1. Sunday, March 10, 2024 (4th Sunday in Lent)

 

Take a minute to consciously acknowledge that you are in the presence of God and ask him to help you to hear the Word he wants you to hear this week.

 

Here’s a link to Sunday, March 10th’s readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031024-YearB.cfm

Jesus tells Nicodemus that the Son of Man will be raised up so that those who believe in him will have eternal life.

 

Read together this Gospel, John 3:14-21 and discuss the following questions together.

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1. What all do you think God sees when he looks at the world?

2. What might be the works of those who approach the light?

3. Why was it necessary for God to send his Son into the world to die for our sins?

4. In today’s Gospel, Jesus refers to himself as “light” and says that some prefer darkness to light. Why would someone prefer darkness (to do evil works) rather than follow Jesus?

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*  Family Challenge

 

Make a John 3:16 sign and place it in a prominent place in your home. Invite each family member to memorize 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 might have eternal life."

 

*  Family Connection

 

God made us to live in the light of his love. But this original friendship with God was corrupted by sin. Our sin causes us to shy away from Christ, the light that has come into the world. During the season of Lent, we try to fight this tendency by remembering God’s great mercy and the salvation that we have received through Jesus. We do not fear confessing our sins, knowing that God forgives us, and so, during Lent, we seek out opportunities to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

After your family gathers, sit for a time in darkness, then light a candle. Invite people to talk about what it felt like to be in the darkness and to compare that to their feelings when the candle was lit. What are we able to see by the limited glow of the candlelight that we couldn’t see when we were sitting in darkness? John’s Gospel teaches us that Jesus was the light that came into the world. In this light we know ourselves to be sinners, but we are not condemned. Instead we have been saved because we have been forgiven through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. 

 

End in Prayer

 

Breastplate of St. Patrick

The breastplate of St. Patrick reminds us that Christ is always with us. 
 

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,

Christ when I sit down,

Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through belief in the Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness

of the Creator of creation.

 

2. Sunday, March 17, 2024 (5th Sunday in Lent)

 

Take a minute to consciously acknowledge that you are in the presence of God and ask him to help you to hear the Word he wants you to hear this week.

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Here is the link to Sunday, March 17th’s readings:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031724-YearB.cfm

Jesus teaches his disciples about the way in which he will be glorified by God, and a voice from heaven is heard to affirm this teaching.

 

Read together this Gospel, John 12:20-33 and discuss the following questions together.

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1. What relationship does Jesus seem to have with this family?

2. In what ways might people react as Jesus commands that the tomb be opened?

3. Name one thing today’s Gospel says to us that we disciples of Jesus need to heed and act on.

4. In what way do we benefit from Jesus’ death?

5. How does the picture of a vulnerable Jesus praying to God with “loud cries and tears” touch you? How easy or hard is it for you to be this vulnerable before God? Do you tend to pray more with your head or with your heart? 

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*  Family Challenge

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As a family, pray for those who are being persecuted for their faith today. Pray for this intention all week.

 

*  Family Connection

 

Family life is often a balancing act in which we prioritize and attend to a variety of competing needs. We learn the value of putting others’ needs ahead of our own. In family life we also learn that when we make personal sacrifices to serve others, we gain so much more than we may have lost.

 

As you gather as a family, talk about how important it is to your family life to gladly serve one another. Ask each person to consider the last time that another family member asked for help. What was your response? Did you cheerfully try to honor the request, or did you ask “Why me?” How do you think Jesus would want us to respond when someone in our family asks for help? Invite each family member to make a commitment for the next week to try to respond cheerfully to requests for help. Pray together, asking God’s help with this commitment. 

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End in Prayer

St. Joseph Prayer: The Feast of St. Joseph is on March 19th. This week call on his protection and intercession.

A Prayer to St. Joseph for Protection

St. Joseph, whose protection is so great,

so strong, so prompt before the throne of God,

I place in you all my interests and desires.

St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession

and obtain for me from your divine son

all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, our Lord;

so that having engaged here below your heavenly power,

I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms.

I dare not approach while he reposes near your heart.

Press him in my name and kiss his fine head for me,

and ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.

St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for us.

Amen.

 

3. Sunday, March 24, 2024 (Palm Sunday)

 

Take a minute to consciously acknowledge that you are in the presence of God and ask him to help you to hear the Word he wants you to hear this week.

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Here is the link to Sunday, March 24th’s readings:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032424.cfm

Jesus is sentenced to death and crucified. The centurion who witnessed his death declared, “This man was the Son of God.”

 

Read together this Gospel, Mark 15:1-39 and discuss the following questions together.

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1. What strikes you when you hear the story of the Lord’s Passion?

2. The soldiers beat Jesus and made fun of him. How do you think that made Jesus feel?

3. What would it have been like to be Simon of Cyrene?

4. Today begins the holiest week of the year. It is a once-a-year opportunity to really reflect on Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. How will you enter into this experience? How will you be open to how you might be changed?

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*  Family Challenge

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Pray the Stations of the Cross as a family or attend the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion at your parish.

 

*  Family Connection

 

Write a prayer of praise to Jesus or decorate a prayer card with the word Hosanna. Imagine Jesus is coming to your hometown today, riding a colt. Discuss how your family would greet Jesus.

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4. Christ Dying on the Cross

 

How relevant is Good Friday to your life today? Integrate Christ’s crucifixion into your faith—and life.

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Begin with prayer

 

God, open our hearts to learn more about how Christ’s crucifixion affects our lives today. Amen

 

• Ask someone to read aloud Mark 15:25-39 

• Discuss the Bible story

• Why did people who were watching the crucifixion insult Jesus?

• Why do you think the two people who were being crucified along with Jesus insulted him? 

• What do you think would have happened if someone had stood up for Jesus when others were insulting him? Why?

• How relevant is Jesus' death to our lives today? Why?

• Together, watch the YouTube video: Palm Sunday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3Vor55BoE0

• What’s your reaction to this video? 

• Ponder together what it means to integrate the crucifixion into your lives and how you might do this.

• End in Prayer

• Close with prayer, thanking God for Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for each one of you.