Quote/s of the Day – 2 May – Thursday of the Second week of Easter, Gospel: John 3:31–36 and the Memorial of St Athanasius (297-373) – Father and Doctor of the Church and St Antoninus of Florence OP (1389-1459)
“For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.”
“Christians, instead of arming themselves with swords, extend their hands in prayer.”
“But what is also to the point, let us note that the very tradition, teaching and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning was preached by the Apostles and preserved by the Fathers. On this the Church was founded – and if anyone departs from this, he neither is, nor any longer ought to be called, a Christian.”
St Athanasius (297-373) Father & Doctor of the Church
“While other martyrs suffered by sacrificing their own lives, the Blessed Virgin suffered, by sacrificing her Son’s life.”
One Minute Reflection – 2 May – Thursday of the Second week of Easter, Gospel: John 3:31–36 and the Memorial of St Athanasius (297-373) – Father and Doctor of the Church and St Antoninus OP (1389-1459), Gospel: John 3:31–36
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit…he who does not obey the Son shall not see life…John 3:34,36
REFLECTION – “The sanctification or, rather, the deification of the nature of man, is one main subject of St Athanasius’s theology. Christ, in rising, raises His Saints with Him to the right hand of power. They become instinct with His life, of one body with His flesh, divine sons, immortal kings, gods. He is in them, because He is in human nature and He communicates in them that nature, deified by becoming His, that them Itmay deify. He is in them by the Presence of His Spirit and in them He is seen.”…Bl John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
PRAYER – Lord God, whose name is holy and whose mercy is proclaimed in every generation, send forth Your Spirit into our hearts and grant that, faithfully pondering on all that is holy, we may ever live in the splendour of Your presence. Listen we beseech You, to the prayers we request from St Athanasius and St Antoninus, to help us on this earthly journey. We make our prayer through Christ, Your Son our Lord and Saviour, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever amen.
Thought for the Day – 1 May – Devotion for May – the Month of Mary
“God wills that all his gifts should come to us through Mary” (St Bernard)
It was in Rome, towards the end of the eighteenth century, one fine evening in May. A child of the poor gathered his companions around him and led them to a statue of Mary, before which a lamp was burning, as is the custom in that holy city. There, these fresh young voices sang the Litany of our Lady. The next day, the little group, followed by other children, again gathered at the feet of the Mother of God. Next came their mothers, to join the little assembly. Soon, other groups were formed and the devotion rapidly became popular. Holy souls, troubled by the disorderly conduct which always increases and becomes graver at the return of the pleasant springtime, saw in these growing practices the hand of God and they co-operated with the designs of Providence by approving and promoting this new devotion, as a public and solemn act of reparation. The Month of Mary was founded….A Carthusian, A Month with Mary
“This is the month in which, in the churches and individual homes, the most affectionate and fervent homage of prayers and devotions from the hearts of Christians are raised to Mary. It is also the month in which from His throne descend upon us the most generous and abundant gifts of the Divine Mercy.”….St Pope Paul VI, The Month of Mary,1967.
In our own times, we Catholics, wanting to be close to her always, offer her special presents in May – pilgrimages, visits to churches dedicated to her, little sacrifices in her honour, periods of study and well-finished work offered up to her and a more attentive recitation of the rosary….
MARY: THE MOTHER OF GOD
“When the Blessed Virgin said yes, freely, to the plans revealed to her by the Creator, the divine Word assumed a human nature — a rational soul and a body — which was formed in the most pure womb of Mary. The divine nature and the human were united in a single Person – Jesus Christ, true God and, thenceforth, true man, the only begotten and eternal son of the Father and from that moment on, as man, the true son of Mary. This is why our Lady is the mother of the Incarnate Word, of the second person of the Blessed Trinity, who has united our human nature to Himself forever, without any confusion of the two natures. The greatest praise we can give to the Blessed Virgin is to address her loudly and clearly by the name that expresses her very highest dignity: ‘Mother of God’.”
Let us offer to our Mother today:
Brief but frequent prayers of love, such as:
“Mother of God, your petitions are most powerful.”
St Josemaria Escriva – “Mother of God and Our Mother,” Friends of God, 274.
May Magnificat
Poem by Fr Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (1844-1889)
May is Mary’s month and I Muse at that and wonder why: Her feasts follow reason, Dated due to season—
Candlemas, Lady Day But the Lady Month, May, Why fasten that upon her, With a feasting in her honour?
Is it only its being brighter Than the most are must delight her? Is it opportunest And flowers finds soonest?
Ask of her, the mighty mother: Her reply puts this other Question: What is Spring?— Growth in every thing—
Flesh and fleece, fur and feather, Grass and greenworld all together, Star-eyed strawberry-breasted Throstle above her nested
Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin Forms and warms the life within, And bird and blossom swell In sod or sheath or shell.
All things rising, all things sizing Mary sees, sympathising With that world of good, Nature’s motherhood.
Their magnifying of each its kind With delight calls to mind How she did in her stored Magnify the Lord.
Well but there was more than this: Spring’s universal bliss Much, had much to say To offering Mary May.
When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple Bloom lights the orchard-apple And thicket and thorp are merry With silver-surfed cherry
And azuring-over greybell makes Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes And magic cuckoocall Caps, clears, and clinches all—
This ecstasy all through mothering earth Tells Mary her mirth till Christ’s birth To remember and exultation In God who was her salvation.
Quote/s of the Day – 1 May – Wednesday of the Second week of Easter, the first day of Mary’s Month and the Memorial of St Joseph the Worker, Gospel: John 3:16–21
“Sanctity, for the vast majority of people, implies sanctifying their work, sanctifying themselves in it and sanctifying others through it.”
“It is no good offering to God, something that is less perfect than our poor human limitations permit. The work that we offer, must be without blemish and it must be done as carefully as possible, even in its smallest details, for God will not accept shoddy workmanship. ‘Thou shalt not offer anything that is faulty,’ Holy Scripture warns us, ‘because it would not be worthy of him.’ For that reason, the work of each one of us, the activities that take up our time and energy, must be an offering worthy of our Creator. It must be operatio Dei, a work of God, that is done for God – in short, a task that is complete and faultless.”
St Josemaria Escrivá (1902-1975)
“A spirituality must be lived that will help believers to sanctify themselves through their work, imitating St Joseph, who everyday, had to provide for the needs of the Holy Family with his hands and who because of this, the Church indicates as patron of workers.”
