Keep
your eyes open!...
April 30, 2014
(1Co 15:56-57) Now
the sting of death is sin: and the power of sin is the law. But thanks
be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
EXCERPT ARCHBISHOP CHAPUT: Without gloss: Francis of Assisi and Western Catholicism
The
philosopher Rémi Brague once wrote that “Christianity was founded by
people who could not have cared less about ‘Christian
civilization.’ What mattered to them was Christ, and the
reverberations of his coming on the whole of human existence.
Christians believed in Christ, not in Christianity itself; they were
Christians, not ‘Christianists.’”
We need to remember that simple lesson. The Catholic faith is not
an ideology. It’s a romance. It’s a love affair with
God. We’re a people who believe in Jesus Christ – not the ideas,
but the person of Jesus
Christ, crucified and risen for our sake purely out of his love for
us. And living the Catholic faith should be an experience of
gratitude and joy that flows from a daily personal encounter with God’s son and a communal relationship with God’s people.
There’s a reason the Church calls St. Francis the vir Catholicus,
the exemplary Catholic man. Francis understood that gratitude is
the beginning of joy, and that joy in this world is the aroma of heaven
in the next. He reveled in the debt he owed to God for the beauty
of creation, for his friends and brothers, and for every gift and
suffering that came his way. He treasured his dependence on the
love of others, and returned their love with his own. He gave
away all that he had in order to gain the deepest kind of freedom – the
freedom to pursue God, to share God with others, and to experience life
without encumbrance or fear.
MEDITATION: Stations of the Cross based on http://feastofsaints.com/wayofcrossalph.htm
Jesus Falls the First Time
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider this first fall of Jesus
under His Cross. His flesh was torn by the scourges, His head crowned
with thorns, and He had lost a great quantity of blood. He was so
weakened that he could scarcely walk, and yet he had to carry this
great load upon His shoulders. The soldiers struck Him rudely, and thus
He fell several times in His journey.
My beloved Jesus, it is not the
weight of the Cross, but my sins, which have made Thee suffer so much
pain. Ah, by the merits of this first fall, deliver me from the
misfortune of falling into mortal sin. I love Thee, O my Jesus, with my
whole heart; I repent of having offended Thee. Never permit me to
separate myself from Thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always; and
then do with me what Thou wilt.
COMMENTARY
After many years of walking the Way of the Cross, this particular
station has always struck me as the crossroads. Could Jesus body
fulfill what His Spirit demanded it to fulfill? Could His "weak flesh"
follow His willing Spirit? It could, with Mary's help! At the very next
station we see Mary, a living witness of Jesus' ultimate success. The
Immaculately conceived one need not utter a word. Her presence alone
was tonic enough to "remind" Jesus that His success had already been
written. His flesh would indeed be willing enough! His sinless mother
was all the witness He needed at this critical juncture of His journey.
Jesus is Raised upon the Cross, and Dies
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider how thy Jesus, after three
hours' Agony on the Cross, consumed at length with anguish, abandons
Himself to the weight of His body, bows His head, and dies.
O my dying Jesus, I kiss devoutly the
Cross on which Thou didst die for love of me. I have merited by my sins
to die a miserable death; but Thy death is my hope. Ah, by the merits
of Thy death, give me grace to die, embracing Thy feet, and burning
with love for Thee. I yield my soul into Thy hands. I love Thee with my
whole heart; I repent of ever having offended Thee. Never permit me to
offend Thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always; and then do with
me what Thou wilt.
COMMENTARY
This station has always been a bittersweet one for me. On the one hand,
we killed God! The sinless Son of God was not treated with love, honor
and fear but with humiliation and scorn. We
did this to Him!! How can one see this and not be bitterly ashamed? How
could we not admit that today's society would do the very same thing?
Mankind is Adam, and always will be. Rebellious dirt.
But also as I have traveled this road with Jesus there has always been
a great sense of relief. It is finished! The Passion is complete.
Mankind's redemption has purchased and sealed! Praise God!
Today, however relief turned to joy. We are after all, made in God's
image. What do we see in sporting events when a person accomplishes the
impossible? Leaping for joy? Thrusting fists? Thunderous emotional
outbursts? Think back a few days to the end of any of the NCAA
tournament games. How did the winners react as the clock wound down to
zero? Bedlam.
