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As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross. Matthew 27:32 Not much is known about Simon of Cyrene. We know that he was in Jerusalem for Passover at the time of the crucifixion and that he was the father of two men/boys named Alexander and Rufus who eventually became missionaries. (Mark 15:21) We also know that he was very brave. Think of how difficult it would be - both physically and mentally- to help a criminal carry their cross (I say criminal because that's what Jesus was being treated as). Jesus' blood and sweat were probably upon this man as he carried the cross. And yet, he didn't run away. He didn't tell the soldiers "no" and he didn't pass off the job to someone else. He too embraced the cross along with the blood and pain that it caused to help our Lord. He is one of the best examples of Christian stewardship and courage. Even when situations that we are to serve in get messy or uncomfortable, it is important to stay and help. After all, if we, the people of God won't help, then who will? St. Simon of Cyrene, please pray for us and help us to embrace service as well as you did. Pray that we, as followers of Christ, might strive to help Christ carry His cross through our service of others.

Let's put ourselves in Mary's shoes for today's reflection... I'm trying to get through the mob of soldiers towards my son. They won't let me through. He is being beaten by the soldiers as he struggles to stand up from the ground. I look for a way out. There is an alley behind me that doesn't have anyone guarding it. Thank you Lord! I pray I zig zag through the mob of people standing in between I and the alley way. When I reach the opening into the street I push my way through the soldiers towards my dear son. Do not be afraid, Mary. The words spoken to me by the angel that announced that my son would be born on that special day 33 years ago, ring clear in my mind as I step closer towards my dear son. They are still whipping him. Blood runs down his face from the piercing crown of thorns that the placed upon his head to mock him. He sees me. I try as hard as I can to push through the soldiers around him and at least touch him. They won't let me through. He reaches out a hand towards me, and locks eyes with me. He grabs my arm. "I'm here," I say. He can't speak. He is in too much pain. The soldiers continue to whip him, forcing him to move on towards Golgotha. "I love you." I whisper as two soldiers pull me out of the street. Jesus twists looks over his soldier back at me. I know he knows what I said. My dear Jesus is now out of sight. I love him. My heart is breaking for him. Do not be afraid, I hear again. I push out of the soldier's grasp and run back through the crowd in the alley to catch up with my dear son. God's son. Think of your favorite person in the entire world. It might be a friend, a sibling, a parent. It could be anyone. Now put yourself and them in this scene and you will realize how much pain Mary endured on that day. (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. Luke 2:35

Jesus. He's the King of the Universe. He's the creator of everything. He's God. And yet, he still fell. Just as we do. He was crippled by the weight of His cross. when we are feeling overwhelmed by the weight of the world on our shoulders, we need to remember that Jesus literally bore the entire world on his shoulders- and he did it for us. And He didn't just carry the cross, He suffered with it. He embraced it. He didn't use his power and reign over the universe to make the cross lighter, He carried it at it's full weight and along with that, the weight of our failures. But notice that Christ did not simply fall and give up- He fell and went on. He went on and kept walking towards the place where he would die. And the most amazing part is that he fell so that we could fall and have the chance to get up. We fall every day when we sin. Thanks to Jesus' sacrifice, we have the oppurtunity to get back up and start again through the sacrament of reconciliation. Let's use this station to remind us that even we feel overwhelmed or are feeling like we can no longer deal with a certain person or situation, we can still get up and keep moving and keep loving, just as Christ did. Our falling does not define who we are, Our getting back up again does. Lord Jesus Christ, even though the journey toward crucifixion was hard, you continued on for me. When I fall in life, give me the strength to rise again. When I lose my way, gently lead me home. When I sin against you and others, through your sacraments create in me a clean heart. AMEN. Prayer from: https://www.4lpi.com/