One Minute Reflection – 1 May – Wednesday of the Second week of Easter, the first day of Mary’s Month and the Memorial of St Joseph the Worker, Gospel: John 3:16–21
“But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.”…John 3:21
REFLECTION – “In the evening, when the Bishop is present, the deacon carries in the lamp. And standing in the midst of all the faithful who are there, he will offer thanksgiving. First of all he says the greeting: “The Lord be with you,” and the people respond: “And with your spirit.” – Then he says: “Let us give thanks to the Lord” and they reply: “It is right and just. To Him be the greatness and supremacy together with the glory”… Then he will pray thus, saying:
“We give you thanks, Lord, through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom you enlighten us by revealing the light that never dims. Since day is spent and we have now reached evening, filled with the light of the day you created for our joy and since, through your grace, we do not now lack the light of evening, we praise and glorify you through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom to you be glory and power and honour, with the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and through all ages. Amen.” And everyone will say: “Amen.”
In this way, after the meal, all will stand in prayer. The children say psalms as also the virgins.”…St Hippolytus of Rome (c 170– c 235) Priest and Martyr – Apostolic Tradition, 25
PRAYER – Shed your clear light on our hearts, Lord, so that walking continually in the way of Your commandments, we may never be deceived or misled. Your ways are not our ways, teach us to willingly agree to them, for You know which way we should go. Help us to say “yes” always to Your plan and to render ourselves as a sacrament of Your divine love to all we meet. Fill us with the grace to be your tools to bring glory to Your kingdom. St Joseph, silent and loving husband and father, as you worked for and protected your family on earth, protect us all now in the Church of Your adopted son. Through Him, our Our Lord Jesus Christ with You, in the union of the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Quote of the Day – Lepanto – 30 April – Tuesday of the Second week of Easter and the Memorial of St Pope Pius V OP (1504-1572), The Pope of Lepanto
Lepanto
BY G K CHESTERTON (1874-1936)
White founts falling in the courts of the sun,
And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run.
There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared,
It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard,
It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips,
For the inmost sea of all the earth is shaken with his ships.
They have dared the white republics up the capes of Italy,
They have dashed the Adriatic round the Lion of the Sea,
And the Pope has cast his arms abroad for agony and loss,
And called the kings of Christendom for swords about the Cross,
The cold queen of England is looking in the glass.
The shadow of the Valois is yawning at the Mass.
From evening isles fantastical rings faint the Spanish gun,
And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun.
Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard,
Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred,
Where, risen from a doubtful seat and half attainted stall,
The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall,
The last and lingering troubadour to whom the bird has sung,
That once went singing southward when all the world was young,
In that enormous silence, tiny and unafraid,
Comes up along a winding road the noise of the Crusade.
Strong gongs groaning as the guns boom far, Don John of Austria is going to the war,
Stiff flags straining in the night-blasts cold
In the gloom black-purple, in the glint old-gold,
Torchlight crimson on the copper kettle-drums,
Then the tuckets, then the trumpets, then the cannon, and he comes.
Don John laughing in the brave beard curled,
Spurning of his stirrups like the thrones of all the world,
Holding his head up for a flag of all the free.
Love-light of Spain—hurrah!
Death-light of Africa!
Don John of Austria
Is riding to the sea.
Mahound is in his paradise above the evening star, (Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
He moves a mighty turban on the timeless houri’s knees,
His turban that is woven of the sunset and the seas.
He shakes the peacock gardens as he rises from his ease,
And he strides among the tree-tops and is taller than the trees,
And his voice through all the garden is a thunder sent to bring
Black Azrael and Ariel and Ammon on the wing.
Giants and the Genii,
Multiplex of wing and eye,
Whose strong obedience broke the sky
When Solomon was king.
They rush in red and purple from the red clouds of the morn,
From temples where the yellow gods shut up their eyes in scor,
They rise in green robes roaring from the green hells of the sea
Where fallen skies and evil hues and eyeless creatures be,
On them the sea-valves cluster and the grey sea-forests curl,
Splashed with a splendid sickness, the sickness of the pearl,
They swell in sapphire smoke out of the blue cracks of the ground,—
They gather and they wonder and give worship to Mahound.
And he saith, “Break up the mountains where the hermit-folk can hide,
And sift the red and silver sands lest bone of saint abide,
And chase the Giaours flying night and day, not giving rest,
For that which was our trouble comes again out of the west.
We have set the seal of Solomon on all things under sun,
Of knowledge and of sorrow and endurance of things done,
But a noise is in the mountains, in the mountains, and I know
The voice that shook our palaces—four hundred years ago:
It is he that saith not ‘Kismet’; it is he that knows not Fate,
It is Richard, it is Raymond, it is Godfrey in the gate!
It is he whose loss is laughter when he counts the wager worth,
Put down your feet upon him, that our peace be on the earth.”
For he heard drums groaning and he heard guns jar, (Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
Sudden and still—hurrah!
Bolt from Iberia!
Don John of Austria
Is gone by Alcalar.
St Michael’s on his mountain in the sea-roads of the north (Don John of Austria is girt and going forth.)
Where the grey seas glitter and the sharp tides shift
And the sea folk labour and the red sails lift.
He shakes his lance of iron and he claps his wings of stone,
The noise is gone through Normandy; the noise is gone alone;
The North is full of tangled things and texts and aching eyes
And dead is all the innocence of anger and surprise,
And Christian killeth Christian in a narrow dusty room,
And Christian dreadeth Christ that hath a newer face of doom,
And Christian hateth Mary that God kissed in Galilee,
But Don John of Austria is riding to the sea.
Don John calling through the blast and the eclipse
Crying with the trumpet, with the trumpet of his lips,
Trumpet that sayeth ha! Domino gloria!
Don John of Austria
Is shouting to the ships.
King Philip’s in his closet with the Fleece about his neck (Don John of Austria is armed upon the deck.)
The walls are hung with velvet that is black and soft as sin,
And little dwarfs creep out of it and little dwarfs creep in.
He holds a crystal phial that has colours like the moon,
He touches, and it tingles, and he trembles very soon,
And his face is as a fungus of a leprous white and grey
Like plants in the high houses that are shuttered from the day,
And death is in the phial, and the end of noble work,
But Don John of Austria has fired upon the Turk.
