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PoC-24 3rd Friday of Lent: The Power of the Cross Lenten Meditation

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The Cross of Christ Transforms. . .Our Priorities

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ

Ask—How does the cross fit into my stance toward God?

Seek—Acknowledge God’s priority in your life, over your heart (all of your emotions), over your understanding (all of your thoughts), and over all of your strength (all of your actions).

Knock—Meditate on 1 John 4:10–12.

In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

How does John define “love”? What does the death of Jesus on the cross teach us about God’s love? How do we find God’s love in all the human suffer- ing that we witness? How can we concretely love one another?

Transform Your Life—Will yourself to love God and everyone else with whom you come into contact today and every day. Think about what it means to truly love other people. Seek to be a sacrificial lover first when it comes to the way you love other people and God.

PoC-23 3rd Thursday of Lent: The Power of the Cross Lenten Meditation

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The Cross of Christ Transforms. . .Our Lives

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ

Ask—Do I trust in God?

Seek—Frequently call upon the Lord for his help throughout the day. Life was not intended to be a solitary venture; recognize that God is always present, and is there for us when we call upon him.

Knock—Meditate on 10:11–13.

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 bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. For, “every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

What strikes you in the passage? Dwell on that part and let it enrich your faith in Jesus Christ.

Transform Your Life—Pay attention to the way you think and act throughout the day. What do your actions and thoughts say about what you really trust in? When given choices between what you know God wants for you and what others are asking of you, who wins out? Radically commit to trusting in God and watch your life be transformed in ways that you can’t even imagine at this moment.

PoC-22 3rd Wednesday of Lent: The Power of the Cross Lenten Meditation

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The Cross of Christ Transforms. . .Law and Love

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ

Ask—How much do I love God?

Seek—God’s love for us and his plans for us are greater than our minds can conceive. Starting today, acknowledge these realities by undertaking acts of trust in God throughout the day. Ask God to fill you with his love. Share God’s love with everyone.

Knock—Meditate on Romans 13:8–10.

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in one sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Are you giving of yourself in a way that builds up the kingdom of God?

Transform Your Life—Imitate Christ or one of your favorite saints as you go about your daily activities. Plead with God to enable you to show charity to all you meet. Listen intently to those who speak to you, asking yourself what God might be saying to you through them. Give everyone, including yourself and God, the benefit of the doubt.

PoC-21 3rd Tuesday of Lent: The Power of the Cross Lenten Meditation

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The Cross of Christ Transforms. . .How We Forgive

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ

Ask—Do I still harbor past sins for which I have not accepted God’s forgiveness?

Seek—Go to confession regularly. As part of your examination of conscience, review how you have accepted God’s forgiveness for past sins in your life, and review how well you have forgiven others in God’s name.

Knock—Meditate on Ephesians 4:32–5:2.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

How does it affect the way you treat others, who are also God’s children?

Transform Your Life—Let your life be marked by being a forgiver. Realize that when you hold on to something you are making a “god” of it, which closes God out of that part of your life.

PoC-20 3rd Monday of Lent: The Power of the Cross Lenten Meditation

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The Cross of Christ Transforms. . .How We See Jesus

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ

Ask—Am I overly familiar with Christ?

Seek—Read the Gospels every day. Encounter Christ as he is presented and try to imagine him in the world today, doing the same acts, confronting unbelief in the modern world.

Knock—Meditate on 1 Peter 2:4–5.

Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Think also about the life of St. Peter; what about his experience of Christ might have led him to come up with this image?

Transform Your Life—There is nothing that exists that can transform our lives more than a relationship with Jesus Christ as he really is—give your life to Christ. Believe, placing all of your trust in his powerful being, and embrace his power in your weakness.

PoC-19 3rd Sunday of Lent: The Power of the Cross Lenten Meditation

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The Cross of Christ Transforms. . .How We Worship

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ

Ask—What do I do with God’s spirit?

Seek—From a prayer posture, concentrate on your breathing. As you inhale, ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit. As you exhale, breathe the name from the core of your being: Jesus.

Knock—Meditate on Galatians 6:7–9.

Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in welldoing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.

Ask God for patience that you might endure in all things by sowing to the spirit.

Transform Your Life—Make it a habit to pray the prayer of Jesus from the cross whenever you find yourself tempted to do something that you know is not of God: “Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit.” This prayer that Jesus has given us is the key to moving from sowing in the flesh to sowing to the spirit.

PoC-18 2nd Saturday of Lent: The Power of the Cross Lenten Meditation

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The Cross of Christ Unites. . .God’s Mercy and Love

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ

Ask—When have I judged someone wrongly?

Seek—Do you need to be reconciled to someone in your life? It might be someone in your family, a former friend, an enemy, or even God. Go to confession; through the grace of absolution, seek to trust in God more and more.

Knock—Meditate on 2 Corinthians 5:16–18.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself. . .

How do you view others?

Transform Your Life—See the temptation to judge others or even yourself as a personal invitation to take up your cross and to trust in Christ, the friend of sinners. Pray that God will bless both you and those you might judge. Be quick to show the mercy that God shows to you to others.

PoC-17 2nd Friday of Lent: The Power of the Cross Lenten Meditation

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The Cross of Christ Unites. . .Us in the Work We Have to Do

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ

Ask—How can dying to myself help me to know God’s purpose?

Seek—Ask others to describe what your gifts are, and where they see you as being most authentic in your life.

Knock—Meditate on Revelation 22:1–2.

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

When you receive the Eucharist, imagine that Christ is grafting you to himself, so that his life, his healing, his strength flow through you.

Transform Your Life—Ask Our Lord to reveal to you any areas of your life where you might be serving false gods. Ask him to help you to abandon yourself to God’s will in your life in the same way that he did in the Garden of Gethsemane. Believe in God’s providential care for you, no matter what has happened in your life in the past or present.

PoC-16 2nd Thursday of Lent: The Power of the Cross Lenten Meditation

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The Cross of Christ Unites. . .Those Who Suffer for Justice

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ

Ask—What does God ask me to do for those who suffer?

Seek—Look for opportunities to help someone who needs it (and who cannot help you back). Stand up for someone who is being brought low.

Knock—Meditate on Romans 8:18.

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

How can you make that suffering redemptive?

Transform Your Life——Read the accounts of the martyrs, those who gave the supreme witness to the gospel with their lives. Many monastic communities read about the lives of the martyrs every day, to inspire those seeking to grow in the Christian life.

PoC-15 2nd Wednesday of Lent: The Power of the Cross Lenten Meditation

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The Cross of Christ Unites. . .In Liberty

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ

Ask—What continues to enslave me?

Seek—Ask God to point out areas of slavery that still exist in your life. As you go through your day, catch yourself not being true to who you really are, and ask yourself: Who are you serving now?

Knock—Meditate on Romans 7:22–25.

For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me a captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Ask Christ to save you.

Transform Your Life—Thomas Merton wrote about what he called a person’s True Self. Prayer, Merton argued, helps us to discover our True Self: the person God created us to be, totally free from the expectations and demands of others. By contrast, the False Self is enslaved; he cannot be himself, but only what he thinks others want him to be. Starting today, ask God to redeem you from the slavery of the False Self.