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Showing posts with the label Easter

Grief and Gratitude on Good Friday

Great griefs are like great joys: they bend time. My sister died twenty years ago. Sometimes it seems so long ago that mercifully, I can barely remember the details. Other times, those details rush back at me so sharply I have to steel myself for impact. Suicide does that. I can smile now at the memory of my sister. I felt disloyal the first time I did that, as though permanent grief could be the only fitting monument to her memory. Time, mercy, and God’s grace have done their work, bit by bit. For the first time since her death, I am writing about her and about losing her. This is an anniversary, and the time is right. For years, I thought she had taken Easter away with her and left nothing behind but wreckage. Gradually I found that she left me other things: a greater appreciation for the gift of my family, and how to live with gratitude despite wounds that are bone-deep. Those aren’t compensations. They don’t cancel out anything. They are gifts nonetheless. I extend my hand

'We will come to them and make our home with them.' Sunday Reflections, 6th Sunday of Easter, Year C

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The Trinity , El Greco, 1577, Madrid  Gospel John 14:23-29 ( NRSV,Catholic Ed , Can) Jesus said to his disciples: “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.

'If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.' Sunday Reflections, Second Sunday of Easter (or of Divine Mercy)

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The Incredulity of St Thomas , Rembrandt, 1634 Pushkin Museum, Moscow [ Web Gallery of Art ] Gospel John 20:19-31 ( NRSV, Catholic Ed ,Can) When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in t

Living the Triduum on Easter Monday and Beyond

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The overriding sentiment which prevails at my house and in my heart each Easter Monday is the same .  It is finished.  The long 40 days of Lenten fasting, prayer and penance are completed.  The late nights of the Triduum liturgies are over.  Crumbs of the traditional Italian Easter bread and a handful of neon colored peeps are all that remain from Easter dinner.   He is Risen indeed – so why does Easter Monday always get me down? Read more here...

Christ Has Conquered

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Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor, radiant in the brightness of your King! Christ has conquered! Glory fills you! Darkness vanishes for ever! Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory! The risen Savior shines upon you! Let this place resound with joy, echoing the mighty song of all God’s people! continue

Another Easter

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There have been only three to six major events so far, depending on how you count them: the creation of this universe; humanity's creation and fall; and our Lord's arrival, execution, and resurrection. There's another big one coming, eventually, and I'll get back to that. Cosmic Scale I'm a Catholic, so I take Sacred Scripture very seriously, 1 including this: " God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed - the sixth day. " ( Genesis 1:31 ) We've known that God's creation was big and old, and been impressed, for a long time: " 1 Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the LORD, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it. " ( Deuteronomy 10:14 ) " The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft. " ( Psalms 19:2 ) " 3 Raise your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; Though the hea

Jesus, Remember Me ...

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Have the Last 40 Days Changed You?

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Holy Week is here ... Lent 2016 will soon be done But am I any different than when it all began 40 plus days ago? Did my Lenten sacrifices - prayers, almsgiving and fasting - transform me? Did they prepare me for the coming Triduum s(Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) services? Most importantly have the readied my heart to rise again with Jesus on Easter -- a new creation in Christ ? Lent and the expectation of the coming of Spring, maybe because I live in a seasonal location, have always co-existed in my heart. Lent starts often in the harshness of winter - cold, long, dark nights. Easter arrives after daylight savings and (usually) the last snow fall. Flowers and trees are budding, maybe even flowering, and there is an emerging from the cocoon like feel to the world. But have I changed? Has this time of no television, extra prayer and attention to participating in the Sacraments, awoken something in my heart.   What will my spiritual practices look like goi

Pray with Me, during Holy Week and Easter

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Brilliantly simple! A letter from Seattle contains practical wisdom for praying through Holy Week and the Easter Season. Click over to Praying with Grace to read the letter.

The Messiah We Need

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Tiberius was Rome's absentee emperor around the time the Han Dynasty was getting back to business-as-usual, after Wang Mang 's brief takeover. I mentioned him before: Wang Mang, I mean. ( December 27, 2015 ) Meanwhile, Phaedrus was retelling Aesop's Fables in Latin, and Pontius Pīlātus was prefect of the Roman Province of Judea . That part of the world had been under Roman control since the Battle of Philippi , Armenia wasn't a Roman province yet, but it wasn't the force it had been during Tigranes ' reign, and that's another topic. Tigranes, Tiberius, and Wang Mang, were well-known folks in their day; 1 at least in their homelands. Two millennia later, not so much. Pontius Pīlātus is another matter. He's mentioned each year around this time, when something like 2,000,000,000 folks pay at least fleeting attention to a Nazarene's progress from top-of-the-polls celebrity to executed corpse. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

'I know my own and my own know me.' Sunday Reflections, 4th Sunday of Easter, Year B

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From   The Gospel of John   (2003) directed by Philip Saville Today's Gospel, John 10:11-18 [1:19 - 2:30] Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.   The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.   The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.   I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,     just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.     I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.   For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.   No one takes   it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I

Jesus Christ is Risen!