Don John’s hunting, and his hounds have bayed—
Booms away past Italy the rumour of his raid
Gun upon gun, ha! ha!
Gun upon gun, hurrah!
Don John of Austria
Has loosed the cannonade.
The Pope was in his chapel before day or battle broke, (Don John of Austria is hidden in the smoke.)
The hidden room in man’s house where God sits all the year,
The secret window whence the world looks small and very dear.
He sees as in a mirror on the monstrous twilight sea
The crescent of his cruel ships whose name is mystery.
They fling great shadows foe-wards, making Cross and Castle dark,
They veil the plumèd lions on the galleys of St Mark
And above the ships are palaces of brown, black-bearded chiefs,
And below the ships are prisons, where with multitudinous griefs,
Christian captives sick and sunless, all a labouring race repines
Like a race in sunken cities, like a nation in the mines.
They are lost like slaves that sweat, and in the skies of morning hung
The stair-ways of the tallest gods when tyranny was young.
They are countless, voiceless, hopeless as those fallen or fleeing on
Before the high Kings’ horses in the granite of Babylon.
And many a one grows witless in his quiet room in hell
Where a yellow face looks inward through the lattice of his cell,
And he finds his God forgotten, and he seeks no more a sign— (But Don John of Austria has burst the battle-line!)
Don John pounding from the slaughter-painted poop,
Purpling all the ocean like a bloody pirate’s sloop,
Scarlet running over on the silvers and the golds,
Breaking of the hatches up and bursting of the holds,
Thronging of the thousands up that labour under sea
White for bliss and blind for sun and stunned for liberty. Vivat Hispania! Domino Gloria!
Don John of Austria
Has set his people free!
Cervantes on his galley sets the sword back in the sheath (Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.)
And he sees across a weary land a straggling road in Spain,
Up which a lean and foolish knight forever rides in vain,
And he smiles, but not as Sultans smile and settles back the blade…. (But Don John of Austria rides home from the Crusade.)
One Minute Reflection – 30 April – Tuesday of the Second week of Easter and the Feast of Our Lady, Mother of Africa (1840) and the Memorial of St Pope Pius V OP (1504-1572), The Pope of Lepanto
“…So that everyone who believes, may have eternal life in him”…John 3:15
REFLECTION –
“My Lord, God,
You have led me by a long, dark path,
Rocky and hard.
Often my strength threatened to fail me.
I almost lost all hope of seeing the light.
But when my heart grew numb with deepest grief,
A clear star rose for me.
Steadfast it guided me- I followed,
At first reluctant, but more confidently later.
At last I stood at Church’s gate.
It opened. I sought admission.
From Your priest’s mouth Your blessing greets me.
Within me stars are strung like pearls.
Red blossom stars show me the path to You.
They wait for You at Holy Night.
But Your goodness
Allows them to illuminate my path to You.
They lead me on.
The secret which I had to keep in hiding
Deep in my heart,
Now I can shout it out:
I believe-I profess!
The priest accompanies me to the altar:
I bend my face-
Holy water flows over my head.
Lord, is it possible that someone who is past
Midlife can be reborn (Jn 3:4)?
You said so and for me it was fulfilled,
A long life’s burden of guilt and suffering
Fell away from me.
Erect I receive the white cloak,
Which they place round my shoulders,
Radiant image of purity!
In my hand I hold a candle.
Its flame makes known
That deep within me glows Your holy life.
My heart has become Your manger,
Awaiting You,
But not for long!
Maria, Your mother and also mine
Has given me her name.
At midnight she will place her newborn child
Into my heart.
Ah, no-one’s heart can fathom,
What You’ve in store for those who love You (1Cor 2:9).
Now You are mine and I won’t let You go.
Wherever my life’s road may lead,
You are with me.
Nothing can ever part me from Your love (Rm 8:39).”
St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross [Edith Stein] OCD (1891-1942) Martyr
PRAYER – True Light of the world, Lord Jesus Christ, as You enlighten all men for their salvation, give us grace, we pray, to herald Your coming, by preparing the ways of justice and of peace. May the intercession of Your Mother and our Mother of Africa and St Pope Pius V, assist us on our journey to You. Who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever, amen.
Thought for the Day – 29 April – Monday of the Second week of Easter, Year C and the Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
I tasted and I saw
Saint Catherine of Siena OP (1347-1380)
Doctor of the Church
An excerpt from Dialogue on Divine Providence
With a look of mercy that revealed His indescribable kindness, God the Father spoke to Catherine:
“Eternal God, eternal Trinity, You have made the blood of Christ so precious through His sharing in Your divine nature. You are a mystery as deep as the sea, the more I search, the more I find and the more I find, the more I search for You. But I can never be satisfied, what I receive, will ever leave me desiring more. When You fill my soul I have an even greater hunger and I grow more famished for Your Light. I desire above all to see You, the true Light, as You really are.
I have tasted and seen the depth of Your mystery and the beauty of Your creation with the light of my understanding. I have clothed myself with Your likeness and have seen what I shall be. Eternal Father, You have given me a share in Your power and the wisdom, that Christ claims as His own and Your Holy Spirit has given me, the desire to love You. You are my Creator, eternal Trinity and I am Your creature. You have made of me a new creation in the blood of Your Son and I know, that You are moved with love, at the beauty of Your creation, for You have enlightened me.
Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being. Yes, You are a fire that takes away the coldness, illuminates the mind with its Light and causes me to know Your truth. By this Light, reflected as it were in a mirror, I recognise that You are the highest good, one we can neither comprehend nor fathom. And I know, that You are beauty and wisdom itself. The food of angels, You gave Yourself to man, in the fire of Your love.
You are the garment which covers our nakedness and in our hunger, You are a satisfying food, for You are sweetness and in You there is no taste of bitterness, O triune God! Amen”
Quote/s of the Day – 29 April – Monday of the Second week of Easter, Year C and the Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
“What is it you want to change? Your hair, your face, your body? Why? For God is in love with all those things and He might weep when they are gone!”
“All the way to heaven IS heaven because Jesus said, “I am the way.”
“Speak the truth in a million voices. It is silence that kills!”
“Turn over the rudder in God’s name and sail with the wind, heaven sends us.”
St Catherine of Siena OP (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
More St Catherine quotes here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/29/quote-s-of-the-day-29-april-fifth-sunday-of-eastertide-and-the-memorial-of-st-catherine-of-siena-1347-1380-doctor-of-the-church/
One Minute Reflection – 29 April – Monday of the Second week of Easter, Year C, Gospel: John 3:1–8 and the Memorial of St Peter of Verona OP (1205–1252)
“…that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”...John 3:6
REFLECTION – “We read in Saint John – No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. To be reborn in the Holy Spirit during this life is to become most like God in purity, without any mixture of imperfection. Accordingly, pure transformation can be effected – although not essentially – through the participation of union.
Here is an example that will provide a better understanding of this explanation. A ray of sunlight shining on a smudgy window, is unable to illumine that window completely and transform it into its own light. It could do this, if the window were cleaned and polished… The extent of illumination is not dependent on the ray of sunlight but on the window. If the window is totally clean and pure, the sunlight will so transform and illumine it, that to all appearances the window will be identical with the ray of sunlight and shine just as the sun’s ray. Although, obviously, the nature of the window is distinct from that of the sun’s ray, even if the two seem identical, we can assert, that the window is the ray or light of the sun by participation.
The soul on which the divine light of God’s being is ever shining, or better, in which it is ever dwelling by nature, is like this window. A soul makes room for God by wiping away all the smudges and smears of creatures, by uniting its will perfectly to God’s, for to love is to labour, to divest and deprive oneself for God, of all that is not God. When this is done, the soul will be illumined by and transformed in God.”…St John of the Cross (1542-1591) Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Almighty God and Father, grant that Your faithful people who were buried with Your Son in baptism, may by His Resurrection and intercession at Your right hand, obtain for us eternal life. Send Your Spirit upon Your adopted children and lead us in Your way. Grant that by the intercession of St Peter of Verona, our path may be straightened and glow with Your light. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Thought for the Day – 28 April – Low Sunday the Octave Day of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, Gospel: John 20:19–31
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. “...John 20:21-22
Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Bishop of Geneva and Doctor of the Church
First Sermon for Pentecost
‘He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit” ‘
Lord Jesus Christ, once again grant that of us, too, there may be but “one heart and mind” (Acts 4:32) for then there will be “a great calm” (Mk 4:39). My dear listeners, I exhort you to good will and kindness to one another and peace with all. For were we to have charity among ourselves, we would have both peace and the Holy Spirit. Let us undertake to become devout and pray to God… since the apostles persevered in prayer… If we set ourselves to fervent prayer then the Holy Spirit will enter us and say: “Peace be with you! It is I; be not afraid” (cf. Mk 6:50)… And what ought we to ask God for, my brethren? For all that is for His honour and the salvation of your souls and, in a word, for the help of the Holy Spirit – “Send forth your Spirit and they will be created” (Ps 104[103]:30) – peace and tranquillity…
We are to ask for this peace so that the Spirit of peace may come down on us. We should give thanks to God, too, for all His blessings if we want Him to grant us those victories that are the beginning of peace. And to obtain the Holy Spirit we should give thanks to God the Father for having first of all sent Him upon our Head, Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and His Son… – for “from his fullness we have all received” (cf. Jn 1:16) – and for having sent Him upon His apostles that through their hands they might pass Him onto us. We should give thanks to the Son – as God, He sends the Spirit upon those who prepare themselves to receive Him. But, most especially, we should thank Him because, as man, He merited for us, the grace of receiving this divine Spirit…
And how has Jesus Christ merited the Holy Spirit’s coming? When “bowing his head, he gave up his spirit” (Jn 19:30), for, when He gave breathed His last and handed over His spirit to the Father, He merited the Father’s sending His Spirit upon His mystical body.
Quote of the Day – 28 April – Low Sunday the Octave Day of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday
“Oh, how great, is the goodness of God, greater than we can understand. There are moments and there are mysteries, of the Divine Mercy over which, the heavens are astounded. Let our judgement of souls cease, for God’s mercy upon them, is extraordinary.”
One Minute Reflection – 28 April – Low Sunday the Octave Day of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, Gospel: John 20:19–31
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”…John 20:21–23
REFLECTION – “This Sunday, … concludes the week or, more properly, the “Octave” of Easter, which the liturgy considers as a single day: “the day which the Lord has made” (Ps 117[116]: 24). It is not a chronological but a spiritual time, which God opened in the sequence of days when He raised Christ from the dead. The Creator Spirit, infusing new and eternal life in the buried body of Jesus of Nazareth, carried to completion the work of creation, giving origin to a “firstfruits” – the firstfruits of a new humanity, which at the same time is a firstfruits of a new world and a new era.
This world renewal can be summed up in a single phrase, the same one that the Risen Jesus spoke to his disciples as a greeting and even more, as an announcement of his victory: “Peace be with you!” (Lk 24: 36; Jn 20: 19, 21, 26).
Peace is the gift that Christ left his friends (see Jn 14: 27) as a blessing destined for all men and women and all peoples. It is not a peace according to a “worldly” mentality, as an equilibrium of forces but a new reality, fruit of God’s Love, of His Mercy. It is the peace that Jesus Christ earned, by the price of His Blood and communicates to those who trust in Him.
“Jesus, I trust in you” these words summarise the faith of the Christian, which is faith in the omnipotence of God’s merciful Love.”…Pope Benedict XVI – REGINA CÆLI – Second Sunday of Easter, 15 April 2007
PRAYER – Almighty Father, grant we pray that with Mary’s help, Mater Misericordiae, Mother of Jesus who is the incarnation of Divine Mercy, that we become renewed in the Spirit, in order to cooperate in the work of peace which You are accomplishing in the world and which is not just talk, but which is actualised in the countless gestures of charity by all his sons and daughters. Grant we pray, that we taste the beauty of the encounter with the Risen Lord and draw from the source of His merciful love, to be apostles of His peace. Through Christ, Redeemer and Merciful Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God for always and forever, amen.
Sunday Reflection – 28 April – Low Sunday the Octave Day of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday
Fr Benedict Groeschel CFR (1933-2014)
O Lord Jesus Christ, how am I to prepare myself to attend that holy sacrifice, which You began at Your Last Supper and which You consummated on Calvary?
