A message for Easter 2015 by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP, Ninth Archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Sydney.

A reflection on the Fifth Sunday of Lent.

What is the purpose of suffering? In this reflection on the fifth Sunday of Lent Fr Mannes explains that through suffering our souls are sanctified, and through every form of suffering there is a spiritual lesson to be learned. Suffering sanctifies the soul so that it may be more conformed to the likeness of Christ who is perfect.

Did you know that we are celebrating a special Year for Consecrated Life? To celebrate, Xt3 will be featuring a reflection recorded by someone with a different consecrated vocation every Sunday during Lent.

Today's reflection is by Sr Mary Magdalene, OP, who is a member of the Order of Preachers better known as the Dominicans. Sr Mary Magdalene works at Sydney University Chaplaincy bringing University students closer to Christ. In today's podcast, Sr Mary Magdalene reflects on Laetare Sunday and explains to us that Laetare is the Latin word for rejoice - but why are we being told by the Church to rejoice?

We are in the thick of Lent - 4 weeks in! We may be feeling discouraged because we have been struggling or failing in our Lenten promises and good works we may have even been tempted to give up. Sr Mary Magdalene explains the reason we are rejoicing is because the great Feast of the Resurrection is almost here, and that is why we must start to rejoice. Listen to today's feature for more!

The Mass readings for the third Sunday of Lent present us with the Gospel about the cleansing of the temple. The reading form the Gospel of John tells us that Jesus went to the temple area and found people trading animals and changing money. We then see Jesus drive out the money changers in what seems like anger. Why did Jesus react so strongly? And what can we learn about this Gospel passage during the season of Lent?

Today's feature is an audio reflection by Lorena Portocarrero, the newly-appointed Vocations Promoter for the Archdiocese of Sydney, and Superior of Sydney's Marian Community of Reconciliation - more commonly known as the "Fraternas". As we continue our Sunday reflections in Lent marking the Year of Consecrated Life, listen to today's podcast and ask yourself... what is Jesus telling me in today's Gospel?

Lord, my God and my loving Father, you have made me to know you, to love you, to serve you, and thereby to find and to fulfill my deepest longings. I know that you are in all things, and that every path can lead me to you.

But of them all, there is one especially by which you want me to come to you. Since I will do what you want of me, I pray you, send your Holy Spirit to me: into my mind, to show me what you want of me; into my heart, to give me the determination to do it, and to do it with all my love, with all my mind, and with all of my strength right to the end. Jesus, I trust in you. Amen

For Aboriginal people the Dreaming is never-ending, linking the past and the present, the people and the land.

For Indigenous Australians Dreaming stories pass on important knowledge, cultural values and belief systems to later generations.

Through song, dance, painting and storytelling, Aborigines have maintained a link with the Dreaming from ancient times to today, creating a rich cultural heritage.

In the Catholic Church our Tradition is an important aspect of our faith which must be faithfully passed on from person to person, generation to generation.

Xt3.com were down in Adelaide at the Australian Catholic Youth Ministry Convention 2014 and heard the story of Whyalee (Willy Wagtail). The story you hear in this audio is retold by an Aboriginal man Marlon Riley who is a cultural tutor from Ngutana-Lui cultural centre (Brisbane) and a Youth mentor for NATSICC Youth.

Marlon admires this story and the message behind it. Marlon explains that he uses this story as an example to students to respect Corroboree and the morals of stories.

"These stories are passed down the generations; and the stories as well as traditional dances must be passed on correctly and not foolishly," explains Marlon.

This audio story was a synopsis used as a teaching tool as part of a cultural immersion at the ACYMC 2014 it was sourced from the Dreaming DVD series & ABC KIDS Channel. Marlon & Xt3 would like to acknowledge and respect the original story teller Aunty Beryl Carmichael of Ngiyaampa Country, far west NSW along the Darling river, including Menindee and Wilcania to the north. We also acknowledge & respect her Great Uncle Geordy Murray, Southern Ngiyaampa man of the Willandra lakes area (Marfield Mob), to whom this story originally comes from.

Did you know that we are celebrating a special Year for Consecrated Life? To celebrate, Xt3 will be featuring a reflection recorded by someone with a different Consecrated vocation every Sunday during Lent. Today's reflection is by Fr John Flynn, LC, who is a member of the congregation of the Legionaries of Christ. You may also know him as Xt3's Ask a Priest!

In today's podcast, Fr John reflects on recurring images of mountains in Scripture, in particular those that appear in the Mass readings for today: the mountain upon which Abraham took his son for sacrifice while being testing by God, and the mountain upon which Christ as Transfigured. What can we learn from these two particular stories from Scripture? Listen to today's podcast for more!

Dear Lord Jesus,

by Your Passion and Resurrection

You brought life to the world.

But the glory of the Resurrection

came only after the sufferings of the Passion.

You laid down Your life willingly

and gave up everything for us.

Your body was broken and fastened to a Cross,

Your clothing became the prize of soldiers,

your blood ebbed slowly but surely away,

and Your Mother was entrusted to the beloved disciple.

Stretched out on the Cross,

deprived of all earthly possessions and human aid,

You cried out to Your Father that the end had come.

You had accomplished the work given You,

and You committed into His hands,

as a perfect gift,

the little life that remained to You.

Lord, teach me to accept all afflictions

after the example You have given.

Let me place my death in Yours

and my weakness in Your abandonment,

Take hold of me with Your love,

that same foolish love that knew no limits,

and let me offer myself to the Father

with You so that I may rise with You to eternal life.

Did you know that we are celebrating a special Year for Consecrated Life? To celebrate, Xt3 will be featuring a reflection recorded by someone with a different Consecrated vocation every Sunday during Lent. To kick of the First Sunday of Lent, Brother John Nguyen OFM Cap, a Capuchin Franciscan Friar, shares his thoughts on today's Gospel, reflecting on the impact that sin has on our souls. Jesus is calling each one of us to repent this Lent, and to open our hearts and allow Him to tend to our souls.

O God, throughout the ages you have called women and men to pursue lives of perfect charity through the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

During this Year of Consecrated Life, we give you thanks for these courageous witnesses of Faith and models of inspiration.

Their pursuit of holy lives teaches us to make a more perfect offering of ourselves to you.

Continue to enrich your Church by calling forth sons and daughters who, having found the pearl of great price, treasure the Kingdom of Heaven above all things.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

When we think about our faith we don't often think about our work. However Saint Joseph is a quiet example and can teach us the importance and value of our work and how our daily jobs can help us love more purely and grow in maturity.

In this podcast, Fr Richard Umbers challenges us to see work as a gift from God, as he reflects on how Saint Joseph would have shown Jesus, the Son of God how to be a worker.

Glorious St. Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labour, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my many sins; to work with thankfulness and joy, considering it an honour to employ and develop, by means of labour, the gifts received from God; to work with order, peace, prudence and patience, never surrendering to weariness or difficulties; to work, above all, with purity of intention, and with detachment from self, having always death before my eyes and the account which I must render of time lost, of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all after thy example, O Patriarch Joseph. Such shall be my motto in life and death.

Amen.

What is confession? Why does the Church encourage Catholics to go to confession during Lent? How can I go to confession if it has been a long time? Christian Stephens from the Theology Department at the University of Notre Dame, and Fr. Brendan Purcell, Catholic Priest and Philosophy Lecturer, join Monica Doumit, the Coordinator of Catholic Talk, for a conversation about Confession, especially during the season of Lent.

Further Reading:

-- A Detailed Catholic Examination of Conscience:

-- Confession Guide for Adults:

-- Confession Guide for Youth: