Lent 2015

Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday which falls on 18 February, 2015 marks the beginning of Lent, and it ends a day before Easter (Resurrection of Jesus Christ) on Holy Saturday, 4 April, 2015. Lent is a solemn observance in the liturgical year of many Christian denominations. During the season of Lent, Christians prepare for the celebration of Easter by prayer, penance and fasting. There are actually 46 days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday consisting of 40 weekdays and 6 Sundays, Lent is actually 40 days minus the 6 Sundays which is a day celebration of Jesus' victory over sin and death by His resurrection from the death (fast and penance is forbidden or optional Sundays).

Ash Wednesday, 18 February, 2015

First Sunday in Lent, 22 February, 2015

Second Sunday in Lent, 1 March, 2015

Third Sunday in Lent, 8 March, 2015

Fourth Sunday in Lent, 15 March, 2015

Fifth Sunday in Lent, 22 March, 2015

- Holy Week begins -

Palm (Passion) Sunday, 29 March, 2015

Maundy (Holy) Thursday, 2 April, 2015

Good Friday, 3 April, 2015

Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil), 4 April, 2015

- Holy Week ends -

Easter Sunday, 5 April, 2015

In 2015, the Message of Pope Francis for Lent is "Make your hearts firm (cf. Jas 5:8)". Based on the theme of the globalization of indifference, the Holy Father expresses his hope "that all those places where the Church is present, especially our parishes and our communities, may become islands of mercy in the midst of the sea of indifference!"

A Lenten Prayer called the Passion

Dear Lord Jesus, 

by Your Passion and Resurrection

You brought life to the world.

But the glory of the Resurrection

came only after the sufferings of the Passion.

You laid down Your life willingly

and gave up everything for us.

Your body was broken and fastened to a Cross,

Your clothing became the prize of soldiers,

your blood ebbed slowly but surely away,

and Your Mother was entrusted to the beloved disciple.

Stretched out on the Cross,

deprived of all earthly possessions and human aid, 

You cried out to Your Father that the end had come.

You had accomplished the work given You, 

and You committed into His hands, 

as a perfect gift, 

the little life that remained to You.

Lord, teach me to accept all afflictions

after the example You have given.

Let me place my death in Yours 

and my weakness in Your abandonment,

Take hold of me with Your love,

that same foolish love that knew no limits,

and let me offer myself to the Father 

with You so that I may rise with You to eternal life.

AMEN.

Bye Dad! You have gone to the Lord's home

28 January 2015, the day my dad left me 

to be with the Lord.

I really miss my dad, as I really loved him.

The LORD is my light and my help;

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life;

before whom shall I shrink?

He gave me love

And touched my life

It's all over now.

He is gone now

It is hard to believe

This man is my dad

Who I will never see

But I will see him again

This I know

The day will come

When it's time for me to go

So, I'll hold him dear

And close to my heart

Cause the day we meet

I know we'll never be torn apart.

Source: � Disarae G. Kuhn

"God always forgives!" ~ Pope Francis

Pope Francis again encourages us to go to confession. Some times it is hard, but that is part of the remedy.

Pope Francis said confession is not a judgement but a meeting with God who forgives all our sins, without exception. Basing his reflections on an extract from St Paul�s letter to the Hebrews, the Pope said our God forgives all our sins, always and without exception and He rejoices when somebody asks him for pardon. This God who pardons us, he continued, choose Jesus to set up a new pact with humanity and the cornerstone of this pact is forgiveness for our sins. 

�First of all, God always forgives us. He never tires of this. It�s we who get tired of asking for forgiveness. But He does not tire of pardoning us. When Peter asked Jesus: �How many times must I forgive? Seven times?� � �Not seven times: seventy times by seven.� Namely always. That�s how God forgives us: always. But if you have lived a life full of so many sins, so many bad things, but in the end, a bit repentant, you ask for forgiveness, He will immediately pardon you! He always pardons us.�

Pope Francis said a doubt can arrive in a person�s heart over how far God is prepared to forgive us. But, he stressed, all you have to do is repent and ask for forgiveness and you don�t have to pay because Christ has already paid on our behalf.

The Pope went on to describe how God rejoices when somebody asks for forgiveness and at the same time He �forgets� or wipes out from his memory our sins. The reason for this, he explained, is because what matters for God is for us to meet with him. Confession is not a judgement but a meeting with God.

Chapel of Immaculate Conception, Ladang Sungai Batu, Bedong, Sungai Petani ~ 15/01/2015

My pilgrimage to miraculous Chapel of Immaculate Conception 

~ Ladang Sungai Batu, Bedong, Sungai Petani, Kedah, Malaysia.

I took this photo on the 15 January, 2015, The first photo (above) I took of sign at entrance of the Immaculate Conception Chapel was dark and not that perfect so I decide to take another photo of it minutes later. In actual the sign is painted/affix on a wall using normal dark blue/black and the wording have not light source on it's own except for the whitish yellow light at the top of the sign. My second photo (below) of the same wall sign captured minutes later under same lighting condition and using my same LG phone camera, gave me goosebumps initial, yet until today I am still feeling puzzled and unable to find a logic behind it. As you will notice in the photo below, all the word in the sign seems illuminated in blue like the where neon lighting or had lighting of their own. I can 100% percent confirm the word have no light of their own except for the whitish yellow light above the sign-age.

Is this another sign from the Blessed Mother, the highly favoured by God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of JESUS CHRIST. I truly believe in miracles.... and I believe that miracles happens and God shows us the way.

** Note all photos have not been tempered with except to insert text, r4c copyright and brief  description. In no way have the photos been edited using photoshop or other graphic tools.

My pilgrimage to miraculous Chapel of Immaculate Conception 

~ Ladang Sungai Batu, Bedong, Sungai Petani, Kedah, Malaysia.

Feast of the Holy Infant Jesus ~ 2015 ~ Kuala Selangor, Selangor, Malaysia

Friday, 30 January, 2014 ~ Sunday, 08 February, 2015