9am Sunday Mass, March 6, 2022

[Music] [Music] reaches to the sky [Music] reaches [Music] [Applause] your faithfulness [Music] you are my strength strength [Music] reaches to me you are my [Music] reaches to me [Music] all who are we [Music] and all who are weary [Music] come to the right come to the fountain [Music] [Applause] [Music] come to the sea come and be set free if you lead me where you lead me lord i will go come and heal me lord i will fall though where you lead me lord i will go i will go [Music] will go [Music] [Music] come to the right come to the fountains [Music] [Music] reach to the stars come on give your life if you leave me lord [Music] i [Music] i will go [Music] [Music] i will go go [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hello and welcome my name is father simon lobel i'm the pastor here at saint benedict parish and we are so delighted that you decided to join us this sunday for mass if this is your first time experiencing mass for the first time in a while what you're going to see coming up is different parts there's a part at the beginning of the mass where we read from the bible different sections and then we're going to hear some preaching and then that's going to move into what's called the liturgy of the eucharist and there's some sacred prayers that we pray offering this sacrifice the sacred meal up to god and so i just invite you to participate in whatever way you can we're going to try and put as much as possible the words right on the screen and you can sing you can pray and just follow along and realize that you're not alone there's a whole community of people who are praying with you right now hello and welcome to mass this morning we are so glad that you are here at st benedict parish online welcome my name is laura this is matt we are both part of the online team here at st benedict and we are here to help you get situated to welcome you to help you know that you are valued here and uh to know what's coming up that's right yeah thank you so much for joining us really glad that you're here and uh we want to help you get situated one of the best ways that we do that is by getting you comfortable with the chat that is a great place when you're online to type the responses to mass so when he says the lord be with you you type up and with your spirit that's what i mean by responses uh you can also uh ask for prayers and you can also ask some questions we have a team there that's ready to pray with you and or ask questions for you as well as all the people who are watching online that's right uh and so one of the things we like to do is to ask a question in the chat so you can respond and get used to the chat right now i'm actually going to ask laura right now and then you're going to answer in the chat as well so laura here's you know lent has begun it has lent hath begun and uh i'd love to know what do you do you know what you're doing for lent now that we're in it do you want to share what you're doing for land sure i think the main thing i'll share about what i'm doing is i'm going through a book called bitter and sweet by tish oxen writer it's a daily um lent reflection it has scripture a little reflection and brings in a prayer and it brings us in some art and music as well which is really lovely i have that book that i've gone through for advent she has one called shadow and light for advent and the bitter and sweet book for lent is brand new so um yeah in fact if you followed along with our advent reflections at st benedict that i wrote at christmas time or an advent time i suppose this is actually very similar if you're looking for something like that and are sad that i'm not doing anything like that this year for uh for lent no yeah that's right yeah i mean laura we often say you are the tisch oxen writer i've said better to pair so that makes a lot of sense we stay behind your back a lot we don't mean it on flat early just it's one of those things that we said to your face you might i don't know how you take it so anyway just a little peek behind the curtain a little yeah yeah i thought you didn't know who she was of course she's a lower o'rourke of everywhere else okay yeah what are you doing for lent great question so uh i decided i usually in recent years i've started to like read a book during lent there i haven't totally said it on what book it is yet so i'll have to catch up to that i know i realize that that's okay um but i'm also doing uh something called the the examine which is like this kind of kind of more of something like jesuits do but it's like you essentially you take time at the end of your day to look at your day to see what god was doing in it and uh just to pray and to like reflect on it so um yeah i decided i heard about that it was i read a book last month they talked about different forms of prayer and that was one of the ones that came up and i was like i'll do that next year so i said i said i said a reminder set a reminder to pray in one year from now i've prayed since then at least a couple times uh but uh i decided like i was like okay that seems like an interesting lesson practice that i will try and i'll see very cool love it there we go so what are you doing for lines i'd love to know i'd love to find out yeah one of the things you do for lent is watch mass with us unless you change your mind really quickly here uh but you're really glad yeah like we're a couple days into lent right of course and so people might be sharing what they're already doing but don't feel like you can't start like you did not miss the vote and if you fail and if and and one thing i like to remind people is that lent is a practice it's not a perfect yes and so if there's a point in it where you make a commitment at this point and then it doesn't work one of those days that's okay that still helps you reflect and bring it to god and grow closer with him and talk about like how we're weak right we don't have to be perfect here lent isn't about proving to god that we're good enough for him yeah absolutely uh and i think that uh you know it's just a time we're just getting ready for easter i think if you look back if you're like got to like holy week this year and you look back and you go like oh man i think you'd feel worse that you didn't do something for lent rather than you started a little bit late yeah you forget about it like a week you started late so right it's okay and i'm not even saying starting late you're just getting to it at the right time yeah yeah there we go time there we go uh that's all right we're gonna have mass here in just a few moments after you tell us what you're doing for lent uh or getting some ideas for it that's right we're waiting to start until you tell us if you you can do it or what i'm just kidding uh and then after mass today we have sbb kids all in church with you laura that's right yeah yeah looking for yourself like this laura this is laura that's right is that my job that's you well yeah as far as i know am i supposed to do that i will get something ready real quick real quick we should be working during that we are uh doing our fourth week of our think about it series it's actually kind of right in the middle it's an eight-week series and uh you're right look right four and four weeks ago it's crazy and this week we've been talking about in our think about it series how um we can go to god to help him change our thoughts and thinking about what we're thinking about is really important because our thoughts affect how we feel and how we behave and so to think that we are controlled by our own thoughts um it's actually not true we can you know be a little we can get god to help us change them and so we're going through a little practice of catching our thoughts checking them and letting god change them and today we're talking about think about what is loving and we're doing that with martha in the bible so stick around after mass for that it's going to be a lot of fun that's good it's great and i think it sounds like a great story for it as well that's right and even though it is lens you have special permission to dance and enjoy the songs yeah during it absolutely and we're going to have great songs throughout uh throughout master today and throughout all of lex i mean it's also just sunday it is also sunday great point lauren but if you watch it through the week you can also dance and enjoy the song that's right even if you just have to kind of gently bob that's what my son does oh he's a little over one it's kind of like he does this thing which rules it's the best that's amazing if you want to watch it throughout the week or check out our preschool version of the video you can go to youtube youtube.combp and all of the spp kids online church videos are there for you and you can follow along and watch it there so hit subscribe and if you care about anything else that we do here too it might be on that channel as well laura here's the thing there are other things other than the work you do here it's not all about the kids ministry things although we are all about it it's not exclusively about it right uh that's right so we have mass on there we're gonna break out the homily so you can if you want to share the homily you hear today if you want to find out what the humble was last week if you missed it check it out there you do that as well uh so yeah that's on youtube we're also on other social media laura that's right facebook twitter instagram that's right so you can find us there facebook.combp twitter.combp and instagram.com sbp hfx that's right if but i would just search for sbh hfx on instagram oh yeah yes we talked about before how people usually just open the instagram app and do it that way we know we understand social media we have a we have a decent sense of it uh here uh running a social media team uh but we know we actually yeah it's true yeah uh also if there's another one if you want to sorry hi if you want to get connected with us on social media you can follow us there if you also want to get connected with us uh on our website you can do that stanford.ca connect you put in uh your name a little bit about yourself and some things you're interested in and we can get you uh more connected in here at the parish whether you're here as you're usually here in person or whether you live somewhere very far away that's okay we're doing stuff online even as restrictions are lifting locally here we're going to keep doing things online we're dedicated to it in fact we're actually starting a new team which we're excited about the digital creative team uh which is something that is is just new and we're looking for members for it so if you are interested um also in doing things like uh like video either shooting it or editing or audio or anything like that you can send us an email i go to our website stanford.ca and if you go to staff you'll find my email there and you can email me only me leave laurel don't send her an email uh but yes you're likely matt is compiling those names yes it might get lost if you email me yes i just look no judgment but one of our inboxes is a bit more equipped to handle incoming messages about that that's okay you didn't you didn't do inbox zero for lunch or anything like that no no i've given up and i i gave up in box zero years ago it's very last week a couple years ago we talked about what is like stress relieving like giving up that expectation of myself wonderful that's right give in give and give up that's the next series right you do it for the kids right the stop trying series yeah i know okay well let's move on let's move on to something else that's happening during lent a little bit later on in the month uh mark your calendars do the parish mission coming up yeah we've had some great parish missions here in the past uh and uh it's some excellent ones as well and so we're excited starts sunday march 20th it'll go uh sunday monday tuesday it'll be in the evenings i believe i don't have a firm time it'll be like seven o'clock atlantic just follow along probably you can find it you're going to find out more in that coming weeks if you if we haven't already got things shorter you can watch in person or online yes well it's great we have a couple of speakers a couple of women from chicago are going to be speaking to us coming to us digitally very exciting to have that so uh if you come if you come in person we'll have music and everything like that as far as i know and uh and we'll watch what they have to say they'll be doing they'll be doing it live for us which is fun uh and then also if you watch it online you can just watch online and they'll be there too so it's been a great experience awesome i can't wait that's right that's right and uh so i'm just checking anything else i think that's it i think we hit all the hit all our points matt get it all like we always do so uh we're just gonna take a few moments here uh we're actually sorry mass is gonna be in just a couple moments uh and then afterwards we have uh this weekend on the church with laura to hear about your thoughts uh i could change them uh and so we'll just take a few moments now quiet our hearts we'll celebrate maths together good morning everyone welcome to st benedict let's stand and join us in our opening [Music] in christ alone my hope is found he is my light my strength my song my cornerstone this solid ground firm through the fiercest drought and storm what heights of love what depths of peace when fears are still when striving sees my comforter my all in all hearing the love of christ i'll stand no pills in life no fear in death this is the power of christ in me from life's first cry [Music] jesus commands my destiny no power of hell no steam of man me from his head till he returns or calls me home here in the power of christ i'll stand no [Music] till he returns or calls me home here in the power of christ i'll stand till he returns or calls me home here in the power of christ i'll stand in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen the grace of our lord jesus christ and the love of god and the communion of the holy spirit be with you all and with your spirit good morning saint benedict welcome to our celebration here sunday morning as we begin the first sunday of lent can you believe it lent has started easter is around the corner uh and we journey through this the season of lent preparing our hearts our lives our minds for this encounter with jesus uh in holy week and so we're beginning a new preaching series called the promise as we talk about the promises of god that he offers us in this time in our lives and in this season of lent now my name is father alex and is my joy my pleasure to welcome you this morning especially anyone who might be new whether you're in person or joining us online i want you to know you are most especially welcome with us here today i'm joined with uh by deacon ronan here to my right and uh we have a couple little customs here at st benedict uh if this is your first time here or first time in a long time uh just a reminder uh the the one of the little customs is something we do called prayer partners now prayer partners is a way for us to make sure every single person is being prayed for personally that it's we're joined in this network this family of prayer and so what i'd like to do is invite you to turn to somebody nearby maybe someone you don't know just give them a little wave little that nod of the head and i want you to commit to praying for each other during math so go ahead do that find a prayer partner if you're online i invite you to do the same just by typing your name into the chat and kind of grabbing hold of a name and praying for that person during mass okay so brothers and sisters uh you'll notice a few things that are a little bit different during our mass today because it's lent for example there's no gloria and we're we've changed a couple of the prayers just to reflect this time and season we're in so you just notice a few little changes here but we begin first by calling to mind our sins so as to recognize our need for mercy for grace for pardon from god our father have mercy on us oh lord show us o lord your mercy may almighty god have mercy on us forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life [Music] kitty [Music] lord have mercy please [Music] me [Music] [Music] let us pray grants almighty god