Feast of St Mark the Evangelist

St Mark by Donatello

Let us give thanks to Jesus Christ, who has sent teachers and evangelist to be ministers of faith to all peoples who believe in him, alleluia (Universalis Benedictus)

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Easter with St Therese

EASTER SUNDAY

"Why seek you the living with the dead? He is not here, but is risen" (Lk 24:5).

Celebrations! Even if the most important feasts do not come very often, my heart is brought to celebrate one every Sunday....That is God's feast, the feast of rest...The whole family goes to Mass (The Story of a Soul)

ESTER MONDAY

And they went out quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples. And behold Jesus met them, saying: All hail. But they came up and took hold of his feet, and adored him.  (Mt 28:8, 9)

During the Passover of Our Lord, the women showed more courage than the apostles. (...) Undoubtedly, this  is why he allowed contempt to be their lot in life on earth, because he chose it for himself....It will be shown, in heaven, that his thoughts were not those of humankind, because the last will be the first (The Story of  a Soul)

EASTER TUESDAY

Jesus saith to her: Do not touch me, for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say to them: I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God (Jn 20:17).

At times, we are so uncomfortable within ourselves we must quickly reach out. Our Lord doesn't force us to stay within ourselves; oftentimes, he allows us this discomfort so we can reach out. To resolve this, I reach out to Jesus and Mary by throwing myself into acts of charity (Advice and Memories)

EASTER WEDNESDAY

And they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in this way, and opened to us the scriptures? And rising up, the same hour, they went back to Jerusalem (Lk 24; 32, 33).

For a long time, I fed my soul with the knowledge of "pure flour" that I found in a book called Imitation. This was the only book I was comfortable with because I had not as yet found the hidden treasures in the Gospel. (...) When I was fourteen, given my interest in knowledge, the Lord found it necessary to combine that "pure flour" with plenty of "oil and honey" (The Story of a Soul)

EASTER SATURDAY

At length he appeared to the eleven as they were at table: and he upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe them who had seen him after he was risen again. And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mk 16:14-15)

God needs no person to do his divine work. But he does allow a talented gardener to raise  exotic and delicate plants by giving him the necessary knowledge but keeping the secret of their creation to himself. In the same way, Jesus wants to be helped in his divine gardening of souls (The Story of a Soul)

FIRST SUNDAY OF EASTER - LOW SUNDAY, DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY AND BEATIFICATION OF JOHN PAUL II

Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. (....)And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you  (Jn 20: 19-26).
This joyous day [Sunday] which passes by all too quickly, has a tinge of sadness....One must start life over again the next day - work, study. My heart feels as if it is in exile on earth....I yearn for eternal rest in heaven, where Sundays never end, in my Father's house (The Story of a Soul)

 

Today the glorious Alleluia of Easter resounds. Today's Gospel from John emphasizes that on the evening of that day he appeared to the Apostles and "showed them his hands and his side" (Jn 20: 20), that is, the signs of the painful passion with which his Body was indelibly stamped, even after the Resurrection. Those glorious wounds, which he allowed doubting Thomas to touch eight days later, reveal the mercy of God who "so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (Jn 3: 16).
This mystery of love is at the heart of the liturgy today, the Second Sunday of Easter, dedicated to the devotion of Divine Mercy. As a gift to humanity, which sometimes seems bewildered and overwhelmed by the power of evil, selfishness and fear, the Risen Lord offers his love that pardons, reconciles and reopens hearts to love. It is a love that converts hearts and gives peace. How much the world needs to understand and accept Divine Mercy!  Lord, who reveal the Father's love by your death and Resurrection, we believe in you and confidently repeat to you today: Jesus, I trust in you, have mercy upon us and upon the whole world. (Regina Caeli of the 3 April 2005, the day following the death of Pope John-Paul II)

 

Group photo of young Karol Wojtyla (arrow) - posing together with other altar boys and their Parish Priest, photo taken in Karol's hometown of Wadowice, circa 1932 

In his intimate life, God "is love," (1Jn 4,8) the essential love shared by the three divine Persons: personal love is the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of the Father and the Son. Therefore he "searches even the depths of God," (1Cor 2,10) as uncreated Love-Gift.... Here we have an inexhaustible treasure of the reality and an inexpressible deepening of the concept of person in God, which only divine Revelation makes known to us. At the same time, the Holy Spirit, being consubstantial with the Father and the Son in divinity, is love and (uncreated) gift from which derives as from its source... the gift of grace to human beings through the whole economy of salvation. As the Apostle Paul writes: "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Rm 5,5). (Bl John Paul II)

Word yet to be created, Word of God!

Oh, you know, I love you, Divine Jesus!

The Spirit of Love embraces me with its fire.

By loving you I attract the Father,

My weak heart keeps  him in me without expectation;

Oh Trinity, you are prisoners of my love (St Therese Poem 17).

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER, GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY click to read more HERE

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EASTER SUNDAY

PRESENCE OF GOD - O risen Jesus, make me worthy to share in the joy of Your Resurrection.

MEDITATION
This is a day which the Lord hath made; let us be glad and rejoice therein (Psalm 118:24).

