February 25, 2023

Feb. 25

February 25, 2023:  Saturday after Ash Wednesday

See 20 connections with today?
Legend below

Listen

For Psalm 86
    • Mighty Lord/ Foley [needs banjo]; use free Spotify login
Pope Francis

To Pontifical Universities:  Each of you belongs to a system of ecclesiastical studies linked to the Church's evangelizing mission.  Together you form a choir.  In the University, different perspectives express themselves in harmony, complement, correct, and balance each other (St. John Henry Newman).  Cultivate this harmony within yourselves, mind, heart, and hands.  The "intelligence of the hands" is the most sensory but not least important.   The hands are like the soul because of their power to distinguish and explore (Aristotle).  Jesus' hands touch bread and wine, body and blood; they give thanks, because they feel everything is a gift from the Father.  

Form this kind of choir in all your communities and institutions to lead to an effective, stable, and organic synergy between academic institutions, better to honor the purposes of each and foster the Church's mission.  Hope is a choral reality.  Renew your commitment to make a harmonious choir docile to the living action of the Spirit.

Opens Vatican judicial year:  Peace without justice is not true peace; it has no foundations or possibilities for a future.  The conflict in Ukraine, aggravated by other war outbreaks, has plunged the world into deep crisis and risk of self-destruction.  Christians are called to build peace and justice.  Every commitment to peace implies and requires commitment to justice, the virtue by which we give everyone what they're entitled to, indispensable for the correct functioning of common life and for everyone to live in peace.  Justice is a virtue cultivated through the personal conversion, and to be exercised together with prudence, fortitude, and temperance.

Vatican City State Tribunals operate in this perspective, settling civil and criminal cases.  In the recent financial criminal trials against Vatican officials, the concern isn't so much the trials themselves but rather the facts and criminal misconduct by Church members that have seriously harmed our effectiveness in reflecting God's light.  Vatican Justice is to find a balance between justice and mercy, assisted by rigorous discernment and recourse to equity.  Mercy and justice walk together towards the same goal; mercy is the fulfillment, not suspension, of justice.  The Church fulfills her mandate when bearing witness, in word and deed, to the mercy she's received.  The path of justice makes fraternity, where all are protected, especially the weakest, possible.

Read
  • Is 58:9b-14  If you remove oppression... and satisfy the afflicted, the Lord will guide and renew you.  If you honor the sabbath, you'll delight in the Lord, and I'll nourish you.
  • Ps 86:1-6  "Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth."  Have mercy on me.  I lift my soul to you; gladden it.  Attend to my pleading.
  • Lk 5:27-32  Jesus to Levi:  “Follow me”; he left everything and followed.  He gave a banquet for him with tax collectors and others; Pharisees complained:  “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”  Jesus:  “The healthy don't need a doctor; just the sick.  I came to call sinners.”
Reflect