that through the yearly observances of holy land that we may grow in understanding of the riches hidden in christ and by worthy conduct pursue their effects through our lord jesus christ your son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit god forever and ever invite you to be seated as we listen to some readings from the word of god invite you to pay special attention to the gospel from which i'll primarily be preaching today a reading from the book of deuteronomy moses spoke to the people saying when the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the lord your god you shall make this response before the lord your god a wandering aramean was my father he went down into egypt and lived there as an alien few in number and there he became a great nation mighty and populous when the egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us by imposing hard labor on us we cried to the lord the god of our fathers the lord heard our voice and saw our affliction our toil and our oppression the lord brought us out of egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm with a terrifying display of power and with signs and wonders and he brought us into this place and gave us this land a land flowing with milk and honey so now i bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you o lord have given me and moses continued you shall set it down before the lord your god and bow down before the lord your god the word of the lord [Music] be with me lord when i am in trouble be with me lord when i am in trouble [Music] you who live in the shelter of the most high who abide in the shadow of the almighty will say to the lord my refuge and my fortress my god in whom i trust be with me lord when i am in trouble no evil shall befall you no scourge come near your tent for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways be with me lord when i am in trouble on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against the stone [Music] you will tread on the lion and the adder the young lion and serpent you will trample underfoot be with me lord when i am in trouble the one who loves me i will deliver i will protect the one who knows my name when he calls to me i will answer him i will be with him in trouble and will rescue him and honor him be with me lord when i am in trouble be with me lord when i am in trouble a reading from the letter of saint paul to the romans brothers and sisters what does scripture say the word is near you on your lips and in your heart that is the word of faith that we proclaim because if you confess with your lips that jesus is lord and believe in your heart that god raised him from the dead you will be saved for one believes with the heart and so is justified and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved the scripture says no one who believes in him will be put to shame for there is no distinction between jew and greek the same lord is lord of all and is generous to all who call on him for everyone who calls on the name of the lord shall be saved the word of the lord praise to lord praise to you lord king of endless glory [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of god [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the lord be with you a reading from the holy gospel according to luke jesus full of the holy spirit returned from the georgian and was led by the spirit in the wilderness where for forty days he was tempted by the devil he ate nothing nothing at all during those days and when they were over he was famished the devil said to him if you are the son of god command this stone to become a loaf of bread jesus answered him it is written man does not live by bread alone then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world and the devil said to him to you i will give their glory and all this authority for it has been given over to me and i give it to anyone i please if you then will worship me it will all be yours jesus answered him it is written worship the lord your god and serve only him then the devil took him to jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple saying to him if you are the son of god throw yourself down from here for it is written he will command his angels concerning you to protect you and on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone jesus answered him it is said do not put the lord your god to the test when the devil had finished every test he departed from him until an opportune time the gospel of the lord some of you will know i have uh a bit of a penchant for mcdonald's okay it's a bit of a problem really but uh on monday after soccer i took father simon the pastor to mcdonald's right i treat him right you know only give him the best plus i had some free coupons at those prices you can't afford not to go you know now um and you know that expression right happy wife happy life well happy pastor happy parish right so you're welcome i'm did i did it for you now i took him to those glorious golden arches right on uh on kind of a for like shrove tuesday on a monday and as we saw those those golden arches came into focus right every time i see them right they extend this sort of promise and it's a kind of promise to of instant gratification right perfectly engineered to satisfy the craving of an empty stomach after a rigorous workout and to do it fast and so we went we ordered a big mac medium fries and a delicious mint flavored shamrock shake which they sell in the month of march for to celebrate st patrick's day right so they're pro catholic mcdonald's i support that now the shamrock shank is a strong irish tradition it's uh if i'm not mistaken it's the official drink of the great republic of ireland isn't that that right do you can run in well i drank it in your honor anyway um and so you know it all went down pretty quick we consumed it all and let me tell you it was fast it was delicious and it was exactly what i wanted when i wanted it but i ended up paying for it later now later that afternoon uh after some time digesting my body began to shut down its vital functions i felt myself slip into a deep lethargy developed a bit of a headache i was cranky i was tired and mcdonald's left me with nothing but regret again now father simon he didn't fare much better it turns out incidentally that he's lactose intolerant so you could say he got sham rocked right in the gut you know they don't call it that for nothing we were definitely not loving it no but that's what we expect right that's mcdonald's that's fast food that's instant gratification the the promise of satisfaction now and paying for it later now i'd like to think of this if you will as an apt metaphor for sin right this is how sin works it starts off with a kind of promise to satisfy some sort of craving need desire and then a quick fix for present discomfort and then we inevitably pay for it later we get shamrocked by sid now that might look different ways in different people we all we all uh we all experience temptation that's just part of the human condition we're all sinners we're all broken etc etc but the the primary ways that's experienced in your own particular life might look different based on each individual person right it might look like the promise of alleviating the stress of a difficult week by consuming just a few too many glasses of wine or smoking a joint now it could be the empty promise offered through a false kind of uh intimacy by crossing boundaries with somebody either in person or by text message it could be the promise of relief feeling better once you get that burning anger outside as you denigrate somebody who upset you with a trusted friend talking about this person behind their back or perhaps it's the promise extended to you uh of by of enhancing your status by being a broker of juicy information as you share about somebody else's private business with a group of friends now the problem with all of these things is that they leave us with a kind of hangover the offer the promise of instant gratification a quick fix which quickly fades and leaving us often more empty more frustrated more tired more afraid more unsatisfied than we were before you such are the empty promises offered us by sin now we're beginning a preaching series called the promise which is about the promise that god actually offers us in the season of lent in our lives which is ultimately the promise of satisfying our greatest needs and our deepest desires in a way that's lasting and meaningful and ultimately eternal and we begin to access these promises or receive uh a foretaste of these promises even now in this time of lent as we journey with jesus into the desert for the next 40 days of lent now in this gospel today we follow jesus into the desert now you may not realize this but jesus himself experienced temptation we know that jesus was fully god but also fully man which means that he lived in the the fallen condition of the world in which we live and scripture itself tells us that we do not have a high priest jesus who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin which means that no matter what temptation you might face in your life no matter how how difficult it me or dark or or shameful it might make you fail jesus himself experienced that temptation and so that when you face temptation you never do it alone but jesus understands and yet tempted without sin which means he always resisted so we have a lot to learn from how jesus faced temptation in the desert now the first passage from the gospel we read jesus full of the holy spirit returned from the jordan and was led by the spirit into the wilderness or the desert where for forty days he was tempted by the devil and right away we learned two very important things first that this whole encounter this whole confrontation is empowered by the power of the holy spirit see jesus didn't do it alone and the same spirit that empowered jesus empowers us in our moments of temptation in our desert wanderings and the second thing is that behind the temptation is this personal animating force of evil the devil now in the modern world talking about the devil it's kind of out of vogue where we like to relegate the idea of this personal force uh to the medieval era but the reality is that evil exists the devil is real and we can be assured that just as god has a plan for our lives so does the devil and in fact he wants to rob us of all the promises of god from our lives all everything that is good and beautiful and true now we don't have to be afraid though because jesus has already defeated him now what do we learn from jesus as he faces temptation well jesus is there in the desert for 40 days so he's hungry kind of like i was on monday right and while he's there the satan comes with three temptations now the first temptation he appears to him and he brings him these rocks and he says you know you can satisfy your craving right now by turning these rocks into food how does jesus respond to that temptation man does not live by bread by bread by big macs alone right but by every word that comes from the father's mouth so satan says okay you win round one onto bigger and burger things right come on that's all i get for that this is comedic gold okay all right so satan lead brings them up on this high hill and satan shows them all the kingdoms of the world that ever was and are and ever will be and he offers him this temptation to possess it all to to have possession of all the kingdoms and he says if you but fall down and worship me i will make you the burger king of it all right it will all belong to you and jesus says you shall worship the lord your god and worship him alone he's quoting scripture and then finally satan takes him up to the top of the temple in jerusalem and imagine there's just thousands of people around right and he tempts him to throw himself off the temple parapet because what would happen is he would be he says if you really are the son of god you know your angels will come and save you and then you will be revealed in glory he's tempting him to this temptation to reveal his position his glory as the son of god and jesus says do not put the lord your god to the test quote scripture again now these three temptations they aren't just random temptations in some ways they're representative of the whole gamut of temptations we can experience as as as humans right they might be all sins can be summarized under three categories the same three that jesus experienced here they're the temptation to passion possession and position passion possession position so passion are the cravings of the flesh those sensual desires right the desire to to satisfy a craving whether that's uh you know the sins to like gluttony and food or drink or sensuality lust the second temptation to possession right we see these in envy and jealousy these desire to accumulate and own and have possessions and the third is to position right the temptation to glory or power like like vanity and pride so these are the three temptations of jesus every temptation we experience can be filed under one of these three categories now the thing is in every one of these temptations in the desert satan is offering a promise but it is a promise that competes with the promise that the father has already made jesus think about this temptation to passion to satisfy your own craving right you can turn these rocks into bread well guess what the father has already promised to provide for all of jesus needs if only he trusts him however the second temptation to possess all the kingdoms of the world satan offers him this promise if he would worship him a quick and easy way to win the world for himself well guess what the father has already offered him the promise that he will be the lord and king of all creation but he has to follow his father's plan he is to go through the process of the cross how about the third temptation position glory power well satan offers him an easy way to access to be glorified to glorify himself but the father has already promised to glorify jesus in the resurrection in eternity and at the end of time when jesus will be revealed as a son of god in all of his glory and splendor but he has to follow the process gets to trust in his father's plan he has to be obedient he has to wait make sacrifices the daily decision to trust in his father and so we learn here that satan's promise always involves a shortcut and the father's plan always involves a process and in every temptation is a battle between competing promises the promise of instant gratification and the promise of the father's process now you know this to be true in your own life right you know that everything you want that is good and beautiful and true in this life it requires a process it takes time just think about it think about everything you want in life you want to be a better person you want to be kinder and more loving and more generous and patient with the people who are most important to you think about everything else that you want you want to look you want true love you want to live a deep and meaningful and purposeful life you want truly good and deep and rich relationships you want true happiness you want inner peace well none of those things you can obtain with a quick fix or by instant gratification in fact all of those things are only robbed by the temptation to what is easy and fast all of those things imply a process trust in the father's will for our lives they imply obedience to his will they imply sacrifice in the daily decision to do what is right and so we might ask ourselves the next time we're confronted with temptation what are the two promises promise the instant gratification and what is the father promising me and which promise do i choose now the good news is that we can engage the process right the process of lent the process of personal transformation we don't have to wait to those moments of temptation to begin the process just like there are the three primary forms of temptation to passion possession position right we're offered three spiritual disciplines that counteract these tendencies these temptations the church offers us them particularly comment recommends them this time of lent just like our passion is about the cravings of the flesh will the church suggest fasting to deny our cravings just like we're tempted to possess and own things the church invites us to