Hope in God’s Plan

Our Lenten theme, “Jeremiah 29:11 – Hope in God’s Plan,” focuses on trusting God’s purposeful plan for our lives, even in difficult times. As we reflect on this verse, we join with the universal Church in the Jubilee Year theme “Pilgrims of hope”, reminding ourselves that God’s plans bring a future filled with promise, guiding us through our Lenten journey with faith and expectation.

Ash Wednesday

LENT 2025 Hope in God鈥檚 Plan听

Jeremiah 29:11-12听 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the鈥疞ord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.鈥�12 Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.听

The liturgical season of Lent begins today. We start our journey with the whole Church as day by day we move toward the Triduum, the three days of praying through Christ鈥檚 passion to His resurrection. In this jubilee year, Pope Francis has called us to be 鈥減ilgrims of hope鈥� who walk together in prayer, steadfast in our commitment to become more aware of the need to encounter one another in Christ鈥檚 beloved community. Ash Wednesday begins that journey each year, reaching into God鈥檚 loving patience and mercy as we make our way through these next 40 days.听 At 精品SM在线影片, we have turned to the words of the prophet Jeremiah 29:11-12 to reflect on God鈥檚 desire to gift us with future filled with hope. When I read Jeremiah鈥檚 passage above, I linger over the last sentence. What a hopeful image to see our loving God waiting for us to call upon him with our prayers anchored in the promise that we will be heard echoed here, 鈥�Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.鈥�听

Lent, with its reference to the spring season, has traditionally been the time to attend to what we are going to do鈥ast from foods or things we enjoy, pray more, and offer alms to provide for the needs of others. The perennial question of 鈥渨hat am I going to do?鈥� might be missing the point of this penitential season. I wonder, as we move out of the darkness and silence of winter and into the warmth of an emerging spring that the intentions of our Lenten promises are best understood as being open to what God is doing in our lives when we pray more, fast and give alms. How do my efforts of fasting open my heart to encounter God鈥檚 desire to listen to me and hear me. In what ways do my prayers rest in the confidence that God is patient and waits for me to turn toward him? How does the offering of alms reflect the love of neighbor in my heart, which God is continuously filling with compassion and justice? I wonder what is possible if this Lent we center our lives on the promise of the forgiveness our sins that opens us to the true transformation to become more like the Christ who journeys toward the Cross, confident in the hope that it brings for humanity and creation.听听

This is a call to pray together as 鈥淐hrist鈥檚 beloved community鈥� at 精品SM在线影片 and be embraced by a loving God whose promise is filled with hope for the future we share with all of humanity. As in the tradition of the Congregation of Holy Cross, with a God who is ever listening and hearing, we can proclaim, 鈥淎ve Crux, Spes Unica; Hail Cross, Our only hope.鈥�听

Friday, March 7, 2025

The first few days of Lent, between Ash Wednesday and the first Sunday of Lent are what I jokingly refer to as the 鈥渇ree trial period鈥�. Perhaps you had great ambitious plans for your prayer, fasting, and almsgiving well before Ash Wednesday and now you are living into what that will look like in your day-to-day life, considering if you can manage this for all 40 days.
Maybe you woke up on Wednesday morning and still didn鈥檛 exactly know what the plan for Lent was. You knew you wanted to do something or that you should do something because you have given up chocolate every year that you can imagine but are still kind of figuring that out.
Regardless of your plan for Lent, I encourage you to take the few days of this 鈥渇ree trial period鈥� to ask the Lord what his plan for you this Lent might be – the areas of prayer, fasting and giving that He would like to invite you to grow in.
Sometimes I find these are different than what I would choose, like being called to do less than I see my friends doing for their Lenten observances or focusing on a habit I don鈥檛 really want to work on. Lent is not about how much we can give up or do, or even how well we can stick to our plan, but how what we do helps us grow in relationship with the Lord because that is always a part of his plan and that certainly gives me hope no matter what I commit to after the Lenten trial period ends.
– Trisha McCarthy
Women’s Hall Director