  • Creighton:  In astonishing freedom, Levi left everything to follow Jesus.  Oh, to be such a dedicated and free disciple!  Have I left everything like him?  He hosted a lavish dinner for Jesus and introduced his friends to Jesus.  That sounds like someone whose life was radically reoriented toward God.  May we become more fully reoriented, approach to-dos as opportunities to encounter and love God, and release those who don't serve such a vision.  May we find more opportunities to encounter, love, and serve God, and like Levi to invite others into relationship with God.
  • One Bread, One Body:  "Walking into glory":  Our Lenten journey's destination is Jesus’ Resurrection. When we meet the risen Christ, “light shall rise in the darkness, gloom shall become” like midday, "the Lord will guide” us and give us "plenty," ruins shall be rebuilt, we'll raise up the foundations, and they'll call us “repairer of the breach, restorer of ruined homesteads.”  Easter will be more than we could ever ask for or imagine.  Isaiah’s prophecies will be fulfilled.  Christ’s love and glory will be so greatly manifested that it would be too much for us if we hadn't prepared through repentance, fasting, almsgiving, and prayer.  Lent is so necessary because Easter is so great.
  • Passionist:  The Lenten message is simple but easily missed and quickly forgotten:  If we do good, seeking justice, we'll be renewed.  If we don't dance with evil, we'll find life and happiness.  Isaiah tells us that to shatter darkness and scatter sadness, we must confront evil and bring justice.  If we battle oppression, stop malicious speech, share what we have, and reach out to the afflicted, then light and life will come.  In the gospel, Jesus invites tax collector Levi to leave everything, to strike out on an uncharted path, and Levi does.  In a burst of freedom, Levi redefines himself as disciple.  To find new life, Levi has to reimagine not his life and identity, to think of himself as a disciple on a path to a different, promising way of life.  May we reimagine who we are and what we're up to.
  • DailyScripture.net:  "Jesus calls sinners to follow him":  When we bless others, especially those needing help, God blesses us.  The religious leaders were upset with Jesus' behavior towards public sinners.  Orthodox Jews avoided them, didn't do business with them, didn't give them anything.  Jesus' association with tax collectors and sinners shocked their sensibilities.  When they challenged him, he told them a doctor goes to the sick.  Jesus sought out those in greatest need.  Jesus came as Divine Physician and Good Shepherd to care for us and restore us.  The orthodox were so preoccupied, they neglected to help the people who needed it most.  Jesus came to call sinners, not the "righteous."  Ironically the orthodox were as needy as those they despised; all have sinned.  Thank God for his mercy; seek others' good.  "By 'follow' [Jesus] meant not so much the movement of feet as of the heart, carrying out a way of life.  One who says he lives in Christ ought to walk as Christ walked, not aim at earthly things or pursue perishable gains, but flee base praise, embrace contempt of all that is worldly for the sake of heavenly glory, do good to all, inflict injuries on no one, patiently suffer injury, ask God’s forgiveness for those who oppress, seek God's glory, and uphold what helps you love heavenly things.  In this way Matthew became a follower of One who had no riches. The Lord who outwardly called Matthew inwardly bestowed on him the gift of an invisible impulse so he could follow" (Bede the Venerable).
    Dress legend
    • Congress lanyards, St. Bede button:  2023 Religious Education Congress in progress; I'm attending and helping from St. Bede parish.
    • 'Feet' pin:  Hold back your foot from following your own pursuits (1st reading)
    • 'Wheat' tie bar:  If you give your bread to the hungry, remove oppression, and satisfy the afflicted,... (1st reading)
    • 'Street lamp' tie bar:  ...then light shall rise for you,... (1st reading)
    • 'Helm' tie pin:  ...and the Lord will guide you always... (1st reading)
    • 'Alps' pin:  ...and make you ride on the heights of the earth (1st reading)
    • Blue shirt:  If you remove oppression, share your bread, and satisfy the afflicted,... you'll be like a watered garden, a spring whose water never fails (1st reading)
    • 'Car with mouth' pin:  The mouth of the Lord has spoken (1st reading)
    • Suspenders with globe:  "I'll make you ride on the heights of the earth" (1st reading)
    • 'Boundless mercy' pin:  Have mercy on me, Lord,... (psalm)
    • 'Phone' tie bar:  ...for I 'call' to you all day (psalm); I came to 'call' sinners (gospel)
    • 'Celebrate teaching' pin:  Teach me Your way,... (psalm)
    • 'Walker' tie pin:  ...that I may walk in Your truth (psalm)
    • 'Money bag' tie pin:  Jesus saw tax collector Levi; tax collectors at Levi's banquet (gospel)
    • "JC" chain:  "Follow me" (gospel)
    • 'Silverware' tie bar:  Levi gave a great banquet for Jesus... (gospel)
    • "?" pin:  "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" (gospel)
    • 'Doctor's office' tie:  Only the sick need a doctor (gospel)
    • Purple on cross:  Lent
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    February 24, 2023

    Feb. 24

    February 24, 2023:  Friday after Ash Wednesday

    See 14 connections with today?
    Legend below

    Listen
    40 Hymns & Worship Songs for Lent... 
    For 1st reading
    For Psalm 51, see Wednesday's post  

    Pope Francis to Max Planck Society

    Maintain standards of pure science, uninfluenced by political or economic prejudice.  Be careful in these times of technological change about supplementing people's intellectual and emotional thoughts with machines' through AI.  It raises issues for ethics and for society as a whole:  where we are heading, and what's the meaning of life?  Reflect on how to solve problems with this new form of “hybrid thinking,” from people using AI to supplement thought and ask questions.  Preference has often been given to “technical” responsibility, leaving no room for morality.  People give precedent to functionality over what's ethical, but really, care for others is more important than "results."  We're responsible not only for what we do, but above all for what we can do but choose not to do.

