Being in church was a mix of emotions today. The first emotion was joy, as a friend asked me to go to church with her. We attended mass at a different church in our parish than I normally attend. I like to do that every so often – attend mass at a different church. Often we tend to view weekly mass as a chore or item on our “to do” list. Visiting a different church or parish keeps things ‘new’ for me.

The second emotion was sadness. Palm Sunday always reminds me the sadness of Good Friday that is right around the corner. I can’t quit thinking about the suffering that Jesus is about to go through. However, that wasn’t the only sadness I was feeling today. I remembered that I didn’t attend Palm Sunday service last year. I remembered I didn’t attend Easter Sunday service last year. I remembered I didn’t attend mass hardly at all last year.

Over the past few weeks or so, people have been posting on social media all their memories from last year at this time. On Friday, March 13th, 2020 I was sent home from work, and I was told I would be working from home until further notice. Quarantine started at this time for many of us last year. As we approached the anniversary of this life change, we began to think about all of the things that we missed out on over the past 12 months. We began to remember the family gatherings we missed. We began to remember the sporting events we missed.

The weddings.
The funerals.
The concerts.
The community events.
The graduations.

This definitely has NOT been an anniversary that anyone wanted to celebrate.

Today as I sat in church and listened to the Passion, I began (once again as I do every year) to think about how grateful I am that Jesus accepted death on a cross to save me. Today, that led me to think about other things that I am grateful for.

I am grateful that I was able to continue working from home throughout the pandemic, and that I work for a company that supported me and provided any technology I needed.

I am grateful that I was quarantined in a beautiful home in a beautiful neighborhood.

I am grateful that although Mark and I did lose a family member to COVID, we have several family members that had it and survived.

Although hearing about Jesus’ crucifixion always brings me sorrow, I feel hope as I think about Easter Sunday. As I remembered all of the things that filled me with gratitude this morning, I was filled with another type of hope.

Ending the mass today with hope and gratitude was a wonderful day to start the day. Even though the last weekday this week is a sad one, the week will end with new life, hope, and joy.

Have a blessed Holy Week, and see you back here on Easter Sunday.

No matter how blessed we are in life, everyone has experienced a period of darkness at some point. Although our periods of darkness are all different and may be caused by different things, they all have one thing in common. Those moments of darkness have all left us longing for the light.

During those moments when we have felt depressed, defeated, or filled with sorrow, we’ve always felt a longing to brighter and lighter days. We often find ourselves praying and asking God to help with that. We ask for relief from our sorrow and relief from the darkness shadowing our lives. When those prayers are answered, we are filled with gratitude. We thank God for the relief he has given to us.

In today’s gospel we hear one of the most quoted bible verses of all time – John 3:16.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.”

The gospel goes on to talk about how light (Jesus) came into the world, but people preferred darkness (sin) to the light. So, basically that would mean people were content to live in their darkness and misery rather than to follow Jesus and come into the light. I find it hard to wrap my head around that.

This past week at my Scripture Study class, one of the ladies made the observation of how thankful she was that we have the scriptures to study. Early Christians didn’t have the New Testament to study — they were living it. People were living with the Son of God and didn’t realize it. That made me ask myself the following questions:

“What light has God placed in my life that I’m not seeing, and what darkness do I keep clinging to?”

Sometimes we find it easier to be content in our misery than to put in the effort to move ourselves forward. We are showered with blessings on a daily basis but are sometimes so intent on focusing on our darkness that we don’t notice them. As. I continue forward on my Lenten journey, I’m continuing to concentrate on the light in my life and making that light grow.

Keep your eyes fixed on all the light in your life, have a blessed week, and see you back here next Sunday.

I signed up for the “Best Lent Ever” through Dynamic Catholic, and I have been receiving the daily videos from Matthew Kelly and other Dynamic Catholic employees. Each year has a theme, and this year’s theme is about prayer and “…not what you give up but what you become.”

In Matthew Kelly’s videos he’s been talking a lot about prayer and HOW to pray. He shares stories from his life about how he has learned to pray. It’s been quite a thought provoking journey. He’s asked us to really think about our attitude towards prayer, as well as our daily habits.

I’ve really started to take a serious look at my prayer life as a result. I’ve begun to realize sometimes I utilize my scripture studies and daily devotionals as “crutches” of sorts – as there are times I’m not sure how to talk to God. Sometimes I feel silly talking to God about my day – as He already knows what happened. But isn’t that how we speak to our closest friends? Don’t we share our experiences and funny stories? Isn’t that how we build and expand on those friendships?

What if you had a friend that you only called when you needed something?

What if you had a friend that you only went to when you wanted to talk about how badly your day had gone?

What if you had a friend that you never spoke positively to and only vented to?

Yet – isn’t this how we often talk to God?

Fortunately for us – not only does God love us unconditionally, he wants all of our bad days. However, we often forget that he wants our good ones, too. He wants us to come to him with our sorrows, but he also wants to share in our joys.

One of the quotes from my daily videos that has really stuck with me is the following:

”Prayer is more than a transaction.”

This is what I’m working on this Lent. I’m trying to make my daily time of prayer more of a conversation with God. This year I won’t be excited to finally get to have that piece of chocolate or glass of wine on Easter. I’m very excited to meet the person I’ve become.

Have a blessed week and see you back here next Sunday.