Teach Us To Pray – Page 28 – Smitten With Goodness

Surrender Novena

April 6, 2024April 5, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

Day 4

You see evil growing instead of weakening? Do not worry. Close your eyes and say to me with faith: “Thy will be done, You take care of it.” I say to you that I will take care of it, and that I will intervene as does a doctor and I will accomplish miracles when they are needed.

Do you see that the sick person is getting worse? Do not be upset, but close your eyes and say, “You take care of it.” I say to you that I will take care of it, and that there is no medicine more powerful than my loving intervention. By my love, I promise this to you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!

Teach Us To Pray

The Surrender Novena

April 5, 2024April 4, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

Day 3

How many things do I do when the soul, in so much spiritual and material need, turns to me, looks at me and says to me, “You take care of it,” then closes its eyes and rests. In pain you pray for me to act, but that I act in the way you want. You do not turn to me, instead, you want me to adapt to your ideas.

You are not sick people who ask the doctor to cure you, but rather sick people who tell the doctor how to. So do not act this way, but pray as I taught you in the Our Father: “Hallowed be thy Name,” that is, be glorified in my need. “Thy kingdom come,” that is, let all that is in us and in the world be in accord with your kingdom. “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven,” that is, in our need, decide as you see fit for our temporal and eternal life. If you say to me truly: “Thy will be done,” which is the same as saying: “You take care of it,” I will intervene with all my omnipotence, and I will resolve the most difficult situations.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!

Teach Us To Pray

The Surrender Novena

April 4, 2024April 3, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

Day 2

Surrender to me does not mean to fret, to be upset, or to lose hope, nor does it mean offering to me a worried prayer asking me to follow you and change your worry into prayer. It is against this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous and to desire to think about the consequences of anything.

It is like the confusion that children feel when they ask their mother to see to their needs, and then try to take care of those needs for themselves so that their childlike efforts get in their mother’s way. Surrender means to placidly close the eyes of the soul, to turn away from thoughts of tribulation and to put yourself in my care, so that only I act, saying, “You take care of it.”

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!

Teach Us To Pray

Surrender Novena.

April 3, 2024April 1, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

As we explore our neediness and take these discoveries to God, the act of surrender is usually needed on our part. Over the next 9 days, we will be meditating on the prayer of surrender that Jesus revealed to Father Don Dolindo, spiritual director of Padre Pio. This prayer helps us release the grip of worry and anxiety and fall into the Peace of Christ. It is called the Surrender Novena and this prayer helps us grow in trust and relax into abandonment to God’s providence.

Day 1

Why do you confuse yourselves by worrying? Leave the care of your affairs to me and everything will be peaceful. I say to you in truth that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!

Teach Us To Pray

Living as Easter People

April 2, 2024April 1, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

Let’s remember what it means to live as the Easter People. Let’s offer ourselves and our neediness to God, through Christ.

Together with Christ, we offer everything that we are, and all that we possess, all that we have done or try to do. We offer our memory, intelligence, and will; and our aspirations our joys and hopes and spiritual communions. Likewise, we offer our small and big mortifications: all those acts of love we performed yesterday, and as many as we planned to perform today.
Charles Belmonte

Teach Us To Pray

Easter People

April 1, 2024April 1, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

Yesterday we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord. As Christian’s we are Easter people. Sprinkled with Easter water, we are strengthened in faith to serve the Lord and one another.

We also renew our baptismal promises. Let me ask you a few questions:

Do you reject Satan, including all of his works and his empty promises?

Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth?

Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?

I Do!

With a resounding “I do!,” may these promises live on in our hearts.

God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.

Amen

Teach Us To Pray

Easter Sunday. The Resurrection of the Lord

March 31, 2024March 30, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

God is faithful. What has been promised, he has brought to fulfillment. Christ, our paschal lamb has been sacrificed and he has risen, just as he said. We are witnesses of these things, then and now. We revel in the same grace, by the same Christ through the same Church.

Easter confirms that salvation is real and present to us now, today and forever. Love now reigns. Death and sin are overcome. Christ’s resurrection is our resurrection, for he has opened for us, the gates of eternal life. It is on this truth, that we stake our whole lives. Filled with the glory of Christ Easter triumph, we cannot help but cry out Alleluia!

This is the day the Lord has made: let us be glad and rejoice in it! Fill our hearts with the joy of the resurrection and grant us abundant love so we can share the Good News. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Teach Us To Pray

Holy Saturday. We Wait.

March 30, 2024March 29, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

As I look back over my Lenten observance, how have I truly died to self in order to live for God in the service of my neighbor? What signs do I see of new life in my daily way of thinking and doing? How has Lent prepared me to live more fully in God’s house as a member of his household?

God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen

Teach Us To Pray

Good Friday. The Lord’s Passion

March 29, 2024March 28, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

Today is a work of pure love, beyond our human understanding. The cross gives us a way out of the sin of our human nature. One God-man in Jesus Christ bears the weight of sin, and darkness of the world. Let’s venerate the cross he bore for us.

What were His thoughts as He took all the sins of mankind upon Himself? He forgives His enemies, forgives the penitent thief, cries out to God, and declares the end of His earthly life:

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34
“Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43
“Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother.” John 19:26–27
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34
“I thirst.” John 19:28
“It is finished.” Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34
“Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.” Luke 23:46

This message of forgiveness provides a way out and a path forward from the darkness of sin in our life. Christ’s love breaks the cycle of our natural human response where if you are cruel to me, I will be cruel to you. The power of love can change lives and societies. Actions speak louder than words – the cross is the purest example.

As we contemplate our Lord’s Passion on this Good Friday, I invite you to reflect upon how your daily actions reflect your love and gratitude for God’s goodness. Has your journey through Lent opened your heart to receive a deeper encounter with God’s love? Will you continue small sacrifices of self-denial, praying and serving others? Action speaks louder than words.

I love you Jesus, my Lord, my Savior. Amen

Teach Us To Pray

Holy Thursday. The Lord’s Supper

March 28, 2024March 28, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

Today is Holy Thursday, also known as Maundy Thursday. It commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ, when he established the sacrament of Holy Communion, and the institution of the priesthood. On this day, Jesus washed the feet of his 12 disciples, showing them how they should love one another just as he loved them. We can all say, “Jesus gave His life for me.” Jesus continues to stoop, to wash us, to serve us, to sanctify us, and to love us through the priesthood and the Eucharist.

As we walk with Jesus during these final hours, let’s reflect on what it means to love and accept love. Will you stay with Christ allowing His wounds to transform your own wounds. Will you allow God to capture and transform your heart in love?

I accept Your gentle invitation of love, dear Lord, to spend this night in vigil with You. May I enter Your Heart as it faced the coming persecution You were to endure for my sins. May I console Your Sacred Heart and know the love and Mercy that flowed, pouring Your love into the world. Thank you for serving me and the world with Your love. Dying to yourself to glorify God and showing us the path to life. Amen