God the Father

Day 1

"God, Creator of the Universe"

 SCRIPTURE READING

(Gen 2, 1-4)

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work hat he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

 MEDITATION

The Old Testament suggests and the New Covenant reveals the creative action of the Son and the Spirit, inseparably one with that of the Father. this creative co-operation is clearly affirmed in the Church's rule of faith: "There exists but one God... He is the Father, God, the Creator, the author, the giver of order. He made all things by Himself, that is, by His Word and by His Wisdom," "by the Son and the Spirit" who, so to speak, are "His hands." Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC 292]).

 PRAYER

(Ps 8, 1-9)

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all he earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also he beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whtaever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Day 2

Father of all Humankind

SCRIPTURE READING

(Is 44, 1-2; Jn 14, 1-4)

"But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen."(Is 44,1-2)

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in god; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going."
(Jn 14, 1-4)

MEDITATION

God who created man out of love also calls him to love the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and likeness of God who is himself love. Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love which God blesses is intended to be fruithful and to be realized in the common work of watching over creation: "And God blessed them, and God said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.' (Gen 2, 28)(CCC 1604)

PRAYER

(Ps 14, 1-7)

The Fool says in his heart, "There is no God. "They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD?

There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the LORD is his refuge.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Day 4

Obedience

-- the Price of Salvation

A.

SCRIPTURE READING

(Lev 26, 3-6)

If you walk in my statues and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land.

 MEDITATION

Following Jesus Christ involves keeping the Commandments. The Law has not been abolished, but rather man is invited to rediscover it in the person of his Master who is its perfect fulfillment. In the three synoptic Gospels, Jesus' call to the rich young man to follow him, in the obedience of a disciple and in the observance of the Commandments, is joined to the call to peverty and chastity. The evangelical counsels are inseperable from the Commandments.(CCC 2056)

 PRAYER

(Ps 15, 1-5)

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tougue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reprouch against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innovent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

Day 5

Sent Jesus and the Holy Spirit

 SCRIPTURE READING

(Acts ,1-5)

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

MEDITATION

The One whom the Father has sent into our hearts, the Spirit of his Son, is truly God. (Gal 4,6) Consubstantial with the Father and the Son, the Spirit is inseparable from them, in both the inner life of the Trinity and his gift of love for the world. In adoring the Holy Trinity, lifegiving, consubstantial, and indivisible, the Church's faith also professes the distinction of Persons. When the Father sends his Word, he always sends his Breath. In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, the visible image of the invisible God, but it is the Spirit who revels him.(CCC 689)

 PRAYER

(Jn 14,23-26)

Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make out home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me."

"These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."

Day 6

One in the Trinity

SCRIPTURE READING

(Mt 28,19)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

MEDITATION

Christians are baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" Before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son, and the Spirit: "I do." The Faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity."(CCC 232).

"The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life."(CCC 234).

PRAYER

(Jn 14,23-26)

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again, He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

Day 7

Beloved of Jesus

SCRIPTURE READING

(Jn 17,1-5)

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

MEDITATION

The Son of God, who came down "from heaven, not to do [his] own will, but the will of that who sent [him]"(Jn 6, 38), said on coming into the world, "Lord, I have come to do your will, O God." "And by that will we have been sanctified Through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb 10, 5-10). From the first moment of his Incarnation the Son embraces the Father's plan of divine salvation in his redemptive mission: "My food i to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplished his work"(Jn 4, 34). The sacrifice of Jesus "for the sins of the whole world" (1 Jn 2,2) expresses his loving communion with he Father. "The Father loves me, because I lay down my life,"(Jn 10, 17)said the Lord, "[for] I do as the Father has commended me, so that the world may know that I love the Father."(Jn 14, 31)(CCC 606)

By his loving obedience to the Father, "unto death, even death on a cross"(Phil 2,8),Jesus fulfills the atoning mission(cf. Is 53, 10) of the suffering Servant, who will make many righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities." (Is 53, 11; cf Rom 5, 19)(CCC623)

 PRAYER

(Jn 17, 20-26)

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may al be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world, O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them our name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Day 8

Source of Divine Providence

 SCRIPTURE READING

(Wis 11, 24)

But You have mercy upon all, because You can do all things, and overlook the sins of men for the sake of repentance.

MEDITATION

With creation, God does not abandon his creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and at every moment, upholds and sustains them in being, enables them to act and brings them to their final end. (CCC 301)

Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father who takes care of his children's smallest needs: " Therefore do not be anxious, saying, "What shall we eat?" or What shall we drinks?" ... Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (Mt 6, 31-33)(CCC 305)

PRAYER

(Ps 127)

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Day 9

Source of All Blessings

SCRIPTURE READING

(Dt 6,5-9)

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

MEDITATION

Blessing is a divine and life-giving action, the source of which is the Father; his blessing is both word and gift. When applied to man, the word "blessing" means adoration and surrender to his Creator in thanksgiving. From the beginning until the end of time the whole of God's work is a blessing. From the liturgical poem of the first creation to the canticles of the heavenly Jerusalem, the inspired authors proclaim the plan of salvation as one vast divine blessing.

PRAYER

(The Lord's Prayer)
Our Father in heaven, holy be Your name,
Your kingdom come, Your will be done
on the earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread
and forgive us our sins as we forgive
those who sin against us. Do not bring us
to the test but deliver us from evil. Amen.

LITANY TO GOD THE FATHER

Leader: O God, Father of Heaven
All: * Have mercy on us.
: O God, Son, Redeemer of the World *
: O God, Holy Spirit *
: Father, Creator of the world *
: Father, eternal wisdom *
: Father, infinite goodness *
: Father, bountiful *
: Father, fount of everything *
: Father, most sweet *
: Father, infinite mercy *
: Father, and defender *
: Father, our glory and happiness *
: Father, wealth of all people *
: Father, triumph of all nations *
: Father, hope of all Christians *
: Father, splendor of the Church *
: Father, splendor of kings *
: Father, overturner of idols *
: Father, consolation of people *
: Father, happiness of priests *
: Father, guide of men and women *
: Father, gift of family life *
: Father, help of the poor *
: Father, guide of youth *
: Father, friend of children *
: Father, freedom of slaves *
: Father, light of those who live in darkness *
: Father, destroyer of the proud *
: Father, wisdom of the just *
: Father, rest in tribulations *
: Father, hope in toil *
: Father, harbor of safety in danger *
: Father, consolation of the afflicted *
: Father, refuge of the hopeless *
: Father, refuge of orphans *
: Father, refuge of the aged *
: Father, refuge of the dying *
: Father, that relieves our thirst and poverty *
: Father, life of the dead *
: Father, glory of all the saints *

Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world,

* forgive us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world,

* graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world,

* have mercy on us, O Lord.

Prayer:

Father, the world needs You
Every person needs You
The heavy and polluted air needs You.
We beg You, dear Father
Come back to walk the streets of the world
Come back to live among Your people
Come back to guide the nations
Come back to bring peace with Your justice
Come back to bring the fire of Your love.
So... redeemed by sorrows
we can become a new creation.
Amen.