As I begin my day, I listen to the Lord's Supper, sung by John Michael Talbot, the best of his works so far. I am awestruck on how the song "We Shall Stand Forgiven" comes to life. This song is the beginning of the penitential rite.

 I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

 With the song continuing with Lord, have Mercy, Christ, have Mercy, where it never fails to lift up my soul to our Lord. With all the well meaning intentions to follow your way Lord, I falter, I fail, to feed those who are less fortunate than I, yet I too am one of the less fortunate. That does not excuse me from offering what meager belongings I have, nor does it excuse me from loving my neighbor any less. If anything I love them all the more, for your sake dear Father, because I see you in them. Because I believe in your Love.

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. Mark1:12-13

 Do we wonder why, just after Jesus was Baptized, his being sent to the desert by the Spirit was for. Think for a moment of taking an exam, what do we usually do before the test? We prepare ourselves, we study, for some they cram for a final. For what point is this preparation? Is it just to get a good grade? Or is it far more than that! It is a preparation for life. Often times when we prepare for a test, or anything else, sometimes go without, sometimes we are tempted, where our well meaning friends or family try to drag you away from what you are preparing for. Or we come across moments of our own darkness, in the end to triumph. Jesus had to undergo the test to prepare him for his mission, to bring us the message that the kingdom of God is at hand, to repent and believe in the gospel. He was there in the flesh, fulfilling God's plan. Today dear Father, as I journey ever more closer to you, I pray for perserverance for the temptations that may cross my path. That I too, may come out of the desert renewed.

If you call the sabbath a delight... If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interest, or speaking with malice-- Then you shall delight in the Lord. Isaiah 58:13-14

In today's world it is difficult to keep the Sabbath a delight, when we often forget the existance of God, because of all the extra activities we do. Yet we make so much time for all these activities. Shame on us then, for we are putting the Lord far from us then. It's so easy to give for ourselves and so very, very hard to give just one day back to the Lord. And on the Sabbath we hardly spare even a minute of our time in reflection or thoughts of visiting him at Mass, or joining him for an hour of Adoration. We have put ourselves so distant from the Lord. It takes a change in us and how we have our Sabbath, to bring us delight on His day. That means removing the excess and restoring the day that God created for us to rest and delight in him. There is much Truth in today's message that Isaiah wrote about, how keeping the Sabbath is a delight, following the ways of the Lord and not our own, we will have then have found true delight in the Lord.

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish...Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them...Isaiah 58:6-7

Isaiah was given knowledge of what we must do to gain Eternal happiness. In the Old Testament we were given a template to follow, it is to prepare us for the coming of our Lord. We have been given an example of the many acts of kindness we are to abide by, in order to break the yoke that chokes off the life of those who are oppressed. Let us put ourselves for a moment in the other person's shoes. A difficult task, I'm sure for many of us, because we do not want to envision their plight, so we close our eyes. Anyway, imagine you are there, in their place, unable to purchase food, or clothing. Imagine having to go without needed medicine, or care. Yet we are the many who actually do the oppressing, we put the yokes on these people to do our bidding so we won't have to dirty our hands. What Isaiah has been telling us and what has been handed down from many generations is how to free ourselves from our unkindness. A fasting that involves giving to others than giving constantly to self. Many of us who attempt this fasting do so with the bare minimum of not giving all that much. So the sacrifice is meaningless, the yoke has not been broken, and true honest kindness is lost. If you have, lets say 100 items of clothing, can you give away 50 pieces, or even 25 of them to clothe a few people. If you have 30 pairs of shoes can you give away 15 of them. You have a huge house with just you and your spouse, yet you have four more bedrooms, can you loan those rooms to shelter another to get them back on their feet, or are your possessions more important than they. Can you share a few meals to sustain them also. Everything we do for another we do to our Father who sees all we do, and knows all we do. Jesus is about to sacrifice his life for us, why are we not able to sacrifice for him.

Jesus said to his disciples:“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” Luke 9:22

Today I reflect upon your words, oh Lord, with deep sorrow in my heart. You foretold your suffering, you have let us witness it, and you have given us your words to guide us. As I recall my life, I realize the many times I also brought you much suffering, in my rejection to follow your ways, to do what your word proclaimed for me to live a meaningful life. Even though you had done the trials for my benefit, I still wonder at times, not for lack of faith but more on the awe of you having done all that you have suffered, not only for my belief but that of the many people who live life today. How I try to grasp that you would take the cross for my sake, and die for me. Yet I believe you would do exactly that today were you here with us in the flesh as man. How you would sacrifice yourself just to save us, ungrateful people that we are, in order to show us time and time again the love you have in your heart for us. Yet I digress, because you are truly here in the flesh, in the Eucharist, where you take daily blows, from unclean hearts receiving you. How today you suffer daily for our lack of faith.