March 10, 2025

In this week鈥檚 Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent, we hear about Jesus鈥� temptation in the desert. “Filled with the Holy Spirit”, He perseveres against the devil鈥檚 lies and tempting bodily desires. What can we learn from Jesus? While earthly goods may be satisfying, they are worthless if you forget there is more to God’s plan for you. Not letting temptation replace following God first and foremost is a great challenge. But so long as we are likewise “filled with the Holy Spirit”, we will be perfectly full.
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, I didn鈥檛 receive the sacraments of Reconciliation or Holy Communion for over a year. I didn鈥檛 attend Mass physically, but I participated from home via livestreams. I thought that I was doing enough for the time being, and that my relationship with God was stable and acceptable. I was attending one of the best Catholic universities in the world, studying a major I decided in the 9th grade would lead to professional, financial, and creative success, had supportive family and friends, and overall thought I had a good life on paper. However, at my core, I was debating switching majors or schools altogether, I was anxious over the fact that I couldn’t comfortably visualize my 20-year life plan as well as I could in high school, I slowly grew bitter against my friends and family because I didn’t trust they knew me since I didn’t know who I was myself, and I was scared that my relationship with God was not as strong as it ought to be. In the midst of chasing worldly accomplishments, I distracted myself well enough to not leave any room in my plate for God besides my weekly Sunday commitment.听I was growing out of the safe box of my own creation that I rooted myself in, and I struggled to accept to be replanted somewhere bigger with better opportunities.
Who am I and what am I supposed to do if I am not a college student, I don’t have a good job, and I don’t have friends or family? I was terrified to find out because I was grasping onto what I deemed was “success” and I didn’t want to be wrong. What is the point of going to Confession if I think I’ve done nothing wrong? I was struggling to find my purpose in life, what job I should commit to doing for the rest of my life, and overall questioning who I was as a person without the embellishments of networking and worldly accomplishments.
I thought I wasn鈥檛 expecting much, yet I was constantly disappointing myself and desired more. 听I let go of God to make room to hold on to things and titles, but He didn’t let go of me. In the summer of 2021, I went back to confess and finally receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ after a long time. Over the past 4 years, I noticed that life somehow seemed more colorful, but I couldn’t pinpoint that moment of bloom until a few weeks ago during an hour of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
During this season of Lent, I hope you may join me in prayer and practice of putting our attention and trust outwardly towards God’s plan, rather than curling inwardly in a vain search of “success.”
Maria Gorecki
Assistant Director of Campus Ministry

March 12, 2025

I don鈥檛 know how my mom and dad did it. Growing up, my parents and I wanted me to have siblings and yet it wasn鈥檛 in the plans as we would have envisioned it.
My mom鈥檚 first pregnancy with my older brother ended in a miscarriage. After my birth, my mom went through six more pregnancies. I had another brother, my sister Angelica who died the day she was born, another sister, two more brothers, and then finally my youngest brother, Jacinto, who was born when I was finishing eighth grade. One of the most striking memories I have is holding my brother Jacinto the day after he was born, only to realize that he was already dead.
When I was in college, I visited Angelica鈥檚 and Jacinto鈥檚 gravesites alone and spent time with them. When I got back in the car and turned it on, I heard a song on the radio that I hadn鈥檛 heard before. It was George Strait鈥檚 鈥淵ou鈥檒l Be There.鈥� The lyrics included, 鈥淚鈥檒l see you on the other side/If I make it鈥� and, 鈥淪o if you鈥檙e up there watchin鈥� me/Would you talk to God and say/Tell him, I might need a hand/To see you both someday.鈥� I teared up when I heard the lyrics as I knew Angelica and Jacinto were reaching out to connect with me with God鈥檚 grace.
I think about my siblings frequently and as I鈥檓 preparing for my own marriage, I鈥檓 hoping that the same thing that happened to my parents doesn鈥檛 happen to my fianc茅e and me. As a friend once told me though, 鈥淕od doesn鈥檛 write the same story twice.鈥�
And regardless of what happens in our lives, we hear from Jeremiah 29:11 that God is ultimately in charge. So regardless of the pain, the sorrow, or the cross that we鈥檙e given to bear, we can hope. As God says through Jeremiah, 鈥淔or I know well the plans I have in mind for you鈥lans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.鈥�
I look forward to meeting my siblings in the next life and for all the graces to come in my upcoming marriage.
Juan A. Maldonado, II, MTS
Director of Academic Advising
Office of Student Success