That eternal Eucharist begun in sorrow and agony continues, not simply to the end of the world but throughout all eternity. It is, the eternal act of obedience and love that You, as the head of our whole human race, offered to the Trinity, even to Yourself, in Your divinity. These mysteries are completely beyond me. Yet I know, they are true because You revealed them.
Soon, in the person of a priest, a poor human being, Your divine words will be spoken and each of us, at this Mass, will be lifted beyond this place and be part of the heavenly choirs and the eternal divine liturgy. How dare we think that we, creatures of earth, could participate in such a thing! We believe it, because this liturgy began here on earth. From the very first moment of Your existence, as a human being, the altar was prepared, the linens were laid on the altar. Throughout Your earthly life, You laboured in the preaching of the Gospel and in calling the faithful to prayer. Then, at the supreme moment of Your earthly existence, You offered Yourself in total obedience and sacrifice to the Father, for all the world. Your glorious Resurrection and Ascension, point beyond the Cross and beyond the tomb and remind us that this Eucharist, is not only a memorial but an everlasting participation in Your divine and heavenly worship, as priest of the new covenant.
O Lord, give me Your Holy Spirit, that my heart may be lifted up in this Mass, that I may be in one of the choirs that join with You, that I may take my place prayerfully and in reverent attention, with the billions of saints, with the great choirs of angels, with the army of holy souls on their pilgrimage and with all the devout and struggling Christians in the world. Let this Mass be the beginning of a new moment in my life, one step closer to You. May I be encouraged by this sacred meal, to know that You will go with me in the wilderness of life, that You will sustain me so that I may, in fact, not only pray as one of those united to You but, that I may live and act, so that it may indeed be true, that I live, no longer I but You, who live in me. Amen, alleluia!
O Sacrament most holy O Sacrament divine, All praise and all thanks giving, Be very moment Thine.+
Jesus, I love You with all my heart. I wish to love You more every day. Thank You for being with me in this most Holy Sacrament.
Quote of the Day – 27 April – Saturday of Easter week
“The life of each and every one of us has been written. The crucifix is my autobiography. The blood is the ink. The nails the pen. The skin the parchment. On every line of that body, I can trace my life. In the crown of thorns I can read my pride. In the hands that are dug with nails, I can read avarice and greed. In the flesh hanging from him like purple rags, I can read my lust. In feet that are fettered, I can find the times that I ran away and would not let Him follow. Any sin that you can think of is written there.”
One Minute Reflection – 27 April – Saturday of Easter week, Gospel: Mark 16:9–15
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation...Mark 16:15
REFLECTION – “Evangelisation takes place in obedience to the missionary mandate of Jesus: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20)… The risen Christ sent His followers to preach the Gospel in every time and place, so that faith in Him might spread to every corner of the earth.
The word of God constantly shows us how God challenges those who believe in Him “to go forth”. Abraham received the call to set out for a new land (Gen 12:1-3). Moses heard God’s call: “Go, I send you” (Ex 3:10) and led the people towards the promised land. To Jeremiah God says: “To all whom I send you, you shall go” (Jer 1:7)… All of us are called to take part in this new missionary “going forth”. Each Christian and every community must discern the path that the Lord points out but all of us are asked to obey His call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the “peripheries” in need of the light of the Gospel.
The Gospel joy which enlivens the community of disciples is a missionary joy. The seventy-two disciples felt it as they returned from their mission (Lk 10:17). Jesus felt it when He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit… This joy is a sign that the Gospel has been proclaimed and is bearing fruit. Yet the drive to go forth and give, to go out from ourselves, to keep pressing forward in our sowing of the good seed, remains ever present. The Lord says: “Let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out” (Mk 1:38)… In fidelity to the example of the Master, it is vitally important, for the Church today to go forth and preach the Gospel to all – to all places, on all occasions, without hesitation, reluctance or fear.”…Pope Francis – Apostolic Exhortation « The Joy of the Gospel / Evangelii Gaudium » §19-23
PRAYER – Lord our God, You increase and multiply Your faithful by Your abundant gift of grace. Look now on Your chosen people and clothe forever in the garment of eternal life, all those who have been reborn in baptism. Grant that the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, the saints and angels, may accompany us on our journey. Through our Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Thought for the Day – 26 April – Friday in the Octave of Easter
The Anointing with the Holy Spirit
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387)
Bishop, Father & Doctor of the Church
An excerpt from his Mystagogical Catechesis 3
When we were baptised into Christ and clothed ourselves in Him, we were transformed into the likeness of the Son of God. Having destined us to be His adopted sons, God gave us a likeness to Christ in His glory and living as we do, in communion with Christ, God’s anointed, we ourselves are rightly called “the anointed ones.” When He said: Do not touch my anointed ones, God was speaking of us.
We became “the anointed ones” when we received the sign of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, everything took place in us by means of images, because we ourselves are images of Christ. Christ bathed in the river Jordan, imparting to its waters the fragrance of His divinity and, when He came up from them, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, like resting upon like. So we also, after coming up from the sacred waters of baptism, were anointed with chrism, which signifies the Holy Spirit, by whom Christ was anointed and of whom blessed Isaiah prophesied in the name of the Lord – The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor.
Christ’s anointing was not by human hands, nor was it with ordinary oil. On the contrary, having destined Him to be the Saviour of the whole world, the Father Himself anointed Him with the Holy Spirit. The words of Peter bear witness to this – Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit. And David the prophet proclaimed: Your throne, O God, shall endure for ever; your royal sceptre is a sceptre of justice. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above all your fellows.
The oil of gladness with which Christ was anointed was a spiritual oil, it was in fact the Holy Spirit Himself, who is called the oil of gladness, because He is the source of spiritual joy. But we too have been anointed with oil and by this anointing, we have entered into fellowship with Christ and have received a share in His life. Beware of thinking that this holy oil is simply ordinary oil and nothing else. After the invocation of the Spirit it is no longer ordinary oil but the gift of Christ and by the presence of His divinity, it becomes the instrument, through which we receive the Holy Spirit. While symbolically, on our foreheads and senses, our bodies are anointed with this oil that we see, our souls are sanctified by the holy and life-giving Spirit.
