Joan will receive a copy of The Catholic Children's Bible, a $27.95 value.

Introducing The Catholic Children’s Bible, the first-ever complete Catholic children’s Bible, only from Saint Mary’s Press. It not only inspires but empowers children to read, live, and love the full Word of God.

• Children will know and understand God’s saving plan revealed through 125 featured story spreads highlighting key Bible passages.
• Vibrant illustrations and borders immediately engage children and allow them to dive in to Scripture and become immersed in the stories.
• Understand It!, Live It!, and Tell It! sections help bring God’s Word to life for the youngest of readers.

• Unique navigational features designed specifically for early readers help children easily locate passages and stories.
• Intentional design elements such as fonts built for early readers, increased line spacing, bold vocabulary words, colorized text, minimal hyphenation, and simple column dividers help make this a Bible children can read on their own.

by Joanna Dailey

Happy Lent! In the churches of the East, the season of Lent is known as "Great Lent." There is a prayer woven throughout the season (often accompanied by prostrations—that is, kneeling on the floor and then bowing your head to the ground, standing up, then doing it again, for a total of three times). This prayer is the prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian, and summarizes the interior purpose of the season of Lent:

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, meddling, lust of power and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother [or sister], for thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.

By now you have begun your own triduum of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. But you may find that adding Saint Ephrem’s prayer to your program at least once a day becomes the locus of your Lenten observance. Fasting from idle talk is sometimes much harder than fasting from food. And who could not use more patience and love in the living of everyday life? I myself pray to be delivered from the spirit of sloth, which manifests itself in a tendency toward procrastination. Like Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, my motto has been, "I’ll think about that tomorrow." The fact that an editor’s life is one deadline after another has not cured me of this predilection. It has just given me more to think about . . . tomorrow.

During Lent, as we zero in on something that we would like to change, we find that change does not happen overnight. Like an ocean liner attempting to make a turn, this maneuver will take time. But, during Lent, we are given time. And we are given support as well: The entire Church is with us! And we can always pray Saint Ephrem’s prayer for patience with ourselves!

After prayer, there is fasting. This prayer also reminds me of what a Cistercian abbot (whose name and monastery I cannot recall) once told his community: "If you are going to fast over and above the community observance, make sure you don’t start taking bites out of your brothers." We all know what we need to stay on an even keel, even if we are giving up a certain amount of food or a favorite snack. If fasting results in peevishness and irritability, perhaps it needs to be reevaluated.

Then, finally, there is almsgiving: of time, talent, and treasure. Lent may be a good time to review where your time, talent, and treasure are going. Do you need to make some adjustments? Do you need to give more here and pull back there? Are you being called to a new effort in any area? Ask the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of peace and of order, to enlighten you during this season of renewal.

Because renewal is what Lent is all about. Lent is preparation for Easter. We are heading for resurrection! We are preparing ourselves, with the rest of the Church, to renew our baptismal promises on the day that new life broke into the world. Every day of Lent is a new opportunity to renounce sin (and all the unhappiness that comes with it) and to welcome God and his redeeming love into our lives. (The Make It Happen in this newsletter can help you present these ideas to teens through a prayer ritual on forgiveness.)

Last summer my cousin gave me a bumper sticker based on our mutual appreciation for dogs. It said: "Less bark. More wag." Let’s use Lent to make that happen in our lives. This is one of the lessons of Lent: Less of some things can lead to more of another. Less time wasting, more prayer. Less of self, more of others. Less indifference, more love. Less bark, more wag.

Have a good Lent!

Blessings on your ministry!

Peace and joy,

Joanna

Note: The movie The Son of God will be making its way to a theater near you. We at Saint Mary’s Press received a notice from Leland Nagel, the executive director of the National Council on Catechetical Leadership (NCCL), concerning this movie:

Due to the intense and bloody portrayal of the Crucifixion, the scourging and several sequences of violence in the movie Son of God, some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. The movie has a rating of PG-13 by the Motion Picture Assoc. of America. Rather than simply suggesting parental discretion, the PG-13 rating carries the warning: "Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13."

