Lenten Retreat: Materials for Week Six [March 23-28]
Welcome to the sixth week of this 9-week Lenten Retreat. Following are prayer materials, reflections, and notes compiled by Fr. Clem Metzger, SJ. to guide your retreat. [The author can be reached at [email protected].]
May the Holy Spirit inspire your prayer and guide you through this retreat. May your spirituality, centered in Jesus Christ, deepen in faith, hope and love. Thank you for making this retreat.
Lenten Retreat: Week Six
Theme: “Create a holy heart in me, O God give me back the joy of your salvation”
~Psalm 51, 12
Grace: This week ask Mary to intercede for you to come into a deeper, clearer and more personal knowledge, love, and imitation of her Son.
The prayer material for each dayof this week is listed below.
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Day One:Monday, March 23
Prayer Material: John 11, 45-57
Reflection:Caiaphas boldly proclaims “it is better for you to have one man die than to have the whole nation destroyed.”How did he come to this conclusion regarding Jesus?
Scripture presents Mary as “pondering in her heart” the experiences and events in her life.She must have reflected, wondered, and prayed for understanding and courage.To free the heart from spiritual blindness and hard-heartedness is the work of the Spirit.We pray for the light of the Holy Spirit to see with the heart what the Lord is calling each of us to become.Is there anything that is holding me back from saying “yes” to His Will? Remember the words of Jesus to the two on the way to Emmaus – discouraged and leaving after the crucifixion and death of Jesus:“Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!” [Luke 24, 25]
Would this be a good time to talk to Mary about praying from the heart? Does she have a prominent place in your devotional life?
If you wish to look over a page about how you can make a Review of Prayer, please click here.
Additional Prayer Reference
John 7: 40-53
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Day Two:Tuesday, March 24
Prayer Material: Matthew 15: 1-20
Reflection: The above scripture reference provides some indication on how the heart can become corrupted.And Paul is very explicit in his letter to the Galatians [5, 16-21], where he writes “…what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these areopposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.”In this powerful passage, Paul also lists the “works of the flesh” before naming, in sharp contrast to these, the “fruits of the Spirit.”[Galatians 5: 22-26].
You may have seen the prayer below, in which an Indian chief recognizes the need for people to overcome their blindness to the results of evil intentions:
