THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD

PRESENCE OF GOD - O Jesus, who ascended into heaven, grant that I, too, may live there in spirit.

MEDITATION1. The central idea in the liturgy today is the raising of our hearts toward heaven, so that we may begin to dwell in spirit where Jesus has gone before us. "Christ's Ascension" says St Leo, "is our own ascension; our body has the hope of one day being where its glorious Head has preceded it" (RB). In fact, Our Lord had already said in His discourse after the Last Supper, "I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself; that where I am, you also may be" (Jn 14:2,3). The Ascension is, then, a feast of joyful hope, a sweet foretaste of heaven. By going before us, Jesus our Head has given us the right to follow Him there some day, and we can even say with St Leo, "In the person of Christ, we have penetrated the heights of heaven" (RB). As in Christ Crucified we die to sin, as in the risen Christ we rise to the life of grace, so too, we are raised up to heaven in the Ascension of Christ. This vital participation in Christ's mysteries is the essential consequences of our incorporation in Him. He is our Head; we, as His members, are totally dependent upon Him and intimately bound to His destiny. "God, who is rich in mercy," says St Paul, "for His exceeding charity wherewith He loved us...hath quickened us together in Christ..., and hath raised us up...and hath made us sit together in the heavenly places through Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:4-6). Our right to heaven has been given us, our place is ready; it is for us to live in such a way that we may occupy it some day. Meanwhile, we must actualize the beautiful prayer which the liturgy puts on our lips: "Grant, O almighty God, that we, too, may dwell in spirit in the heavenly mansions" (Collect)."Where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also" (Mt 6:21), Jesus said one day. If Jesus is really our treasure, our heart cannot be anywhere but near Him in heaven. This is the great hope of the Christian soul, so beautifully expressed in the hymn of Vespers: "O Jesus, be the hope of our hearts, our joy in sorrow, the sweet fruit of our life" (RB).

2. Besides the hope and the joyful expectancy of heaven so characteristic of the Ascension feast there is a note of melancholy. Before the final departure of Jesus, the Apostles must have been very much disturbed: each felt the distress of one who sees his dearest friend and companion going away forever, and finds himself alone to face all the difficulties of life. The Lord realized their state of mind and consloed them once more, promising the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter: "He commanded them," we read in the Epistle (Acts 1:1-11), "that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father....you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence." but even this time the Apostles did not understand! How much they neede to be enlightened and transformed by the Holy Spirit, in order to accomplish the great mission which was to be entrusted to them! Jesus continued: which was to be entrusted to them! Jesus continued : "You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you and you shall be witnesses unto Me...even to the uttermost part of the earth". For the moment, however, they were there, around the Master, weak, timid, frightened, like little children watching their mother leave for a distant, unknown land. In fact, "while they looked on, He was raised up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight." Two angels came to distract them from their great amazement and to make them realize what had happened. Then, placing their trust in the word of Jesus, which would henceforth be their only support, they returned to Jerusalem where, in the Cenacle, they awaited in prayer the fulfillment of the promise. It was the first novena in preparation for Pentecost: "All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with...Mary, the Mother of Jesus" (ibid 1:14).
Silence, recollection, prayer, peace with our brethren, and union with Mary: these are the characteristics of the novena we too should make in preaparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

COLLOQUY
..."Ah! my works are poor, my God, even if I could perform many! Then why should I remain in this life, so full of misery? Only to do Your will. Could I do anything better than that? Hope, therefore, my soul, hope. Watch carefully, for you know not the day nor the hour. Everything passes quickly, even though your desire makes you struggle, the greater the proofs of love you will be giving to your God, and afterwards the more you will enjoy your Beloved in happiness and felicity without end" (T.J. Exc., 15). 

Text after 'Divine Intimacy' - Ven Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen, OCD

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Feast of Ascension - click to read

"And eating together with them, he commanded them, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (saith he) by my mouth. For John indeed baptized with water: but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. They therefore who were come together, asked him, saying: Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel? But he said to them: It is not for you to know the time or moments, which the Father hath put in his own power: But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had said these things, while they looked on, he was raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they were beholding him going up to heaven, behold two men stood by them in white garments. Who also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come as you have seen him going into heaven."-Acts 1:4-11

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Corpus Christi, solemnity

Daily food of the soul.

Christ by instituting the Blessed Eucharist gave the culminating proof of his love for God, His Father, and for men, his brethren. In that upper room in which the last Feast of the Old Law was celebrated, the God-made-man fulfilled, not only the first commandment, but also the second which is like to it. He gave endless honour to his Father, and to man the Food which is eternal life. Sacrifice and Communion make one in the Heart of Christ, of the Incarnate Word, whose love embraces his Father in heaven and his children on earth. The Christ of the Eucharist invites us to the table: "Take and eat: take and drink."

If he makes himself present under the species of bread, it is that we may feed upon Him. His will is to be our daily nourishment, our subsistence. St John declares that "the Word was made flesh"; was united, by His Incarnation, to the flesh that is an essential portion of our humanity, in a union so actual that it glorified the very depth of our nature. In Communion, he goes yet farther; as food, He unites himself to the flesh of each one of us, personally. "The Word was made flesh, and come to dwell among us". I can add, "and to be the Food which sustains the life of my soul." An old ecclesiatical decree declares: This Sacrament is for life of the soul what food is for the life of the body. It is our subsistence, the cause of growth, the joy of life. On the other hand, because the life of the soul consists in union with Christ, the effects of the divine Food are different from those of unconsecrated bread. Natural food becomes part of ourselves, and ceases to exist as and when we do, but by the divine Bread of the Eucharist our life is absorbed in His, so that we can say with St Paul, "I am alive; or rather, not I; it is Christ that lives in me." (Gal. 2:20). The branch lives by the sap of the Vine; it is Communion that the true Vine pours its sap into each one of its branches. "He who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, lives continually in me, and I in him" (John 6:56). To live in Christ is to identify thought and will with His in a word, to become one Spirit with Him. When he enters the soul, h becomes the soul of all it says or does. He gives His Flesh to each one individually, that all may form but one Body. Not content with keeping life in us, he makes it sanctifies and supernaturalizes out human faculties by claiming them for his own. As we grow in grace, our lips will speak Christ's words, our affection bear the mark of his loving-kindness. the heart that loves God in man will become yet more loving, since it will be the love of the Heart of Jesus. Full-grown, we shall become other Christs. The fire of divine love which the Son of God brought upon earth will not only burn in our hearts but will warm and enlighten others, that his wish may be accomplished. "It is fire that I have come to spread over the earth, and what better wish can I have that it should be kindled?" (Luke 12:49).
Thus, in Communion heavenly joys and blessings are poured into our hearts without stint or measure. "God, who in this wonderful sacrament hast left us a memorial of thy passion, enable us, we pray thee, so to venerate the mysteries of thy Body and Blood that we may constantly feel in our lives the effects of thy redemption!"(Collect for Corpus Christi.)

The picture is "Eucharist in the fruit wreath" by Jan van de Heem

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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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Feast of Christ the King - click to read encyclical of Pope Pius XI 'Quas Primas' on the reign of Christ

The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI to celebrate the Jubilee Year and 16th centenary of the Council of Nicea. In his encyclical letter issued on this noble occasion on Decemebr 11, 1925, the Pope brings to our attention traditional and biblical sources confirming the sovereignty of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He also explains the need for special liturgical celebration of the universal Church each year on the last Sunday of the liturgical year before the first Sunday of Advent.

“If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.[35] If all these truths are presented to the faithful for their consideration, they will prove a powerful incentive to perfection.” Pope Pius XI – Quas Primas

Let us adore Our Lord with Carmelite Saints:

Long live Christ the King!

(Blessed Teresa of the Child Jesus of Guadalajara Carmel, martyred in 1936)

"You, my God, are an eternal King, and Yours is no borrowed kingdom...When the Credo says: 'of Your Kingdom there shall be no end' this phrase nearly always makes me feel particularly happy. Yes, I praise You, Lord, and bless You, for Your Kingdom will endure forever" (St Teresa of Jesus, Way of Perfection, ch 22)

"I Shall Stay with You...."

Your throne is at the Lord's right hand,

Within the realm of His eternal glory,

God's word from when the world began.

You reign upon the highest throne of all,

Even in transfigured form,

Since You fulfilled Your task on earth.

So I believe, because Your word has taught me,

And, thus believing, know that this delights me,

And blessed hope blooms out of it.

For where you are, there also Your dear ones.

And Heaven is my glorious fatherland,

With You I share the Father's throne.

The Eternal One, creator of all being,

Who, holy thrice, encompasses

Retains a quiet realm all to Himself,

The inmost chamber of the human soul

Is favourite dwelling to the Trinity,

His heavenly throne right here on earth.

To free this heaven'ly realm from the hostile hand,

God's Son descended as the Son of Man

He gave His blood as ransom.

Within the heart of Jesus pierced with lances,

The realms of Heaven and earth become united.

And here we find the spring of life itself.

This is the heart of Trinity divine,

The center also of all human hearts.

Source of our life from God.

It draws us close with its mysterious might,

It keeps us safe within the Father's lap

And floods us with the Holy Spirit.

This heart beats in a tiny tabernacle

Where it remains in hidden mystery,

Within that orbit, silent, white.

That is Your royal throne, O Lord, on earth,

Which You have built for us, plainly to see,

It pleases You when we draw near....

Each morn You come to me at early Mass,

Your flesh and blood become my food and drink;

And wonders are accomplished...

How wondrous are the marvels of Your love,

We are amazed, we stammer and grow dumb,

For word and spirit fails us.

(St Benedicta of the Cross "Selected Works") 

Prayer (St Raphael Kalinowski (1835-1907)

Jesus, hope of suffering humanity, our refuge and our strength, whose light pierces the black cloud that hang over our stormy sea, enlighten our eyes so that we can direct ourselves toward You Who are our harbour. Guide our bark with the rudder of the nails of Your cross, lest we drown in the storm. With the arms of this cross rescue us from the turbulent waters and draw us to Yourself, our only repose, Morning Star, Sun of Justice, for with our eyes obscured by tears, we can catch a glimpse of You there, on the shores of our heavenly homeland. redeemed by You, we pray: Salvos nos fac propter nomen tuum - "Save us for the sake of Your holy name." And all this through Mary.

("Saint Raphael Kalinowski: An Introduction to His Life and Spirituality")
 

Picture represents 18th century Cuzco, Peru, art school - "Triumph of Christ the King over four continents" original in the Brooklyn Museum NY.