Please alert your students and their families.

Overview
Praying for forgiveness sets us free. In this prayer the young people experience this message through a ritual of reconciliation. This strategy, which is ideal for a retreat or as a conclusion to a session on forgiveness, allows the participants to dramatically ritualize both the paralysis of sinfulness and the release brought about by reconciliation.

Suggested Time
This activity can take 20-30 minutes.

Group Size
This activity works best with groups of 15 to 30 young people. Larger groups will require greater attention and the assistance of additional adults.

Special Considerations
This prayer requires a good deal of space because it attempts to demonstrate the change that occurs when forgiveness is experienced, by having the young people move from one location to another. With a large group, this process works well in a hall, a cafeteria, or a school gym. If such a room is not available, use hallways or adjacent rooms.

Ideally, you should have four adults or leaders to help conduct this prayer activity. It is important to affirm to the group that this is a ritual, intended only to be a symbolic exercise.

Materials Needed

• a pillar candle and matches
• other faith symbols
• a Bible
• 2-by-30-inch strips of white or light-colored fabric, one for each person (for use as blindfolds; use old sheets or other material—thin materials such as cotton or flannel work best)
• washable colored markers, at least one for each participant

Procedure

Preparation. Place a pillar candle in a central or prominent part of the room and create a focus area by placing around the candle other faith symbols, such as a crucifix, a bowl of water, a blanket or cloth, and an appropriate picture, poster, or statue. Place strips of white or light-colored fabric, one for each participant, in four separate bundles around the focus area. Place a set of washable colored markers on or beside each bundle. Identify four locations, either the corners of the room or adjacent rooms or hallways, where the young people can be sent to be bound.

1. Attention to the environment can help you maintain a prayerful atmosphere for this active prayer. Darken the room, light the pillar candle, and gather everyone around the focus area. Begin by reading Mark 2:1–12 (Jesus forgives and cures a paralytic).

2. Take a few moments to discuss the Scripture story. The following comments may be helpful:

   In Jesus' time people believed that illness and disease were punishments for sins committed by individuals or their family, and that God alone could forgive sins or remove curses. There are many ways that we can be paralyzed in life: being unable to care, unwilling to listen to someone, or reluctant to see clearly, or feeling powerless to reach out and help. Jesus healed as a way of demonstrating that the power of God's love and forgiveness sets us free.

3. Using the following questions or similar ones of your own, invite the young people to reflect quietly on the message or meaning of this story:
   

   How could the paralyzed person symbolize you or your life?
   Have you ever felt cursed, punished, held back, or kept down in life by something that has happened to you?
   How have your sins, or the sins of others, paralyzed you, or stopped you from reaching out to, making peace with, or caring about other people in your life?

4. Invite the participants to come forward one by one to select a fabric strip binding and a colored marker from one of the four piles. Lead the group through
   the following brief reflection exercise:

   Marked by the sins of the past, we can be paralyzed by those who have sinned against us. Yet we have the power to forgive those who have hurt us. As you listen to the questions that follow, call to mind a person who has hurt you:

   Has someone said words against you?
   Has someone done something to cause you pain?
   Have people ignored you or turned their back on you?
   Do you find it difficult to forgive or care about someone?
   With the marker write on the binding strip a name or a set of initials that symbolize a sin committed against you.

5. After the participants have marked their binding strips, ask them to reflect on the second part of this examination of conscience:

   We are bound by what we have failed to do.
   By refusing to care, to listen, to speak up, or to notice others, we can become paralyzed, bound by the things we have failed to do. As you listen to the questions that follow, let your mind reveal how you have been bound.

   Have you failed to help someone because you have allowed your hands to be tied?
   Have you ignored someone or chosen to be blind to others?
   Have you failed to speak up for someone because you have let yourself be gagged?
   Have you refused to listen to someone because you have let yourself be deaf to others?
   Which of those scenarios brought a situation or a person to mind immediately? Which of the four bindings fits most tightly with the things you have failed to do?

