Sunrise with Jesus | Pope Francis' Guidelines for Lent 2022 | 02 Mar | Divine Retreat Centre

[Music] praise the lord good morning and welcome to the sunrise with jesus friends the grander the celebration the more intense the more elaborate the preparation you and i are familiar that the scale of a celebration the joy that comes from a celebration is directly related to the scale of preparation the tears and the sweat that goes into preparing for the celebration and for all of us we know that we are in that very special moment in history when we are preparing ourselves for what is the most important celebration in the faith journey of a christian and that is the passion death and resurrection of our lord jesus that we will be a part of with the holy week the monday thursday the good friday and of course easter sunday but the joy the celebration the graces the power that easter is offering us we can only receive if we make the best use of the season of preparation which is lent now very often we have kind of detested lent because it meant we had to give up all the things that made life very sweet and comfortable but today we know that lent is a joyful time indeed the preparation the anticipation gives us as much joy especially because we are journeying together as a global family all over the world the church is now rising to proceed to that great moment of salvation and when you are on a big journey when you travel as a group we need the briefing from the group leader so we have the message that pope francis has given us for lent 2022 and throughout this season we can always look back to this message because it is sure to keep us on track and to keep us open to the plenteous blessings not only the easter to come but every day of this precious season [Music] friends pope francis has given us bread for the journey well that is what the father of every family should do and so for these 46 days we have been invited to meditate on this beautiful simple and as we would come to see deep and rich bible verse from the letter of saint paul to the galatians chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 and the word goes this way it says let us not grow tired of doing good for in due time we shall reap our harvest if we do not give up so then while we have the opportunity let us do good to all so friends let us look at this it's a very realistic passage saint paul is reminding us that doing good can be very tiring right so we get tired of forgiving people remember simon peter asked jesus how many times should i forgive we get tired of giving especially because often we don't receive an immediate response when we give and here the word of god is telling us do not get tired of doing good for in due time you shall reap your harvest and then it says something surprising it says so then while we have the opportunity let us do good to everyone friends the word of god is talking about doing good to others as an opportunity that's so surprising because by our human thinking our natural human thinking it works the other way when someone does good to us it is an opportunity for us if someone gives us something it's a privilege but here the word of god says if today you can do something good it is an opportunity you have and here is where pope francis begins his teaching he begins with this second part of the verse where he says let us then while we have the opportunity do good to all in fact he explains his word opportunity with the word kairos while we have the kairos let us do good to all now what is kairos well in christian spirituality it's a very precious word because it refers to an hour of grace a time selected by god ordained by god when he pours out grace to humankind and there is something special about kairos if you don't take it you miss it so here pope francis says lent is that kairos it's a time of grace yes your whole lifetime on this earth it's not very long but in this time do the good that you can but he says lent especially is that kairos when we are called to do good works and he describes lent in three ways he calls it as the season of conversion you and i we want change yes and we know one thing all change begins with ourselves and therefore he says this is a time of conversion and he talks about this as a change of mind where we come to recognize what is the truth and the beauty of life he says the truth and beauty of life is not in accumulating it is not in gaining it's not in possessing but the beauty of life is in giving in sharing in sowing good works and here he refers to that beautiful parable jesus spoke about the rich fool this rich foolish man who was just insisting on grabbing and keeping things for himself and there he comes to that point when he realizes he is absolutely unequipped for that moment that really matters the moment of his last day so here pope francis says it's time we recognize that the real beauty of life the whole purpose of living is about giving from here pope francis takes us to the central theme of this verse and he says this is about sowing and reaping an image that is so dear to our lord jesus so he says the lord is calling us to look at sowing what is sowing he says when you look at showing good deeds in fact it begins by looking at god he says god is the first one who sows and he sows generously and what does he sow he sows the word of god the word of god is living and active so what does this mean for you and me he says we need to regularly listen to the word of god regularly nourish your soul with the living word of god and he says when you regularly listen to the word of god he says your heart becomes open and docile to god's word moreover you are filled with joy and finally what happens is you receive this grace from god through the word and you become a co-worker with god so now you are sent out to sow and he reminds us that this sowing should not be a burden the good deeds we do cannot be a burden but it is a grace and he says you must sow acts of kindness little acts of kindness and he reminds us what is written in the church documents that an act of love no matter how little it is any generosity when done for love of god can never be lost he says like the farmer when you saw an act of kindness you must know in that empty little seed there is the power of life in that little not so important act of kindness there is the power of life and from there he takes us to reaping and he says yes there are things that we reap but only in portion while we are here one thing is we are freed from our narrow selfish interests each time you reach out with kindness you are set free from selfishness now very many of us could have settled for selfishness we could say yeah well i have to take care of myself now the fact is that selfishness always sprouts up with evil friends we are living in a time in this world that is so strange we have just come out of two years of battling death with a global pandemic and now we are standing on the brink of what is a war that could become a global war somehow just because of the narrow selfish interests of a few people millions of lives are put at risk friends when we