March Recollection Kit (2022)

A recollection is a “mini-retreat,” a few hours of quiet prayer when we look at our lives in God's presence. As we continue to face a global pandemic, this guide can help us spend an hour or two in loving conversation with God, right where we are.

"Recollect at home" written over background image of a desk

A monthly recollection is a chance to step back from the whirlwind of daily tasks for a few hours of quiet prayer spent looking at God, the world, and ourselves. It is not always easy to find time to pray, but it is always worthwhile.

The best way to enjoy this recollection is to find a time that you can commit to spending with our Lord, and a calm place—free of distractions—where you can pray. Set aside other tasks, switch your phone to “do not disturb,” and grab a notebook. It is a good idea to make note of resolutions and ideas throughout the recollection, but the most important thing is to put yourself in front of our Lord, to look at Him and to let Him look at you.

I. Introduction

II. Meditation: Ash Wednesday (30 minutes)

III. Spiritual Reading (10-15 minutes)

IV. Holy Rosary (20 minutes)

V. Examination of Conscience (5-10 minutes)

VI. Meditation: The Creative Courage of St. Joseph (30 minutes)


I. INTRODUCTION

“The Lenten season calls us to place our faith and hope in the Lord (cf. 1 Pet 1:21), since only if we fix our gaze on the risen Christ (cf. Heb 12:2) will we be able to respond to the Apostle’s appeal, 'Let us never grow tired of doing good' (Gal 6:9).

Let us not grow tired of praying. Let us not grow tired of uprooting evil from our lives. Let us not grow tired of doing good.

Let us not grow tired of praying. Jesus taught us to 'pray always without becoming weary' (Lk 18:1). We need to pray because we need God. Thinking that we need nothing other than ourselves is a dangerous illusion. If the pandemic has heightened the awareness of our own personal and social fragility, may this Lent allow us to experience the consolation provided by faith in God, without whom we cannot stand firm (cf. Is 7:9).

“No one attains salvation alone, since we are all in the same boat, amid the storms of history; and certainly no one reaches salvation without God, for only the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ triumphs over the dark waters of death.

“Faith does not spare us life’s burdens and tribulations, but it does allow us to face them in union with God in Christ, with the great hope that does not disappoint, whose pledge is the love that God has poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 5:1-5).

Let us not grow tired of uprooting evil from our lives. May the corporal fasting to which Lent calls us fortify our spirit for the battle against sin. Let us not grow tired of asking for forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, knowing that God never tires of forgiving. Let us not grow tired of fighting against concupiscence, that weakness which induces to selfishness and all evil, and finds in the course of history a variety of ways to lure men and women into sin (cf. Fratelli Tutti, 166). One of these is addiction to the digital media, which impoverishes human relationships. Lent is a propitious time to resist these temptations and to cultivate instead a more integral form of human communication (ibid, 43) made up of 'authentic encounters' (ibid, 50), face-to-face and in person.

“In this season of conversion, sustained by God’s grace and by the communion of the Church, let us not grow tired of doing good. The soil is prepared by fasting, watered by prayer and enriched by charity” (Message of the Holy Father for Lent 2022).


II. MEDITATION

Lent is a season for turning back to God. What is our attitude toward salvation, which is a gift from God? You can listen to this meditation here.

The most important part of the meditation is your personal conversation with our Lord. You can use the priest's prayer to inspire your own.


III. SPIRITUAL READING

“You write,” says St. Josemaria in The Way, no. 117: “'In my spiritual reading I build up a store of fuel. It looks like a lifeless heap, but I often find that my memory, of its own accord, will draw from it material which fills my prayer with life and inflames my thanksgiving after Communion.'”

We suggest spending 10-15 minutes reading Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate, starting with points 104-108, "The worship most acceptable to God." Afterward, you can spend a few minutes with the Gospel, reading, for instance, chapter 12 of St. John, in which our Lord tells the disciples, "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself."


IV. HOLY ROSARY

The Holy Rosary is an ancient Christian prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother, asking her to pray for all her children in our time of need. You can find a description of how to pray the Rosary here, and download the Litany of Loreto (traditionally prayed at the end of the Rosary) here.


V. EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

1. The widow in the Gospel, in her poverty, throws into the temple treasury "all that she had to live on" (Mk 12:44). Am I generous? Do I dream that God will do great things with the goods I place at his service?

2. "Be merciful as your Father is merciful" (Lk 6:36). Do I try to be merciful in order to obtain God's mercy and that of others? Do I ask God to increase my capacity for understanding, overlooking the faults of others, and seeing the good side of things?

3. "Forgiveness. To forgive with one’s whole heart and with no trace of a grudge will always be a wonderfully fruitful disposition to have! That was Christ’s attitude on being nailed to the Cross” (Furrow, 805). Do I still have any grudges for which I could ask our Lord for help, so that my forgiveness might be more real and sincere?

4. "It is not you who have chosen me, it is I who have chosen you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit" (Jn 15:16). Do I ask the Holy Spirit for light to help me discover God's plans for me and give me the strength to follow his call? How can I orient my life so that it may be part of God's dream for this world?

5. "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men" (Mt 4:19). Do I seek to renew my sense of mission as a Christian, confident that I can always count on the Lord's company? Do I look forward to the souls with whom I can share the joy of living with Christ?

6. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field" (Mt 13:45). Do I remember how the Lord has been guiding me in my life? Do I see my Christian vocation as a path to happiness?


VI. MEDITATION

St. Joseph is an example of a man who faced up to difficulty and sought God's will in everything. We, too, grow in the face of difficulties. Listen to this meditation about St. Joseph here.

The most important part of the meditation is your personal conversation with our Lord. You can use the priest’s prayer to inspire your own.