6. Send an adult or a leader to each of the four locations you have identified. Challenge the young people to select one of the four forms of symbolic binding: to be blindfolded, to have their hands tied, to have their mouth covered, or to have their ears covered. Indicate one location for each form of binding and direct the group members to move to the location of their choice, taking their fabric strip with them.

   Have the leader at each location carefully use each participant's fabric strip to loosely bind him or her. Affirm to the group that this is a ritual, intended only to be a symbolic exercise.

7. When all the participants have been bound, instruct the leaders to bring their group back to the central area or main room. Read the following paraphrase of John 20:20–23:
   

   Though the doors were closed, Jesus came and stood among them and said: "Peace be with you. As God has sent me, so I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; and those whose sins you retain, they are retained."

8. Have each leader invite one bound group member to come forward to the candle, where, while removing the binding, the leader recites the phrase, "You are forgiven, now go and do likewise!" Then have the leader give the fabric strip to the person who had been bound and challenge the young person to turn to a neighbor and, using the same words, to release that person from his or her binding. Guide this process until everyone is released.

9. Encourage the young people to examine the cloths they are holding. Recite the following line from the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us," and challenge the young people to forgive the people involved in the sin they had marked on their binding. Invite the young people to take their strips home and carry them until they find a way to forgive those who have hurt them. Suggest that, after they extend forgiveness, they can wash out the strip of fabric until the name or initials they had written on it are removed. Conclude the prayer service by inviting everyone to recite the Lord's Prayer together.

Alternative Approaches

• With the proper permission, set this activity inside the church, beginning in the gathering area and ending in the sanctuary.
• Extend this activity by adding a concluding reading and reflection on the parable of the unforgiving debtor, Matthew 18:23–35.
• Invite the participants to return at a subsequent session with their washed fabric strips. Have them tie together the strips to form a chain of forgiveness. This chain of knotted fabric can be displayed in the youth room or classroom or even draped around a large crucifix or cross.
• Adapt this ritual and use it to prepare the young people to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation. It also fits well with the themes of Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
• If this activity takes place at a camp, it can be effective to have the participants burn their fabric strips in a pit or bonfire.

Scriptural Connections

• Psalm 130 (From the depths I cry to God, where forgiveness and mercy are found.)
• Isa. 61:1–2 (The Spirit of God has anointed me to bring good news and to proclaim liberty to captives.)
• Matt. 18:18 (What you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.)
• John 8:31–32,34–36 (The truth will make you free. Those who sin are slaves, but Christ will set you free.)
• Gal. 5:1 (Christ freed us and meant us to be free.)

The Second Sunday of Lent
March 16, 2014
Matthew 17:1-9

Opening Prayer

Jesus, we are grateful that you restored our potential to experience life after death through your death on the cross on Good Friday. Continue to strengthen us through the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can be holy in all ways in our everyday lives. Amen.

Context Connection
The focus of this Sunday's Gospel is the Transfiguration of Jesus. This account can also be found in the Gospels of Mark (9:2-13) and Luke (9:28-36). In all three accounts, Jesus appears with Moses and Elijah on the top of a mountain; he is witnessed by the inner circle of disciples--Peter, James, and John.

Matthew opens his account, "Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves" (17:1). In the Scriptures the symbol of the mountain is a privileged place of divine revelation. Matthew wants us to be aware that something very important about Jesus is going to be revealed on this mountain--that he is the Son of God. Jesus "was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white" (17:2). Matthew's emphasis on the appearance of Jesus' face directly relates to Moses, whose face shined as the sun when he descended from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:29-30). In this way Matthew presents Jesus as the new Moses. Then "suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with [Jesus]" (17:3). Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the prophets of the Old Testament. In the context of Matthew's Gospel, the appearance of Moses and Elijah with Jesus shows that Jesus has come to fulfill the Law and the prophets. The story presents the three figures existing in perfect harmony.

