many more began to believe in him because of his word.”
 
The fact that Jesus is speaking in public to a woman who was not his wife—and speaking to a Samaritan at that—shocked his disciples at first, but Jesus does not care. He wants to reach out to someone whose neighbors may see her as a great sinner, so he says, “the Father seeks such people to worship him.” She did, and so did the other Samaritans who were considered by Jewish people to be heretics. We can declare with them: “We know that this is truly the savior of the world.”
 
Excerpts from the English translation of the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.
 
Bill Ayres was a founder, with the late singer Harry Chapin, of WhyHunger. He has been a radio and TV broadcaster for over 40 years. He is a member of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport, New York.

Posted by RENEW | Filed under Lenten Prayers and Reflections, RENEW prayers | Mar 8, 2020 No Comments »

 
Adapted from The Word on Campus © RENEW International.

Posted by Bill Ayres | Filed under Hear the Word! by Bill Ayres, Lenten Prayers and Reflections | Mar 6, 2020 No Comments »

A reading from the Book of Genesis
(Chapter 12:1-4a)
 
“The Lord said to Abram: ‘Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those that curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.’ Abram went as the Lord directed him.”
 
Abram’s conversation with God marks the beginning of the Jewish people. God tells Abram, whom he soon will call Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation.” These words often have often been a comfort and source of hope to the Jewish people during their historic suffering and their frequent dispersion.
 
The same is true for us today amid turmoil throughout the world and in our own country and perhaps a worldwide health crisis. Let us ask in hope for God’s blessing for our country and our world. And let us ask for that blessing in the name of our Brother and Savior, Jesus Christ.
 
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22)
 
“Lord, let your mercy be upon us, as we place our trust in you…. May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us who have put our hope in you.” Let us remember that our hope, in God, is ever present and eternal. Do you believe that?
 
A reading from the second letter of Saint Paul to Timothy
(Chapter 1:8b-10)
 
Paul is writing to his disciple Timothy at a time of persecution and death for the early Christians, and Paul wants to encourage them. “Beloved: Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.” How does your strength come from God? Do you ask for strength? How do you respond when it seems that no strength comes?
 
Paul write that God “saved us and called us to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” The word “gospel” means good news, and the good news, as we know it, is that Christ Jesus destroyed the finality of death “and brought life and immortality.”
 
Do you believe the amazing promise that death is not the end, that we will live another life, that we are immortal? That is the teaching of Jesus, and it has been the teaching of the Church for more than two thousand years. It is the gospel, the good news, of our salvation.
 
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
(Chapter 17:1-9)
 
“Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him.”
The Book of Genesis tells of God making himself known to Moses. Matthew, who is writing for a mostly Jewish audience, wants his readers to know that Jesus too had such an experience and that Moses himself and Elijah were there. If Matthew’s readers were good Jews, they believed in God’s manifestations to Moses. So, now too, they should believe in the apparition that Jesus and the three apostles experienced.
 
Of course, Peter is overwhelmed, especially when he hears a voice saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.” Peter does not want to come down from the mountain. He is ready to build three tents, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. “But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and do not be afraid.’’’
 
Have you ever had moments when you were, in a sense, “on the mountain with Jesus”? Maybe it was at Mass or in prayer or at a time of healing with someone you were present with in a deep way. Or perhaps it was simply being in nature or anywhere that you felt the presence of Jesus. Did you feel as Peter did and not want to “come down from the mountain”? These special moments with Jesus or with the Spirit or with our Father occur to help us deal with our everyday challenges, hurts, disappointments, failures. The key is being open to the mystery of God being with you.
 
Excerpts from the English translation of the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.
 
Image courtesy of freebibleimages.org.
 
Bill Ayres was a founder, with the late singer Harry Chapin, of WhyHunger. He has been a radio and TV broadcaster for 40 years and has two weekly Sunday-night shows on WPLJ, 95.5 FM in New York. He is a member of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport, New York.

Posted by RENEW | Filed under Lenten Prayers and Reflections, RENEW prayers | Mar 1, 2020 No Comments »

 
Adapted from The Word on Campus © RENEW International.

Posted by Bill Ayres | Filed under Hear the Word! by Bill Ayres, Lenten Prayers and Reflections | Feb 28, 2020 No Comments »

A reading from the Book of Genesis
(Chapter 2:7-9, 3:1-7)
 
No one knows exactly when the Book of Genesis was written, but biblical scholars calculate that it was sometime after the Jewish people came back from the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century B.C. and people questioned why they were away so long and why God had allowed them to experience such misery.
 
