Monday, April 10, 2017

Come to the altar, surrender...

"It is not some other Jesus, but the same Jesus who entered Jerusalem amid the waving of palm branches.  It is the same Jesus who was nailed to the cross and dies between two criminals.  We have no other Lord but Him:  Jesus, the humble King of justice, mercy and peace."- Ending of Pope Francis' Palm Sunday Homily 2017


"Holy Week is the time of our great Passover: the passage from darkness to light, from sadness to joy, from time to eternity, from death to life.  And so we are drawn to the Cross and the Cross is offered to us, in this and in every Eucharist. The Eucharist is the place and the means and the price of our Passover for the Eucharist is the Church held in the embrace of the Cross.

If you are weary, come to the altar, surrender to the embrace of the Cross. If you are fearful and isolated, come to the altar, surrender to the embrace of the Cross. If you are bitter, or bruised, or fragmented, come to the altar, surrender to the embrace of the Cross. If you hunger and thirst for holiness, come to the altar, surrender to the embrace of the Cross. If you would ascend with Christ to the Father, if you would make of your life a fragrant offering, come to the altar, surrender to the embrace of the Cross. If you would leave behind the darkness of the cold tomb, if you would know the joy of resurrection, come to the altar, surrender to the embrace of the Cross.

Together let us surrender to the mystery of the Cross.  Together let us receive from the altar the mystery of the Cross, and so enter into the silence and into the song of the great and glorious Pasch of the Lord.  In a week's time, having passed over from death to life, from the seven days of measured time into the mystic Eighth day, we will hail the festival day of Him who triumphs over hell and holds the stars of heaven in His hand (cf. Salve, Festa Dies, Easter Processional Hymn)."

Dom Mark Daniel Kirby
Prior - Silverstream Priory, Meath County, Ireland 
IMAGE: Ecce Homo (Behold, the man) ~ Artist: Joan de Joanes



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