almsgiving to give away money or objects or things to the poor and those who are in need and just like we're tempted to seek position and power and recognition well the church recommends prayer because prayer humbles us before god and helps us come to terms with who we are and who he is now so this is your homework okay you all love homework right wow you can do better who wants homework yeah all right too bad this is your lenten homework okay so your lenten homework is this i want you to take some time this week and just pray about this pray about each of these buckets fasting alms giving prayer and ask god how can you practice one of these spiritual this each of these spiritual disciplines this land and make one resolution for each of these fasting what can i give up alms giving what can i give away prayer what can i give to god and just take that as a prayer and make a resolution about each does that make sense you tracking with me i'm giving you some mcnuggets of wisdom here you know this is good stuff all right so this past drove tuesday after i had recovered from a mcdonald's hangover we were in a pastoral council meeting pastoral council is a committee of uh parishioners that come together and help us make important decisions as a church they support our staff and uh we were talking about lent and there was some grumbling complaining you know oh lens is always uh we always have to give up stuff it always feels kind of like punishment as grumble grumble grumble most of that was from father simon but there was a parishioner uh eric maya and he said you know what he said i need a good lent i need a good lens and i was thinking about that and you know what i think he's right you know these last several years they've taken its hole i know on me personally some of my practices and spiritual disciplines and i think we're entering into this new a kind of post covered world exactly what that'll look like we don't exactly know none of us do but i believe that god is doing something new and that he's inviting all of us into it and it's beginning here in lent that god wants to affect a deep work of personal transformation in all of our lives through a process i think we all need a good lent and i don't know about you but i don't want to go i don't want to exit lent the same way i went in i want to be different at the end of it and so let us not flee from the battle that is set before us but let the holy spirit lead us into the desert within our hearts as we walk with jesus through these next 40 days and there let us resist the temptations of the empty promises from sin and satan and the world those temptations to quick fixes in instant gratification and trust in the father's promise to work a process in our lives of personal transformation i invite you to stand with me and uh again acknowledging on this journey we're all in different places uh you know holding what we believe uh but if you'd like to make a concrete step today i invite you to join me and and and the rest of us as we profess the faith in which we believe the faith of the church according to the apostles creed i believe in god the father almighty creator of heaven and earth and in jesus christ his only son our lord who was conceived by the holy spirit born of the virgin mary suffered under pontius pilate was crucified died and was buried he descended into hell on the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of god the father almighty from there he will come to judge the living and the dead i believe in the holy spirit the holy catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and life everlasting amen as we begin this lenten season of fasting prayer and almsgiving we call on god our father to change our hearts so that we may love him and love one another in trust and confidence we ask him now to hear the prayers we bring before him for ourselves and for our whole world for the church throughout the world that god's saving word will always be on our lips and in our heart we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for those who hunger and thirst for food and water for acceptance for justice for meaning and today we remember especially those who hunger and thirst for peace in ukraine for them we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for the parishes of the divine renovation network and today we pray especially for santoma d'aquin in quebec and their pastor father bryce petitia that the holy spirit will grace them with strength courage and peace as they move forward we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for this parish and in particular for those preparing for easter sacraments that we may have a humble and eager openness to encounter the lord and to trust in his promises we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for the infirm the elderly the terminally ill and all who struggle with illness especially kathy robertson that they may trust god's promise to be with them we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for the faithful departed especially kathleen pellerin that they who called on the name of the lord will be saved we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer and we just said a prayer but let's take a moment of silence and really pray intentionally for our brothers and sisters in the ukraine we pray for the refugees for pray for protection of those who are caught in the middle of the war we pray for an end to violence an end to the war for all the people of ukraine we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer i mean let's take a moment and pray as well for our prayer partners that person from the beginning of mass and so you might just offer a silent prayer for each other now in in your hearts we pray to the lord r lord hear our prayer god of mercy we look to your saving help hear the prayers we have voiced and those we carry in our hearts and grant what we truly need through christ our lord [Music] through every battle through every heartbreak through every circumstance i believe that you are my fortress you are my portion and you are my hiding place i believe you are the way the truth the light i believe you are the way the truth the light i believe through every blessing every promise through every breath i take i believe that you are provider you are protector and you are the one i love oh i believe you are the way the truth the life i believe you are the way [Music] the truth [Music] the life i believe you are the way the truth [Music] [Applause] i believe you are [Music] i believe you [Music] the new are and i'm set on you and you meet me here today with mercies that are new all my fears [Music] it's a new horizon and i'm set on you and you meet me here today with mercies that are new all my fears they can't stay alone [Music] the truth [Music] i believe you are [Music] i believe you are pray brothers and sisters that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to god the almighty father give us the right dispositions o lord we pray to make these offerings for with them we celebrate the beginning of this venerable and sacred time through christ our lord [Music] the lord be with you r [Music] let us give thanks to the lord our god [Music] it is truly right and just our duty and our salvation always and everywhere to give you thanks lord holy father almighty and eternal god through christ our lord by abstaining forty long days from earthly food he consecrated through his fast the pattern of our lent in observance and by overturning all the snares of the ancient serpents taught us to cast out the levin of malice so that celebrating worthily the paschal mystery we might pass over at last do the eternal pascal feast and so with the company of angels and saints we sing the hymn of your praise as without and we acclaimed holy holy holy [Music] heaven and earth is [Music] [Music] you are indeed holy oh lord and all you have created rightly gives you praise for through your son our lord jesus christ by the power and working of the holy spirit you give life to all things and make them holy and you never cease to gather a people to yourself so that from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name therefore o lord