This story of Adam and Eve is obviously an allegory, but it provides answers to two of life’s most important questions. Why are we not immortal; why do we all have to die? And, is there not some super wisdom that can protect us from making wrong decisions that might lead to death or ruin?
 
The authors answer these questions by telling a two-part story. First, “The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being.” The authors wanted their listeners or readers to know that God is the creator of all that exists, and that everything God has created is good. It was important to begin the story in a positive vein for a people who had just been through the hell of the Babylonian Exile and for people to follow who might experience similar horrors.
 
The story then switches to the woman, and it turns dark. “The serpent asked the woman, ‘Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?’” The woman answers, “It is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat or even touch it, lest you die’ …. But the serpent said to the woman: ‘You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.” Of course, we know that the woman gives in to the serpent, eats some fruit, and then gives some to the man, Adam.
 
The authors answer both those seminal questions. We do not have immortality, because the woman and man disobeyed God, and there is no super wisdom to prevent us from wrong decisions and sin. It is gone because of the bad decision made by the first human beings.
 
Because of the way this story is constructed, it has been interpreted to mean that woman is to blame for evil in the world. Nonsense! The message of this creation story is not that women are weaker or less capable than men. Perhaps we’re still learning that, step by painful step.
 
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17)
 
“Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” Let us ask for God’s forgiveness for any time we may have discriminated against another person, at any time, for any reason.
 
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans
(Chapter 5:12-19)
 
Here, Paul traces the root of sin to Adam and forgiveness of sin to Jesus Christ. “But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam…. But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one, the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many.” Notice the word “gift.” It is one of the most important words in our faith. Our life itself is a gift. Our faith is a gift. God’s unconditional love is a gift. We did not earn any of it.
 
For centuries, people have asked the question, “How can I get to heaven?” The answer is that we can’t do it ourselves. We need to accept the gift of life, of God’s unconditional love, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, our life partner, within our souls. It is all gift from our merciful Father who never stops loving us. Please share the gift with those you love and especially those you may find hard to love.
 
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
(Chapter 4:1-11)
 
This is an amazing story of one man’s battle with evil temptations. Notice who leads him and stays with him throughout. “At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” Jesus fasts forty days and forty nights, and he is hungry and vulnerable. “The tempter approached and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” That was the first temptation, physical hunger. Most of us have not experienced that kind of extreme hunger but think of the millions of our brothers and sisters all over the world who live with hunger every day. Jesus responds, “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Then the devil ups the ante to life itself and tells Jesus that he should throw himself down from the parapet of the temple. Then, finally, he shows Jesus “All the kingdoms of this world in their magnificence, and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you.’ … Jesus said to him, ‘Go away Satan.’”
 
That covers all the temptations that you and I might experience—all sorts of hungers, lack of trust in God, and desire for power. Jesus faced them all, and he is with us in all of our temptations. We live in the mystery of God’s mercy and our life partner, the Holy Spirit, lives within us.
 
Excerpts from the English translation of the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.
 
Image courtesy of freebibleimages.org.
 
Bill Ayres was a founder, with the late singer Harry Chapin, of WhyHunger. He has been a radio and TV broadcaster for 40 years and has two weekly Sunday-night shows on WPLJ, 95.5 FM in New York. He is a member of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport, New York.

Posted by RENEW | Filed under Lenten Prayers and Reflections, RENEW prayers | Feb 26, 2020 No Comments »

 
Adapted from The Word on Campus © RENEW International.

Posted by Sr. Terry Rickard, O.P., D.Min. | Filed under Lenten Prayers and Reflections | Feb 24, 2020 No Comments »

 
Last week, we reviewed things to do—positive actions to take to make the most of your Lenten journey. And now, things not to do:
 
Don’t give up. Instead of giving up something for Lent, try doing something that will bring you closer to God. Perhaps attend Mass during the week, spend time reflecting on the daily or Sunday readings by yourself and with others by using this book, experience the beauty of God’s creation by taking walks, make donations to your favorite charities, volunteer at the local food bank, light candles and say prayers for the people you know who are struggling. If you still decide to give something up, do it for someone else. For example, if you give up wine for Lent, each time you decline to take wine, pray for someone who struggles with an addiction to alcohol.
 
Don’t sweat it. Whatever it is you commit to do this Lent, the point isn’t to do it perfectly. Give it your best, but if you slip up, accept that as a reminder that you are not perfect. Only God is perfect. Say a prayer, and start again.
 
Don’t starve yourself. Lent isn’t about going on a diet or losing weight—it’s about the conversion of hearts. Eat healthy, get some exercise, but don’t succumb to our culture’s obsession with physical appearances. Again, if you want to give up sweets, do it while praying for someone who is seriously overweight.
 
Don’t make it more difficult than it is. The three pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Find simple ways to pray, fast, and give to those who live in poverty.
 
Don’t hold back. Lent will present you with many opportunities to convert your heart and your life, to heal broken relationships, and to grow closer to God. When you find yourself presented with such an opportunity, embrace it.
 
So this Lent don’t give up, don’t sweat it, don’t starve yourself, don’t make it more difficult than it is, and, most especially, don’t hold back! Live Lent! so you can live a more authentic faith long after these 40 days have passed.
 

 
Live Lent! contains daily meditations and weekly small-group faith-sharing sessions beginning on Ash Wednesday. It includes prayers, reflections on Old and New Testament readings, questions with journaling space, and action prompts to help us Live Lent! in our daily lives. Learn more and order Live Lent! at www.renewintl.org/livelent. Use Promo Code TRLENT20 to save 25% on your order of Live Lent! or any of RENEW’s Lenten resources.
 
Please share this with anyone who might be interested in making the most of this season of preparation, renewal, and transformation. Don’t just observe Lent—live it!
 
Sr. Terry Rickard is a Dominican Sister of Blauvelt, NY and President of RENEW International.

Posted by Sr. Terry Rickard, O.P., D.Min. | Filed under Lenten Prayers and Reflections | Feb 17, 2020 No Comments »

 
For me, the Lenten season has always been a time to refocus on God and get my life in right order. I want to Live Lent! so I can live faith with greater integrity and in deeper communion with God and my neighbor. As a child I thought Lent was about giving up things like candy and fighting with my sister, Mary. I have come to realize that it is not so much about giving up things but about seizing the opportunity to be all that God has called me to be—a holy, healthy, and loving person—a disciple of Jesus Christ committed to transforming my faith into real-life action.
 
So, let me suggest not ways to fast but things to do and things not to do this Lent.
 
First, things to do:
 
Consciously surrender to God. Whenever we say the Lord’s Prayer we ask that God’s will be done on earth. And Lent reminds us that leading a Christian life means setting aside our will—our desires and wishes and priorities—and asking God to help us behave only according to God’s will.
 
Let go of old self-images. Imitating Jesus, who died on the cross, is to empty ourselves of ego and see ourselves as who we really are— creatures totally dependent on our Creator, but also living reflections of God’s love and compassion. We are flawed and fabulous, and we need to let go of denigrating ourselves and old tapes that tell us that we are not good enough or smart enough or attractive enough. Lent is a time to see ourselves clearly—as Father Richard Rohr’s says, to find our true selves, our God selves, our Christ selves.
 
Focus on engendering life from within. No matter what we own or what we lack in the way of material possessions or wealth, our greatest gifts to each other, to the world at large, will always come from within us. Be conscious of the Holy Spirit encouraging your powers of love, compassion, and justice; realize the potential in these gifts; find ways to use these gifts to bless the lives of others in large ways and small.
 
Ask for the grace of transformation. Pray each day that you will emerge from this Lenten experience as a new person. Leave the details of your renewal up to God, and thank God for this grace.
 

 
Live Lent! contains daily meditations and weekly small-group faith-sharing sessions beginning on Ash Wednesday. It includes prayers, reflections on Old and New Testament readings, questions with journaling space, and action prompts to help us Live Lent! in our daily lives. Learn more and order Live Lent! at www.renewintl.org/livelent. Use Promo Code TRLENT20 to save 25% on your order of Live Lent! or any of RENEW’s Lenten resources.
 
Please share this with anyone who might be interested in making the most of this season of preparation, renewal, and transformation. Don’t just observe Lent—live it!
 
Sr. Terry Rickard is a Dominican Sister of Blauvelt, NY and President of RENEW International.

Posted by Sr. Terry Rickard, O.P., D.Min. | Filed under Lenten Prayers and Reflections | Feb 10, 2020 No Comments »

 
A good Lent begins with a plan. Just as we carefully plan for big events in our personal lives, such as a graduation or a wedding, Lent invites us to make our hearts ready for remembering Jesus’passion and celebrating Jesus’ resurrection. The best way to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection is to live more fully Christ’s life in the here and now.