    Read
    • Is 58:1-9a  On your fast day you quarrel and carry out your own pursuits, but the fast I want is releasing those bound unjustly, freeing the oppressed, sharing your bread, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, and caring for your own.  Then you'll have light, healing, and vindication, and God will answer you.
    • Ps 51:3-6ab, 18-19  "A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn."  Have mercy on me.
    • Mt 9:14-15  John's disciples / Jesus:  “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but not your disciples?” / “Wedding guests can't mourn while the groom is among them, but when he's taken away, they'll fast.”
    Reflect

        • Creighton:  "What have you given up for Lent?"  Children often give up sweets.  Adults might select something more such as alcohol or social media.  Today's 1st reading says fasting is to loosen the yoke of oppression shouldered by the poor, marginalized, and others in need. Look to see them.  May we connect more with those who would benefit from our love and attention.  May we find ways to notice and serve the hungry, marginalized, and excluded, to give from the heart, so that the efforts become habit.  May our experiences satisfy the thirst that remains after our fast, so that we too may flourish...
        • One Bread, One Body:  "A fast one":  Fasting is limiting our food intake in obedience to God to build his kingdom.  It's about obedience, not quantity.  Lenten fast is intentional imitation of Christ who fasted in the desert, to be united with him and grow in relationship with him.  When we abstain from meat today, our expression of unity encourages us to persevere and focus on unity with Jesus and other Catholics.  Fast and make your voice heard on high.
        • Passionist:  How are we going to ‘do’ Lent this year?  Lent challenges me to refresh my spirit that I may be an instrument of God.  We're to help the poor, hungry, oppressed, homeless, naked, those victimized and treated unjustly.  Lent calls me to be present to those in need, to pray with and for them, to try and relieve their suffering.  Our pastor encourages us to pray daily for someone who's wronged us or whom we just don’t like.  May I be more contrite and humble, focusing on the goodness around me, not succumbing to ways that move me away from God’s love.
        • DailyScripture.net:  "Fasting for God's kingdom":  Hunger for God and fasting for his kingdom go hand in hand.  The Lord's disciples must bear the cross of affliction and purification; there's a time for rejoicing in the Lord's presence and goodness and a time for seeking him with humility, fasting, and mourning for sin.  May we allow the Holy Spirit to transform our life with God's power and grace.  Fasting can be done to gain freedom from a bad habit, share in others' suffering, or grow in hunger for God and things of heaven.  "Don't just abstain from meat. True fasting is refraining from vice.  Shred your unjust contracts.  Pardon your neighbors...." (Basil the Great).
        Dress legend
        •  'Car' pin:  "On your fast day you 'drive' all your laborers" (1st reading)
        • 'Wheat' tie bar:  Share your bread with the hungry (1st reading)
        • 'Skeleton' tie pin:  Clothe the naked (1st reading)
        • 'Angel with trumpet' pin:  "Lift up your voice like a trumpet blast" (1st reading)
        • 'Helm' tie pin:  Don't turn your back on your own (1st reading)
        • 'Lights' tie:  When you fast like God wants, your light shall break forth (1st reading)
        • 'Phone' tie bar:  You'll 'call' and the Lord will answer (1st reading)
        • "?" pin:  “Why do we fast, and you don't see it?  afflict ourselves, and you not take note?” "Is this the kind of fast I wish?" (1st reading); “Why do we fast but not your disciples?” “Can the guests mourn while the groom is with them?” (gospel)
        • 'Boundless mercy' button:  "Have mercy on me; in your compassion wipe out my offense..." (psalm)
        • 'Heart' pin:  You won't spurn a contrite, humbled heart (psalm)
        • Blue shirt:  Wash me from my guilt (psalm)
        • Purple suspenders:  Lenten season
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        February 23, 2023

        Feb. 23

        February 23, 2023:  Thursday after Ash Wednesday

        See 16 connections with today?
        Legend below
        Listen
        For the gospel
        Pope Francis on the person, technology, and the common good

