A Voice in the Wilderness: Pope's Homily During Ash Wednesday Mass

Friday, March 11, 2011

Pope's Homily During Ash Wednesday Mass

Pope: Lent Is Intense Time of Meaning, Not Sadness-Underlines Reflection on God's Merciful Love
"Let Us Begin This Lenten Itinerary Confident and Joyful"
~Pope Benedict XVI
http://www.zenit.org/article-31980?l=english

1 comment:

C.A. Morgan said...: Thanks for creating such a selfless blog - a pinprick of light in this "me" centered culture. You are a beautiful soul...; April 2, 2011 at 9:56 AM

A Prayer for Trust and Confidence in God's Mercy by St. Pio of Pietrelcina

O Lord, we ask for a boundless confidence and trust in Your divine mercy, and the courage to accept the crosses and sufferings which bring immense goodness to our souls and that of Your Church. Help us to love You with a pure and contrite heart, and to humble ourselves beneath Your cross, as we climb the mountain of holiness, carrying our cross that leads to heavenly glory. May we receive You with great faith and love in Holy Communion, and allow You to act in us as You desire for your greater glory. O Jesus, most adorable Heart and eternal fountain of Divine Love, may our prayer find favor before the Divine Majesty of Your heavenly Father.

St. Pio Quotes

"Only love can appeal to what is indomitable in us, and the language of love is the conviction of trust."

"We must love, love, love and nothing else."

"Humility and charity go hand in hand. The one glorifies, the other sanctifies."

"Walk the way of the Lord in simplicity. Say the truth, always the truth."

"Let us bless the Lord when we are the object of humiliation and contempt."

"Live humbly; be docile and in love with Jesus the Lord."

"Unite your heart with the Heart of Jesus and be simple-hearted as He desires."

"Humility, humility and always humility. Satan fears and trembles before humble souls."

"If you do good, praise and thank the Lord for it."

"Humility is truth, truth is humility."

"You ought to ask our Lord for just one thing, to love Him. All the rest should be thanksgiving."

"Let your will seek nothing other than God, His pleasure, His glory, and His honor."

"Imagine Jesus crucified in your arms and on your chest, and say a hundred times as you kiss His chest, "This is my hope, the living source of my happiness; this is the heart of my soul; nothing will ever separate me from His love."

"Place your heart gently in Our Lord's wounds. Have great confidence in His mercy for He will never abandon you."

"The most beautiful act of faith is the one made in darkness, in sacrifice, and with extreme effort."

"My past, O Lord, to Your mercy; my present, to Your love; my future, to Your providence!"

"You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips but with your heart. In fact on certain occasions you should speak to Him only with your heart..."

"God enriches the soul which empties itself of everything."

"Peace is the simplicity of heart, serenity of mind, tranquility of soul, the bond of love."

"Let us rest our hearts in God alone … He is our peace, our consolation and our glory."

"Joy, with peace, is the sister of charity... Serve the Lord with laughter. "

"If there were nothing but the desire to love God in a soul, everything is there."

"The most afflicted souls are those chosen by the divine Heart."

"As long as the trials last ... you can be sure that the Lord is trying you as His chosen one."

"God’s plan for you is for your complete, total, and full transformation in Him."

"Let the most holy and most lovable will of God be done in me and all around me; at all times and in all things!"

"The day, in which people, frightened by the economic boom, from physical damages or from economic sacrifices, will lose the horror of the abortion, it will be the most terrible day for humanity. Abortion is not only homicide but also suicide. And with these people we see on the point of committing two crimes…do we want to show our faith? Do we want to save them? You would understand this suicide of the human race, if with the eye of reason, you could see the Heart populated by old men and depopulated by children: burnt as a desert."

"Let us abandon ourselves to Jesus, detaching ourselves from this lying world where everything is folly and vanity."

"Charity (love) is the yardstick with which the Lord will judge us all."

Pro-life Scripture Quotes

"Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them."
Genesis 1:26-27

"God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him."
Wisdom 2:23

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you...."
Jeremiah 1:5

"You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew; my bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth. Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be."
Psalm 139:13-16

"Hear me, O house of Jacob, all who remain of the house of Israel, My burden since your birth, whom I have carried from your infancy. Even to your old age I am the same, even when your hair is gray I will bear you; It is I who have done this, I who will continue, and I who will carry you to safety."
Isaiah 46:3&4

"The Lord then said: "What have you done! Listen: your brother's blood cries out to me from the soil!"
Genesis 4:10

"From man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life. If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has man been made."
Genesis 9:5&6

"I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life...."
Deuteronomy 30:19

"Learn then that I, I alone, am God, and there is no god besides me. It is I who bring both death and life...."
Deuteronomy 32:39

"You shall not kill."
Deuteronomy 27:25

"Cursed be he who accepts payment for slaying an innocent man!"
Exodus 20:13

"You shall keep away from anything dishonest. The innocent and the just you shall not put to death...."
Exodus 23:7

"You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me. If I tell the wicked man that he shall surely die, and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked man from his way, he (the wicked man) shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked man, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself."
Ezekiel 33:7-9

"If you hold back from rescuing those taken away to death, those who go staggering to the slaughter; if you say, “Look, we did not know this” --does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who keeps watch over your soul know it? And will He not repay all according to their deeds?”
Proverbs 24:10-12

"Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily."
Luke 18:7-8

"His loved ones are very precious to him and he does not lightly let them die."
Psalm 116:15

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked." Psalm 82:3-4

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who change darkness into light, and light into darkness!"
Isaiah 5:20

"I will hide my eyes from you, yes even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from my sight.Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice!"
Isaiah 1:15-17

"Blessed are they who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers."
Psalm 1:1