What are some actions this Lent that can deepen your relationship with God, make you more aware of God’s presence in your life, and help you to be kinder, more loving, to others? Reflect on your life and where you are in your relationship with God. Which relationship in your life most needs forgiveness and God’s healing presence? What are you doing for people who are poor and needy? What bad habit is keeping you away from God? What do you need to change?

Pray about it; ask God. We can’t make changes in our lives without God’s grace. Willpower is never enough. Now, write down simple actions under each of the three areas we are invited to act on during Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (giving to those in need and supporting our parish and other worthy organizations). Many parishes participate in CRS Rice Bowl through which millions of Catholics in the United States apply the Lenten pillars of praying, fasting, and almsgiving to help alleviate hunger around the world. See if your parish does this, or help to establish the program in your parish. For more information, go to www.crsricebowl.org.

Remember, we are called to live Lent so we can live faith not only during these 40 days but every day henceforth.

Jot down the commitments you will make in each of these areas. Remember, keep it simple and doable. Review your Lenten commitments each Sunday during Lent, and make adjustments. Don’t give up; keep at it.

Live Lent! contains daily meditations and weekly small-group faith-sharing sessions beginning on Ash Wednesday. It includes prayers, reflections on Old and New Testament readings, questions with journaling space, and action prompts to help us Live Lent! in our daily lives. Learn more and order Live Lent! at www.renewintl.org/livelent. Use Promo Code TRLENT20 to save 25% on your order of Live Lent! or any of RENEW’s Lenten resources.

Please share this with anyone who might be interested in making the most of this season of preparation, renewal, and transformation. Don’t just observe Lent—live it!

Sr. Terry Rickard is a Dominican Sister of Blauvelt, NY and President of RENEW International.

Posted by Sr. Terry Rickard, O.P., D.Min. | Filed under Lenten Prayers and Reflections | Feb 3, 2020 No Comments »

 
At one summer barbecue with friends and family, a neighbor sat down to chat with me. It was generally known that he was “antireligion.” Although I had met him a few times, we had never had a real conversation. People like him either avoid me completely, because I’m “the nun,” or they seek me out for the same reason. He began to share with me about his childhood in a very strict Christian Church. There was no drinking, women wore very modest attire, and there was no openness to other religions or their adherents. He found the faithful in his family’s church harsh, cold, and judgmental. As soon as he was old enough, he left his church and his Christian faith and did not look back. His wife is agnostic, and they chose not to raise their children in any faith tradition. They’re both good people—altruistic, reflective, and highly ethical—and, after all these years, they seem to be seeking God, or at least a higher being.
 
He told me, as I’ve heard many times before, that the people in his church experience did not live faith; it was all about the rules, giving up worldly things, and the fear of hell and damnation. This description of a Christian community is so opposed to the biblical view of the movement that Jesus initiated! How do good, well-intentioned religious people get so far from authentic Christian worship and living? It is the human thing to become self-righteous and judgmental, not the God thing. I tried to just listen and not become defensive—which is not easy for me. I obviously believe organized religion is essential, but I also know all churches including the Catholic Church, sometimes fall short of Jesus’ vision. I, too, am angered and frustrated by the way we sometimes fail God’s people and ultimately fail God when we are merciless and unwelcoming. Pope Francis exhorts us over and over again to be a Church that is merciful, listening, and accepting—to meet people “where they’re at.”
 
The ongoing challenge for all of us is to live faith and to embrace the call from Jesus to love God and neighbor. Lent is an opportunity to spend 40 days focused on becoming more authentic lovers of God and followers of Christ—to live Lent with the resolve to make real change in our lives. This year, we strive to Live Lent! so we can live faith more authentically each and every day—to make God real and present in our hurting world through our loving actions.
 

 
Live Lent! contains daily meditations and weekly small-group faith-sharing sessions beginning on Ash Wednesday. It includes prayers, reflections on Old and New Testament readings, questions with journaling space, and action prompts to help us Live Lent! in our daily lives. Learn more and order Live Lent! at www.renewintl.org/livelent. Use Promo Code TRLENT20 to save 25% on your order of Live Lent! or any of RENEW’s Lenten resources.
 
Please share this with anyone who might be interested in making the most of this season of preparation, renewal, and transformation. Don’t just observe Lent—live it!
 
Sr. Terry Rickard is a Dominican Sister of Blauvelt, NY and President of RENEW International.