Matthew captures for us the disciples' reaction to this most unusual occurrence. Peter says to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" (17:4). Peter wants to hold onto the moment as long as possible, to remain in this glorified state by erecting three structures to contain the experience. Then God speaks, "a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, 'This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!'" (17:5). We have already heard these words spoken by God at Jesus' baptism in the Jordan (Matthew 3:17). Here Matthew adds "listen to him." The voice frightens the disciples and "they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear" (17:6). Again Matthew draws a parallel between Jesus and Moses. In Exodus 16:10, 19:9, 24:15-16, and 33:9, God reveals his presence through a cloud.

Jesus responds by touching his disciples and telling them to get up--to not be afraid. Jesus becomes their comforter. The Transfiguration ends abruptly: "when [the disciples] looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone" (17:8). Then, on their trip down the mountain, Jesus instructs the three disciples not to share what has happened until after he has been raised from the dead.

Tradition Connection
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "'All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity.'1 All are called to holiness" (Catechism, paragraph 2013). Every baptized person is called to this high standard of holiness. A dimension of holiness is charity--the way we love others. During Lent we are asked to be particularly mindful of almsgiving, that is, sharing our wealth with those who are in need. This should be a common practice for any Christian throughout the year, but during Lent we are asked to reassess this aspect of our life and be more attentive to perfecting this Christian practice on a regular basis.

Holiness can be obtained only by embracing the cross of Jesus: "The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross" (Catechism, paragraph 2015). Jesus showed us that the way to holiness and unification with God the Father in the Resurrection is through the cross. Easter Sunday could never have happened without the experience of Good Friday. Through our Baptism, we die with Christ (our first regeneration) and enter into a way of life that understands that pain and suffering are part of the journey to resurrection.

The Transfiguration "is the sacrament of the second regeneration": our own Resurrection.2 From now on we share in the Lord's Resurrection through the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the Body of Christ. The Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ's glorious coming, when he "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body"3 (Catechism, paragraph 556).

As Christians, we can only strive for holiness. Holiness is possible only through the grace of God and the prompting of the Holy Spirit, who serves as the catalyst for doing Christian deeds. Through the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, Christians find guidance in how to act in all circumstances of their lives. The seven traditional gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge, reverence, and wonder and awe (see Catechism, paragraph 1831). The fruits of the Holy Spirit are "charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity4" (Catechism, paragraph 1832).

Holiness happens when the Holy Spirit moves us interiorly to love God totally--with all our soul, heart, and mind. Loving God completely inspires us to love others because they have been fashioned in the image and likeness of God. To love another human being is to love God.

Wisdom Connection
Matthew wants his readers to notice the harmony that exists among Jesus, Moses, and Elijah at the Transfiguration. Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the prophets--not to do away with them--because they are the foundation of Christianity. Harmony exists between the Law and the prophets of the Old Testament and Jesus and his teachings. Fulfilling the laws and prophecies of the Old Testament does not mean replacing or discarding them, but bringing them to fullness--expanding them even further with the new insights of the Gospel.

A second point Matthew makes is through the voice from the cloud, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" (17:5). God the Father acknowledges Jesus as an honorable person, the Son of God, whose activities are pleasing to God. Because of Jesus' unique relationship with God the Father, God instructs the disciples to listen to Jesus. God invites the disciples, and us, to trust in Jesus--to trust in his way of life. God asks us to take a risk, to listen to Jesus' words and put them into action.

Acknowledgments
The scriptural quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition. Copyright © 1993 and 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

The quotations labeled Catechism are from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America. Copyright © 1994 by the United States Catholic Conference, Inc.--Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.

Endnotes cited in quotations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church

1. Lumen gentium 40 §2.
2. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III, 45, 4, ad 2.
3. Philippians 3:21.
4. Galatians 5:22-23.

The Third Sunday of Lent
March 23, 2014
John 4:5-42

Opening Prayer

Jesus, we understand the isolation of the Samaritan woman in this Sunday's Gospel because we have done things in our lives that have caused division and hurt. Help us, especially during these days of Lent, to reconcile the broken relationships that are a cause of isolation in our lives. Amen.

Context Connection
This Sunday's Gospel helps us understand the process of conversion and what it means to come to a deeper faith in Jesus. Through the experience of the Samaritan woman, we are able to follow her process of coming to faith--from her initial encounter with Jesus, to her conversion and freedom from sin, to her witnessing the Good News.