Quote/s of the Day – 26 April – Friday of Easter week and the Memorial of St Rafael Arnáiz Barón OCSO (1911-1938)
“…only the Cross of Christ sheds light on the path of this life…. God is in the detached heart, in the silence of prayer, in the voluntary sacrifice to pain, in the emptiness of the world and its creatures. God is in the Cross and, as long as we do not love the Cross, we will not see Him, or feel Him…. If the world and men knew…. But they will not know, they are very busy in their interests, their hearts are very full of things that are not God.”
“How good God is, I thought! There is peace everywhere except in the human heart. …God is so good to me that, in the silence, He speaks to my heart and teaches me, little by little, sometimes in tears, always with the cross, to detach myself from creatures, not to look for perfection except in Him …”
St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us, who are being saved, it is the power of God…
Thought for the Day – 25 April – Thursday in the Octave of Easter
Congratulations to those who entered the Church through the Sacraments of Initiation, (Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion) at the Easter Vigil. You are now members with us, in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Welcome Home!
Baptism is a symbol of Christ’s passion
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387)
Bishop, Father, Doctor of the Church
An excerpt from his Mystagogical Catechesis 3
You were led down to the font of holy baptism just as Christ was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb which is before your eyes. Each of you was asked, “Do you believe in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?” You made the profession of faith that brings salvation, you were plunged into the water and three times you rose again. This symbolised the three days Christ spent in the tomb.
As our Saviour spent three days and three nights in the depths of the earth, so your first rising from the water represented the first day and your first immersion represented the first night. At night a man cannot see but in the day he walks in the light. So when you were immersed in the water, it was like night for you and you could not see but when you rose again, it was like coming into broad daylight In the same instant, you died and were born again, the saving water was both your tomb and your mother.
Solomon’s phrase in another context is very apposite here. He spoke of a time to give birth and a time to die. For you, however, it was the reverse – a time to die and a time to be born, although, in fact, both events took place at the same time and your birth was simultaneous with your death.
This is something amazing and unheard of! It was not we who actually died, were buried and rose again. We only did these things symbolically but we have been saved in actual fact. It is Christ who was crucified, who was buried and who rose again and all this has been attributed to us. We share in His sufferings symbolically and gain salvation in reality. What boundless love for men! Christ’s undefiled hands were pierced by the nails, He suffered the pain. I experience no pain, no anguish, yet, by the share that I have in His sufferings, He freely grants me salvation.
Let no one imagine that baptism consists only in the forgiveness of sins and in the grace of adoption. Our baptism is not like the baptism of John, which conferred only the forgiveness of sins. We know perfectly well that baptism, besides washing away our sins and bringing us the gift of the Holy Spirit, is a symbol of the sufferings of Christ. This is why Paul exclaims: Do you not know that when we were baptised into Christ Jesus we were, by that very action, sharing in His death? By baptism we went with Him into the tomb.
One Minute Reflection – 25 April – Thursday of Easter week, Gospel: Luke 24:35–48 and the Memorial of St Mark the Evangelist and St Giovanni Battista Piamarta (1841 – 1913)
As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”…Luke 24:36
REFLECTION – “Rebellious people had chased peace from the earth… and thrown the world into its primordial chaos… Among the disciples as well, war was waging, faith and doubt fought furious assaults on one another… Where a storm was raging, their hearts could find no peaceful harbour, no calm port.
At the sight of that Christ who plumbs the hearts, who commands the winds, who is master over tempests and who with a simple sign changes the storm into a serene sky, strengthened them with his peace, saying: “Peace be with you!
It is I, fear not.
It is I, who was crucified, who was dead, who was buried.
It is I, your God become man for you.
It is I. Not a spirit clothed with a body but truth itself become man.
It is I, the living one among the dead, who have come from heaven to the heart of hell.
It is I, before whom death fled, whom hell feared. In its terror, hell proclaimed me to be God. Do not be afraid, Peter, you who denied me, nor you, John, who fled, nor all of you who abandoned me, who thought of nothing but betraying me, who do not yet believe in me, even though you see me.
Do not be afraid, it really is I.
I have called you with grace,
I have chosen you with forgiveness,
I have upheld you with my compassion,
I have carried you in my love and I am taking you today solely because of my kindness.”...St Peter Chrysologus (400-450) Father & Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Lord God, let there be one faith in our hearts, one love for You, one Way in You, for You are the One Truth and the only Way. We linger in Your light and beg Your unending kindness. Grant that by the prayers of Your saints we may obtain Your strength. St Mark, pray for us. St Giovanni Piamarta, pray for us. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God for always and forever, amen.
Thought for the Day – 24 April – Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
Christ the source of resurrection and life
“This is the Day!”
Ancient Christian Author
Anonymous
An excerpt from an Easter Homily
Saint Paul rejoices in the knowledge that spiritual health has been restored to the human race. Death entered the world through Adam, he explains but life has been given back to the world through Christ. Again he says – The first man, being from the earth, is earthly by nature, the second man is from heaven and is heavenly. As we have borne the image of the earthly man, the image of human nature grown old in sin, so let us bear the image of the heavenly man, human nature raised up, redeemed, restored and purified in Christ. We must hold fast to the salvation we have received. Christ was the first fruits, says the Apostle, He is the source of resurrection and life. Those who belong to Christ will follow Him. Modelling their lives on His purity, they will be secure in the hope of His resurrection and of enjoying with Him the glory promised in heaven. Our Lord Himself said so in the gospe -: Whoever follows me will not perish but will pass from death to life.
Thus the passion of our Saviour is the salvation of mankind. The reason why He desired to die for us was that He wanted us, who believe in Him, to live forever. In the fullness of time, it was His will to become what we are, so that we might inherit the eternity He promised and live with Him forever.
Here, then, is the grace conferred by these heavenly mysteries, the gift which Easter brings, the most longed for feast of the year, here are the beginnings of creatures newly formed – children born from the life-giving font of holy Church, born anew with the simplicity of little ones and crying out with the evidence of a clean conscience. Chaste fathers and inviolate mothers accompany this new family, countless in number, born to new life through faith. As they emerge from the grace-giving womb of the font, a blaze of candles burns brightly beneath the tree of faith. The Easter festival brings the grace of holiness from heaven to men. Through the repeated celebration of the sacred mysteries they receive the spiritual nourishment of the sacraments. Fostered at the very heart of holy Church, the fellowship of one community, worships the one God, adoring the triple name of His essential holiness and together with the prophet, sings the psalm which belongs to this yearly festival –
This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.
