7th Station of the Cross

Seventh Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time

   Jesus falls for the second time as He is carrying the cross to Calvary. The weight of the cross is becoming heavier and heavier as Jesus becomes weaker and weaker. The soldiers force Jesus back up by yelling and beating Him to get back up. 

    With Jesus falling a second time we see again the human side of Him. It helps to remind us that He was not only Devine but Human as well. Jesus is an example of no matter how many times we fall carrying our cross, He understands and is there to help us.  

    We fall many times in our lives and sometimes it is the same sins that aid us in our falling. Each time sin comes our way, it brings with it the chance of us falling away from God, Jesus and the church. When we do fall we need to get back up as quick as we can. It gets harder to get back up the longer we wait. Time goes by and you may grow further and further away from the life you were leading. The new fallen life starts to become the norm in your life and it gets harder to see the way back. 

    One of the ways for us to not fall and to stay on track is to go to confession. Confession is that antibiotic to the sins in our lives. It gets rid of that virus that goes through to our souls and gets us off track. You will find that the more you go to confession the easier the life becomes and the less you fall.

    We are reminded that carrying our crosses are never easy and we will fall many times but just as Jesus got back up so can we. 

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and receive the vaccine of confession as often as you can. 

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 240

Reading 1

JER 7:23-28

Thus says the LORD: 

This is what I commanded my people:

Listen to my voice;

then I will be your God and you shall be my people.

Walk in all the ways that I command you,

so that you may prosper.

But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.

They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts

and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.

From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,

I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.

Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;

they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.

When you speak all these words to them,

they will not listen to you either;

when you call to them, they will not answer you.

Say to them:

This is the nation that does not listen

to the voice of the LORD, its God,

or take correction.

Faithfulness has disappeared;

the word itself is banished from their speech.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9

R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;

let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us joyfully sing psalms to him.

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us bow down in worship;

let us kneel before the LORD who made us.

For he is our God,

and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:

“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,

as in the day of Massah in the desert,

Where your fathers tempted me;

they tested me though they had seen my works.”

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Gospel

LK 11:14-23

Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute,

and when the demon had gone out,

the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.

Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,

he drives out demons.”

Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.

But he knew their thoughts and said to them,

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste

and house will fall against house.

And if Satan is divided against himself, 

how will his kingdom stand?

For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.

If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,

by whom do your own people drive them out?

Therefore they will be your judges.

But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,

then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.

When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,

his possessions are safe.

But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,

he takes away the armor on which he relied

and distributes the spoils.

Whoever is not with me is against me,

and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”