\u201cBlessed\nare they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest\nthrough perseverance.\u201d Luke 8:15<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We find\nourselves well into the Lenten season, and in a few short days our spiritual\nwork of increased prayer, fasting and almsgiving will bring us to the day of\nredemption that Jesus promised us and gave his life for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now we\nask ourselves, what impact will this time of Lent have on us after Easter? Have these days been a time of conversion of\nheart and mind? Will we be able to\npersevere in these works of mercy beyond these 40 days? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has\nbeen a time to focus on those areas where Christ\u2019s light may have become dim or\nwhere the darkness of the world has been allowed to seep into our thoughts and\nactions, where we no longer feel the presence of Jesus in our lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If this\nis your story, do not despair, you\u2019re in good company. The apostles, too, fell prey to darkness when\nthings got tough\u2014recall Good Friday. But\nas we have been reminded time and time again, He does not turn away from us,\nquite the opposite is true. He leads us\nand others back to him in a new light, in renewed hope for the world\u2014the light\nand the hope of eternal life that is Easter. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By their\nWeekend experience, I have to believe that the 36 new Cursillistas experienced\nHis light and a renewed sense of hope in a profound way. I know I did! \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saint\nTeresa of Calcutta said it best, when she said, \u201cHe will always look after\nus. So we must cleave to Jesus, our\nwhole life must simply be woven to Jesus. \nJesus in the Mass, Jesus in my Sisters and Brothers, in the poor, and at\nadoration. It is the same Jesus.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not\nunlike the apostles, we meet that same Jesus, the Risen Christ, in all\ncircumstances of life. We will soon hear\nthese accounts in our Eastertide readings. \nThe Acts of the Apostles give testament to how the apostles, guided by\nthe Holy Spirit, shared His message in a world often unwilling to hear it, very\nsimilar to our own time. We would do\nwell to focus our study on St. Luke\u2019s Acts of the Apostles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
May we\nfind Him as we go about our daily business, seek him with a generous heart in\nword and in the sacraments, and continue to persevere in faith and\nholiness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
De\nColores,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deacon Wayne <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recommended Reading:\u00a0 A book by William S. Kurz, SJ, which gives an excellent commentary on The Acts of the Apostles.\u00a0 ISBN 978-0-8010-3633-0. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cBlessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance.\u201d Luke 8:15 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":838,"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions\/838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}