see those leaders who are selfish who are ready to sacrifice the whole world for their interests we know that selfishness has one outcome and that is evil and even the little acts of selfishness that we may have accommodated in our life is bound to bring out evil and so here pope francis says by doing acts of kindness you are freed from selfish interests and most importantly the acts of kindness that we do through our life makes us radiate light and carry the fragrance of christ to the world and he says one thing we must remember for all the sowing that we do in this earth the reaping happens on that final day that last day when we must stand alone the acts of kindness will be translated as the treasure friends there's one moment in life in our existence when we need treasure and that is when we stand on that judgment day that every one of us will invariably have to stand before on that day of judgment when we have nothing nothing to give nothing to proclaim about ourselves it'll be these little acts of kindness that we have dispersed in our lifetime which will speak up for us from here pope francis leads us from the reward to the practical aspect that the verse begins with and that is about not growing tired so how do you and i ensure that through these 46 days we don't get tired of the good works he says when do we get tired when we are discouraged looking at the little that we have when we get disappointed when our dreams are shattered when we are challenged by the fears the of the future he says these are temptations that can lead us to become self-obsessed now you and i are familiar that there are some people who are very afraid of being generous very afraid of being generous and it's usually because they have these wounds of of failure of losses they have these extraordinary fears of being bankrupt one day and he says well even if you accumulate everything that this world can offer it still will leave you at a loss reminding us of what we hear in the prophecy of isaiah chapter 40 verse 31 the word of god says even the young those who are strong the youth will stagger and fall but those who fix their eyes on god those who hope in the lord will never grow weary they will run and not grow faint they will walk and not grow weary and what is so important they will soar as on eagle's wings so the pope reminds us that if you want to be on this journey soaring on this journey you need to have your eyes fixed on jesus therefore the pope now leads us to certain concrete areas of not growing tired and obviously the first and i perhaps the most important place to start off with he says do not grow tired of praying do not grow tired of praying because he says that through these years of the pandemic we have understood how fragile we can be and he says during the season of lent let us through prayer find our strength in the consolation of god moreover he tells us that faith is not going to spare us of the troubles of life whether you and i have faith or not we're going to face challenges we're going to face troubles but because of prayer we will be able to face challenges with the presence and the strength of god with us secondly pope francis says do not grow tired of rooting out evil friends it can be so easy for us especially through the rest of the year to settle for those evil things that are very much part of our attitudes and our lives and he says do not grow tired of uprooting evil and the first way he says about proving evil is the bodily mortification that we must take up through fasting and he says corporal fasting strengthens your spirit to fight sin we always say the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and that is why he says mortify your flesh for the moment you modify your flesh your spirit grows in strength and it can defeat evil because evil is a defeated enemy and all we need to do is to ensure we modify our flesh through fasting secondly he says to uproot evil he says do not grow tired of seeking forgiveness from god go to the confessional because god is not tired of offering forgiveness thirdly he says to uproot evil is to fight against concupiscence or the pleasure of the flesh and it's very very interesting that here pope francis very specifically is drawing your attention and mind to the digital media he practically is saying put down your smartphone perhaps in one of the later episodes of sunrise we will look at what this means but he tells us we are becoming addicted to the smartphone and this is having a direct impact on our relationships he says only if we put aside that addiction to the digital media will you and i be able to come into authentic relationships will we be ready for face-to-face encounters and this is so necessary for the whole goal of this particular passage and that is to not grow tired of doing good pope francis says do good and don't get tired of doing good to your neighbor he says offer acts of kindness to those who are close in your own family in your own workplace in your own community and to those who are lying wounded by the road seek out the very people you've been avoiding reach out to those whom you have ignored be present to the lonely friends today we need to think who is that neediest the poorest that that most boring that most painful person in your own family the person you tend to spend the least time with in your own little workspace in your community and see that you make acts of kindness for them and finally pope francis directs us to look at the perseverance of a farmer when the farmer goes about daily watering and nourishing and caring for his fields all he has is a memory of the little seed the empty seed he planted and yet his perseverance brings him a rich harvest a harvest that awaits you and me and friends here is where pope francis gives us a precious guideline he says look to mother mary and ask her to get for you the gift of patience that she excelled in friends today is a beautiful day a day for us to look at god's word to be enriched by that living active word presented for us and finding this the bread for the journey so let us continue to do good works without getting tired for in due time you shall reap your harvest if you do not give up so while we have this skyros while we have this opportunity do good to everyone [Music] foreign [Music] how we [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] how we [Music] we [Music] we praise you jesus we thank you we worship you o god you are the lord you are the savior you have come to bless us we adore you in the holy eucharist it is you a lord who is truly present we acknowledge your presence real presence in the holy eucharist we worship you o god we adore you we thank you for your gracious presence lord praise you jesus thank you jesus praise you hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah praise you jesus thank you lord jesus christ praise you jesus thank you lord hallelujah hallelujah we worship you oh god you are the creator you are the savior you are the lord you are the purifier you will take away every sin from our heart you will save us a god you are the healer you are the shepherd praise