And what is this day? It is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the author of light, who brings the sunrise and the beginning of life, saying of Himself – I am the light of day, whoever walks in daylight does not stumble. That is to say, whoever follows Christ in all things will come by this path to the throne of eternal light.
Such was the prayer Christ made to the Father while He was still on earth – Father, I desire that where I am, they also may be, those who have come to believe in me and that as you are in me and I in you, so they may abide in us.
Quote/s of the Day – 24 April – Wednesday of Easter week and the Memorial of St Fidelis of Sigmaringen OFM.Cap. (1577-1622) and St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868)
“Woe to me if I should prove myself but a half-hearted soldier in the service of my thorn-crowned Captain.”
“What made the holy apostles and martyrs endure fierce agony and bitter torments, except faith and especially faith in the resurrection? What is it that today makes true followers of Christ cast luxuries aside, leave pleasures behind and endure difficulties and pain? It is a living faith that expresses itself through love. It is this that makes us put aside the goods of the present in the hope of future goods. It is because of faith that we exchange the present for the future.”
St Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1577-1622)
“May your heart be an altar, from which the bright flame, of unending thanksgiving ascends to heaven.”
“Draw near to our Lord, thoroughly aware of you own nothingness and you may hope all things from His Goodness and Mercy. Never forget that Jesus Christ is no less generous in the Blessed Sacrament than He was during His mortal life on earth.”
O my God, may every beat of my heart, be a prayer, to obtain grace and pardon for sinners. May all my sighs, be so many appeals to Your infinite mercy. May each look, have the virtue, to gain to Your love, those souls, whom I shall look on. May the food of my life, be to work without ceasing for Your glory and the salvation of souls. Amen
One Minute Reflection – 24 April – Wednesday of Easter week, Gospel: Luke 24:13–35 and the Memorial of St Benedict Menni (1841-1914)
“Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them....Luke 24:29
REFLECTION – “When the disciples on the way to Emmaus asked Jesus to stay “with” them, He responded by giving them a much greater gift, through the Sacrament of the Eucharist He found a way to stay “in” them.
Receiving the Eucharist means entering into a profound communion with Jesus. “Abide in me, and I in you” (Jn 15:4). This relationship of profound and mutual “abiding” enables us to have a certain foretaste of heaven on earth. Is this not the greatest of human yearnings? Is this not what God had in mind when He brought about in history His plan of salvation? God has placed in human hearts a “hunger” for His word (cf. Am 8:11), a hunger which will be satisfied only by full union with Him. Eucharistic communion was given, so that we might be “sated” with God here on earth, in expectation of our complete fulfilment in heaven.
This special closeness which comes about in Eucharistic “communion” cannot be adequately understood or fully experienced apart from ecclesial communion… The Church is the Body of Christ – we walk “with Christ” to the extent that we are in relationship “with his body”. Christ provided for the creation and growth of this unity, by the outpouring of His Holy Spirit. And He Himself, constantly builds it up by His Eucharistic presence. It is the one Eucharistic bread which makes us one body. As the Apostle Paul states: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1Cor 10:17)…Saint John Paul II (1920-2005) – Apostolic Letter “ Mane nobiscum Domine ” §19-20
PRAYER – Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.
Stay with me Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, so that I may not fall so often.
Stay with me Lord, for You are my life and without You, I am without fervour.
Stay with me Lord, for You are my light and without you, I am in darkness.
Stay with me Lord, to show me Your will.
Stay with me Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You…. St Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968) (Excerpt)
And grant holy Father, that the prayers of St Benedict Menni, may assist us on our way. Through Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God with You, forever, amen.
Christ is Risen! He is Truly Risen, Alleluia! – Thought for the day – 23 April – Tuesday of Easter Week
So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know, where they have laid him.”…John 20:2
“Church of men, Church of women”
By Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988)
In the Gospel, Mary of Magdala, the first person to see the open grave, rouses the two most important disciples – Peter (ecclesial office) and John (ecclesial love).
Both disciples run there “together” yet not together, for, unburdened by the cares borne by Office, Love runs faster. Yet Love yields to Office when it comes to examining the tomb and Peter thus becomes the first to view the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head and establish that no theft had occurred. That is enough to permit Love to enter, who “sees and believes” – not precisely in the Resurrection but in the correctness of all that has happened with Jesus. This is as far as the two symbolic representatives of the Church go – things have happened properly, faith in Jesus is justified, despite all the opaqueness of the situation.
It is the woman for whom this first turns into genuine belief in the Resurrection. She does not “go home” but perseveres at the place where the dead one disappeared, searching for Him.
The empty place becomes luminous, measured off by the two angels at the head and the foot. But this luminous emptiness is not enough for the Church’s love – the forgiven woman here, seems to represent the Woman herself, Mary the Mother, she has to have her one true Love. This she receives in Jesus’ call – “Mary!” With that, everything is more than complete – the sought after corpse is the eternally Living One. But she dare not hold Him, for He is on His way to the Father and earth ought not hold Him back. Instead it must consent. As it was with His Incarnation, so now with His return to the Father.
This Yes, turns into the happiness of the mission to the brethren, giving is more blessed than holding on.
The Church is Woman at her most profound depths, as woman she embraces both ecclesial office and ecclesial love, which belong together. “The woman will encompass the man” (Jer 31:22).
Quote/s of the Day – 23 April – the Memorial of Bl Teresa Maria of the Cross OCD (1846–1910)
Do you know what it means to be truly spiritual? It means becoming the slaves of God. Marked with His brand, which is that of the Cross, spiritual persons, because now, they have given Him, their liberty, can be sold by Him, as slaves of everyone, as He was. In acting this way, He doesn’t do us any harm but rather He grants us, a not insignificant grace.
We have always seen, that those who were closest to Christ our Lord, were those with the greatest trials. Let us look at what His glorious Mother suffered and the glorious apostles. Take up the Cross of Jesus. Help your Spouse to carry the burden that weighs Him down and pay no attention to what they may say about you. If you should happen to stumble and fall like your Spouse, do not withdraw from the Cross or abandon it. No matter how great your trials may be, you will see, that they are quite small, in comparison to His.
If we never look at Him or reflect on what we owe Him and the death He suffered for us, I don’t know how we’ll be able to know Him or serve Him. And without these works in His service, what value will our faith have? And what value will our works have, if they are separated, from the inestimable merits of Jesus Christ, our Good. And then, who will bring us to love this Lord?”