we humbly implore you by the same spirit graciously make holy these gifts we have brought to you for consecration that they may become the body and blood of your son our lord jesus christ at whose command we celebrate these mysteries for on the night he was betrayed he himself took bread and giving you thanks he said the blessing broke the bread and gave it to his disciples saying take this all of you and eat of it for this is my body which will be given up for you in a similar way when supper was ended he took the chalice and giving you thanks he said the blessing and gave the chalice to his disciples saying take this all of you and drink from it for this is the chalice of my blood the blood of the new and eternal covenant which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this in memory of me the mystery of faith [Music] when we eat this bread and drink this car we proclaim your death oh lord until you come again oh lord until you come again [Music] therefore o lord as we celebrate the memorial of the saving passion of your son his wondrous resurrection and ascension into heaven and as we look forward to his second coming we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice look we pray upon the oblation of your church and recognizing the sacrificial victim by whose death you willed to reconcile us to yourself grant that we who are nourished by the body and blood of your son and filled with his holy spirit may become one body one spirit in christ may he make of us an eternal offering to you so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect especially with the most blessed virgin mary mother of god with blessed joseph her spouse with your blessed apostles and glorious martyrs with saint benedict and with all the saints on whose constant intercession in your presence we rely for unfailing help may this sacrifice of our reconciliation we pray o lord advance the peace and salvation of all the world be pleased to confirm in faith and charity your pilgrim church on earth with your servant francis our pope and brian our bishop the order of bishops all the clergy and the entire people you've gained for your own listen graciously to the prayers of this family whom you have summoned before you in your compassion o merciful father gather to yourself all your children scattered throughout the world to our departed brothers and sisters and to all who are pleasing to you at their passing from this life give kind admittance to your kingdom there we hope to enjoy forever the fullness of your glory through christ our lord through whom you bestow on the world all that is good through him and with him and in him oh god almighty father in the unity of the holy spirit all glory and honor is yours forever [Music] amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] at the savior's command informed by divine teaching we dare to say our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil deliver us lord we pray from every evil graciously grant peace in our days that by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress as we await the blessed hope in the coming of our savior jesus christ lord jesus christ who said to your apostles peace i leave you my peace i give you look not on our sins but on the faith of your church and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will who live and reign forever and ever amen the peace of the lord be with you always and with your spirit let us offer each other the sign of peace [Music] lamb of god you take away the sins of the world jesus [Music] lamb of god you take away the sins of the world [Music] you take away the sins of the world [Music] is behold the lamb of god behold him who takes away the sins of the world blessed are those who are called to the supper of the lamb in a moment we'll begin the distribution of communion um given the the state of restrictions right now uh we find it will work best if we bring communion to you where you are in the church so we ask that you please remain where you are once you've received communion invite you to either kneel sitting or or either to pray either sitting or kneeling that will help us keep track of who uh has or has not received communion for those of you online we invite you to join us uh in praying an act of spiritual communion uh in place of receiving the sacrament [Music] you are my lord it's you i adore and nothing on earth could ever take your place [Music] your might humbles every heart the highest of heaven [Music] and now we see your sacrifice the greatest gift our greatest prize behold [Music] behold the lamb of [Music] this god [Music] you are my lord [Music] could ever take your place [Music] [Music] nothing on earth could ever take your place [Music] and now we see your side [Music] behold god behold the lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world [Music] we will not abandon the promise that you make we will not forget we will stay away [Music] we will not have the promise that you made [Music] you takes away the sins [Music] behold the lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world who takes away the sins of the world [Music] we will not forget we will stay away and we will not abandon [Music] the promise that you make oh we will not forget we will [Music] [Applause] the promise that you may [Applause] [Music] god who takes away the sins of the world [Music] who takes [Music] who takes away the sins of the world [Music] [Music] uh [Music] [Music] so [Music] let us pray renewed now with heavenly bread by which faith is nourished hope increased and charity strengthened we pray o lord that we may learn to hunger for christ thy true and living bread and strive to live by every word which proceeds from your mouth through christ our lord [Music] there you go looks like mom and dad got their exercise in this morning you get extra blessing just so you know you get extra blessings for bringing your kids to church just so that you know that um perish yes announcements that's what we're doing uh parish lenten mission is coming up this is something we put on every year uh in our time in lent as a way to help prepare us and open our hearts to the kind of the new things god wants to do in our lives this year we're hosting mary maher and eleanor secret seagraves and they're just these two beautiful women from the archdiocese of chicago they do all kinds of work in parishes and renewal they're amazing speakers and teachers and so those sessions will be at 7 00 pm march 20th 21st and 22nd that's the sunday a monday and a tuesday uh there'll be two ways that you can join us you can join us either in person or online mary and eleanor will actually be joining us remotely from chicago but anyone here will we will still be gathered watching them on the screens interacting with them and providing live music and worship by our amazing worship band so it's a great way to prepare our hearts for easter in this time of life so we invite you to that we'll share more details as we get a bit closer so pop those count those dates into your calendar another great way to again uh kind of go a bit deeper in prayer during this time of lent is to subscribe to the aura ministry podcast now orem is made up of a bunch of women number of women from around the parish and also the wider kind of area of our city and uh every week they publish sort of four uh podcasts uh that are focused on the upcoming readings for the sunday these reflections that help prepare us for for sunday and they're really beautiful beautiful women and these beautiful reflections i subscribe so you can check that out um you can subscribe on any podcasting app or you can go to uh auraministry.ca find out more uh if you brought an offering today that you wanted to join to your act of worship today we do have baskets in the foyer and as always you can give online if you're watching online or in person you can give online at st benedict dot ca slash give i invite you now to we're going to say a special blessing a lenten blessing so feel let us bow our heads and pray for god's blessing may bountiful blessing o lord we pray come down upon your people that hope may grow in tribulation virtue be strengthened in temptation