Paradox of love... (Easter Friday)

"We know that God makes all things work together

for the good of those who love him, who have been 

called according to his decree." - Romans 8:28

"By a beautiful paradox of Divine love,

God makes His Cross the very means of our salvation 

and our life.  We have slain Him; we have nailed Him 

there and crucified Him; but the Love in His 

eternal heart could not be extinguished.

He willed to give us the very life we slew;

to give us the very Food we destroyed;

to nourish us with the very Bread we buried,

and the very Blood we poured forth.

He made our very crime into a happy fault;

He turned a Crucifixion into a Redemption;

a Consecration into a Communion;

a death into Life Everlasting."

Ven Fulton J Sheen

Divine Mercy Novena Day #8
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Two-pronged path - to Christ... (Easter Thursday)

    ...it is I myself.  Touch me and see... 

Luke 24:39a

 

"Those who are called to recognize the risen Jesus 

do so by following the same two-pronged path:  

by the sacrament of Jesus' Body 

and that of His Word, touching Jesus' 

Body and understanding the Scriptures.  

These two sacraments, in a mysterious way, 

contain the risen One and at the same time in every 

Eucharist make Him present to all who believe.

How could we ever believe if Jesus Himself 

did not take the initiative to make it happen?  

How would we recognize Jesus 

in the sacrament of His Body and Blood 

if He Himself did not invite us to do this and if He did not 

tenderly wound our heart at the moment we receive Him?  

How would we find the risen One in His Word 

if He Himself did not open our mind and set our heart 

on fire every time He spoke to us through Scriptures?  

In our own heart, which leaps up with joy, 

we recognize Jesus, the Jesus Who is risen 

and still lives, even in our midst."

Dom Andre Louf (+2010)
Abbot - 35 years  - Cistercian monastery 
of Mont-des-Cats, France
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Divine Mercy Novena Day #7
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That we may recognize Him... (Easter Wednesday)

   “People today want Christ without His Church. 

They want the King without His Kingdom."

Timothy Cardinal Dolan

“The disciples on the road to Emmaus so wanted to see Jesus, the One they came to know and love, the One who died on the cross.  And, yet, they did not even recognize Him as He approached and walked along with them.  It was only as He explained the Scriptures (Liturgy of the Word) and broke the Bread (Liturgy of the Eucharist) that their eyes were opened to recognize the Risen Christ. 

My dear friends, the same two elements remain with us today – and they do so because of the Church!  Would we still have the Scriptures proclaimed to us today, or the Eucharist celebrated today, if it were not for the Church?  Just as Christ opened the eyes of his disciples, He comes to open our eyes to His living presence in our midst today.

So again, I say to you: Stay close to Christ.

Ask the Lord to strengthen your faith that you may recognize Him in the Sacred Scriptures and in the Eucharist. 

I read a quote recently ... The quote is from the French writer, Francois Mauriac.  I believe it is quite relevant for us ...‘If you are friends with Christ, many others will warm themselves at your fire… On the day you no longer burn with love, many will die of the cold.’”

Bishop Paul D Etienne

Painting above: Friend of the Humble (Supper at Emmaus), Leon-Augustin Lhermitte (1892)
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Divine Mercy Novena Day #6
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It is up to us...to tell... (Easter Tuesday)

So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ 

and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.  

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust 

must prove faithful.  ...You are fools for Christ, 

but you are so wise in Christ! - I Cor 4: 1,2,10

"Our people are becoming like Mary of Magdala

when she came to the tomb. 

'They have taken the Lord from the tomb,

and we don't know where they put Him' (Jn 20:2).  
It is up to us... to tell our people 

where our Risen Savior is. 

    The Blessed Sacrament is our Risen Savior

with all the power of His love and mercy flowing

out to those who come into His presence! 

This is where we must run, like Peter and John. 

This is where we must bring everyone. 

For each hour will advance the day when the 

light of His love and mercy will shine out, and then 

like Him, His people will be resurrected."

Excerpt from Letters to a Brother Priest

 Rev. Fr. Vincent Martin Lucia and Rev. Msgr. Josefino Ramirez 

Top image: The Three Marys at the Tomb, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Bottom image: The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre, by Dan Burr

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Divine Mercy Novena Day #5
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Allelujah is our song... (Easter Monday)

  The first eight days of the Easter season 

("Bright Week") make up the Octave of Easter 

and celebrated as Solemnities of the Lord.  

Singing the Easter sequence, Victimae Paschali Laudes, at 

Mass throughout the Octave is recommended, though not required.  

At the end of Masses during the Easter Octave, the dismissal, 

as at Easter, is sung by the deacon or priest; to which the people 

respond in song,“Thanks be to God, Alleluia! Alleluia!”

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"The Christian should be an Alleluia

from head to foot!"- St Augustine

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 “Let us keep the holy feast of Pascha and then, 

adding day by day the holy Pentecost, which 

we regard as feast upon feast, we shall keep 

the festival of the Spirit." - St Athanasius (4th c)

"We are an Easter people

and 'Allelujah' is our song."

St Augustine  

"...  we are given two liturgical seasons, one before Easter and the other after. The season before Easter signifies the troubles in which we live here and now, while the time after Easter which we are celebrating at present signifies the happiness that will be ours in the future. What we commemorate before Easter is what we experience in this life; what we celebrate after Easter points to something we do not yet possess. This is why we keep the first season with fasting and prayer; but now the fast is over and we devote the present season to praise. Such is the meaning of the Alleluia we sing. ...

Now therefore, brethren, we urge you to praise God. That is what we are all telling each other when we say Alleluia. You say to your neighbor, “Praise the Lord!” and he says the same to you. We are all urging one another to praise the Lord, and all thereby doing what each of us urges the other to do. But see that your praise comes from your whole being; in other words, see that you praise God not with your lips and voices alone, but with your minds, your lives and all your actions."- Excerpt from St. Augustine's discourse on the Psalms (Ps. 148, 1-2: CCL 40, 2165-2166)    

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Divine Mercy Novena Day #4

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