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Happy 15 days till Easter! That's hard to believe with everything that's going on..... I'm going to be writing a meditation on a station of the cross every day from now until Easter (15 days....15 stations)*. If you've never prayed the stations of the Cross before, here's an explanation: https://youtu.be/5gfZxI9slMc Here's how they are normally prayed in a church setting: https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/stations-of-the-cross/ You can also ask your priest for more information on the prayer :-) *Just to be clear, some people don't consider the 15th station, "Jesus rises from the dead" to be a station of the cross, but I'm including it because these meditations will end on Easter Sunday.

Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" All of them said, "Let him be crucified!" Then he asked, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified!" So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. Matthew 27:22-23,26 Think of how it would feel to be told you were going to be killed even though you did absolutely nothing wrong. Now imagine that this was happening to you and not a single person stood up for you and said anything in your defense. How awful would that feel? Even we, almost 2000 years later, are often silent when our Lord is being persecuted. Think of a time when someone has said something untrue about someone else or made fun of someone because they look, talk, or act a certain way that is different than everyone else. When we stand by and do nothing to help the situation we are just as bad as the person who is doing the teasing or lying. If we are not willing to stand up for what is right, then how are we any better than those who shouted for our Lord to be crucified? After all, Jesus said, " Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40) Today, let us try and stand up for Jesus. Whether that is done through defending your faith in conversation with someone of different beliefs, posting something about Christ on social media, or by simply helping someone in need- one of the "least brothers of Christ", do it out of love for Jesus and the desire to make His Truth known to the entire world. Jesus did not do anything to deserve to die the horrific death that He did. Let's learn from the actions of those who condemned our dear Lord to death and let the world know that we are willing to stand up for what's right, even when no one else is.

Let's face it. Our world as we know it has been flipped upside down in the past month. School has been cancelled in many places, people are frantically buying toilet paper and Lysol wipes, and some of us even find ourselves not being able to attend Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, or the Sacrament of Reconciliation. These are hard times, which means that we need to "lean on God" more than ever, even if we can't do it in the way that we're accustomed to. Here are some things you can do to keep your spiritual life going in the right direction while in isolation... 1. Watch Mass on YouTube. Bishop Robert Barron ( as well as countless other priests ) are recording their private Masses and posting them on YouTube since many people are unable to attend Mass in real-life during this time of isolation. This is the link to Bishop Barron's Mass on the Word On Fire website: https://www.wordonfire.org/daily-mass/ 2. Make a spiritual communion. Since some of us cannot physically be at Mass to receive Christ in the Blessed sacrament, we can make a spiritual communion. Saint Thomas Aquinas defines spiritual communion as "an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the most holy sacrament and in lovingly embracing him as if we had received him." Here is the prayer for spiritual communion taken from https://ourcatholicprayers.com: My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen. 3.Pray the Rosary. Pope Francis has asked us all to pray the Rosary for the healing of the world. Mary told Blessed Alan de la Roche, "You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary." This is so powerful!! Mary is the Great mediatrix and will intercede for us before God. Since it is Lent, we meditate on the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary. (The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross, and The Crucifixion.) Here is a video giving an overview of the rosary: https://youtu.be/GuT7HI7ZvfA And here is a website that explains how to pray it: http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/rosaries/how-to-pray-the-rosary.cfm 4.Pray The Chaplet of Divine Mercy. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is a prayer that was given to Sister Faustina Kowalska by Jesus in the early 1900s. The Lord told Sister Faustina, "At the hour of their death, I defend as My own glory every soul that will say this chaplet; or when others say it for a dying person, the indulgence is the same" (Diary, 811). This is so important, especially right now. People who were fine last week are now dying because of the corona virus. We can help them get to Heaven by praying this chaplet!! Here's a website explaining how to pray it: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/pray-the-chaplet 5.Participate in Project YM Live. This is an amazing resource for teens during the corona virus isolation. Since many youth group events have been cancelled, some pretty amazing adults decided to start an online youth group complete with games, worship, "Catholic Famous" speakers, and prayer. It takes place every Sunday night at 8 p.m. Eastern time until further notice. All you have to do is ask a youth minister, parent or priest to sign up you or your parish. It's super easy to do and a really cool experience! Thousands of teens are coming together to participate in this. 9 thousand people were watching at one point in the program on Sunday night! It was really amazing :-) Here's the link to participate: https://projectym.com/live/ We have no idea what is going to happen in these next few weeks/months and virtually no control over it. The biggest thing we can do right now to stop this pandemic is pray... And of course wash our hands :-) Keep a lookout for more posts about apps and other things that can strengthen our prayer life in this time of uncertainty. God bless you!

"In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her." (Luke 1:26-38) Happy feast of the Annunciation! Today is the day that the Church celebrates the day that Jesus was conceived in His mother's womb. This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It gives us one of the best examples of saying "yes" to God's plan for our lives. Notice that the Angel Gabriel does not ask Mary if she will accept God's plan for her life, he tells her. Can you imagine being a 14-year-old girl and suddenly finding out that you, a lowly peasant girl, are going to be the Mother of the savior of the world that your people had been waiting for, for thousands of years? I know I would definitely be scared, and maybe even not believe what the angel was telling me. Mary's "yes", when she says "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word", is a great example for us and a great prayer. This girl, out of her great love for God, has just agreed to bear the son of God. She is probably terrified by this (and also by the fact that an angel just appeared to her). Most of us probably would've asked more questions than Mary did. We probably would've been hesitant to say yes. But Mary's "yes" came seemingly easier to her because she had said yes to God her entire life! When we sin, we stray from the path that God has designed specifically for us, but when we return to full communion with God and the Church through the sacrament of reconciliation, that amazing unity is restored. Mary was without sin, so she couldn't stray from the path that God had made for her life. This solemnity gives us the opportunity to reflect on our lives and seek out the areas where we can say yes to God. God has a perfect plan for our lives. From the moment that we are conceived, and even before that, the Lord has a special purpose in mind for each of us. Our ultimate goal in life should be to love the Lord God with all our hearts, souls, and minds in this life so that we can be happy with Him in the next and lead others to do so as well. The way that we can do this best is different for everyone. Some people spread the love of God through music, others through their words, and some through their service and love of others. It's different for everyone! God has a magnificent plan for each of our lives, and it is only by sticking to this plan that we will achieve true happiness. We will come to know this plan by praying that the Lord will reveal it to us. Following His will requires us to carry our crosses. These crosses can come in many forms, but through all of these struggles, we need to remember that God has a plan for the suffering. Bearing our crosses, just as Christ did for us, will make us stronger and better Christians, and more aware of how much Christ suffered for our sake. "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." (1 Peter 5:10) Good can be found in every situation, even if it is not immediately realized by us. And where there is goodness, there is God. My prayer for you today, on this great feast day in our Church, is that you will always have the courage to say "yes" to God's plan for your life, just as Mary did. Let Him take over. Let Him have control. Surrender your life to Him. He will take you and mold you into the person you were always meant to be.