and eternal redemption be assured through christ our lord amen may almighty god bless you the father and the son and the holy spirit amen go in peace glorifying the lord by your lives [Music] is i see the king of glory coming on the clouds with fire the clippers [Music] i see his love and mercy washing over all [Music] [Applause] now hosanna is [Music] [Applause] [Music] open up my eyes to the things [Music] as i walk from earth [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is hosanna is [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey everybody my name is laura and i'm the host of svp kids online church where we like to sing and pray and have fun while we hear god's word and we learn about how awesome it is to live a life following jesus i am so glad that you are here with us today i have been thinking about you and i know that we are going to have a great time together if you're here that means you're a friend whether you're a little kid a big kid or a kid at heart and since we're all friends here we should know each other's names so why don't you go ahead and tell me your name right now today we're going to play games sing and stretch our brains we're going to see how god wants to help us think about what we're thinking about in our series called think about it in this series we're learning how powerful our thoughts are what we think affects how we feel and what we do our thoughts aren't always great though but because of our friendship with jesus god can change the way we think we can catch check and change our thoughts so get ready for a super fun brain workout today [Music] we have so much fun ahead of us today but to get us started i have a question for you if you could choose three people to make a friendship bracelet for who would they be just like we can think about which friends we would give a friendship present to god wants us to think about what is loving so many thoughts pop into our minds each day and those thoughts can often affect how we feel what we do and how we treat others but when we catch our unloving thoughts god can help us change them so that we can think about what is loving and that is exactly what we're going to be talking about today think about what is loving it's time for us to get to crafting building and creating so let's get to the show what's up everybody i'm rachel and i'm cam and it's time for play-doh pictionary we'll create the object on our card out of play-doh and have 30 seconds for the other person to guess what it is in order to win a point our first round category is snack attack all right are you ready i was born ready all right here we go oh i've got this easy three two one go all right so we're starting off with like the tan there's one so is that a pancake it's not a pancake oh i could go for some pancakes pancake salad pancakes oh we're going for the dark brown okay two is it like a pie it's not a pie oh hmm are those raisins ew no oh no no raisins okay no raisins uh chocolate chip cookies yes oh yes this next category is a little trickier animals wearing stuff i guess it's my turn all right oh yikes are you ready i think so i think i got it three two one go okay all right we've got red ladybug eating a taco what well ladybugs are red okay is that is that the head this is it okay it looks like uh a dog is it a cat uh yes yes okay a cat uh with yeah wearing a superhero cape yeah yeah can't you tell okay catch it check it change it you can catch any thought you have and you can check it with what god says is right and true if you're not sure just ask him then if your thought doesn't match what god says let him help you change it catch it check it change it think about what is loving get on your feet and find a partner it's time to play rock paper scissors when i say go you and your partner will make rock paper or scissors with your hands rock beats scissors scissors beats paper and paper beats rock we're gonna play three rounds let's see who wins the most rock paper scissors go good job rock paper scissors go [Music] nice work rock paper scissors go way to go high five your partner and stay standing for a song [Music] don't live the way the world is don't lift the weight the world this that your weight i think can be completely changed don't live the way the world lives don't live the way the world is but your way of faith can be completely changed i can't think i can use my mind to think about what is good think about what is [Music] don't live the way the world lives don't live the way the world is [Music] think about what is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] our god says that the way we think has got to change see what god has got to say let him change it you see there is no better way there is no better way don't live the way the world is don't live the way the world is let your weight i think and be completely changed don't live the way the world is don't live the way the world is don't live the way the world is but your weight of thinking can be completely changed completely changed [Music] great job you can take a seat let me tell you about a time god help me change my thoughts my brother dexter brought home a report called of all bees mom and dad said they wanted to celebrate him so we headed to his favorite restaurant tacomania and then got donuts for dessert they always make such a big deal about him when he does the tiniest little things did they just forget that last week i brought home all a's won the soccer mvp award and won the writing contest for the entire school for my awesome comic book the tales of sir stretcher mundo known for his super stretchability and teleportation powers i asked my dad while we always celebrate dexter when he doesn't work that hard at school or anything else he does he suggested that i talk to god about my thoughts when i asked god what i should be thinking a bible verse popped into my mind that we had learned at camp last summer judge your own actions and don't compare yourself with others galatians 6 4 god helped me see that i needed to stop comparing myself to dexter i know that god made me and my brother the way we are on purpose we're good at different things and that's okay so that night instead of doing extra schoolwork i played the pie face game with dexter we had fun we laughed and we ate lots of whipped cream exercise your brain by shouting out the answers to some brain teasers i have hands but i cannot clap what am i a claw what is full of holes but can still hold water a sponge the more there is the less you see what is it fog um hey man you look lost in thought over there what's on your mind i was actually over here thinking about martha martha i love her i love george i love america no no not martha washington arthur from the bible oh that martha you know her um no okay well she was one of jesus's good friends friends with jesus i bet she felt pretty cool rolling around with a celeb huh heading to parties in that stretch limo smiling for the paparazzi um i don't know about all that but i do know that there was one time when she had jesus and the disciples over to her house ah keeping it low-key grilling some hot dogs playing a little backyard cornhole and watching a basketball game eh actually nothing about it was low-key for martha she was a little stressed out kind of like when my mom gets all crazy when we're having the whole family over for thanksgiving dinner so martha was running around like if i find one more dirty sock inside of these couch kitchens you're all grounded for a year and somebody better set this table right this second and get off those video games and help me mix up this pie uh not those exact words but that's probably close to how martha was feeling she was frantically trying to fix the perfect meal for jesus and she got frustrated because her sister mary wasn't helping her at all what was mary doing finishing her puzzle watching tv wait i got it making slime yeah no none of that she was sitting at jesus's feet talking to him and soaking up every word he said okay yeah that's better than slime definitely but martha didn't think it was so great after a while she just couldn't take it anymore so she walked over and said jesus my