[Lenten Booklet] Closer to the Heart of Christ! Week 5

THE HEART (SPIRITUAL) PLACE OF MEETING WITH GOD

Each day, the course includes a short word, a short text from the Bible and a small action for you to take.

The prayers for the 5th week (21st to 27th of March 2021) is  to be found in this article. Every week you will have a new article with the reflections of the week. 

You can also follow our Facebook page, where we will post the prayer of the day. 

This week, let us fix our gaze on Jesus in his passion. For he who formed our heart is also the one who dwells in it. “Late I loved you, ineffable beauty, late I loved you… I sought you out of me while you were in me,” says Saint Augustine. “The most sublime aspect of human dignity is found in this vocation of man to commune with God. This invitation which God addresses to man to dialogue with Him begins with human existence. For if man exists, it is because God created him out of love and, out of love, never ceases to give him his being; and man does not live fully according to the truth unless he freely acknowledges this love and surrenders himself to his Creator. But many of our contemporaries do not perceive at all or even explicitly reject the intimate and vital relationship that unites man with God. “(Gaudium et Spes 19)

It is never too late to discover in our hearts the presence of the Creator and Saviour: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house; I will eat my meal with him, and he with me. “(Rev 3:20)

Monday

In France, religion is confined to the private sphere. Yet many figures of saints are remarkable: Saint Mother Teresa is a model of charity, Saint Francis of Assisi touches the hearts of even those far from God. Yet these saints, without their encounter and their special relationship with Jesus, could have done nothing. They themselves claim all the paternity of their holiness to Jesus: “You alone will have the glory if I make myself holy, it seems clearer than daylight“, says St Claudius.

And me, what experience of God have I had in my life? To which metaphysical questions does science lead me, the contemplation of my own being, the wonder of creation, of the infinitely great or the infinitely small?

Action: I remember the questions that I evacuate too quickly about the existence of God and I reasonably allow myself not to give them an answer and to leave room for mystery and the possible.

Tuesday

The obstacle to faith for an atheist is not only the philosophical question of God, it can also be the witness of Christians themselves. Oh, if they still had the same heart to fear me and to keep all my commandments, so that they and their children might be happy for ever! “Believers can have a not insignificant part [in atheism], inasmuch as, through negligence in the education of their faith, through misleading presentations of doctrine and also through failures in their religious, moral and social life, it can be said that they veil the true face of God and of religion more than they reveal it. “(Gaudium et Spes 20)

Action: am I sometimes an obstacle to faith? More generally, what in religion can prevent a non-believer from coming closer to God?

Wednesday

Raymond Devos, in a famous show, presents his encounter with God in a church: as he enters the church, he sees God praying for a sign of man’s existence! Whatever our preconceived ideas, if we too would say to God: “Oh God, if you exist, I need a sign from you! »

Anne spoke in her heart, and only moved her lips, but her voice was not heard. » (1S 1,13)

Action: today I take the time to look at my day considering that God is there with me in my house, my work? What will I tell him? What will I entrust to Him? In the secrecy of my heart, I dare to say a few words to him.

Thursday

The fruit of the encounter with God transforms people’s hearts. God does not create us to be slaves, but to be free, until we are free to choose him. And for those who have chosen Him, He has given the power to become children of God. Christ teaches those who choose Him, to love as he loves and never to be discouraged in spite of their imperfections.

 Action: Today I give thanks for all the work of charity that have been possible because men and women have allowed themselves to be touched by Christ. If I am a Christian, I give thanks for all that the Lord has allowed me to do, good and beautiful.

Who is the saint of charity that touches me the most? To what actions, to what work, does God who speaks to my heart lead me to love in deed and in truth?

 

 

 

Friday

“Are you the Messiah who is to come? “the Jewish authorities ask Jesus. Several times, taking up the name of God revealed to Moses, Jesus says “I am”! This is the primary cause of his death. He calls himself God. He calls God “Father” and introduces us to the joy of being sons of God. Jesus is more than a rabbi, a Gandhi, or a sage: he is alive and resurrected, he sits at the right hand of the Father. Do I accept these words of Jesus: “I am with you always, until the end of the world” (Mt 28:28)?

Action: Is there a word of Jesus with which I disagree? Should I doubt when he tells me that He is God? What does my heart tell me?

 

 

Saturday: Proofreading

On the seventh day God rested from all that he had done. How can the existence of God and knowing Him can be a source of “rest” for me?

Our hearts may condemn us, but God is greater than our hearts, he knows all things” (1Jn 3:20) says St. John.

 Action: Today, far from wanting to discharge my responsibilities, I place a matter of concern in God’s hands. I make an act of faith, sure that he desires as much and more than I do that this project will succeed and be realised.

© Sanctuaire du Sacré-Cœur, Paray-le-Monial

Posts to read

Event: Pentecost Retreat – From the Heart of Jesus

Come away for an experience of intimacy with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who sends us His Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This retreat, run by the Emmanuel Community, will feature talks, Mass, silent Eucharistic adoration, praise and opportunities for sharing,

Words of Wisdom

I will establish my Covenant between myself and you, and your descendants after you, generation after generation, a Covenant in perpetuity, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. I will give to you and to