One Minute Reflection – 23 April – Tuesday of Easter week, First Reading: Acts 2:36-41and the Memorial of Bl Teresa Maria of the Cross OCD (1846–1910)
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptised every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit...Acts 2:36-38
REFLECTION – “Fix your eyes on the Crucified and everything will become easy for you. If His Majesty showed us His love by means of such works and frightful torments, how is it you want to please Him only with words?”…Bl Teresa Maria of the Cross (1846–1910)
PRAYER – Almighty, ever-living God, we confidently call You Father, as well as Lord. Renew Your Spirit in our hearts, make us ever more perfectly Your children. Grant that all who have received the grace of Baptism may strive to be worthy of their Christian calling and reject everything opposed to it. May the prayers of Bl Teresa Maria of the Cross (1846–1910), help us to grow in perseverance and strength as we follow in the way of the Cross.. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Christ is Risen! He is Truly Risen, Alleluia! – 22 April – Monday of Easter Week
The Easter praise of Christ
Saint Melito of Sardis (Died 180)
Apostolic Father of the Church, Bishop and Martyr
An excerpt from his Easter Homily
We should understand, beloved, that the paschal mystery is at once old and new, transitory and eternal, corruptible and incorruptible, mortal and immortal. In terms of the Law it is old, in terms of the Word it is new. In its figure it is passing, in its grace it is eternal. It is corruptible in the sacrifice of the lamb, incorruptible in the eternal life of the Lord . It is mortal in his burial in the earth, immortal in his resurrection from the dead.
The Law indeed is old but the Word is new. The type is transitory but grace is eternal. The lamb was corruptible but the Lord is incorruptible. He was slain as a lamb. he rose again as God. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, yet he was not a sheep. He was silent as a lamb, yet he was not a lamb. The type has passed away; the reality has come. The lamb gives place to God, the sheep gives place to a man and the man is Christ, who fills the whole of creation. The sacrifice of the lamb, the celebration of the Passover and the prescriptions of the Law have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Under the old Law and still more under the new dispensation, everything pointed toward Him.
Both the Law and the Word came forth from Zion and Jerusalem but now the Law has given place to the Word, the old to the new. The commandment has become grace, the type a reality. The lamb has become a Son, the sheep a man and man, God.
The Lord, though he was God, became man. He suffered for the sake of those who suffer, He was bound for those in bonds, condemned for the guilty, buried for those who lie in the grave but He rose from the dead and cried aloud: Who will contend with Me? Let him confront Me. I have freed the condemned, brought the dead back to life, raised men from their graves. Who has anything to say against Me? I, He said, am the Christ, I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one and taken men up to the heights of heaven – I am the Christ.
Come, then, all you nations of men, receive forgiveness for the sins that defile you. I am your forgiveness. I am the Passover that brings salvation. I am the lamb who was immolated for you. I am your ransom, your life, your resurrection, your light, I am your salvation and your king. I will bring you to the heights of heaven. With my own right hand I will raise you up and I will show you the eternal Father.
One Minute Reflection – 22 April – Monday of Easter Week, Gospel: Matthew 28:8–15
And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Hail!”...Matthew 28:9
REFLECTION –
At dawn you were mourned
By women bearing spices,
Grant that my heart may also shed
Tears of fire for your burning love.
By grace of the angel’s tidings
Shouted from the pinnacle of the rock (Mt 28,2),
Let me hear the last trumpet sound
Proclaiming the resurrection.
With your body born of a Virgin
You were raised from a tomb, virgin and new,
You became for us the first-fruits
And firstborn from the dead
As for me, bound by the Foe
With the evil of bodily sin,
Set me free once more
As you have freed souls in the dwelling of the dead (1Pt 3:19).
You revealed yourself in the garden
To Mary Magdalene,
But have not consented to approach
One who is yet part of a fallen race.
Show yourself also to me on the eighth day,
At the great and final dawn
And graciously grant my unworthy soul
To draw near you at that time.
St Nerses Chnorhali (1102-1173) Armenian Catholic Patriarch
PRAYER – Lord God, grant that Your people may hold fast in life to the mystery of new birth, which they received in faith. May Your glorified Son, Jesus our Hope, who broke the power of hell, destroying sin and death, stay ever with us in our struggles against temptation and guide our steps along the path that leads to a holy earthly end and to You in everlasting life. Mary, holy Mother, please help your children. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who lives and reigns with God The Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen
Christós anésti.
Jesus Christ is risen! He is truly risen!
Alleluia
Amen
“The star of Bethlehem
shines forth in the dark night of sin.
Upon the radiance
that goes forth from the manger,
there falls the shadow of the cross.
In the dark of Good Friday,
the light is extinguished
but it rises more brightly, as the sun of grace.
on the morning of the resurrection.
The road of the incarnate Son of God,
is through the cross and suffering.
to the splendour of the resurrection.
To arrive with the Son of Man,
through suffering and death,
at this splendour of the resurrection,
is the road for each one of us,
for all mankind.”
St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
[Edith Stein] (1891-1942)
Day of resurrection, day of our joy !
A homily attributed to Saint John Chrysostom (345-407) – Father & Doctor
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (Ps 118:24) Why? Because the sun is no longer darkened and everything is illuminated, the curtain in the Temple is no longer torn, the Church is revealed; we are no longer holding palm branches, we are surrounding the newly baptised.
“This is the day the Lord has made”… This now is the day in the real sense of the word, the triumphant day, the day consecrated to celebrating the resurrection, the day when we adorn ourselves with grace, the day when we share the spiritual Lamb, the day when we give milk to those who have just been born, the day when the plan of Providence for the poor is realised. “Let us rejoice and be glad in this day.”
This is the day when Adam was freed, when Eve was delivered from her pain, when savage death shuddered, when the power of rocks was broken, when the bars of the tomb were torn away…, when the unchangeable laws of the powers of hell were abrogated, when the heavens were opened because Christ, our Master, rose.
This is the day when, for the good of humankind, the green and fertile plant of the resurrection multiplied its offshoots all over the world as in a garden, when the lilies of the newly enlightened opened…, when the crowd of believers rejoices, when the martyrs’ crowns again grow green.
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
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