Much of Lynn L’Heureux’s message this week could  be a commentary on the line of Peter “Brothers and Sisters, we have work to do!”  that she quotes from the new movie “The Son of God”

Son of God – Saved by Jesus’ Sacrifice – Your Lenten Journey – No Greater Love

Dear Vincentian Family:  Nothing is greater than Family.  This past week and tomorrow has shown Tony and I and our St. Michael Vincentians the true love of serving Christ in others.  I cannot say enough prayers to thank the Vincentians from Calgary Alberta to Dartmouth Nova Scotia.  The distance of conducting a relay to help a mother and her 7 year autistic child reach her home is 5,000 kilometers (over 3000 miles).  The Vincentian Family helped her through Canada with lodging, food and gas and prayer.  A prayer chain reached across the country.  What a gift Vincentians are!  How great is our God?  No boundaries to His goodness.  Feel the love and goodness dear family.  Bless each one of you.  Amen

Son of God:  I have been hearing about this movie and just had to see it.  Finally it came to Calgary.  It was moving and a great way to get ready for lent.  We were called to prayer so profoundly.  As Jesus fell to His knees in prayer you could see the comfort as He accepted His destiny.  We or maybe just me, complain so much even in a sacred space.  How can we even complain in prayer?  We need to use our prayer time to lift others up, especially those we complain about.  The movie was so Scriptural and complete.  It was very long, and it was all there.  Near the end Peter’s words were, “Brothers and Sisters, we have work to do”!  I say the same to you.  We have God’s work to do, in those He places before us.

Saved by Jesus’ Sacrifice – He came to us in poverty and we are saved by the death of Jesus.  Make the Sacrifice special during this Lent.  I ask you to plan on one Spiritual thing to change yourself and others this week.  We know we are saved, even when we do not deserve it.  We basically are washed clean with the blood of Christ.  It is difficult to grasp, but it is the reality.  We must believe and treat others with the love we are given.  Our sacrifice is small compared to crucifixion. Jesus needed to die so we could be saved.  Jesus Christ is our vessel of precious oil, a fragrance for life in us and filling us with His love.  He is the greatest gift we ever will receive.  Use this Sacrifice to lift others and let them smell His wonderful fragrance, especially our young people.  Let Christ transform us.  We have less than 40 days to make a difference.  Anything is possible with God.

Your Lenten Journey – I believe Lent begins with a clean up.  It is sort of like organizing your basement or garage.  The only difference is we get rid of the junk inside us.  We all have baggage. At some point we have to unpack what isn’t relevant anymore, so we can make room for what is.  Getting rid of impatience, hatred, anger, jealousy and GOSSIP is our goal.  Gossip is the big one.  Each day we pray and try to change one thing.  Pray to be washed in the precious Blood of Jesus.  Smile often; it truly helps us get through difficult things.  We need to have complete trust in our prayer and the ability to change ourselves and others.  As we change, we will see the change in others.  We need to ask for the light to dispel our darkness.  We need to be a good leader in this.  If there is one thing I have noticed in service, a good leader takes a little more than their share of the blame and a little less than their share of the credit. On this journey through Lent and greater holiness, Jesus is our companion.  His road leads to death; death on a cross, and ours leads to life; a life with salvation.  Lent is a time to make ourselves better.  We journey with Jesus on the road to new life.

No Greater Love – It is so true.  We are love so much.  There is no greater love.  God, our Heavenly Father created us with great love.  He created each one of us special – a perfect specimen of His love.  He gave us a free will to choose.  Some choose to follow and others do not.  Following our God leads us to beautiful country gardens, rose petals, rainbows, family, butterfly kisses and love.  He created us special and He has the greatest plan for us.  He gives us divine love.  Humble yourself before our God and thank Him always for this Divine Love.  We please Him by accepting others and practicing humility and living the example of Jesus.  He is so patient with us and we in turn are patient with others.  He has given us His Son Jesus as our example and religion.  Jesus teaches us all we need to know about love.  Let our hearts be open to his teachings.  Remember when all seems lost and we are down to nothing.  God is up to something.  Satan will come knocking, just say to him the greatest gift of God, Jesus is getting that for me.  God is good.  All the time!  He does not love us because we are good.  He loves us because He is good.  Always there to nourish us are our greatest gifts – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – 3 God’s in one.

Bless your week; there is a great Lenten Calendar from Busted Halo on www.famvin.org/en with a daily message.  I love it.

Blessings,

Lynn

Lynn L’Heureux is Special needs co-coordinator & Advisor of the Society of St Vincent de Paul Calgary Alberta Canada.

Her newsletter is translated into 3 languages, hopefully soon to be 4. They have a group which brings the prayer into China and it is translated into Mandarin and other Chinese dialects.

Subscribe to her weekly newsletter Vincentian Day of Prayer and Fast (English and Spanish) by sending an email to calgaryssvpadm@gmail.com