        There are three important challenges in this delicate field of "converging technologies" (nanotechnology, biotechnology, IT, cognitive science) where progress, ethics, and society meet, and faith provides a valuable contribution:
        • Change in living conditions brought by technological progress:  The strength and acceleration of these advances dramatically affect the environment and living conditions, with effects and developments not always clear and predictable, as shown by the pandemic, the energy crisis, climate change, and migration.  Healthy technological development must take this interweaving into account. 
        • Impact of new technologies on the definitions of humanity and relationship, especially regarding the vulnerable:  As the technological form of human experience becomes pervasive, serious reflection on the value of humanity is called for, as is reaffirmation of the importance of conscience as a relational experience including corporality and culture.  Technology can't replace human contact, the virtual can't replace the real, and social media can't replace the social sphere.  Even within scientific research, the relationship between person and community has complex ethical implications, e.g. in health care, where the need to guarantee equal access to care, especially for the most fragile.  So it's important to monitor transformations, interaction between change and guaranteeing balance.  We need to make sure everyone grows with the style peculiar to them, innovating starting from the values of their culture.
        • Definition of knowledge:  The type of knowledge we implement has moral implications.  Articulated models are needed that consider the intertwining of relationships.  The idea of person-centered technical knowledge, aware that the whole exceeds the part, and that everything in the world is intimately connected, as I expressed in Evangelii Gaudium and Laudato Si', can foster renewed theological thinking.  It's good that theology contributes to the definition of a new humanism and encourages mutual listening and mutual understanding between science, technology, and society.  Lack of constructive dialog impoverishes the trust which underlies human coexistence and social friendship.  Religious traditions can make a crucial contribution to such dialog.
        May we help ensure that scientific and technological growth is reconciled with parallel development of the human person.

        Read
        • Dt 30:15-20  Moses:  “I've set before you life and death, blessing and curse.  If you love God and walk in his ways, you'll live and grow, and the Lord will bless you, but if you turn away, you'll perish.  Choose life and live.”
        • Ps 1:1-4, 6  "Blessed are they who hope in the Lord."
        • Lk 9:22-25  The Son of Man must suffer and be rejected, be killed, and be raised.  “To come after me, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you lose your life for my sake, you'll save it.  What profit is there to gain the world but forfeit yourself?”
        Reflect

        • Creighton:  We must take up the cross daily, not just in Lent, to follow Jesus.  Do I make that decision today?  What profit is there for me to gain the world yet forfeit himself?  I make decisions every day, even about little things, where I might gain the world yet lose myself.  I don't gain the upper hand if I feel better at the someone else's expense.  I lose some of myself if I'm too busy to help a colleague, friend, or family member.  And what have I gained?"

        • One Bread, One Body:  "Your choice":  How incredible that God gives us the freedom to choose our eternal destiny. God with magnanimous love both offers us freedom to make such choices and also reveals himself so that we might choose both him and love.  God wants to overwhelm us with blessings, but we need to choose the life of blessings set before us.  When we renew our baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil, we answer six yes/no questions.  May we always choose life and choose God.
        • Passionist:  After Jesus predicts his Passion, death, and resurrection, he tells his disciples, “Anyone who wants to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.  Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it....”  Isn't Jesus speaking not only of eternal life but also life here?  We can be leery of giving of ourselves too much, becoming dependent only on what others think and so working to win others' approval.  But self-denial is denying that I'm at the center, making God and Jesus' command to love foremost.  When I do, I find myself as a child of God loved beyond my understanding.  If I give myself over to selfishness, I actually lose myself.  May we trust in God and choose life!
        The wicked are like chaff
          • DailyScripture.net:  "Take up your cross daily and follow Christ":  Jesus' obedience reversed the curse of Adam's disobedience; his death won pardon, freedom, healing, and new life.  We lose what we gain and gain what we lose. When we try run our life our own way, we lose it to futility.  Only God can free us from our ignorance and sinful ways. When we surrender to God, he gives us new life. God wants us to be fit to serve him. When the body is weak, we try to nurse it to health; how much more should we work towards spiritual health.  Will you part with anything that might keep you from following Christ?  Each decision we make shapes us. Some may gain all they aim for, then discover they missed the most important things.  Disciples will give up all they have in exchange for true happiness and life with God.  The cross leads to freedom and victory. What cross is Christ commanding me to take up today?  Where does my will cross his?  The cross involves the sacrifice of laying down my life daily for his sake, possible only because God's love has been poured into us....
          St. Polycarp
          Dress legend
          • 'Walker' tie pin:  Walk in the Lord's ways (1st reading), not in the way of sinners (psalm)
          • 'Scroll' pin:  Blessed those who delight in the Lord's law (psalm); if you keep God's commandments...  (1st reading)
          • 'Heart' pin:  ...but if you turn away your hearts... (1st reading)
          • 'Golden calf' tie pin:  ...and serve other gods, you'll perish (1st reading)
          • OneLife LA button:  I set before you life and death; choose life (1st reading)
          • 'Tree' pin:  One who delights in the Lord is like a tree... (psalm)
          • Blue shirt:  ...planted near running water... (psalm)
          • 'Fruits' tie:  ...that yields its fruit in due season (psalm)
          • 'Eyeball' pin:  The Lord watches over the just (psalm)
          • 'Cross' pin:  "Deny yourself, take up your cross..." (gospel)
          • "JC" chain:  "...and follow me" (gospel)
          • Suspenders with globe:  I call heaven and earth to witness against you (1st reading); what's the profit of gaining the world but losing yourself? (gospel)
          • Purple linen on cross:  Lenten season
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          February 22, 2023

