WHAT'S NEW

What’s new? Hopefully one or more of these links given below can help enlighten your day and strengthen your prayer life! No doubt you have received articles and links in your e-mailboxes concering our faith that you’ve passed along to family, friends, and acquaintances. We here at Our Catholic Prayers wish to do so here as well!

For those of you who have visited our prayer requests section and posted your intentions, be assured that we here at Our Catholic Prayers and many of our readers are praying for you. Please feel free to post requests and to tell others about this page!

SOME LENTEN LINKS

The season of Lent (a word derived from the Old English word for Spring), is a great time to do some “spring cleaning” of our souls. In these troubled times it is more important than ever to renew our relationship with God, no matter what state we are in as Christians, remembering that we are all sinners in need of His love and mercy.

Although many of us think of the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter as a time to “give up” something, remember that giving is as important as giving up during Lent! This is a special time for us to get closer to God, and to each other, through prayer, fasting, and works of charity.

You can give up some TV show to give God some extra time in prayer, for example. Or perhaps give up some treat and give the money you’d spend on it to someone in need, or to a charitable organization.

Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, said in his Ash Wednesday homily that “Lent lengthens our horizon, it orients us to eternal life” to the degree to which we let God more into our daily lives during this time.

This article on a Lenten “Weight Loss” program has some good suggestions on how to get more out of this season, as does this one on Lenten Challenges. Keep in mind that we should approach Lent seriously but not with a sense of gloom. This time can indeed be quite joyful as discussed here.

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT CONFESSION

St. Paul once referred to our bodies as being temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19) An important part of our Lenten “temple housecleaning” is the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance) more familiarly known as confession.
Remember that the Sacrament of Reconciliation, like God’s Love, is meant for all of us. In case it’s been a while since your last confession, or you otherwise feel intimidated by this Sacrament, the Archidiocese of Boston has a great website about confession that includes much useful information (and videos!) in an easy-to-follow format.

Also, you can check www.masstimes.org for the confession schedule for a parish near you! We have more information on the act of contrition, an important prayer for confession on our website here.

PRAYERS ON OUR SITE, PRINTS IN OUR STORE

For those interested we also have articles on various Lenten prayers on our site. We’ve also added many new items, including some stirring Lenten prints in our book and gift store. We hope these resources can be helpful to you. Purchases from our store help support our website!

PRO-LIFE ISSUES

One great way to give of yourself during Lent is by getting involved in the 40 days for Life movement. Now more than ever we urge our readers to offer prayers for the unborn and to keep informed on pro-life issues on Life News, Life Site News, as well as EWTN's own pro-life site.

Speaking of prayers for the unborn, The Great Prayer Project - End Abortion is an inspiring website that invites us all to join in one continuous year of prayer to end the tragedy of abortion starting March 25, 2010. You can participate in this project by signing up on their site to pray for 20 minutes, at a time that works best for you.

We also need to note here that the organization Americans United For Life is also doing some important work in trying to keep Abortion out of Health Care reform. Along these lines, it is also important for us to stand up for healthcare professionals who wish to opt out of performing abortions or other such procedures that may go against their conscience as Christians, as discussed here.

STAYING STRONG IN TROUBLED TIMES

And finally, we wish to point out to our readers our section of prayers for troubled times as well as this helpful article on some practical steps you can take to keep close to God in this era of high unemployment and debt problems for so many of us.

During Lent, as always, we hope our Lord and our wonderful Faith can be a source of great comfort and strength for each of you! We at Our Catholic Prayers wish you and your loved ones a blessed Lenten Season!

HELP SUPPORT OUR WEBSITE WITH PURCHASES
FROM OUR BOOK AND GIFT STORE OR CAFE PRESS STORE
THIS LENTEN AND EASTER SEASON!

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