In this story, John's Gospel takes the Samaritan woman from misunderstanding who Jesus is to a clear understanding of Jesus' identity. The woman first addresses Jesus as "a Jew" (4:9). A little farther into the conversation, she uses the title of Lord or "sir" (4:11). After Jesus tells her intimate details of her life, she calls him "a prophet" (4:19). And by the end of the encounter, the woman professes that Jesus is "the Messiah" (4:29). This is a remarkable transformation in understanding on the part of the Samaritan woman.

To fully appreciate this story, we must take into consideration the cultural backdrop. First, in the Mediterranean world of Jesus' time, life was divided according to gender. Women had their places to meet and carry out their responsibilities, and men had theirs. The well was a shared space that the whole community held in common, but that men and women used at different times--women in the morning and evening, men during the day-but never at the same time. In this passage from John, the Samaritan woman comes to the well at noon, a time for men to use it. The Samaritan woman, experiencing isolation from her community because of her lifestyle, comes alone to the well during the heat of the day, when she thinks no one else will be there. Second, in Jesus' day, men did not speak to unchaperoned women, and women did not speak to strange men in public. A violation of this social norm is pointed out in the Gospel: "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (4:9). In addition, the Jews had a great dislike for the Samaritans and did not associate with them at all. Third, after the Samaritan woman comes to understand the true identity of Jesus as the Messiah, she rushes back to the village marketplace--a place women were not permitted to enter when men were present. She tells the men of her encounter with Jesus, the Messiah, and they return to the well with her. The Samaritan woman is truly an evangelist telling of the Good News of Jesus to her village.

John shows us the tender compassion of Jesus as he encounters the Samaritan woman. Through this encounter, we see that Jesus does not allow his healing care and concern to be restricted by discrimination or by social norms that divide. It is his compassionate presence that helps the woman become aware of her needs--of her deep thirst. Once Jesus reveals his knowledge of the secrets of her intimate life, a transformation happens within the woman. It becomes a turning point. Even though Jesus knows these things about her, he still loves her. Jesus commands her attention because he knows her so completely. Renewed by Jesus' healing words, the natural response of the Samaritan woman is to share this new understanding of Jesus with others in her village. She becomes a missionary to her own people. Jesus' words of compassion move this woman from her isolation to faith, and then to mission.

This Gospel story is about the human process of coming to fullness of faith in Jesus the Christ. The Samaritan woman moves from no knowledge of Jesus to asking questions about his identity; to insight that he might be a prophet; to the conviction that Jesus is more than just a man--that he is the Messiah; to giving witness to her experience among those in her village. What unfolds before us in this story is the process of conversion that takes place when we encounter Jesus. The encounter with Jesus' loving grace brings about a conversion of heart because the forgiveness of sin leads to true freedom.

Tradition Connection
In parishes with an RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) program, starting on the third Sunday of Lent and extending into the fourth and fifth Sundays, those entering the Catholic Church, that is, the catechumens who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil, experience the Scrutinies. The Scrutinies are rites of self-searching and repentance. These rites help the elect (catechumens) to uncover the sinfulness of their hearts and to be healed. It is meant to be the concluding process of conversion for those preparing for Baptism. The story of the Samaritan woman's conversion parallels the conversion process of the catechumen.

In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus and the Samaritan woman meet at the well of Jacob. This well has a long tradition of being a source of life-sustaining water because it was dug by Jacob and his sons. It provided water that supported life of every kind. Jesus promises that he will give life-giving water that will surpass the water of Jacob's well. Jesus is referring to the waters of eternal life that we receive through Baptism: "Because we are dead or at least wounded through sin, the first effect of the gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins. The communion of the Holy Spirit1 in the Church restores to the baptized the divine likeness lost through sin" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 734). Through Baptism, we come to our faith in Jesus Christ.

