Monday, March 2---Day 5: Unarmed and Dangerous

And Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth."
But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth; and if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him and killed him. Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God." And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you!" Then Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a helmet of bronze on his head, and clothed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword over his armor, and he tried in vain to go, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these; for I am not used to them." And David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in his shepherd's bag or wallet; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

Saturday, Feb. 28---Day 4: Quit your crying and go forward.

When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were in great fear. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD; and they said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, `Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be still."
The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.

Friday, Feb. 27---Day 3: Don't Choose Me.

But Moses said to the LORD, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either heretofore or since thou hast spoken to thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of tongue."
Then the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." But he said, "Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person. "Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, "Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well; and behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. And you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.
He shall speak for you to the people; and he shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God. And you shall take in your hand this rod, with which you shall do the signs."

Why We Need to Die.

A Good Day to Die
This is a phrase that was often repeated by Lakota (Native American) war chiefs on the day of battle. They would ride around their armies chanting this, reminding their warriors that they must be willing to sacrifice all if they had any hopes of living to fight another day. And so it is with us. Our Lord has gone before us, He has surrendered all for us, and we simply respond in kind.

For the Christian, death is never an end. What seemed to be the darkest day for humanity turned out to be the day that all was made new. Good Friday is not the end, it’s the way we get to Easter Sunday. In our world today, men and women spend time, money, and emotion trying to increase their lives. We do everything we can to enhance our lives, to avoid suffering and sacrifice at all costs. We live as if death is the end. But we know that resurrection is only possible through death. We know that Christ does not come to improve, enhance, or make our lives better. He comes to give us NEW LIFE. Anything worth pursuing is worth suffering for. Any athlete knows this, anyone who’s ever loved knows this. Our heroes are always men and women who stand fearless in the face of death. I highly doubt any of you will endure torture, beatings, or crucifixion during the next forty days. But I promise that you will find inconveniences, pain, and a thousand small opportunities to die to yourself every day. How will you respond? Will you shrink in the face of difficulty, or will you hold onto the knowledge that we will only be fully alive when we are unafraid to die?

Each Day, here’s what you should do:
1. When you wake up, offer this simple prayer “Dear Lord, I offer you everything that will happen today. All my thoughts, words, and actions, all of my hopes, all of my fears, all of my joys and sufferings. Unite them with your One Sacrifice made present in the Mass, and turn all I give you today into something beautiful.”
2. Read the passage for the day, and ask yourself these questions:
a. What is actually going on in this passage?
b. What is difficult about this?
c. What is God saying to me through this?

(THEN YOU READ THE PASSAGE)

3. Find one opportunity to die a small death for love of God.
This could be any inconvenience that you choose to offer up to God as a prayer, maybe waking up 5 minutes early, being nice to a person that annoys you, helping out around the house, not arguing with your parents, your teachers, your friends. I promise that you will have thousands of opportunities to sacrifice each day…

Before you go to bed, ask yourself:
1. How was I able to die a small death today?
2. What ways did I choose to live for myself?
3. Ask God to help you live for Him and die to yourself.

Thursday, Feb. 26---Day 2: Now I know

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place The LORD will provide; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided." And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, "By myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice."

Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25---DAY 1: The Fall

Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, `You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?"
And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;
but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die.
For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.