1st Week of Easter - Wednesday

Today's Gospel reading is taken from Luke - the story of the Road to Emmaus. Hopefully all remember well this story of two men on the road to Emmaus who actually meet the risen Jesus but are blind to who he is until he shares a meal with them. It was in the breaking of bread that their eyes were opened. I pray that all will have their eyes opened today to the presence of the risen Jesus. He is present in all we meet this day! God bless!!

First Week in Easter - Tuesday

This is taken from Peter Kreeft's book, "Heaven, The Heart's Deepest Longing."

"Pascal comments, with this promise of Jesus in mind,
'There are three kinds of people: those who have sought God and found him, and these are reasonable and happy; those who seek God and have not yet found him, and these are reasonable and unhappy; and those who neither seek God nor find him, and these are unreasonable and unhappy.'

We all have to eventually examine our own lives and discover whether or not we are seeking God and whether or not we have found Him and whether or not we want to find Him.
God bless!!

Easter Sunday - He is Risen!! He has truly Risen!!

Today is the day that makes our faith real! If Jesus did not rise from the dead, our faith would be in vain. Here are some words from Pope Benedict XVI from today's Magnificat:

"Faith in the Resurrection of Jesus says that there is a future for every human being; the cry for unending life which is a part of the person is indeed answered. Through Jesus we do know 'the room where exiled love lays down its victory.' He himself is this place, and he calls us to be with him and in dependence on him. He calls us to keep this place open within the world so that he, the exiled love, may reappear over and over in the world... God exists: that is the real message of Easter. Anyone who even begins to grasp what this means also knows what it means to be redeemed."

Have a wonderful Joy filled Easter! And remember that Easter is just beginning. It will end on Pentecost Sunday when the Holy Spirit comes! God bless!!

Holy Saturday - All is Silent

From the Liturgy of the Hours -

"Something strange is happening - there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear."

May all today reflect on the silence! God bless!

Good Friday - Reflect on Our Lord's Passion & Death

This was taken from a Catecheses by St. John Chrysostom, Bishop. It was the second reading in the Liturgy of the Hours, 4 volume edition.

"If we wish to understand the power of Christ's blood, we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. 'Sacrifice a lamb without blemish, ' commanded Moses, 'and sprinkle its blood on your doors.' If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself, but in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord's blood. In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, the doors of the temple of Christ."

As I sat in the Chapel last night (Holy Thursday), adoring my Lord and my God, I knew that I would drink of the wine in the Kingdom of God even now while still on earth. I will be without my Lord until Easter morning when I can once again receive His precious Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. How blessed I am to receive for so many today do not know how precious this sacrament is. So many today either do not receive Jesus' Body and Blood or receive Him not knowing His great power and might and, especially, His True Presence. He feeds us for the journey - only if we want to be fed. How I long for Sunday when I can receive Him again! God bless!!

Holy Thursday: Mass of the Lord's Supper

Taken from the Magnificat, a writing by Pope Benedict XVI -

"When the Lord of the world comes and undertakes the slave's task of foot-washing - which is an illustration of the way he washes our feet all through our lives - we have a totally different picture. God doesn't want to trample on us, but kneels down before us so as to exalt us. The mystery of the greatness of God is seen precisely in the fact that he can be small... Only when power is changed from the inside, and we accept Jesus and his way of life, whose whole self is there in the action of foot-washing, only then can the world be healed and the people be able to live at peace with one another."

Today is Holy Thursday - the institution of the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith. It is also when Jesus went down on his knees to wash the feet of his disciples. From John's Gospel -

"So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, "Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do."

Jesus teaches us to serve and to serve with great love. He not only washes our feet, but he feeds us with his very own body and blood! God bless!!

Body, Soul, Spirit

This is from Peter Kreeft's book, "Heaven, The Heart's Deepest Longing."

pg 130 - "The soul makes the difference between life and death to the body, and the spirit makes the difference between life and death to the soul. A body without a soul is not a living body but a corpse."

pg 131 - "Spirit has only two choices: for or against God."

pg 134 - "Joy is in the spirit, not in the soul; and soul is at least partly under our control. Spirit is not. Spirit rules soul, but soul does not rule spirit. We can control pleasure and even happiness to an extent, but never joy; it is a sheer gift of God."

Most of us spend our lives under the influence of our bodies and its needs. Some venture deeper into self and find their soul. But few go deep enough to enter into their spirit which is where God dwells within each of us. It is only through deep prayer that we develop our relationship with God and discover who we really are and God's plan for us. We truly do have only two choices, either for God or against Him. Which is your choice? God bless!!