National Youth Violence Prevention Week

This week, the week of 30 March-3 April, is being observed as National Youth Violence Prevention Week, an initiative designed to raise awareness and to educate students, teachers, school administrators, counselors, school resource officers, school staff, parents, and the public on effective ways to prevent or reduce youth violence.

Background information:

Students Against Violence Everywhere

Franciscan Lenten Meditation: Leonard of Port Maurice: Promoter of the Way of the Cross

"In The Seven Storey Mountain, the Trappist monk and spiritual writer Thomas Merton explains how, when asked by his friend Robert Lax what he, Merton, wanted to be, he replied that he wanted to be a good Catholic. Lax, a poet and mystic, told him, 'What you should say is that you want to be a saint.' Merton deferred, conscious of his own failings and inadequacies. But Lax persisted: 'All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one.' By desiring sainthood, Lax said, we consent to become what God has created us to be. God, in turn, will make us saints."

Franciscan Media is offering a special Lenten series of meditations, "Lent with the Saints." The mediation by Father Greg Friedman, OFM, for the Fifth Tuesday of Lent, entitled "Leonard of Port Maurice: Promoter of the Way of the Cross", is as follows:

Franciscan Media: Lent with the Saints: Leonard of Port Maurice

Audrey Assad: "Abide With Me"

As we continue to live this week, I offer this version of Audrey Assad presenting "Abide With Me":

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of Holy Scripture and for the many ways in which You touch our hearts through it.

Br. Josemaría Guzmán-Domínguez, O.P., on God Providing for Us Today

"A few days ago I happened to read the 'daily decalogue' of Pope St. John XXIII. I found it extremely fitting, consoling, and encouraging in these days of pandemic. It contains the sound advice of a compassionate, peaceful father for a time of worry.

The ninth 'commandment' in particular stood out: 

"Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world."

In a recent commentary, Brother Josemaría Guzmán-Domínguez, O.P., reflected on how God truly cares and provides for us - even when he seems not to.

To access Br. Josemaría's complete post, please visit:

Dominicana: God Provides Today (27 MAR)

Reflection Starter from St. John Damascene

"All who ask receive, those who seek find, and to those who knock it shall be opened. Therefore, let us knock at the beautiful garden of Scripture. It is fragrant, sweet, and blooming with various sounds of spiritual and divinely inspired birds. They sing all around our ears, capture our hearts, comfort the mourners, pacify the angry, and fill us with everlasting joy." - Saint John Damascene

Franciscan Lenten Meditation: Margaret of Cortona: Three Stories of Mercy

"In The Seven Storey Mountain, the Trappist monk and spiritual writer Thomas Merton explains how, when asked by his friend Robert Lax what he, Merton, wanted to be, he replied that he wanted to be a good Catholic. Lax, a poet and mystic, told him, 'What you should say is that you want to be a saint.' Merton deferred, conscious of his own failings and inadequacies. But Lax persisted: 'All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one.' By desiring sainthood, Lax said, we consent to become what God has created us to be. God, in turn, will make us saints."

Franciscan Media is offering a special Lenten series of meditations, "Lent with the Saints." The mediation by Father Greg Friedman, OFM, for the Fifth Monday of Lent, entitled "Margaret of Cortona: Three Stories of Mercy", is as follows:

Franciscan Media: Lent with the Saints: Margaret of Cortona

The Light Crust Doughboys: "Billy Goat Rag"

Music of various types has been interwoven into the history of the United States (going back to the original thirteen colonies). Among this music is the Western swing song "Billy Goat Rag", presented here by The Light Crust Doughboys:

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of the connectedness of all Your people.

Bishop Tobin on the Connectedness of Alll People

"If there's one thing the coronavirus pandemic has reminded us is that as members of the human family, we are all connected.

"The virus started apparently with one person in faraway China who was infected, scientists speculate, by an animal. It then spread to a small cluster of other people and then throughout the entire, vast country. From there it spread to the Middle East, Europe, the United States and across the globe. And even more locally, we've seen that one infected person can lead to an entire cruise ship, school, team or government agency being shut down. So, what began from a single source resulted in everyone on the planet being affected, and no one being immune.

"St. Paul realized that many years ago. . . ."

In a recent commentary, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, of the Diocese of Providence (RI), reflected on some of the consequences of the connectedness of all people, including the importance of how we speak to and about one another and the reality of our spiritual connection.

To access Bishop Tobin's complete essay, please visit:

The Imitation of Christ: We're All Connected (26 MAR 20)

Reflection Starter from Norman Vincent Peale

"God never made anyone else exactly like you, and he never will again. Thank him for yourself and then for all the rest of his glorious handiwork." - Rev. Norman Vincent Peale

Franciscan Lenten Meditation: Jeremiah: A New Covenant

"In The Seven Storey Mountain, the Trappist monk and spiritual writer Thomas Merton explains how, when asked by his friend Robert Lax what he, Merton, wanted to be, he replied that he wanted to be a good Catholic. Lax, a poet and mystic, told him, 'What you should say is that you want to be a saint.' Merton deferred, conscious of his own failings and inadequacies. But Lax persisted: 'All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one.' By desiring sainthood, Lax said, we consent to become what God has created us to be. God, in turn, will make us saints."

Franciscan Media is offering a special Lenten series of meditations, "Lent with the Saints." The mediation by Father Greg Friedman, OFM, for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, entitled "Jeremiah: A New Covenant", is as follows:

Franciscan Media: Lent with the Saints: Jeremiah

"Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise"

As we continue our Sunday celebration, I offer this Stonebriar Community Church (Frisco, TX) presentation of "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise":

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Today the Church celebrates the Fourth Sunday of Lent. The assigned readings are Ezekiel 37:12-14, Romans 8:8-11, and John 11:1-45. The Responsorial Psalm is from Psalm 130 (Psalm 130:1-8).

For one version of the Responsorial Psalm set to music, please visit:

YouTube: Psalm 130: With The Lord There Is Mercy - Haugen setting

The Gospel reading is as follows:

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.

So the sisters sent word to him 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."

The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?"

Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." He said this, and then told them, "Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him."

So the disciples said to him, "Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved."

But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, " Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him."

So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go to die with him."

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.

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 to him, "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."

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, "The teacher is here and is asking for you."

As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, 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.

Reflections on these readings: 

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Sunday Reflections: Fifth Sunday of Lent (March 29, 2020) 

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Sundays Salesian: Fifth Sunday of Lent (March 29, 2020) 

Community in Mission: Untie Him and Let Him Go Free - A Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent (28 MAR 20)

Rhode Island Catholic: The Quiet Corner: Undoubtedly, God brings good out of evil, and faith out of misfortune (26 MAR 20) 

St. Paul Center: At Lazarus' Tomb: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Fifth Sunday of Lent 

The Gregorian Institute at Benedictine College: This Sunday: Jesus Raised Lazarus for Us, Right Now (26 MAR 20)

Word on Fire: Let Him Go (Cycle A * Lent * Week 5)

National Catholic Register: Sunday Guide: Jesus Wept: The Role of Mourning in the Christian Life (29 MAR 20)

Loyola Press: Fifth Sunday of Lent, Cycle A Sunday Connection

Spirituality of the Readings: Love and Death (Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year A) 

In Exile: The Problem of Suffering and Evil (Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year A) 

Glancing Thoughts: The Desires of the Heart (Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year A) 

The Perspective of Justice: Victory Over Death (Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year A) 

Let the Scriptures Speak: Fullness of Life (Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year A) 

The Word Embodied: Release from the Tombs (Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year A) 

Historical Cultural Context: Eyes of Faith (Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year A) 

Thoughts from the Early Church: Commentary by Peter Chrysologus (Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year A)