Today I "saw" Jesus react in just that way when the clock ran out and
He breathed His last. Jesus won the greatest victory in history, in His
story!! I think our Lord put His new body in heaven to the test and did
every joyous acrobatic maneuver ever conceived by man! And the angels!
How do human crowds react to human victory? Can you imagine (no you
can't) the reaction of million of angels to the ultimate victory?!!!!
No wonder there was an earthquake on earth! It is amazing that the
planet found a way to remain in orbit!
Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider how, after the death of our
Lord, two of His disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus, took Him down from
the Cross, and placed Him in the arms of His afflicted Mother, who
received Him with unutterable tenderness, and pressed Him to her bosom.
O Mother of sorrow, for the love of
this Son, accept me for thy servant, and pray to Him for me. And Thou,
my Redeemer, since Thou hast died for me, permit me to love Thee; for I
wish but Thee, and nothing more. I love Thee, my Jesus, and I repent of
ever having offended Thee. Never permit me to offend Thee again. Grant
that I may love Thee always; and then do with me what Thou wilt.
COMMENTARY
Yes, Jesus was now back where it had all begun in that manger in
Bethlehem. Back in Mary's arms. Except that rather than being wrapped
in swaddling clothes, His body was lifeless. Yet as we see Mary's facial
expression on Michelangelo's Pieta, it is not one of despair, panic, or
pain. No Mary is at peace. Her Son's mission was accomplished. One can
only wonder whether He allowed her a glimpse of heaven's ecstatic
celebration. Maybe, just maybe, this resulted in a mischievous smile as
saw her Son's celebration for the ages.
He won!
She won!
We won!
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
28. A hermit was asked by a brother
why, when he stayed in his cell, he suffered boredom. He answered, "You
have not yet seen the resurrection for which we hope, nor the torment
of fire. If you had seen these, then you would bear your cell without
boredom even if it was filled with worms and you were standing in them
up to your neck.'
April 28, 2014
(1Pe 1:15-16) But
according to him that hath called you, who is holy, be you also in all
manner of conversation holy: Because it is written: You shall be holy,
for I am holy.
Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle:
"For those of us who say that it is very difficult to be holy, the
canonization of the people whom we know, people who are part of our
generation is a declaration that holiness is real. It's given to all.
You can be holy."
VIDEO: On camera: Popes John Paul II, John XXIII canonized
EXCERPT HOMILY POPE FRANCIS: 'Popes of 20th century' Witness, Teach of God's Mercy
The wounds of Jesus are a
scandal, a stumbling block for faith, yet they are also the test of
faith. That is why on the body of the risen Christ the wounds never
pass away: they remain, for those wounds are the enduring sign of God’s
love for us. They are essential for believing in God. Not for believing
that God exists, but for believing that God is love, mercy and
faithfulness. Saint Peter, quoting Isaiah, writes to Christians: “by
his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet 2:24, cf. Is 53:5).
Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II were not afraid to look upon
the wounds of Jesus, to touch his torn hands and his pierced side. They
were not ashamed of the flesh of Christ, they were not scandalized by
him, by his cross; they did not despise the flesh of their brother (cf.
Is 58:7), because they saw Jesus in every person who suffers and
struggles. These were two men of courage, filled with the parrhesia of
the Holy Spirit, and they bore witness before the Church and the world
to God’s goodness and mercy.
They were priests, bishops and popes of the twentieth century. They
lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not
overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful; faith was more
powerful – faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of
history; the mercy of God, shown by those five wounds, was more
powerful; and more powerful too was the closeness of Mary our Mother.
In these two men, who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore witness
to his mercy, there dwelt a living hope and an indescribable and
glorious joy (1 Pet 1:3,8). The hope and the joy which the risen Christ
bestows on his disciples, the hope and the joy which nothing and no one
can take from them. The hope and joy of Easter, forged in the crucible
of self-denial, self-emptying, utter identification with sinners, even
to the point of disgust at the bitterness of that chalice. Such were
the hope and the joy which these two holy popes had received as a gift
from the risen Lord and which they in turn bestowed in abundance upon
the People of God, meriting our eternal gratitude.
