Input for Low Sunday
A very special Easter is behind us. In the midst of the corona crisis many things were different and many things will still be different and unusual in the upcoming weeks and months. Perhaps we can use that particularly difficult time, a time that challenges many people around the world, to be especially attentive to all things we have to cope with in everyday life, things we perceive, such as problems and needs of people who are close to us or far away. Let us try to go through life with open eyes and ears, with all our senses, let us try to be open for new things, maybe (re)interpret our lives, successes and failures in our working and private lives, experiences with the family, with acquaintances, friends, and strangers … with everyone and everything we encounter daily.
Adolph Kolping said: “Everyone is called, many hear, but only a few follow“. (Kolping-Schriften 9, page 137)
Msgr. Ottmar Dillenburg, General Praeses
Spiritual input for Palm Sunday
When we remember the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, we might think we are on the verge of the happy end of a great life. But we know that Good Friday is yet to come and that the real highlight of Jesus’ life is reached only by the suffering of death and the resurrection. We are at the beginning of Holy Week which is marked by reflection on suffering and death; but it is also an opportunity to reflect once again upon our own lives – perhaps even more so this year as we have to worry about the Corona pandemic all over the world:
For example: What is important to me; what is my objective; what hardships, what cross do I have to take upon myself; where do I have to face difficult and painful situations; where are people who need my care and my help?
For this Holy Week and beyond, I wish that we may all have the power of God and trust in the promise of Jesus Christ: Death and suffering belong to humanity and our lives but do not have a final say!
Yours
Msgr. Ottmar Dillenburg, General Praeses
May I ask you today to pray the Prayer of the Kolping Society all over the world:
Gracious God! All life comes from You, and in You lies the origin and the destination of us all. Your desire is that all peoples live together in freedom and peace. And everyone, without bias, should have an equal opportunity to share in the goods of this earth. We thank You for being able to experience Your presence and closeness in the community of the Church and the Kolping Society.
We pray that you will
Help all of us who believe in You to acknowledge You as the Father of us all. Let us stand up vigorously for the conservation of creation and the protection of life. Help all of us who belong to Your Son to give witness to Your liberating love in word and deed.
Let us contribute effectively to overcoming poverty and hardship, ignorance and injustice.
Help all of us who follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit to make all people aware of Your graciousness toward the human race. Let us participate valiantly in the development of our Kolping Society, in establishing a familylike Church, and in building a good future for all people.
To You, O God, we give thanks in communion with Your servant Adolph Kolping in the name of Your Son, who lives with You and with us, now and forever.
Amen.
Sunday Prayer 29/3/2020:
Jesus, our Lord and brother, we plead with you for the intercession of Blessed Adolph Kolping: Lord, be with us with your Holy Spirit at these times of deep anxiety and uncertainty all over the world. Help us that the heart and mind do not separate. Strengthen the spirit of mutual respect, of solidarity and of taking care of each other and let us be imaginative in exploring ways to stay in touch and to feel connected – despite the fact that we are forced to keep a distance. Amen.