(My reflection is at the bottom! Also, this is the short version of the gospel.The full version is on the USCCB website.) The sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus, saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea.” When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise.” Martha said, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” He became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?”So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And when he had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him. Jn 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45 This passage leaves me in awe every time I read it. Let's think about this.... This same man who raises men from the dead, loves us and longs to have a relationship with us. That's crazy!!! We should feel so privileged that this all-powerful, amazing God has selected us from billions of people to have a relationship with. He wants us specifically! He wants all of us. Our hopes, our dreams, our joys, and our sorrows. I feel so blessed to be "counted among the flock of those he has chosen." While reading this familiar Bible story, something other than the miracle of Lazarus' rising from the dead stuck out to me. I focused on Jesus' words when he found out that Lazarus was ill. Specifically: “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” How can we tie this back to what is happening in our world today? Well, for one thing, the Corona virus is running rampant all over the world. Perhaps this illness that so many are suffering from has a greater purpose or greater meaning than we see on the surface. Maybe God is allowing this to happen in order to show us that we need to slow down, take a break from the craziness and business of everyday life, and pay more attention to him. If this is the meaning of the virus, then this illness really IS for the glory of God! I think we can already see how this time is effecting the spiritual lives of our world in lots of different ways. People are praying!! Maybe it is more out of fear than out of love and surrender to God, but it's still amazing! Millions and millions of people prayed the Rosary with Pope Francis on March 19th, asking the intercession of the Blessed Mother during this time. On Wednesday the 25th, Pope Francis asked all Christians to pray the Lord's Prayer (Our Father) for the world. Yesterday, the 27th, our Holy Father gave a special Urbi et Orbi blessing to the world and granted a plenary indulgence to all those who received the blessing and participated in at least one of the following actions: spending a half- hour in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, a half hour of prayer with scripture, or the praying of the Rosary or Chaplet of Divine Mercy for the world. The blessing is given on solemn occasions and literally means, "to the city (of Rome) and to the world". Pope Francis also gave a meditation on the story of Jesus calming the sea and there was a period of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament- it was beautiful! Here's the link to watch the blessing: https://www.facebook.com/ewtnonline/videos/288387819839 For those of us out of school or work, this time may seem boring and difficult to endure. When you feel these feelings of boredom, loneliness, or discouragement, ask Jesus to take them from you. You can also use that time to just sit and be with him. Call a friend and pray the Rosary or Divine Mercy Chaplet with them. Sit silently and listen with an open mind and see what God has to say to you. You could also read and reflect on the daily readings or sit before the Blessed Sacrament in live-streamed Eucharistic Adoration! You could check out some good spiritual books (more book recommendation posts coming soon!). As you can see, there are many things to do to keep busy in your newfound free time that you ordinarily couldn't seem to make the time for. Use this time to slow down. Use it for the glory of God! Remember that everything, all circumstances, even ones where we can't immediately see what good could possibly come of them, can be used to glorify the Lord. “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

Happy 15 days till Easter! That's hard to believe with everything that's going on..... I'm going to be writing a meditation on a station of the cross every day from now until Easter (15 days....15 stations)*. If you've never prayed the stations of the Cross before, here's an explanation: https://youtu.be/5gfZxI9slMc Here's how they are normally prayed in a church setting: https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/stations-of-the-cross/ You can also ask your priest for more information on the prayer :-) *Just to be clear, some people don't consider the 15th station, "Jesus rises from the dead" to be a station of the cross, but I'm including it because these meditations will end on Easter Sunday.

Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" All of them said, "Let him be crucified!" Then he asked, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified!" So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. Matthew 27:22-23,26 Think of how it would feel to be told you were going to be killed even though you did absolutely nothing wrong. Now imagine that this was happening to you and not a single person stood up for you and said anything in your defense. How awful would that feel? Even we, almost 2000 years later, are often silent when our Lord is being persecuted. Think of a time when someone has said something untrue about someone else or made fun of someone because they look, talk, or act a certain way that is different than everyone else. When we stand by and do nothing to help the situation we are just as bad as the person who is doing the teasing or lying. If we are not willing to stand up for what is right, then how are we any better than those who shouted for our Lord to be crucified? After all, Jesus said, " Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40) Today, let us try and stand up for Jesus. Whether that is done through defending your faith in conversation with someone of different beliefs, posting something about Christ on social media, or by simply helping someone in need- one of the "least brothers of Christ", do it out of love for Jesus and the desire to make His Truth known to the entire world. Jesus did not do anything to deserve to die the horrific death that He did. Let's learn from the actions of those who condemned our dear Lord to death and let the world know that we are willing to stand up for what's right, even when no one else is.