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Easter Sunday 2015: Acts 10:34a , 37 - 43 Colossians 3:1 - 4 or 1 Corinthians 6b - 8 John 20:1 - 9 Easter Sunday 2015 By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas April 5, 2015 Jesus Christ is risen! This means that life takes on a new horizon. Have you ever thought of yourself as immortal? Have you ever considered that you have "forever" to live? The resurrection from the death of Jesus casts a new light on our human existence. No longer are we bound by finite ends. Our life has an all new endless and brilliant horizon, and we come to share in this new resurrected and glorious horizon gifted us by Christ Jesus through our baptism. In baptism, we are born into the resurrected life of Jesus Christ, a life that knows no end, no boundaries.... More, at A Catholic Citizen in America .

'Unless I see the mark of the nails . . .' Sunday Reflections, 2nd Sunday of Easter, Year B

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The Gospel of John   (2003) dir. by Philip Saville-  John 20:19-31   Today is now known also as 'Sunday of Divine Mercy' and in some English-speaking countries as 'Low Sunday'. Gospel   John 20:19-31   When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”   After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.     Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”   When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.     If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.   So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.”

John Paul II: My First Pope Crush

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Here he is. "Karol Wojtyla-splyw" by Unknown  [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons Yes. That's my beloved JP2. It's OK, you can love him too. On April 2, the world marked the tenth anniversary of his death. Pope Francis  encouraged us  to keep up our conversation with the Polish pope, asking him to "intercede for us, for families, for the church so that the light of the Resurrection shines through all of the darkness in our life and fills us with joy and peace.” It makes sense to continue to talk to Pope John Paul II--to pray--just like we did while he was still living among us. Sunday's brilliant celebration of Easter reminds us that Jesus has conquered death. Death is no stumbling block for us; when our friends pass away, we know they live in Jesus Christ. Read about three other popes and the love of Jesus Christ at Praying with Grace !

Death? Been There, Done That

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(From Piero della Francesca, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) ('Dead? I was, but now I'm better.' No, our Lord didn't say that: not in so many words.( John 20:26 - 27 )) I haven't died, not yet: and I'm still working on the 'dying to myself' that doesn't mean pretending that I'm garbage — and that's another topic. Topics. ( November 27, 2011 ; March 3, 2009 ) Our Lord: That's another matter. About two millennia back, Jesus was tortured, executed, and buried: but I'm getting ahead of the story.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

And They Believed

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'Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb.  They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first.  He bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloths lying on the ground and also the cloth that had been over His head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in.  He saw and he believed.'  (John 20:3-8) from The Cloistered Heart

The Purgatory Trap

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St. Michael the Archangel and the Souls in Purgatory   The trap of Purgatory is too many souls rely on Purgatory as the destination of their soul after death, and slap God in the face by not trusting in His mercy, and do not seek Heaven.  They use Purgatory as their "backup plan" and as a result lead lukewarm lives, saying to themselves that in an exchange for just doing the "minimum" faith requirement, thinking that when they die they will just have to spend a few years in Purgatory and then eventually end up in Heaven. Whether we spend time in Purgatory is at  God's  discretion, not ours.   The greatest misuse of Purgatory is that many Catholics do not fear God because of Purgatory. Those that hang their hopes on Purgatory are already among the lukewarm and possibly among those heading to the second death. Jesus will spit those out of His mouth that have failed to make every effort to follow Jesus and heaven, NOT Purgatory. To READ MORE: CLICK HERE!

'I am with you always . . .' Sunday Reflections. The Ascension; 7th Sunday of Easter

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The Ascension of Christ , Rembrandt, 1638 Alte Pinakotech, Munich [ Web Gallery of Art ] Solemnity of the Ascension  Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)                                   Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   Matthew 28:16-20   ( New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition , Can) Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.   And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.   Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,     and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The readings above are used whether the Solemnity is

'Because I live, you also will live.' Sunday Reflections, 6th Sunday of Easter Year A

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The Last Supper , Tintoretto, 1579-81 Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice  Web Gallery of Art Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)                                   Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel  John 14:15-21   ( New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition , Canada)   Jesus said to his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep   my commandments.   And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,   to be with you forever.     This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because  he abides with you, and he will be in   you.   “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.   In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.     On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you

'Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?' Sunday Reflections, 5th Sunday of Easter Year A

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Apostle St Thomas   El Greco, 1610-14, Museo de El Greco, Toledo [ Web Gallery   of Art] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)                                   Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   John 14:1-12   ( New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition , Canada Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe   in God, believe also in me.   In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?   And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.     And you know the way to the place where I am going.”   Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”   Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one c