1. Joy in truth: According to the vibrant admonition of St. Paul. "Let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven....but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." In this world there are many ephemeral joys, based on fragile, insecure foundations; but the Paschal joy is solidly grounded on the knowledge that we are in the truth, the truth which Christ brought to the world and which he confirmed by His Resurrection. The Resurrection tells us that our faith is not in vain, that our hope is not founded on a dead man, but on a living one, the Living One par excellence, whose life is so strong that it vivifies, in time as in eternity, all those who believe in Him. "I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that beliveth in Me, although he be dead, shall live" (Jn 11:25). Joy in truth: for only sincere and upright souls who seek the truth lovingly and, still more, "do the truth" can fully rejoice in the Resurrection. We are sincere when we recognise ourselves for what we are, with all our faults, deficiencies, and need for conversion. From this knowledge of our miseries springs the sincere resolve to purify ourselves of the old leaven of the passions in order to be renewed completely in the risen Christ. Truth, however, must be accomplished in charity - veritatem facientes in caritatem, doing the truth in charity (Eph 4:15); therefore the Postcommunion prayer that is placed on our lips is more timely than ever: "Pour forth upon us, O Lord, the spirit of Thy love, to make us of one heart." Without unity and mutual charity there can be no real Paschal joy.

2. The Gospel (Mk 16:1-7) places before our eyes the faithful holy women who, at the first rays of the Sunday dawn, run to the sepulcher, and on the way, wonder: "Who will roll back the stone from the door of the sepulcher for us?" This preoccupation, although it is well justified on account of the size and weight of the stone, does not deter them from proceeding with their plans; they are too much taken up with the desire of finding Jesus! And behold! Hardly have they arrived when they see "the stone rolled back". They enter the tomb and find an Angel who greets them with the glad announcement: "He is risen; He is not here." At this time, Jesus does not let Himself be found or seen; but a little later when, in obedience to the command of the Angel, the women leave the tomb to bring the news to the disciples, he will appear before them saying, "All hail!" (Mt 28:9), and their joy will be overwhelming.
We, too, have a keen desire to find the Lord; perhaps we have been seeking Him for many long years. Further, this desire may have been accompanied by serious preoccupation with the question of how we might rid ourselves of the obstacles and roll away from our souls the stone which has prevented us thus far from finding the Lord, from giving ourselves entirely to Him, and from letting Him triumph in us. Precisely because we want to find the Lord, we have already overcome many obstacles, sustained by His grace; divine Providence has helped us roll away many stones, overcome many difficulties. Nevertheless, the search for God is progressive, and must be maintained during our whole life. For this reason, following the example of the holy women, we must always have a holy preoccupations about finding the Lord, a preoccupation which will make us industrious and diligent in seeking Him, and at the same time confident of the divine aid, since the Lord will certainly take care that we arrive where our own strength could never bring us, because He will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Every year Easter marks a time of renewal in our spiritual life, in our search for God; every year we reascend the path toward Him in novitate vitae, in newness of life (Rom 6:4).

COLLOQUY
....."I pray You, Lord, give my soul the wings of an eagle, that I may fly without weakening, fly, until I reach the splendour of Your glory. There, You will feed me on Your secrets at the table of the heavenly citizens, in the place of Your Pasch, near the celestial fount of eternal satiety. Let my heart rest in You, my heart which resembles a great ocean, agitated by tumultuous waves" (St. Augustine). This is the most excellent day, the happiest day in the whole year, because it is the day when "Christ, our Pasch, has been sacrificed." Christmas, too, is a joyous feast, but whereas Christmas vibrates with a characteristic note of sweetness, the Paschal solemnity resounds with an unmistakable note of triumph; it is joy for the triumph of Christ, for His victory. The liturgy of the Mass shows us this Paschal joy under two aspects: joy in truth and joy in charity

Credit: text from "Divine Intimacy" - 'The Resurrection of the Lord' (by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen OCD)

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GOOD FRIDAY

Matt 27:60-61

And laid it in his own new monument, which he had hewed out in a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument, and went his way. And there was there Mary Magdalen, and the other Mary sitting over against the sepulchre

Matt 27:59
And Joseph taking the body, wrapped it up in a clean linen cloth.



Matt 27:57-58

And when it was evening, there came a certain rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate, and asked the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded that the body should be delivered.

Matt 27:35

And after they had crucified him, they divided his garments, casting lots; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: They divided my garments among them; and upon my vesture they cast lots.

Matt 27:33-34

And they came to the place that is called Golgotha, which is the place of Calvary. And they gave him wine to drink mingled with gall. And when he had tasted, he would not drink.

Matt 27:29-30
And platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand. And bowing the knee before him, they mocked him, saying: Hail, king of the Jews. And spitting upon him, they took the reed, and struck his head.

Matt 27:26

Then he released to them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him unto them to be crucified.

Matt 26:40-41

And he cometh to his disciples, and findeth them asleep, and he saith to Peter: What? Could you not watch one hour with me? Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak.

Pictures credit: Gustave Dore 'Bible Illustrations'

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PALM SUNDAY also known as Passion Sunday

Gustave Dore - Bible Illustrations

Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it....Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven (St Mark 11:7, 9-10) 

After being exiled on earth, I hope to go and rejoice in your presence in our Father's house. I want to work for your Divine Love for the sole purpose of pleasing you, consoling your Sacred Heart and saving souls who will love you for all eternity (St Therese, Prayer no 6)

After 'Through the Year with St Therese of Lisieux

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