Let's face it. Our world as we know it has been flipped upside down in the past month. School has been cancelled in many places, people are frantically buying toilet paper and Lysol wipes, and some of us even find ourselves not being able to attend Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, or the Sacrament of Reconciliation. These are hard times, which means that we need to "lean on God" more than ever, even if we can't do it in the way that we're accustomed to. Here are some things you can do to keep your spiritual life going in the right direction while in isolation... 1. Watch Mass on YouTube . Bishop Robert Barron ( as well as countless other priests ) are recording their private Masses and posting them on YouTube since many people are unable to attend Mass in real-life during this time of isolation. This is the link to Bishop Barron's Mass on the Word On Fire website: https://www.wordonfire.org/daily-mass/ 2. Make a spiritual communion . Since some of us cannot physically be at Mass to receive Christ in the Blessed sacrament, we can make a spiritual communion. Saint Thomas Aquinas defines spiritual communion as "an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the most holy sacrament and in lovingly embracing him as if we had received him." Here is the prayer for spiritual communion taken from https://ourcatholicprayers.com: My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen. 3. Pray the Rosary . Pope Francis has asked us all to pray the Rosary for the healing of the world. Mary told Blessed Alan de la Roche, "You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary." This is so powerful!! Mary is the Great mediatrix and will intercede for us before God. Since it is Lent, we meditate on the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary. (The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross, and The Crucifixion.) Here is a video giving an overview of the rosary: https://youtu.be/GuT7HI7ZvfA And here is a website that explains how to pray it: http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/rosaries/how-to-pray-the-rosary.cfm 4. Pray The Chaplet of Divine Mercy. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is a prayer that was given to Sister Faustina Kowalska by Jesus in the early 1900s. The Lord told Sister Faustina, "At the hour of their death, I defend as My own glory every soul that will say this chaplet; or when others say it for a dying person, the indulgence is the same" (Diary, 811). This is so important, especially right now. People who were fine last week are now dying because of the corona virus. We can help them get to Heaven by praying this chaplet!! Here's a website explaining how to pray it: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/pray-the-chaplet 5. Participate in Project YM Live . This is an amazing resource for teens during the corona virus isolation. Since many youth group events have been cancelled, some pretty amazing adults decided to start an online youth group complete with games, worship, "Catholic Famous" speakers, and prayer. It takes place every Sunday night at 8 p.m. Eastern time until further notice. All you have to do is ask a youth minister, parent or priest to sign up you or your parish. It's super easy to do and a really cool experience! Thousands of teens are coming together to participate in this. 9 thousand people were watching at one point in the program on Sunday night! It was really amazing :-) Here's the link to participate: https://projectym.com/live/ We have no idea what is going to happen in these next few weeks/months and virtually no control over it. The biggest thing we can do right now to stop this pandemic is pray... And of course wash our hands :-) Keep a lookout for more posts about apps and other things that can strengthen our prayer life in this time of uncertainty. God bless you!

"In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High , and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her." (Luke 1:26-38) Happy feast of the Annunciation! Today is the day that the Church celebrates the day that Jesus was conceived in His mother's womb. This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It gives us one of the best examples of saying "yes" to God's plan for our lives. Notice that the Angel Gabriel does not ask Mary if she will accept God's plan for her life, he tells her. Can you imagine being a 14-year-old girl and suddenly finding out that you, a lowly peasant girl, are going to be the Mother of the savior of the world that your people had been waiting for, for thousands of years? I know I would definitely be scared, and maybe even not believe what the angel was telling me. Mary's " yes", when she says "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word", is a great example for us and a great prayer. This girl, out of her great love for God, has just agreed to bear the son of God. She is probably terrified by this (and also by the fact that an angel just appeared to her). Most of us probably would've asked more questions than Mary did. We probably would've been hesitant to say yes. But Mary's "yes" came seemingly easier to her because she had said yes to God her entire life! When we sin, we stray from the path that God has designed specifically for us, but when we return to full communion with God and the Church through the sacrament of reconciliation, that amazing unity is restored. Mary was without sin, so she couldn't stray from the path that God had made for her life. This solemnity gives us the opportunity to reflect on our lives and seek out the areas where we can say yes to God. God has a perfect plan for our lives. From the moment that we are conceived, and even before that, the Lord has a special purpose in mind for each of us. Our ultimate goal in life should be to love the Lord God with all our hearts, souls, and minds in this life so that we can be happy with Him in the next and lead others to do so as well. The way that we can do this best is different for everyone. Some people spread the love of God through music, others through their words, and some through their service and love of others . It's different for everyone! God has a magnificent plan for each of our lives, and it is only by sticking to this plan that we will achieve true happiness. We will come to know this plan by praying that the Lord will reveal it to us. Following His will requires us to carry our crosses. These crosses can come in many forms, but through all of these struggles, we need to remember that God has a plan for the suffering. Bearing our crosses, just as Christ did for us, will make us stronger and better Christians, and more aware of how much Christ suffered for our sake. "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." (1 Peter 5:10) Good can be found in every situation, even if it is not immediately realized by us. And where there is goodness, there is God. My prayer for you today, on this great feast day in our Church, is that you will always have the courage to say "yes" to God's plan for your life, just as Mary did. Let Him take over. Let Him have control. Surrender your life to Him. He will take you and mold you into the person you were always meant to be.