THE MESSAGE: Canonization Opens Way For Universal Celebration Of Popes' Feast Days
From the moment Pope Francis said, "We declare and define Blesseds John
XXIII and John Paul II be saints" and "they are to be venerated as such
by the whole church," their October feast days automatically could be
celebrated at Masses around the world.
St. John's feast day is Oct. 11, the anniversary of the day in 1962
that he opened the Second Vatican Council. St. John Paul's feast day is
Oct. 22, the anniversary of the inauguration of his pontificate in 1978.
After the two were beatified -- Pope John in 2000 and Pope John Paul in
2011 -- special Vatican permission was required to publicly celebrate
their feast days outside the Diocese of Rome, where they served as
bishop and pope, and their home dioceses. Vatican permission also was
required to name parishes after them, but with their canonization, that
is no longer necessary.
WEBCAM: Tomb of Blessed John Paul II
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
26.
A hermit said, 'Our predecessors were reluctant to move from place to
place, except perhaps for three reasons: first, if a man was angry with
them and no amount of satisfaction would calm him down; secondly, if
many praised them; and thirdly, if they were tempted to lust.'
April 24, 2014
CELEBRATING EASTER
"If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. If Christ is not risen--nothing else matters."
~ Jaroslav Pelikan of blessed memory
ALETIA: What Easter Means- The new order of creation is here
RON ROLHEISER, OMI: Easter Arsonists of the Heart
CRISIS MAGAZINE: Time for a Little Easter Cheer
BLOG: Matthew 17:7- Fusion Reactions
EXCERPT POPE FRANCIS: Easter 'Urbi et Orbi' Message
The Church throughout the world echoes the angel’s message to the
women: “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus who was
crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised… Come, see the place
where he lay” ( Mt 28:5-6).
This is the culmination of the Gospel, it is the Good News par
excellence: Jesus, who was crucified, is risen! This event is the basis
of our faith and our hope. If Christ were not raised, Christianity
would lose its very meaning; the whole mission of the Church would lose
its impulse, for this is the point from which it first set out and
continues to set out ever anew. The message which Christians bring to
the world is this: Jesus, Love incarnate, died on the cross for our
sins, but God the Father raised him and made him the Lord of life and
death. In Jesus, love has triumphed over hatred, mercy over sinfulness,
goodness over evil, truth over falsehood, life over death.
That is why we tell everyone: “Come and see!” In every human situation,
marked by frailty, sin and death, the Good News is no mere matter of
words, but a testimony to unconditional and faithful love: it is about
leaving ourselves behind and encountering others, being close to those
crushed by life’s troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the
side of the sick, elderly and the outcast… “Come and see!”: Love is
more powerful, love gives life, love makes hope blossom in the
wilderness.
With this joyful certainty in our hearts, today we turn to you, risen Lord!
MEDITATION: Thoughts
by St Theophan (1815-1894)
The Bright Resurrection of Christ. [Acts 1:1–8; John 1:1–17]
Pascha, the Lord's Pascha! The Lord
has led us from death to life by means of His resurrection. And this
resurrection “the angels hymn in the heavens,” having seen the
brightness of the deified human nature in the glory foreordained for
it, in the countenance of the Lord and Redeemer. All Who truly believe
in Him and cleave to Him with all their soul are changed into His image
by the power of His resurrection. Glory, O Lord, to Thy most glorious
resurrection! The angels hymn, rejoicing with us and foreseeing the
filling of their assembly.
Vouchsafe us also with pure heart,
O Lord, to glorify Thee resurrected; seeing in Thy resurrection the
severing of our consuming decay, the sowing of a most bright new life,
and the dawn of future eternal glory, into which Thou hast gone before
us by Thy Resurrection for our sake. The tongues not only of men but
also of angels are have insufficient strength to express Thine
unspeakable mercy toward us, O most gloriously resurrected Lord!
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
25. In the desert some people came to a great hermit and said 'How can
you be content here with this severe way of life?' The hermit replied,
'All the severity of my life here cannot compare with a day of the
torment prepared for sinners in the next world.'
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