God's Loving Plan for All Men and Women

From His Holiness Pope Francis’ first General Audience held in Saint Peter’s Square on 27 March 2013:

“On Palm Sunday we began Holy Week, the heart of the liturgical year, when we commemorate the great events that express most powerfully God’s loving plan for all men and women. Jesus enters Jerusalem in order to give himself completely. He gives us his body and his blood, and promises to remain with us always. He freely hands himself over to death in obedience to the Father’s will, and in this way shows how much he loves us. We are called to follow in his footsteps. Holy Week challenges us to step outside ourselves so as to attend to the needs of others: those who long for a sympathetic ear, those in need of comfort or help. We should not simply remain in our own secure world, that of the ninety-nine sheep who never strayed from the fold, but we should go out, with Christ, in search of the one lost sheep, however far it may have wandered. Holy Week is not so much a time of sorrow, but rather a time to enter into Christ’s way of thinking and acting. It is a time of grace given us by the Lord so that we can move beyond a dull or mechanical way of living our faith, and instead open the doors of our hearts, our lives, our parishes, our movements or associations, going out in search of others so as to bring them the light and the joy of our faith in Christ….

I invite all of you to enter fully into the spirit of Holy Week, following in the footsteps of Jesus and bringing the light of his love to everyone you meet….”

For more information, please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-holy-week-challenges-us-to-step-outside-ourse

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What is the Lord calling me to do

to enter more fully into the spirit of Holy Week? 

 

How can I bring the light of His love to everyone I meet?

 

Let us be united in prayer with Pope Francis and each other

so that we may be open to God's grace and do His holy will.

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