Resurrection of the Lord
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 118)
(audio thanks to: Living with Christ)
Archives
Good Friday
Celebration of the Lord’s Passion
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 31)
(audio thanks to: Living with Christ)
Holy Thursday
Easter Morning
God our Father, creator of all,
today is the day of Easter joy.
This is the morning on which the Lord
appeared to men
who had begun to lose hope
and opened their eyes to what the scriptures foretold:
that first he must die, and then he would rise
and ascend into his Father’s glorious presence.
May the risen Lord
breathe on our minds and open our eyes
that we may know him in the breaking of the bread,
and follow him in his risen life.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Jesus, Fountain and Abyss
If we were to look at just the first few words of the following two prayers, we might think they were written by Saint Faustina, so reminiscent are they of her Diary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet novena we are beginning today.
But they are actually from Saint Bridget of Sweden (14th Century) from: The Magnificent Prayers of Saint Bridget of Sweden. Based on the Passion and Death of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I share today, on Good Friday, two of the fifteen prayers we received from The Revelations of Saint Bridget:
Seventh Prayer:
O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of Compassion, Who by a profound gesture of love said from the cross, “I thirst,” and Who suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts, and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.
Eleventh Prayer:
O Jesus! Deep Abyss of Mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy wounds, which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy face, justly irritated against me; hide me in Thy wounds until Thy anger and indignation shall have passed away. Amen.
"The Crucifixion of Christ", a fresco from the church of the Holy Virgin at Studenica, 1202
Gethsemane Remembered
One night, in late 1995 or early 1996 (I don’t remember whether it was shortly before my mother died or shortly afterwards), I was standing in our old house looking out the window of our tiny spare room. Below, wandering down the little road, was an enormous skunk. I wondered why it was out in the snow instead of hibernating somewhere.
I was at this window talking to Jesus about cancer, my mother’s cancer, my mother’s suffering. I talked to Him about His Passion and His sufferings and His pain. I was making it clear to Him, though, that he hadn’t ever suffered from cancer in particular, so He really couldn’t know exactly what that was like. We chatted for a while…which really means, I was doing all the talking.
As I started to move away from the window and towards the doorway to go downstairs, my body was stopped by an outer force. I saw a kind of greyish, white cloud around my body and all of a sudden I wasn’t in the spareroom anymore. My body, I’m pretty sure, was still in the room, but “I” wasn’t. I knew I was in the Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus. I didn’t see the Garden, I didn’t see Jesus, but I knew He had taken me there and He was with me. In whatever time it was, a few seconds or a few minutes, He gave me a small taste and a big understanding of what He had experienced. When I came back to “me” being in the spareroom, I understood that in some mysterious way, perhaps out of time and space but definitely within His own humanity, he had somehow experienced every single thing that it is possible to experience as a human being – every single disease, every single suffering, every single evil. Everything. I was entirely filled with shame and remorse, and yet knew He loved me and wanted me to understand.
I hadn’t planned on sharing this tonight, but when I heard this child’s beautiful voice and the part of the lyrics where it talks about Jesus having experienced everything, I felt like He was asking me to help make sure everyone knows the truth of this. There is nothing He has not known in a personal way, so there is nothing you cannot bring to Him.
Easter Sunday
Together, let us use our imagination and picture ourselves with Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb. Imagine the shock when our beloved Jesus is not there! Emptiness fills us; questions tumble out: What do we do now? Who took Jesus? Where is our beloved?
And then, in the garden we hear Jesus call our name. This is EASTER! To be called by name, in the name of Jesus!
Alleluia! Give thanks! God’s love is everlasting!
What does resurrection look like in my world, in my family, in me?
[Taken from: Living the Days of Lent 2006. Reflections by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, edited by Anita M. Constance, SC]
[Picture was found at Hermano Leon Clipart - free Christian clipart]