          Ash Wed

          February 22, 2023:  Ash Wednesday

          See 19 connections with today?
          Legend below
          Listen
          • In secret/ Celoni:  sheet music, with Spanish version (gospel)

              For Psalm 51 (of the many settings) Pope Francis on Ashes

          The ashes mark the beginning of our “return journey” to God; they exhort us to return to the truth about ourselves and to return to God and to our brothers and sisters.  Ashes remind us of who we are, recalling that the Lord alone is God and we are his handiwork.  In Lent we remember that we rely on God, that we're not self-sufficient.”

          By dropping the presumption of self-sufficiency, and idolatry of self, we learn life is a relationship we receive from God and our parents, and that we can revive and renew our relationships thanks to the Lord and those he puts beside us.  We can rebuild our relationship with God and others, opening our hearts in prayer and emerging from self-sufficiency.

          To make this journey, we're encouraged to give alms, pray, and fast.  As Jesus warns us, those actions must not be mere externals but rather express the renewal of our hearts.  Our gestures can remain superficial, but if we remain humbly in God's sight, our almsgiving, prayer, and fasting will express that we're God's children, and brothers and sisters to one another.”  Don't neglect the grace of this holy season, but gaze on the Cross and respond generously to the powerful promptings of Lent, so as to encounter the Lord with joy.
          Read
            • Jl 2:12-18  Return to me with fasting and weeping; rend your hearts.  The Lord is gracious, merciful, kind, and relenting.  Proclaim a fast; gather the people; say, “Lord, spare your people, and don't make your heritage a reproach.”  Then the Lord took pity.
            • Ps 51:3-6ab, 12-14, 17  "Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned."  I acknowledge my offense.  Create a clean heart for me.  Don't cast me out from your presence.  Give me back the joy of your salvation.  Open my lips, and I'll proclaim your praise.
            • 2 Cor 5:20-6:2  We're ambassadors for Christ.  Be reconciled to God who made Jesus who didn't know sin to be sin, so we might become God's righteousness.  Now is a very acceptable time; now is the day of salvation.
            • Mt 6:1-6, 16-18  “Don't do righteous deeds so that people see them.  When you give alms, pray, or fast, don't call attention to it like hypocrites do.  Do it in secret; your Father will see and repay you.”
            Reflect
            • Fr. Jim Clarke homily video:  Welcome to the Lent/Easter season:  Live authentically.  Open your heart.  Fast from what's out of order.  Be a person of charity.  Listen to God and be transformed.
            • Creighton:  The message of today's gospel is to love others, but not to feed your ego.  Do right actions, say right words, and pray rightly, but when others can't see, hear, or recognize us.   If we do, our intentions, words, and actions match.  Giving with your intentions, not receiving attention.
            But don't we do the opposite today:  attend a service, receive a mark on our head, and show it?  We receive ashes to be a sign and witness of God’s love for us.  The ashes are reminders of our relationship with God, and part of that relationship is our eventual death and resurrection to new life.  Let's hope both that we remember that at Mass and when we look in the mirror, and that others see our ashes, words, and actions.  If not, are we really a witness of God’s love?  Today's ashes remind us that we can be witnesses to God’s love whenever our words and actions come from right intention instead of wanting attention.
            • One Bread, One Body:  "Repent":  Jesus said that if the miracles he worked in two Galilee towns had occurred in pagan towns, the pagans would have “reformed in sackcloth and ashes.”  Repenting with ashes was a Jewish custom.  Job, Daniel, Tamar, Judith, and Esther did.  Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel spoke of it, as did faithful Jews and faithful Jews did likewise(see (Jdt 4:11, 1 Mc 3:47, Est 4:1...).  The sinful Ninevites repented in ashes.  Today ashes are placed on our heads as a sign of repentance.  May we die to self in imitation of Jesus, who set aside his glory for us. We must decrease so Jesus may increase in our lives.  The ashes, and self-denial, are so we may repent, so everything in us may be for God.  May all against the Lord be washed away, fall to the ground, and die so we may bear great fruit.  May we die to self so Jesus may live through us.  Repent earnestly!
            • Passionist:  Jesus embraces a child to show us we must become childlike to know him:    joyful, innocent, seeking guidance and protection, lacking guile and machinations.  May I strive to become more selfless, trusting, and God-seeking...               
            • DailyScripture.net:  When you pray, fast, and give alms":  God wants to set us ablaze with his Spirit that we may share in his holiness and radiate gospel joy.  "There are two kinds of people and two kinds of love:  one holy, the other selfish; one subject to God, the other trying to equal him" (Augustine).  We are what we love.  God wants to free us from all that would keep us captive.  The Spirit is ready to transform and lead us.
            Jews considered prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as cardinal works of the religious life, key signs of a pious person, three pillars on which the good life was based.  Do you pray, fast, and give alms to draw attention to yourself or give glory to God?  The Lord warned his disciples against preoccupation with looking good and seeking praise.  True piety is loving devotion to God, awe, reverence, worship, obedience; it's a gift and work of the Spirit that enables us to devote our lives to God desiring to please him in all things.

