Maureen Finnegan, Archdiocesan vice-president

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One of the many gifts I was fortunate to receive at Christmas was a beautiful, leather-bound book entitled ‘A Treasury of Novenas’ by Revd Lawrence G Lovasik, SVD. 
Given that we are now into Lent, which concludes on 2 April with Maundy Thursday, I turned to my novena book and found a novena specifically for this holy season. It contains passages from the Gospels that trace the life of Jesus leading up to His Crucifixion, accompanied by meditations to help us reflect more deeply and gain understanding. 

Moses remained on Mount Sinai for 40 days to receive the Law of the Covenant, and Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert before beginning His public ministry. In the same way, we prepare ourselves to celebrate the Paschal Mystery of our Lord’s Death and Resurrection through a penitential season of 40 days, marked by prayer, fasting and abstinence. 

During Lent, we are also encouraged to pray the Stations of the Cross as often as possible. Each station represents a moment in the Passion of Jesus, and we show our love for Him by remembering how much He suffered for us. As Scripture reminds us: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). 

If you choose to pray the stations as a group in your UCM, I would suggest using Mary’s Way of the Cross. In this devotion, each station is viewed through the eyes of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, allowing us, especially as mothers, to reflect more deeply on her sorrow, faith and love. 

• Our next bi-monthly Mass is on 11 March at St Anne’s, Ormskirk.