4th Sunday of Lent (C): WHICH PATH WILL I CHOOSE TO PRACTICE MY FAITH?

Dear Subscribers –

Beginning with the week of Easter, April 20, 2025, the blog you have known for the last six years as “A Catholic Deacon’s Perspective” will no longer reflect only my thoughts but will be renamed as “A Catholic Clergy’s Perspective.”

Added writers will be Bishop Kevin Vann, Ordinary of the Diocese of Orange, California, and Father Glenn Baaten, a former Episcopalian priest, ordained into the Roman Catholic Church as a priest. Both spiritual leaders will author articles on a periodic basis based upon the time they have to devote to the blog. I will continue to offer my weekly articles based on the Sunday Gospels and readings for the three-year cycle of A, B and C along with various current events that challenge us to balance our humanity with our spiritual lives.

As always, I invite you to have an open mind and to offer positive comments from your perspective about what is being offered.

Thank you to those subscribers who have been with me all these years and welcome to new readers that will be added when Bishop Vann and Father Baaten join Easter week.

God Bless,

Deacon Jim Merle

Third Sunday of Lent (C): GOD IS A GOD OF SECOND CHANCES FOR THOSE WILLING TO REPENT

None of us are perfect as we are all sinners. Given that scenario, how do we stand a chance of being rewarded the promise of eternal life with the unpredictability of obstacles in our life such as diseases, violence and natural disasters in addition to our own culpability?

12th Promise of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: “The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under My displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Heart shall be their assured refuge at the last hour.”

The final and most profound promise of devotion to the Sacred Heart is one of the most consoling gifts from Jesus to His faithful followers. He promises, “I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in My disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.”

Second Sunday of Lent (C): TRANSFIGURATION MEANS WE NEED TO BELIEVE GOD’s TRUTH OF HIS LOVE FOR US!

If you have not figured it out yet, God is very patient with those who practice their faith. The Chosen Race of Jews of the Hebrew Scriptures who either witnessed or were taught about what God did to release them from slavery took 40 years of wandering in the desert before fully accepting His love for them. It has been 2000 years plus since Jesus walked the earth and Catholics are still questioning the teachings of Jesus and His plan for our salvation based upon a Pew Research Center recent survey indicating only 31 percent of believers accepts that the bread and wine is transubstantiated into His body and blood and not just a symbol.

11th Promise of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: “Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart.”

Though I have lived most of my life in California, my heart is still attached to the Chicagoland area of Illinois. As a Chicago north sider, I am a devoted Cub and Bear fan and have an affinity for the entire city; especially downtown.

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT (C): LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL

Every human since the beginning of time has been tempted, whether in his or her faith or in something not related to a faith. What is important about this rests on everyone’s response to the temptation. Did he or she act upon it for self-gratification, or was it squashed for a better action that would improve the life of not only the one tempted but others who may have been affected.