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FEAST OF EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROS - click to read

O God, Who on this day givest us joy by the annual solemnnity of the exaltation of the holy cross, grant, we beseech Thee, that we may deserve the reward of His redemption in heaven Whose mystery we have known upon earth. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, etc. Amen. EPISTLE Brethren. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. GOSPEL (John 12:31-36) At that time Jesus said to the multitude of the Jews: Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself. (Now this he said, signifying what death he should die.) The multitude answered him: We have heard out of the law, that Christ abideth for ever; and how sayest thou: The Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man? Jesus therefore said to them: Yet a little while, the light is among you. Walk whilst you have the light, that the darkness overtake you not. And he that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whither he goeth.Whilst you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light. These things Jesus spoke; and he went away, and hid himself from them. INSTRUCTION ON THE WAY OF THE CROSS What is the Holy Way of the Cross? It is a devotional exercise by which we meditate upon the passion and death of Jesus, and particularly upon His last way of sorrows, from the house of Pilate to Mount Calvary. Tradition testifies that after Christ's ascension the Christians living in Jerusalem were accustomed particularly to venerate the holy places which had been sanctified by the passion of the divine Redeemer. But after Jerusalem fell into hands of the infidels, so that it became dangerous, and often impossible, to pass over the ground which Our Lord had trod, the children of St. Francis of Assisi began to erect in their churches the fourteen stations of the Way of the Cross, by meditating on which the faithfull might, in spirit, accompany the pilgrims to Jerusalem on the way to Calvary, dwelling in thought on what Christ had suffered for men. Stations here means a place to pause, a resting-point for meditation. This devoution has been examined and approved by many Popes, enriched with indulgences, and earnestly recommended to Christians. It may be found in any prayer-book. No exercise is more profitable to our souls than this. What can bring before us the love of God and the abominabless and frightfulness of sin in a more vivid manner than the sufferings of the God-man? How can we any longer indulge in hate when we hear Jesus pray for His enemies? How can we give ourselves up to sensuality and lust when we see the divine Saviour scourged, crowned with thorns, and hanging on the cross? How can we murmur at our trials when we think that Jesus innocent takes up the cross for us guilty? In truth, we should see our coldness and indifference disappear, as ice melts in the heat, we should grow more and more zealous in the way of virtue, if we would but rightly meditate upon the passion of Christ. How are visit to the stations of the Cross to be made? Rightly to visit the Stations of the Cross, and to draw therefrom real benefit, we should at each station consider with attention, with devotion and sorrow, what Jesus has done and suffered for us. We should not content ourselves with merely reciting at each station the proper prayers and meditations, but should pause, to impress upon our hearts what is there represented, that we may be moved and quickened to wholesome resolutions. In order to gain indulgences we must endeavour to be in the state of grace, and therefore at least, by the way of beginning, we must have perfect contrition for our sins.

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Corpus Christi Solemnity

I invite all visitors to this blog, to read this beautiful devotional meditation written by Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen, OCD, which may help us to understand better Our Lord's love and compassion for us, poor sinners, that prompted Him to remain with us for ever in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar.

PRESENCE OF GOD: "The eternal tide flows hid in living bread. That with its heavenly life to be fed" (St John of the Cross 'Poems').

MEDITATION
1. We have gone, step by step, in the course of the liturgical year, from the consideration of the mysteries of the life of Jesus to the contemplation of the Blessed Trinity, whose feast we celebrated last Sunday. Jesus, our Mediator, our Way, has taken us by the hand and led us to the Trinity; and today it seems as though the three Persons Themselves wish to take us back to Jesus, considered in His Eucharist. "No man cometh to the Father but by Me" (Jn 14:6), Jesus said, and He added, "No man can come to Me except the Father...draw him" (Jn 6:44). This is the journey of the Christian soul: from Jesus to the Father, to the Trinity; from the Trinity, from the Father, to Jesus. Jesus brings us to the Father, the Father draws us to Jesus A Christian cannot do without Christ; He is, in the strictest sense of the word, our Pontiff, the great Bridge-builder who has spanned the abyss between God and us. At the end of the liturgical cycle in which we commemorate the mysteries of the Savior, the Church, who like a good Mother knows that our spiritual life cannot subsist without Jesus, leads us to Him, really and truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar. The solemnity of the Corpus Christ is not just the simple memorial of an historical event which took place almost two thousand years ago at the Last Supper; rather, it recalls us to the ever-present reality of Jesus always living in our midst. We can say, in truth, that He has not "left us orphans", but has willed to remain permanently with us, in the integrity of His Person in the fullness of His humanity and His divinity. "There is no other nation so great," the Divine Office enthusiastically sings, "as to have its gods so near as our God is present to us" (Roman Breviary). In the Eucharist, Jesus is really Emmanuel, God with us.

2. The Eucharist is not only Jesus actually living among us, but it is jesus become our Food. This is the chief aspect under which today's liturgy present the mystery to us; there is no part of the Mass which does not treat of it directly, or which does not, at least, make some allusion to it. The Introit refers to it when it mentions the wheat and honey with which God once fed the Hebrews in the desert, a miraculous food, and yet a very poor representation of the living, life-giving bread of the Eucharist. The Epistle (1 Cor 11: 23-39) speaks of it, recalling the institution of this Sacrament, when Jesus "took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said, 'Take ye, and eat; this is My Body'"; the Gradual chants, "The eyes of all hope in You, O Lord, and You give them meat in due season". The very beautiful Sequence, Lauda Sion, celebrates it at length, and the Gospel (Jn 6: 56-59), echoing the Alleluia, cites the most significant passage in the discourse when Jesus Himself announced the Eucharist, "My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed"

The Communion Hymn repeats a sentence of the Epistle, and reminds us that we receive the Body of the Lord worthily. Finally, the Postcommunion tells us that Eucharistic Communion is the pledge of eternal communion, in heaven. But in order to have a better understanding of the immense value of the Eucharist, we must go back to the very words of Jesus, most opportunely recalled in the Gospel of the day, "He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me and I in Him." Jesus made Himself our food in order to assimilate us to Himself, to make us live His life, to make us live in Him, as He Himself lives in His Father. The Eucharist is truly the Sacrament of the union and at the same time it is the clearest and most convincing proof that God calls us and pleads with us tp come to intimate union with Himself.

COLLOQUY

"O God, O Creator, O Spirit of life overwhelming Your creatures with ever new graces! You grant to Your chosen ones the gift which is ever renewed: the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ!...O my soul, how can you refrain yourself from plunging deeper and deeper into the love of Christ, who did not forget you in life or in death, but who willed to give Himself wholly to you, and to unite to Himself forever "St Angela of Folignio.

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Road to Emmaus

At that time, Two of the disciples of Jesus went the same day to a town which was sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, named Emmaus; and they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that while they talked and reasoned with themselves, Jesus himself also drawing near went with them: but their eyes were held that they should not know him. And he said to them: what are these discourses that you hold one with another as you walk, and are sad. And the one of them, whose name was Cleophas, answering, said to him: Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and bast not known the things that have been done there in these days? To whom he said: What things?


And they said: Concerning Jesus of 'Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people: and how our chief priests and princes delivered him to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we hoped that it was he that should have redeemed Israel: and now besides all this today is the third day since these things were done. Yea and certain women also of our company, affrighted us, who before it was light, were at the sepulchre, and not finding his body, came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who say, that he is alive. And some of our people went to the sepulchre and found it so as the women had said, but him they found not. Then he said to them: O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into his glory? And be­ginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things that were concerning him.

And they drew nigh to the town, whither they were going: and he made as though he would go farther. But they constrained him, saying: Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent. And he went in with them.

And it came to pass, whilst he was at table with them, he took bread, and blessed and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he vanished out of their sight. And, they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within, us; whilst he spoke in the way, and opened to us the scriptures? And rising up the same hour they, went back, to Jerusalem and, they found the eleven gathered together, and those that were with them, saying: the Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way and how they knew him in the breaking of bread (Luke 24: 13-35).

Instructions on Easter Monday

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EASTER MONDAY

PRESENCE OF GOD
Do not leave me, O Jesus, gentle Pilgrim; I have need of You

MEDITATION
1. God has made us for Himself, and we cannot live without Him; we need Him, we hunger and thirst for Him; He is the only One who can satisfy our hearts. The Easter liturgy is impregnated with this longing for God, for Him who is from on high; it even makes it the distinctive sign of our participation in the Paschal mystery. "If you be risen with Christ, seek the things, that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth" (Col 3:1,2). The more the soul revives itself in the Resurrection of Christ, the more it feels the need of God and of heavenly truth; it detaches itself more and more from earthly things to turn toward those of heaven.
Just as physical hunger is an indication of a living, healthy organism, so spiritual hunger is a sign of a robust spirit, one that is active and continually developing. The soul which feels no hunger for God, no need to seek Him and to find Him, and which does not vibrate or suffer with anxiety in its search, does not bear within itself the signs of the Resurrection. It is a dead soul, or at least one which has been weakened and rendered insensible by lukewarmness. The Paschal alleluia is a cry of triumph at Christ's Resurrection, but at the same time it is an urgent invitation for us to rise also. Like the sound of reveille, it calls us to battles of spirit, and invites us to rouse and renew ourselves, to participate ever more profoundly in Christ's Resurrection....

2. We read in today's Gospel the very beautiful story of the disciples at Emmaus (Lk 24: 13-35). Here we find the earnest supplication: "Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent." Stay with us, Lord! It is the cry of the soul who has found God and never again wishes to be separated from Him. Let us too, as the disciples at Emmaus, go in search of the Lord. Our whole life is a continuous journey toward Him, and we are often sad, even as they were, because we do not succeed in finding Him, because not understanding His mysterious ways, it seems that He has abandoned us. "We hoped that it was He that should have redeemed Israel....but....," said the two disciples, frustrated by the death of Jesus, at the very moment when they were about to relinquish all hope, was there close to them, disguised as their fellow traveler. We have often shared this experience of Him. Hidden in the obscurity of faith, God draws near our soul, makes Himself our traveling companion, and still more, lives in us by grace. It is true that here below He does not reveal Himself in the clarity of the "face to face" vision which is reserved for eternity; we see Him only as through a glass in a dark manner (1 Cor 13:12); nevertheless, God knows how to make Himself known. To us as to the disciples at Emmaus, His presence is revealed in an obscure manner; yes, but unmistakably, because of the unique ardour which He alone can kindle in our hearts. The soul who has found the Lord.....cannot fail to direct Him the cry: "Stay with me!".....Let us, therefore, beg Him ardently: teach us, O Lord, to stay with You, to live with You.

QOLLOQUY
.....Remember my great misery, O Lord, and look upon my weakness, since You know all things (TJ Exc, 7 - Life).

credit: text from "Divine Intimacy" by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen OCD

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The Way of the Cross with Carmelite Saints - St John of the Cross

I. JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH
They all concurred in the verdict guilty, with its sentence of death (Mark 14:64).

Take neither great nor little notice of who is with you or against you, and try always please God. Ask Him that His Will be done in you. Love Him immensly, as He deserves to be loved. (The sayings of light and love, no 155, p. 96)

...Have a great love for those who contradict and fail to love you, for in this way love is begotten in a heart that has no love. God so acts with us....(The Letters, no 33 p.764)

When something distasteful or unpleasant comes your way, remember Christ crucified and be silent (Letters no 20 p.756).

II. JESUS CARRIES HIS CROSS
Jesus was led away....carrying the cross by Himself (John 19:16-17)

He who seeks not the cross of Christ seeks not the glory of Christ (Sayings no 102)

....It behoves us not to go without the cross, just s our Beloved did not go without it, even to the death of love...(Letters no 11).

Oh! If I could but now fully understand how a soul cannot reach the thicket and wisdom of the riches of God, which are of many kinds, without entering the thicket of many kinds of suffering, finding in this her delight and consolation; and how a soul with an authentic desire for divine wisdom, wants suffering first in order to enter this wisdom by the thicket of the cross (The Spiritual Canticle stanza 36).

III. JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME
I was hard pressed and was falling (Psalm 118:13)

On this narrow road there is room only for self-denial (as our Saviour asserts) and the cross. The cross is a supporting staff and greatly lightens and eases the journey (Ascent Bk II, ch 7).

....Not only are temporal goods and bodily delights contradictory to the path leading to God, but so also are spiritual consolations, if possessed or sought with attachment, an obstacle to the way of the cross of Christ, the Bridgeroom. (Canticle, Stanza 3 no 5)


IV. JESUS MEETS HIS AFFLICTED MOTHER
Simeon said to Mary His mother...you yourself shall be pierced with a sword (Luke 2:34-35)

Sometimes, however, and at certain periods, God allows [the soul] to feel things and suffer from them that she might gain more merit and grow in the fervor of love, or for other reasons, as He did with the Virgin Mother, St Paul and others. (Canticle, Stanza 3)


V. SIMEON OF CYRENE HELPS JESUS CARRY HIS CROSS
They pressed [Simeon] into service to carry the Cross (Mark 15:21)

Our Lord proclaimed through St Matthew: My yoke is sweet and my burden light [Mt 11:30], the burden being the cross. If individuals resolutely submit to the carrying of the cross, if they decidedly want to find and endure trial in all things for God, they will discover in all of them great relief and sweetness. (Ascent II ch 7)

Some souls obtain sensible or spiritual sweetness from God because they are incapable of eating the stronger and more solid food for trials of the cross of His Son. He would desire them to take the cross more than any other thing (Ibid Book II ch 12)

VI. VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS
There was in Him no stately bearing to make us look at Him (Is 53:2)

When there is union of love, the image of the Beloved is so sketched in the will, and drawn so intimately and vividly, that it is true to say that the Beloved lives in the lover and the lover in the Beloved....Everything can be called a sketch of love in comparison with that perfect image, the transformation in glory. Yet the attainment of such a sketch of transformation in this life is a great blessing, for with this transformation the Beloved is very pleased. Desiring the bride to put Him as a sketch in her soul, He said in the Song of Songs: Put Me as a seal upon your heart...[Sg 8:6](Canticle, stanza 12)

To the soul that is more advanced in love, more conformed to the divine Will, God communicates Himself more. A person who has reached complete conformity and likeness of will has attained total supernatural union and transformation in God. (Ascent Bk II ch 5).


VII JESUS FALLS FOR THE SECOND TIME
My strength has failed through affliction (Psalm 31:11)

Since you walk in these darknesses and voids of spiritual poverty, you think that everyone and everything is failing you. It is no wonder that in this it also seems God is failing you. But nothing is failing you..... Those who desire nothing else than God walk not in darkness, however poor and dark they are in their own sight. And those who walk not presumptously, nor according to their own satisfactions, whether from God or from creatures, nor do their own will in anything, have nothing to stumble over....(Letters no 19).


VIII. JESUS MEETS THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM
Do not weep for Me. Weep for yourself and for your children (Luke 23:28)

...Christ is little known by those who consider themselves His friends. For we see them going about seeking in Him their own consolations and satisfactions, loving themselves very much, but not loving Him very much by seeking His bitter trials and deaths. (Ascent Bk II ch 7)

IX. JESUS FALLS A THIRD TIME
I looked about, but there was no one to help...no one to lend support (Is. 63:5)

If you do not fear falling alone, do you presume that you will rise up alone? Consider how much more can be accomplished by two together than by one alone. (Sayings no 9)


X. JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HS GARMENTS
They divided His clothes among them (Mt 27:35)

...The soul that is naked of desires and whines, God will clothe with His purity, pleasures, and will. (Ibid, no 98)

Wishing to strip them in fact of this old self and clothe them with the new, which is created according to God...as the Apostle says [Col 3:9-10; Eph 4:22-24; Rom 12:2], God divests the faculties, affections, and senses, both spiritual and sensory, interior and exterior. He leaves the intellect in darkness, the will in aridity, the memory in emptiness, and the affections in supreme afflictions, bitterness and anguish by depriving the soul of the feeling and satisfaction it previously obtained from spiritual blessings. For this privation is one of the conditions required that the spiritual form, which is the union of love, may be introduced into the spirit and united with it. (The dark Night Bk II Ch 3)

XI. JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS
They have pierced my hands and feet (Psalm 22:17)

Crucified inwardly and outwordly with Christ, you will live in this life with fullness and satisfaction of soul, and possess your soul in patience [Luke 21:19] (Sayings no 87)

Let Christ crucified be enough for you, and with Him suffer and take your rest, and hence annihilate yourself in all inward and outward things. (Ibid no 20)

XII. JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS
Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many...he surrendered himself to death (Is 53:11-12)

...He brought about the reconciliation and union of the human race with God through grace. The Lord achieved this....at the moment in which He was most annihilated in all things: in His reputation before people...; in His human nature, by dying; and in spiritual help and consolation from His Father, for He was forsaken....The journey, then, does not consist in consolations, delights, and spiritual feelings, but in the living death of the cross, sensory and spiritual, exterior and interior. (Ascent Bk II ch 7)

True love receives all things that come from the Beloved - prosperity, adversity, even chastisement - with the same eveness of soul, since they are His Will....Death cannot be bitter to the soul than loves, for in it she finds all the sweetness and delight of love....She thinks of death as her friend and bridegroom, and at the thought of it she rejoices as she would over the thought of her betrothal and marriage, and she long for that day and that hour of her death...(Canticle, Stanza 11).


XIII. JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS
He [Joseph of Arimathea] came therefore and took away the body of Jesus (John 19:38)

However intimate may be a person's union with God, there will never be satisfaction and rest until God's glory appears [Ps 17:15]...(The Living Flame of Love stanza 1 no 27)

It is vital for individuals to make acts of love in this life so that being perfected in a short time they may not be detained long, either here on earth or in the next life, before seeing God. (Ibid stanza 1 no 34)


XIV JESUS IS LAID IN THE TOMB
..they laid Jesus, because the sepulcher was nigh at hand (John 19:42).

If you desire to be perfect, sell your will, give it to the poor in spirit, come to Christ in meekness and humility, and follow Him to Calvary and the sepulcher. (Sayings no 165)

It is fitting that the soul be in this sepulcher of dark death in order that it attain the spiritual resurrection for which it hopes. (Dark Night Bk II ch 6).


Credits: text from 'The Way of the Cross with the Carmelite Saints' Compiled by Sr Joseph Marie, CHT Carmelite Hermit of the Trinity.

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Good Shepherd Sunday - click to read

'Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep, Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture' (Jn 10:7) 

I also feel the desire to love the Lord alone and to find joy only in Him. (St Therese, The Story of a Soul)

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Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus - click to read more

Luke 2:21
And after eight days were accomplished, that the child should be circumcised, his name was called JESUS, which was called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

At the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those that are in heaven, on earth and under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the father. O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is Thy Name in the whole earth! (Introit of the Mass, Phillip. 2:10,11)

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PASSION SUNDAY - click to read

"Crucifixion of Christ" by Lucas Cranach.

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Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) meditation - click to read Mass comments and explanation

Captivating fragments from the book "The Public Live of Our Lord Jesus Christ" by Archbishop Goodier, SJ let us reflect on the miracle Our Lord wrought. Picture below is by Dutch master Cornelius Engelbreschtszoon "Feeding the five Thousands". This beautiful piece of art, however, does not longer exist, it has been destroyed in the last year of WW2.

...A vessel sailing from Capharnaum to the north of the lake could easily be followed from the shore. We have seen how the crowd gathered, how it made its way along the bank; if the wind were light or contrary, it would easily reach the spot before the ship. At the north-east corner the little boat put in. From the deck out at sea the disciples had not noticed the excitement on the land; they were with Him, absorbed in Him, serving Him, and that was enough. When then they turned their course towards the landing-place, what was their surprise to find, already lined up along the beach, an almost countless multitude!
Men were gesticulating, calling to them, signing to them where to land, talking much to one another, while no one heeded what another said, delighted only to be noisy, officiously preparing to receive the boat and its occupants, laughing at their cleverness in thus forestalling and recapturing their fugitive Jesus. Whence had they come? The disciples were not long left in ignorance. Soon they recognised many of their friends from Capharnaum, and understood. But what was next to be done? They looked at their Master in dismay. He had brought them to a desert place for a day of rest with Him alone, and this had happened. Would He dismiss these people, or would He yield to them and deprive His Twelve of their holiday? Alas! They knew how it would be. They saw Him arise from His place in the stern; He looked across the ship to the crowd waiting for Him, to be with Him, because they believed in Him thus far. He was pleased, He was gratified, He must show His gratitude; he loved them, He pitied them, He must go to them as they had come to Him.



The Apostles read it in His face before He spoke; when at length He murmured something about 'Sheep having no shepherd', they knew the day was lost. Submissively they put in to the shore and let Him land.
'And Jesus coming forth saw a great multitude and he received them and had compassion on them because they were as sheep not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things of the Kingdom of God and healed them who had need of healing'
He came ashore among them. Proudly they received Him, effusively they made the way for Him. They would welcome Him, they would do Him honour; that they tried Him with their demonstration did not occur to or concern them; He was Jesus, and He must submit. And He did. He received their attentions; they might pull Him to and fro as they chose; they knew no better and they never would. But they were not wholly to blame. They ought to have been guided, and their guides had failed them; worse than that, of late these guides had made great efforts to lead them astray. While He could He would be with them. He would help them, he would teach them anything he could, but chiefly of the Kingdom of God. He passed up the passage through the crowd that had been made for Him. Here and there, as He went along, a cripple boy was seen, a beggar with some sore. He paused at each, He stooped down and put His hand on each; He looked into sufferer's face and he was healed. He led the way across the green plain beneath the hill; the crowd closed in and followed. As for the Twelve, they could wait; before evening was come they would not be sorry they had sacrificed their day of rest.
Through the long hours they sat together, Jesus and the common multitude, on that green plain below the hill above the water's edge. Men came and went; and He spoke to them all, and rested at intervals, and some came around him and they just talked together. Time passed away unnoticed; the sun began to bend over the western Galilean hills. Almost suddenly it dawned upon the Twelve that unless they were careful the day might end in trouble. Their Master, good man, was again forgetting; so lost he was in His work that he did not notice how the time was fleeting. The sun would soon be dawn and the darkness be upon them. They were all far from home, two hours at least from Capharnaum, and all were in need of food and rest. They held a consultation together; he must be reminded. They made bold, as the had often done before, and came to Him. They interrupted His discourse with the warning:
'This is a desert place and the hour is now past. Send away the multitudes that going into the towns and villages round about. They may lodge and buy themselves victuals'.
He seemed not to mind what they said. He seemed to be in one of His careless moods, when love got the better of Him and he was unreasonable. What other impression cold they receive from His reply?
'They have no need to go, give you them to eat'.
this, surely, was too much. He knew very well that they had nothing with them; in any case to expect them to find food for five thousand people and more was an extravagance. But perhaps he meant that they should go and buy what was needed. How much money had they? Judas looked into the purse; at most there were two hundred pence. It was the best they could do; they could spend the money on bread and see how far it would go. So 'They said to him. Let us go and buy bread for two hundred pence and we will give them to eat'.
Meanwhile Jesus had risen from where he sat and was moving to a spot higher up the mountain-side. Here again He sat down and turned his eyes on the crowd gathered in the plain below. At first the sight seemed as if he were doubtful of being able to feed such a number. Philip was by His side, gentle, accommodating Philip.
'When Jesus therefore had lifted up his eyes and seen that a very great multitude cometh to him, he said to Philip whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this he said to try him for he himself knew what he would do.'
To the meaning of this, as he thought he understood it, Philip agreed. Two hundred pence! For five thousand men and more! The food supply of more than one village would be needed.
'And Philip answered him. Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them that everyone may eat a little.'
Did Philip guess something at least of that which was about to happen? Did it occur to him that He who had turned water into wine might, if He so chose, turn stones into bread? Did he remember how the Master had but lately said that should they ever be in need their heavenly father would feed them? Did he recall the Manna in the desert, and how bread had been sent down from heaven, merely, as it were, to humour the people of God? From his words one suspects it; form other things we know of His simple faith we believe it...
Jesus looked at Philip no more. He fell back into one of these inspiring moods when He instilled peace around Him, and certainty, and trust; when men of goodwill obeyed Him, though he might command what seemed impossible or absurd. So it had been at the marriage feast at Cana; so with the ruler and his son; so in these last days when he sent out His Twelve to preach, and in the strength of His command they had succeeded. Such a mood was on Him now. He seemed to live outside the world around Him; and Philip, here as elsewhere, was the first to catch the spirit that was on Him. To the rest Jesus turned, and quietly, almost carelessly, asked them:
'How many loaves have you?'
To them, then, it seemed that He was still living on false hope. Loaves they had none among themselves;...They moved about among those who were near. They found a little boy with a basket; in it were five loaves of common barley and two tiny fishes, more than he could need for himself....he was all the twelve could find; they came to report the failure.
'And when they knew one of his disciples Andrew the brother of Simon Peter saith to him. There is a boy here, that has five barley loaves and two fishes. But what are these among so many?'
No; there was nothing else to be done. They would be compelled to go into the town, and buy what they could with the money they possessed.'Unless perhaps we should go and buy victuals for all this multitude';...All this time had Jesus waited. Deliberately He had waited, that quide clearly beforehand the exact facts might be made known to all. There were so many men; there was just this amount of food and no more. Even what was to follow must be done in strict order, so that from first to last there should be no room for mistake or misinterpretation. Never before or after was Jesus more careful or exacting in the working of a miracle. On this occasion, more than on any other, he acted like a king, and would be obeyed, down to the smallest detail.
'And he said to his disciples. Make the man sit down by fifties in a company upon the green grass.' It was so done.....There were fifty such groups gathered and seated on the grass that evening before the Pasch. Jesus had taken good care that the number should be known for ever....Then when all was ready, with the Twelve standing about Him from below, slowly and carefully He took the little boy's five loaves and two fishes on His knee. He held them in His hands and looked up to heaven; for a moment he was lost to earth. He placed a hand upon the bread and fishes and blessed them; there was an uttered prayer of thanksgiving to the Father who would give to His children their daily, their substantial bread. He broke the loaves in parts, then the tiny fishes. With the broken pieces on His knee, He called His Twelve yet nearer. To each He gave a part; five loaves and two fishes divided amongst twelve men, scarcely a meal for themselves, let alone for the multitude below. But it was not for them; they were to take what He gave them to others. So He bade them, and they could only obey. The Twelve did as they were told. They came to their respective groups. With their fingers, as He had done, they broke their portions into smaller pieces. These they handed out; they put their hands into their wallets for more, and there was something always over. Again, they broke, again they gave, again they found something in the wallet. At first it may be they did not noticed, but soon the truth grew upon them. They gave more freely and abundantly, so abundantly that some had more than they could eat; and still their wallets never emptied. They passed down all the lines, they came to the end; each of the Twelve has served the groups allotted to him. There was not a man there who was not satisfied, and still there were still portions left.
'And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, looking up to heaven He blessed and broke the loaves and when he had given thanks he gave the loaves to his disciples to set before them and the disciples to the multitudes that were sat down. In like manner also the two fishes he divided among them as much as they would and they did all eat and were filled.'
But Jesus had not finished yet. He had given them the gift of bread, 'Full measure and pressed down'; but before He had done it must be 'Flowing over.'

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Third Sunday of Lent - click to read

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Second Sunday of Lent - click to read

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First Sunday of Lent, Invocabit - click to read

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Third Sunday after Epiphany, Carmelite meditations

Presence of God - O divine Saviour, I, too, am poor leper; receive me: "If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean!"

1. Today's Gospel (Mt 8:1-13) places before us two miracles of Jesus, two profound lessons in humility, faith, and charity. Observe the humble faith of the leper: "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." He is so certain that Jesus can heal him that he feels nothing else is necessary for his cure other than the Lord's will. Christian faith does not wander about in subtle reasoning; its logic is simple: God can do all that He wills; therefore, His will alone is necessary. Yet the leper does not insist; one who lives by faith knows that God always wills whatever is best for him, even if it brings him suffering. Therefore, instead of insisting, he prefers to abandon himself to God's good pleasure.

Next comes centurion. The strong, proud Roman soldier is not ashamed to personally beg Jesus, a Galilean, to help his paralyzed servant. Our Lord is touched by this humble, charitable act, and says at once, "I shall go and heal him!" But the centurion continues, "I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed." At this point humility becomes still more profound, and faith reaches its maximum; it is not necessary for the Lord to go; His power is so great that a word spoken from afar suffices to perform any miracle. Jesus Himself "marveled and said:'Amen, I say to you, I have not found so great in Israel!'" Is this not a complaint against those who live so close to Him, who perhaps live in His own house, receiving constant favors from Him, while their faith remains very weak and therefore inefficacious?
2. According to Jewish law, lepers were kept apart from society and no one was allowed to go near them; likewise, the pagans were to be shunned because they did not belong to the chosen people. Jesus goes beyond the old law and in the name of universal charity He welcomes and heals the leper, listens to the foreign centurion and cures his pagan servant. Thus Christ teaches us to make no distinction of persons, not to despise sinners and infidels, but to welcome all with loving kindness. He does not wish the good to enclose themselves in a little circle, but to open the doors to everyone, doing good to all without concerning themselves about the traits and opinions of others. All men are children of God; and our charity, like the mercy of our heavenly Father, should extend to all. This is the dominant thought of today's Epistle (Rom 12: 16-21), where St. Paul exhorts us to practice charity, especially toward our enemies. "To no man rendering evil for evil.... If it be possible, as much as in you, have peace with all men. Revenge not yourselves....but if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat....Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good."
Jesus conquered evil, both physical and moral evil, by His mercy and love. This must be our strategy too. Whatever the evil around us, whatever the suffering it may cause us, we shall never overcome it by arguments and discussion or by taking a stand and adhering rigidly to it. This can only be accomplished by a delicate charity which understands intuitively the mentality, the tastes, and the needs of others, and which knows precisely when to intervene, to condescend and to sacrifice itself for the good of another, even if that other is unfriendly toward us - only such charity can triumph over evil.

Colloquoy
"Being what we are and having our free will, when we do not receive what pleases us, we sometimes refuse what the Lord gives us, even though the gift might be the best one possible....But no, my God, no, more trust in anything which I can desire for myself: do You desire for me that which You are pleased to desire; for that is my desire, since all my good consist in pleasing You. And, if You, my God, should be pleased to please me, by fulfilling all that my desire asks of You, I know that I should not be lost (T.J. Way, 30-Exc, 17).
O my Jesus, I trust You, I abandon myself to You, dispose of me, of my health and of all that concerns me, according to what You know is best for my spiritual advancement. I beg but one thing: heal my poor soul. I too, spiritually, am a poor leper, a poor paralytic. My pride and vanity are always ready to impair and vitiate the little good I accomplish. Sloth and inertia seek to paralyze my efforts toward perfection. Behold me at Your feet, O Lord; I need Your help like the leper and the paralytic servant. I too, O Lord, believe that, if You will, You can heal me. "Miserable though I am, I firmly believe that You can do what You will; and the greater are Your marvels that I hear spoken of, and the more I reflect that You can work others still greater, the stronger grows my faith and the greater is the resolution with which I believe that You will hear my requests" (T.J.Exc, 4).
O sweet Jesus, I beg for a little of Your overflowing charity, which is so universal, so kind. You well know the difficulties I sometimes encounter when practicing this virtue, especially toward those whose ways of acting and thinking are so different from mine. O Lord, fill my heart with warm, sincere kindness toward them. Only the charity which comes from You will give me strength to overcome all the conflicts which arise from difference in temperament, education and ideas. Only this charity can enable me to sacrifice myself generously for those who hurt me and to continue to act kindly toward those whom I naturally dislike. O Jesus, You came on earth to enkindle the fire of charity: enkindle in me an ardent love for my neighbor.

Meditation from the "Divine Intimacy" by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene OCD.

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