Category: Behold Vancouver

How should we approach the beginning of Holy Week? Fr. Mark-Mary explains that following Mary’s example is the most powerful way to enter the mystery of Christ’s Passion. We should be open, available, and receptive to receiving the Bridegroom.

As we move from Palm Sunday into the most holy week of the Christian Calendar, Bobby urges us to ask ourselves: Is Christ the king of my heart? 

In ancient times, palm branches were a symbol of strength and celebration. For the Feast of Booths in the seventh month, God’s people used palms and other luxuriant branches to celebrate (see Leviticus 23:40 and Nehemiah 8:15). Victors in athletic games and battles were often given palm branches to symbolize their strength. King Solomon engraved images of palms into the pillars of the Temple. 

When Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem with palms, they serve as a symbol of his kingship. But do we treat Christ with the kingship he deserves? 

We all play a part in the Passion story. Some of us are Peter when he denies Christ. Some of us are the Jews who are not willing to give up everything to follow Christ. Or sometimes we play a different part depending on the day. Too few are the times when we stay at the foot of the Cross with him. 

Where are you in the story? Ask God, “Where have I let you down?” or, “How have I been faithful to you?” Let this Holy Week be different from years past.

Father Dave recounts how all three readings today feature people who made radical changes in their lives after hearing God’s call. He challenges us to boldly and loudly say yes to how God may be calling us today.

Listen Now

Lent is almost over…. 40 days of fasting, prayer, and sacrifice have passed in the blink of an eye. How do you feel? Are you puffed up with pride or weighed down by discouragement?

Today Fr. Mark-Mary offers a final word of encouragement to lean into the mercy of Jesus however you feel as we enter into Holy Week.

During the season of Lent a few years ago, I decided that I would commit to a morning habit of not turning my phone on until after I have had my personal prayer time with Jesus. Part of my rule of life is to find a practical way to connect with Jesus first in the beginning of my day. I found this to be more challenging than I anticipated! Bombarded with constant texts, emails, messages, Instagram, and Facebook notifications, my phone controlled me more than I liked to admit. Plagued with a compulsion to scroll, I had become a slave to technology. Choosing not to reach for my phone to check messages first thing in the morning for forty days turned out to be an interior battle. I knew I couldn’t do this on my own, so I needed to ask for God’s grace everyday and I had to come up with a practical game plan. Each night, I put my phone on “airplane mode” and set my alarm for the time I would get up to pray in the morning. When I would wake up, I would deny myself the urge to turn airplane mode off to see who had messaged me. In order to stay focused, I had a routine: I would set a timer for how long I was going to pray, read the gospel readings of the day, read my devotional book (Jesus Calling by Sarah Young), and pull out my journal. I would reflect on what spoke to me from the readings, and re-read any parts that would resonate with me (Lectio Divina). Through my imagination, I would place myself in the gospel scene with Jesus (Ignatian Spirituality). I would then listen to hear what He had to say, and journal any insights down. After my timer had gone off, I would end with an Our Father. 

For me, I have come to understand a rule of life as a set of practices that I intentionally create or implement in order to preserve something precious. For example, I make it a practice to go to confession at least once a month, in order to cleanse my soul from my sins and failings. During this particular season of Lent in my life, I needed to take action against the vices of being distracted by my phone and neglecting my personal prayer time. I knew that if I made time for Jesus first, the fruits of the spirit – peace, love, hope, and joy – would be a natural result of this commitment.The blessings that came from consistently living out denying myself my phone first thing in the morning during Lent were absolutely astounding.

The Church encourages us to make sure our kids are “taught the true meaning of penance,” even though fasting rules don’t apply to them.

It’s Lent — time for fasting, for no meat Fridays, and for almsgiving. But do kids have to fast? Or abstain from meat? No! Canon law says that only those from ages 18 to 59 have to fast, while those 14 and older have to abstain from meat. However, at the end of the paragraph about fasting and abstinence in canon law, there is a note for parents I had never noticed before. Parents are supposed to ensure that their children are “taught the true meaning of penance” once they reach the age of reason, even though children are “not bound by the law of fasting and abstinence” (Canon Law 1252).

Why would kids need to know the true meaning of fasting and penance? Also, what is the true meaning of fasting and penance? My answer to both of these questions goes back to one evening at an Indian restaurant a few years ago. My family and I were deciding what to eat from the menu with my husband’s parents, and it was a Friday. We discussed which options did not have meat, and our Indian server overheard us.

“Oh, you don’t eat meat on Fridays then?” she asked.

 “No, we don’t,” we responded.

 She quickly replied, asking “Ah, you do it for Jesus?”

 “Yes, that’s right!” was our resounding reply.

That moment comes back to me every time I am having a hard time making a decision regarding fasting and abstinence, like when I am struggling to figure out what meatless meals we will eat this Friday. Why am I doing this thing, making this sacrifice? Is it because it is just an arbitrary rule that I have to follow if I call myself Catholic? No! It’s for Jesus! I’m doing this for Jesus — the God who loves me and died for me and who becomes present in the Eucharist just so He can be close to me. 

If we can teach our kids that Lent is a time to grow closer to Jesus, and one way we do that is by giving up meat or our normal meal schedule, I think we are well on our way to teaching them the true meaning of penance. And if they learn that lesson now, while they are small, then perhaps it will just be the normal fabric of life by the time they reach their teenage years, rather than a burdensome or arbitrary rule with no context.

Here are a few ideas on how to introduce penance and fasting to your children.

Today, Fr. Mark-Mary guides us through discernment for how to hear the Father’s voice more clearly this Lent through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Are you afraid to approach God?

Jesus says, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them… But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” Matthew 6:5-6 

Fr. Mike reminds us that God sees us, notices us and cares for us. Don’t be afraid to approach the throne of grace.

“My God, my God why have you abandoned me?” Psalm 22:1 Are you praying everyday but still suffering? Are you doing all the right things but your heart is still broken?

Fr. Mike shares with us today that God doesn’t promise all our desires, but promises that He will be with us through our sufferings. He reminds us that we are never abandoned by Him.