Blog Archives

A New Way Prayer - God is Reliable

4/25/2014

Here is a little prayer to ground us when things get hectic and feel out of control ...

                                                               A New Way Prayer

Dear Lord, in a world that is filled with such uncertainty and empty promises, where things change from one day to the next, from one hour to the next, You alone are reliable. You alone are unchanging and always present. We can always count on You. You are good, all the time. You never leave us on our own. Help me to see that. Help me to truly believe in Your presence in my life and no longer feel your absence. Help me to stop trying to change You and instead start trying to change me. Help me to look to You, not as a last resort, but as my first choice, in all things. Amen.

May God Bless you and everyone near and dear to you.

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Easter Sunday Prayers

4/20/2014

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Here is a collection of short Easter prayers that will increase our hope in the Risen Lord.

Easter Prayer:

Lord, the resurrection of Your Son
has given us new life and renewed hope.
Help us to live as new people
in pursuit of the Christian ideal.
Grant us wisdom to know what we must do,
the will to want to do it,
the courage to undertake it,
the perseverance to continue to do it,
and the strength to complete it.

(from St. Joseph's people prayer book)

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song."

Pope John Paul II

"The great gift of Easter is hope - Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God, in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love, which nothing can shake."

Basil C Hume
Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster

Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life

"Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this ... ?”

John 11:25-26

An Easter Prayer

Of all of God's gifts
Easter shows us our fate
Forgiven we will rise
And pass through Heaven's gate
This Easter remember
The sacrifice of a Son
And through His resurrection
Eternal life we have won

This Easter I pray
That the love of God
Is resurrected
Reborn, renewed
Inside your heart
God Bless You!

~anonymous~

Happy Easter to all of New Way Today's members!

It's a time of new beginnings, a time of change and hope. Visit our Amazon page to review our book, "A New You! Letting Go of the Past, Trusting God with our Future." (read a free sample by clicking "look inside") It's just what we need at this time in our lives to help us move forward in God's grace.

May God Bless you and everyone near and dear to you.

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The Stations of The Cross

4/16/2014

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We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You. Because by your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

There is a great spiritual benefit to us when we reflect on the passion and death of Jesus Christ. "The Stations of the Cross" or "The Way of the Cross" is a scriptural, meditative prayer in which we call to mind certain moments of suffering that Jesus endured.   We consider each station, perhaps reflect on a scripture passage, pray, and think about what Jesus went through for us. We then move on to the next station and do the same. We open our hearts to God, and allow His grace to enter as we pray. It's a powerful prayer approach and a very peaceful experience, as we contemplate God's tremendous Love for us.

As Good Friday approaches, it's a great time to pray this way. If you're not familiar with the Stations of the Cross, I have listed each one below with a particular scripture that we can reflect on. These are only my suggested scriptures, you can choose your own, or simply pray your own way. What's more important, is that we spend this time with Jesus, reflecting on the path He walked for our salvation.

We start each station by saying, "We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You. Because by your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world." Let's ask God The Holy Spirit, to guide our thoughts and fill our hearts as we think about each one.

The First Station:            Jesus is condemned to death   (Mark 14:61-64)

Second Station:              Jesus Carries His Cross (John 19:14-16)

Third Station:                  Jesus falls the first time. (Psalm 140:5-6)

Fourth Station:               Jesus meets His mother. (John 19:25-27)

Fifth Station:                   Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross. (Mk 15:21)

Sixth Station:                  Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.   (Sirach 6:14)

Seventh Station:             Jesus falls the second time. (Isaiah 53:4-7)

Eighth Station:              Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem. (Luke 23:27-28) and (Lam 1:12)

Ninth Station:                 Jesus falls a third time.   (Isaiah 53:12)

The Tenth Station:        Jesus is stripped of His clothes. (Psalm 22:8)

The Eleventh Station: Jesus is nailed to the Cross. (Luke 23:33-43 and Psalm 22:16-19)

The Twelfth Station:      Jesus dies on the Cross. (Lk 23:44-46) (John 19:28-30) (Romans 5:19)

The Thirteenth Station: The body of Jesus is taken down from the Cross (John 19:31-34)

The Fourteenth Station:   Jesus is laid in the tomb. (Matt 27:59-60)

Widely accepted as The Fifteenth Station is of course The RESURRECTION, where we celebrate Christ's victory over sin and death when Jesus rises from the grave on Easter.

Praying in a reflective way using scripture draws us closer to Christ and opens our hearts to be changed. Through this prayer, we can grow in our relationship with Jesus who loves us - to death. God truly does Love us, and He has already proven it. Let's be open to His redemptive Love in a New Way, Today.

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Palm Sunday April 13, 2014

4/12/2014

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Today we celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. The place where He will die, for love of us. Holy Week begins.

During Holy Week we are called to walk with Jesus. To walk in His footsteps on the journey He took during the sacrifice He made for us. We are called to be by His side, to recognize what He endured for our sake. To see His passion and death through His eyes and His immense Love for us. It's a week filled with special masses, prayers, sacred traditions, sacrifices, etc. It's special and it's spiritual, but it's primary benefit is to grow closer to Christ and be transformed by His grace.

We have spent the previous weeks of Lent reflecting within, trying to change, looking at ourselves. Now, this week, it's time to look at Jesus. To focus our attention on Him. We don't just read about His passion and death this week, we enter into it. Today, He enters Jerusalem, and we go with Him.

"The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and strewed them on the road. The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out saying: 'Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.' And when he entered Jerusalem the whole city was shaken and asked 'Who is this?' And the crowds replied, 'This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee." (Matthew 21: 8-11)

The people are very excited to see Jesus. They heard all these awesome stories about Him, how He heals the sick and performs miracles, how He speaks powerful words of life and love and forgiveness ... and now He's here, right in front of them. He is greeted so passionately and is praised and loved by the people. We are these people. We put ourselves there this week, at every step.

Today we shout "Hosanna!" Friday we will shout "Crucify Him". The beauty of it all - Christ already knows this. Jesus enters Jerusalem amidst the shouts of honor and praise knowing these same people will turn on Him and scream for His death in a few days ... and He loves us anyway. He dies for us anyway. He knows how fickle our humanity is, He knows how weak we really are, how selfish we really are, He knows we won't always appreciate the sacrifice He's about to make for us, and He makes it anyway. God Loves us. And this week, He proves it!

So let's reflect today on how often we turn on Christ too. How often are we "Christian" when things are going well but abandon Christ when things don't go our way? As long as we see the miracles and answered prayers we Praise Him, but if not?? How strong is our faith really? When the cross comes into our lives, what do we do?

We all have an opportunity to grow in our faith this week. Let's look at Holy Week in a New Light. Let's see ourselves among the people and ask ourselves the really deep questions our hearts long to have answered. Let's grow in love and faith. When we enter into Holy Week with our whole heart, we enter into Christ's passion and death, and in the process of appreciating Him, find amazing graces for ourselves. Above all, we find His Love for us.

May God Bless you with special graces this Holy Week, and always.

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