In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here,

that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence.

I ask your pardon for my sins and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful.

My Immaculate Mother St. Joseph, my father, and Lord, my guardian angel, and tocede for me.

As we face you, Jesus in the tabernacle, as we initiate this very special time of conversion, of grace,

of transformation into the life of Jesus,

we ask you, Lord, in the Blessed Sacrament,

to bless us with this spirit of penance,

which is the entrance way to your heart.

And we want to be witnesses of the gospel,

and to the degree that we immerse ourselves in Christ,

to that degree we can be witnesses, because what does a witness do, but proves that Christ is real? We need to speak about Christ by our witness, by implementing that new commandment, which is to love as he is loved.

Jesus promises that others will follow him if they see that love in his disciples.

And we all know the drill.

We all know the high standards of the gospel.

But one thing is knowing, the other thing is living it.

And with the grace of God we can. We can approach

that high goal of being a light of the world. He really is that light of the world. We participate

in his radiance by uniting ourselves to him. And what is the template of our lent? The template is that beaten up dead man,

stripped of his garments, hanging on a cross. That's our template. And why did he wait 33 years

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