The Catechism also says that "Faith is certain. It is more certain than all human knowledge because it is founded on the very word of God who cannot lie" (paragraph 157). As the Samaritan woman's faith in Jesus developed, she continued to seek out more information about Jesus so she could deepen her faith. "'Faith seeks understanding':2 it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith and to understand better what He has revealed" (Catechism, paragraph 158). Searching for a deeper understanding is a part of the process of coming to faith in Jesus. It is divine grace that moves an individual's intellect and will to cooperate in the quest to understand who Jesus is: "Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace"3 (Catechism, paragraph 155). This is all part of the conversion process--the process of Jesus coming to know us intimately and us coming to know Jesus in truth: "The grace of the Holy Spirit seeks to awaken faith, conversion of heart, and adherence to the Father's will" (Catechism, paragraph 1098).

Therefore we can say that "The Holy Spirit is the living water 'welling up to eternal life'4 in the heart that prays" (Catechism, paragraph 2652). Lent should be a time for us to renew or strengthen our practice of prayer in our Christian life. "Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God's thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him"5 (Catechism, paragraph 2560). The living water offered is available for the asking:

"You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."6 Paradoxically our prayer of petition is a response to the plea of the living God: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water!"7 Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God"8 (Catechism, paragraph 2561).

Wisdom Connection
John uses a most unusual circumstance to emphasize that coming to believe in Jesus Christ is open to everyone. "Many Samaritans from that city believed in [Jesus] because of the woman's testimony" (4:39). This must have been a hard reality for Jews to accept in light of their long-standing discrimination against the Samaritans. Because the Samaritans experienced conversion and came to profess belief in Jesus, the whole Christian community was challenged to accept all its members as equal in the eyes of God. It may be possible that the Christian community addressed in John's Gospel had difficulty accepting Samaritans as equals and as full members of the Body of Christ.

Another possibility is that John is confirming the new role of women in the community, that they too are called to be evangelizers. The messenger of the salvation of Jesus to this particular community was a woman--and, in this case, a woman who was isolated within her own community because of the way she conducted her life. Think about the people in our own society whom we believe God could not possibly use for bringing others to Jesus. Many are needed to bring people to Jesus, and now is the time: "But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting" (4:35).

When the disciples return to Jesus at the well they urge him to eat, but Jesus refuses and responds by saying, "I have food to eat that you do not know about" (4:32). The disciples wonder if Jesus has hidden away some food or if the Samaritan woman has given him food. Jesus clarifies his statement, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work" (4:34). Jesus' food is doing the will of God the Father. John's Gospel indicates that this is also true for Jesus' disciples. Our spiritual nourishment is derived from doing the will of God.

Acknowledgments
The scriptural quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition. Copyright © 1993 and 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

The quotations labeled Catechism are from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America. Copyright © 1994 by the United States Catholic Conference, Inc.--Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.

Endnotes cited in quotations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church

1. 2 Corinthians 13:14.
2. St. Anselm, Prosl. prooem: J.P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Latina Supplement, 153, 225A.
3. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II, 2, 9; cf. Dei Filius 3: Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum (1965) 3010.
4. John 4:14.
5. Cf. St. Augustine, De diversis quaestionibus octoginta tribus 64, 4: J. P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Latina (Paris: 1841-1855) 40, 56.
6. John 4:10.
7. Jeremiah 2:13.
8. Cf. John 7:37-39; 19:28; Isaiah 12:3; 51:1; Zechariah 12:10; 13:1

Saint Cyril is a good saint for Lent because of his concern for the poor. Pope Francis often echoes Saint Cyril’s concern. The Saint Mary’s Press Resource Center has more information about Saint Cyril and a calendar of saints for each day. To find the liturgical calendar and the saint of the day, go to http://www.smp.org/resourcecenter/calendar/. To find Saint Cyril immediately, go to http://www.smp.org/resourcecenter/calendar/day/2014/3/18/.

Saint Cyril is the saint celebrated between Saint Patrick and Saint Joseph. These three together are this week’s strong witnesses for the faith: the Trinity, concern for the poor, and the mystery of the Incarnation (for Joseph was the foster-father of the Son of God).