Half Way to Easter
Laetare Sunday (that's today) is the Sunday half-way through Lent, when we look forward in joyful hope to what the Lord accomplishes for us. It's a Sunday of hope in the Jubilee Year of Hope.
Half-way through Lent is a good time to pause and reflect on where we've been and where we want to be when we get to Easter:
- How has your time in prayer helped you to grow in deeper relationship with God and awareness of the ways God speaks to you?
- What are you noticing God revealing to you through the Scriptures and in prayer? Have there been any themes or patterns?
- What do you need for this 2nd half of your journey? Ask God for the grace you need to persevere until Easter, or to begin again.
This Sunday is also the beginning of Safe Environment Awareness Week - a week when we focus on keeping children safe from abuse and pray for healing for all those affected by abuse.
Lord, on this Laetare Sunday, please heal all of us affected by abuse and restore unto us the joy and freedom You promise the children of God. Help us to see You as You truly are, to receive Your healing love, and to love each other as You love us.
This Week in Emmaus 90
This week we begin the 4th movement of our journey with the disciples on the road to Emmaus: set out at once on mission. We pray for grace that our encounter with Jesus will set our hearts on fire to share the good news.
Daily Prayer with Scripture
This week's Scriptures inspire and prepare us to share the good news and joyfully invite others. Use the Prayer Prompt inside the front cover of your Emmaus 90 Guidebook with these Daily Scriptures.
Our Next Formation Session
Our next live Formation session will be this Thursday, April 3rd, when we're blessed to be joined by Grace Mazza Urbanski. Who will help us reflect on "How do we show others?"
An author, speaker, and retreat director, Grace currently serves as Interim Principal at St. Francis Borgia Catholic School in Cedarburg and will serve as the Associate Director of the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network's National Office, (formerly known as the Apostleship of Prayer) beginning this July.
Join us live at 7pm on Thursday, April 3rd, or get the recording any other time at our Emmaus 90 Pilgrim Formation Sessions Page.
Last Week's Formation Session
Watch Fr. John LoCoco's session on "How do we enter more deeply into the Mass? HERE or at the link below.
Fr. LoCoco suggested these questions for your Pilgrim Group:
- How does my personal preparation before Mass (prayer, recollection, spiritual reading, etc.) affect my experience of the Eucharist? What practical steps can I take to be more spiritually disposed?
- The Mass is the re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary. How does this reality impact the way I participate at Mass?
- The Church calls us to "full, conscious, and active participation" in the liturgy. In light of this, how can I grow in interior participation even when external distractions arise?
Read Sacrosanctum Concilium paragraphs 5-14.
Accompany the Hurting
Interested in learning more about Healing the Whole Person or the I AM Prayer Ministry Training Fr. Malachy & Sr. Miriam mentioned in their sessions? Get all the details at archmil.org/Healing-the-Whole-Person
Learn to Accompany the Hurting through the Healing the Whole Person I AM Prayer Ministry Training. Hosted by the same Archdiocese of Milwaukee team that offers Emmaus 90: May 5-9 at Schoenstatt Retreat Center. Register by April 26.
Join the Treasure Hunt
At your Baptism and Confirmation, God gave you gifts that our world needs. Do you know yours?
These gifts are important clues to your mission in life. When you follow them to the intersection of your greatest gifts and needs in the world you care about most--X marks the spot to find your most fully alive life. Do you want to find yours?
Called & Gifted helps you join the treasure hunt. Join the adventure.
Our next Called & Gifted workshop is Saturday, April 5th at the Catholic Community of 8 in Racine (Workshop offered in both English and Spanish)
A Day of Healing Beyond Divorce
For those in the process of divorcing and those divorced for years.
Hosted by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's Office of Catholic Social Responsibility
Saturday, April 26, 2025--8:15am-4:30pm
The Schoenstatt Retreat Center, Waukesha
Cost: $50 (includes lunch).
Financial assistance is available
April 9, 2025:
Day of Reconciliation,
Reparation, & Fasting
Archbishop Grob has asked that we observe April 9, 2025, as a Day of Reconciliation, Reparation, and Fasting. On this day:
- We are invited to the Sacrament of Reconciliation on this day, where confessions will be heard across the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for twelve continuous hours. See locations
- We are asked to make small acts of reparation on this day for sins against those who are the most vulnerable, those who suffer from exclusion, indifference, poverty, hunger and the tragedy of war. Reparation is “making amends for a wrong done or for an offense, especially for sin, which is an offense against God.” (CCC, glossary)
- We are asked to fast (think: like Ash Wednesday or Good Friday). Consider offering up your fast for those who are most vulnerable and suffering.
For More Info See Pray, Reconcile & Rejoice: 12 Hours of Reconciliation.
Jubilee Year of Hope
Did you know that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has 5 designated pilgrimage sites for this Jubilee Year?
Know of our love and prayers for you!
Thank you and God bless you,
Margaret and the Emmaus 90 Team
Jesus, please help us all to recognize you drawing close, speaking through Sacred Scripture, and truly present in the breaking of the bread at Mass. Please draw us, form us, and send us in your love to those around us. Amen.
Quick Links
- Emmaus 90 Pilgrim Page - everything you need for your Emmaus 90 journey in one place!
- Daily Scriptures links to passages in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language
- Also available on Spotify
- Emmaus 90 Suggestion Box
- Share your EMMAUS 90 Story