sister has left me to do all of the work don't you care tell her to help me better get to making some fish kebabs mary hanging with jesus was fun while it lasted that's not what happened jesus actually said martha martha you're getting worried and upset about too many things only one thing is important mary has chosen the right thing and it will never be taken away from her oh i bet martha was mad was she throwing fish kebabs across the room get out outta dodge fellas fish attack um no jesus was just trying to help her see that she had let her thoughts run out of control she had been judging mary for not helping her and at the same time thinking that jesus didn't care about her it's just so crazy that even though martha was trying to do something nice by making a fancy meal for jesus her thoughts were messed up at the same time yep it's possible to have unloving thoughts even while doing the right thing no matter what we've got going on jesus wants us to put our friendship with him first and make sure we're showing love to him and to others we can do that by asking him to help us have thoughts that are loving [Music] think about what is loving everybody get on your feet it's time to sing [Music] when i don't know what to do i'll follow you i'll follow you that's what i do [Music] [Applause] [Music] to love like you love me so all the world will see when things [Music] is [Music] [Applause] will love you god with all my heart and soul with all my mind [Music] with all my heart and soul with all my mind and [Music] the world strength see [Music] great job you can take a seat [Music] memorizing verses from the bible will help us remember what god says when we're checking our thoughts let's see if we can memorize this verse from romans 12 2 together say this after me don't live the way the world lives let your way of thinking be completely changed then you will be able to test what god wants for you and you will agree that what he wants is right [Music] romans 12 2 now let's see if you can remember it after we cover up some words don't live the to live the way the world lives let your let your way of thinking be completely changed then you will be able to then you will be able to test what god wants for you and you will agree that what he wants is right [Music] and you will agree that what he wants is right romans 12 2 way to go recap what we've learned today in exactly 10 words no more no less jesus taught martha that loving him and others matters most yeah god can help us catch our unloving thoughts and change them to thoughts that are loving i mean yes but no let your way of thinking be completely changed um banana socks that works when you're unsure if your thoughts are loving ask god yeah think about what is loving today has been so much fun but before you guys go bow your heads close your eyes and pray with me hey god sometimes we look at what others are doing and judge them help us to catch those thoughts and check them with what you say we will choose to think about what's loving and assume the best about each other we love you amen wow that was awesome and it gave us so much to think about today there are times when we might look at the actions of others and have judgmental thoughts about their choices or even who they are but jesus wants us to catch those thoughts check them with what he says and change them to think about what is loving we've been learning a bible verse that reminds us that god can help us change our thinking let's see if you remember it start by repeating it after me are you ready romans 12 2 don't live the way this world lives let your way of thinking be completely changed then you will be able to test [Music] what god wants for you and you will agree that what he says is right romans 12 2 [Music] way to go let's say it all together but before we say it again i want you to get into a different position try standing up to say the verse or maybe try laying down to say the verse or say the verse while you're standing on one foot get into your new position now and then we're gonna say it all together all right are you in your position here we go romans 12 2 don't live the way this world lives let your way of thinking be completely changed then you will be able to test what god wants for you and you will agree that what he says is right romans 12 2 nice that was awesome the best way to make sure that our thoughts are thinking about the right things is to focus on jesus and to talk with him we can do that by ourselves or with someone else or with a group like we're doing right now so let's all pray together and focus our thoughts on jesus who we're gonna talk to and who loves us so very much okay you can keep your eyes open or you can close them if you keep your eyes open look at the screen and read along with the screen to pray with us and if you're closing your eyes then think about my words that i'm saying so you can join us that way all right let's pray in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit amen hey god thank you for loving us we want to love you and others with the way we think so please help us catch our unloving thoughts check them and change them we love you amen in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit amen i've had the best time learning about just how powerful our thoughts are today but it's almost time for me to go first though here are some important things that your family needs to know are you in grades 4 5 or 6 then come to the encounter on wednesday night the encounter is a youth group that brings kids your age together for fun and friends and an easy environment to talk about things that are going on in your life as we try to live our lives following jesus for now we're back to online only so hop on a computer on wednesday night and join in we're in a series right now called increase your peace we're learning how to rest and to trust god in tough times we're also talking about how to make peace in the world around us and we always have so much fun you can sign up by going to st benedict ca youth and scrolling down to find the encounter registration button if you joined us last year but you haven't signed up for the summer then you need to do that again i can't wait to see everyone who is in grade 4 5 or 6 on wednesday night for the encounter hey do you read your bibles at home did you know that you could read your bible on an app check out the youversion bible app or bible.com on that app you can enable the kids bible experience in the settings and see new bible readings prayers prompts and videos each day plus why not read the bible plan called increase your peace that will match what we're talking about at the encounter if you're old enough to read then you can try this it's a super fun way to read god's word is your family getting our weekly newsletter it's called the spp kids scoop and we send it out every week it's an email full of printables good information and parenting tips so that your whole family can grow from what's happening here at sbp kids online church your adults can sign up for the newsletter the svp kid scoop by going to saint benedict dot ca svp kids in that email you're also going to find the link to the other sbp kids video that we put out this week that's right the think about it series has two videos each week one for elementary kids and one for preschoolers but of course anyone can watch both of them you can find both videos in the email or you can find them and every other video that we have done at sbp kids online church over on youtube at youtube.com make sure you subscribe to us there so you don't miss any fun okay smarty pants it's time for us to take our thoughts and head into the week but be sure to be back here next week for our next episode of sbp kids online church remember that your thoughts are powerful but you can let god help you change your thoughts by catching them checking them and changing them so that you can do what god says is best okay i'll see you next week bye [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: Saint Benedict Parish

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Length: 119min 16sec (7156 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 06 2022