you jesus thank you lord hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah praise you jesus thank you jesus praise you jesus thank you lord praise you jesus thank you jesus praise you jesus thank you lord let us in this season of land this sacred season given to us as a gift the whole church in prayer a grace filled season it is in a very special way in this season that the promise of the lord will be fulfilled the promise jesus gave in nazareth when he inaugurated his public ministry and said i am come anointed by the holy spirit to proclaim the good news the good news to the poor and the poor are those waiting for him let us become the poor of the lord waiting for the lord and i'm come to proclaim the good news of liberty to captives released to the oppressed sight to the plight a time of god's favor the season of lent when the whole church is fasting and praying in the season of land we turn our hearts to the lord and one thing we must be doing and the holy father pope francis is insisting we must do that we must serve acts of kindness and when we serve acts of kindness we will reap a rich harvest of a merciful world around us a rich harvest and the holy father is telling us very convincingly we will reap a rich harvest of a merciful world around us that conviction comes from the promise of the lord jesus said when you give even a glass of water to a little one in my name you will receive a hundred fold on this earth and eternal life a rich harvest even such a small thing a glass of water given in my name what is promised is fold a very refreshing experience of hundred glasses of water poured into our hearts 100 glasses of water the living water poured into our hearts living water is the holy spirit holding on to that promise the holy father is telling us so acts of kindness jesus we are living in a very indifferent world there is indifference in the world around us in the office in the places of work we function in the vehicle we're traveling in the bus in the train [Music] or whichever mode of travel we take it's indifference no one caring for the other and by the side of the desk there could be someone who doesn't care for me who could be trying to pull me down back biting is the rule of the day it may perish there could be a lot of cold indifference even when we take part in the eucharistic celebration the celebration of love even when we turn to each other to give peace we're not really giving peace it has become a meaningless gesture not even looking at the face of the other as we come out we may smile a smile this does not mean anything a very different world no one caring for the other anymore we find people needy and we turn our gaze away in our neighborhood someone starving starving for understanding starving for a loving word even in our families in our relationships there could be indifference this season is a very special season of god's favor when god is intervening lord you are intervening into my life into the life of my family into my workplace into my the mode of travel into my parish into my neighborhood i want to be an agent of salvation a sovereign of the seed sowing acts of kindness and believing for sure there will be a rich harvest lord this world cannot continue in this cold indifference even cruelty and inhumanity and the change the change must begin with me lord with me i will i will turn to the other and smile which may hand out to the other i will give a helping hand i will greet with a sincere attitude of love i will pray for everyone around to me and i will help even financially everyone in need there's so much of financial need around me lordy jesus i want to surrender myself all that i have all that i have i want to surrender into your hands i want to surrender everything that i have i want to give it all to you jesus i want to give it all to you that you may use me the love in my heart i want to be generous with that love the money i have i want to be kind and generous with everyone who is in need with my time lord i want to be generous surrender all to you jesus i surrender [Music] here i am [Music] surrendering all [Music] find me here lord as you draw me desperate for you desperate i'm desperate for you i surrender jesus [Music] i surrender jesus i surrender [Music] i place myself at your disposal at the disposal of everyone around me i want to be a sober a sober does not keep the seed in the box he takes the seed does not keep the seed in the hand he opens the hand and his souls i want to sow i want to serve the seeds of kindness acts of kindness acts of mercy and every seed of kindness that goes out of my heart will will sprout up a hundred fold 100 fold i'm doing this holding on to your promise the holy spirit will reign will reign a god jesus thank you for your promise i surrender i give myself to you for too long a time i was part of this indifferent cold world i don't want to remain here i want to be different to god i want to be a sower of the seed of kindness and mercy and goodness and love hallelujah hallelujah praise you jesus thank you lord hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah we praise you jesus for this for this privilege for this privilege you are giving me lord you went about you went about sowing the seed seed of kindness and everyone was rejoicing wherever you went the power went out of you and healed the blind the paralyzed and healed the sick every sick person and the father's love and power flowed out of you jesus let me be a sober let me sow an instrument of your peace bless me lord bless us and show me the faces of people i must be kind to i must be loving too today i must i must speak a word of love to people i don't like people i hate people who has caused me harm people who wanted to pull me down i want to go jesus said go jesus you said go and get reconciled i want to sow the seed of kindness and forgiveness i would go and get reconciled make me a sober sow acts of kindness praise you jesus thank you lord hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah praise you jesus thank you jesus jesus praise you jesus let us receive the blessing this blessing will bring down the anointing of the holy spirit the power of the holy spirit coming upon us coming upon every one of us giving us the power giving us the confidence of faith that we will we will cause a rich harvest rich harvest of mercy and kindness and love around us [Music] divine o [Music] [Applause] every moment [Music] you

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Keywords: Divine Retreat Centre, Gospel, Jesus, Catholic, Eucharist, Praise, Worship, Adoration, Preaching, Anointing, Fellowship, Fr Augustine Vallooran, Goodness TV, Goodness Tv English, Augustine Vallooran, Fr Augustine, vallooran, Augustine, Maria Sangeetha, surrender, will, test, sad, sadness, experience, top 5 prayers, top 10 prayers, daily bible, hunger, thirst, message, courage, strength, obey, all answers, distractions, reveal, inspirational talk, spiritual life, servant, heart, word of god today, top voices

Id: tnxUW-PVT3A

Length: 37min 55sec (2275 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 01 2022