            In God alone do we find life, happiness, and truth. "When I'm completely united to you, there will be no more sorrows or trials; full of you, my life will be complete" (Augustine).  The Lord wants to renew us and give us hearts of love and compassion.  May we seek God in prayer and fasting, generously giving to those in need, and so grow in love.

            Forty is significant in the scriptures:  days Moses went to the mountain seeking God's face, years the Israelites were in the wilderness preparing to enter the promised land, days Elijah fasted on the way to the mountain of God.  We're called to journey with God and prepare for Easter.  The Lord gives us nourishment and strength to seek him and prepare for spiritual combat and testing. We must follow the way of the cross to share the victory of the resurrection.  Lord, pour out your Spirit that we may grow in faith, hope, and love and embrace your will more fully.
            • Trumped feast:  Chair of Peter, Apostle
            Dress legend
            • 'Phone' tie pin:  'Call' an assembly (1st reading)
            • 'Children' pin:  Gather the children! (1st reading)
            • [Tear] drop pin:  Return with weeping (1st reading)
            • '?' tie pin:  Why should they say, "Where is their God?"? (1st reading)
              Now available :-)
            • 'Boundless mercy' button:  The Lord, gracious and merciful, took pity on his people (1st reading); "Be merciful..." (psalm)
            • 'Heart' pin:  "Rend your heart"; "return to me with your whole heart" (1st reading); "create for me a clean heart" (psalm); harden not your hearts (gospel acclamation)
            • 'Angel with trumpet' pin:  "Blow the trumpet" (1st reading); when you give alms, don't blow a trumpet... (gospel)
            • 'Actor's masks' tie bar:  ...like hypocrites do (gospel)
            • 'Musical notes with "joy"' pin:  Give me back the joy of your salvation (psalm)
              • 'Car with mouth' pin:  Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise (psalm)
              • 'Dove' pin:  Don't take your Holy Spirit from me (psalm)
              • 'Clocks' suspenders:  "In an acceptable time I heard you.... Now is a very acceptable time..." (2nd reading)
              • 'Prize' pin:  "They've received their reward" vs. "Your Father will repay you" (gospel)
              • 'Money' pin:  "When you give alms,..." (gospel)
              • 'Hands' tie:  "...don't let your left hand know what your right is doing" (gospel)
                • Washed face (not shown):  When you fast,...  wash your face (gospel)
                • Ashes on forehead (not shown):  Ash Wednesday; "you're dust and shall return to dust"
                • Purple shirt:  Lenten season
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