Catholic Special Day

Sacred Heart of Jesus

It could be said that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was first written about in John’s Gospel when John records that during the Last Supper he leaned back and rested his head on Jesus’ heart. In the thirteenth century, on December 27, the Feast of Saint John the Apostle, the German religious sister and mystic Saint Gertrude the Great had a vision of Saint John with Jesus during which she discussed that moment at the Last Supper. In that vision, Saint John said to Saint Gertrude, “Come, Spouse of my Master, together let us lay our heads on the most tender bosom of the Lord, in which all the treasures of Heaven and earth are enclosed.” As she rested her head on Jesus’ Heart, her soul was deeply stirred with devotion, and she said to Saint John, “…did these harmonious beatings, which rejoice my soul, also rejoice yours when you reposed during the Last Supper on the bosom of the Saviour?” Saint John responded, “Yes, I heard them, and my soul was penetrated with their sweetness even to its very center.” Saint Gertrude inquired, “How come, then, in your Gospel you have spoken so little of the loving secrets of the Heart of Jesus Christ?” Saint John responded, “My ministry, in those early times of the Church, was confined to speaking of the Eternal Word…but to these latter times was reserved the grace of hearing the eloquent voice of the Heart of Jesus. At this voice the time-worn world will renew its youth, be roused from its lethargy, and again be inflamed with the warmth of Divine love” (Revelations of Saint Gertrude the Great).

About 400 years later, on December 27, 1673, the Feast of Saint John the Apostle, a French cloistered Visitation Nun named Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque received the first of four visions that took place over the next eighteen months in which Jesus revealed His Sacred Heart and His desire that a feast be instituted in its honor. Though she had other visions and mystical experiences throughout her life, these visions were directly related to the Sacred Heart.

My Divine Heart is so passionately in love with men that it can no longer contain within itself the flames of its ardent charity. It must pour them out by thy means, and manifest itself to them to enrich them with its precious treasures, which contain all the graces of which they have need to be saved from perdition. I have chosen thee as an abyss of unworthiness and ignorance to accomplish so great a design, so that all may be done by Me (from the first vision).

He was brilliant with glory; His five wounds shone like five suns. Flames darted forth from all parts of His sacred humanity, but especially from His adorable breast, which resembled a furnace, and which, opening, displayed to me His loving and amiable Heart, the living source of these flames (from the second vision).

Behold, this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrilege, and by the coldness and contempt they have for Me in this sacrament of love. And what is most painful to Me, is that they are hearts consecrated to Me. It is for this reason I ask thee that the first Friday after the octave of the Blessed Sacrament be appropriated to a special feast, to honor My Heart by communicating on that day, and making reparation for the indignity that it has received. And I promise that My Heart shall dilate to pour out abundantly the influences of its love on all that will render it this honor or procure its being rendered (from the third vision).

In her visions, Jesus also made twelve promises to those who would honor the Sacred Heart:

I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life. I will establish peace in their families. I will console them in all their troubles. They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of their death. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy. Tepid souls shall become fervent. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection. I will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored. I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced. The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.

When Sister Margaret Mary told her superior about her visions, her superior doubted their authenticity and had her meet with a spiritual director who also doubted them. Eventually, Jesuit Father and future saint Claude de la Colombiere became her confessor and spiritual director. He recognized the authenticity of the visions and devoted much energy to the spreading of this devotion.

Just five years before Saint Margaret Mary’s final vision, in another part of France, the future saint Father John Eudes, founder of the Society of Jesus and Mary, composed a Mass in honor of the Sacred Heart. Father Eudes had spent the previous forty-five years of his priesthood spreading an intimate devotion to the love of God and personal conversion. Twenty-two years earlier, he had written a Mass in honor of the Holy Heart of Mary, and in 1670, with the permission of the local bishop, he began celebrating his newly written Mass and Office of the Sacred Heart and continued to promote this devotion until his death ten years later. Though Father John Eudes and Sister Margaret Mary did not know each other, God knew them both and used them both to promote devotion to the burning love in His Sacred Heart.

Toward the end of Sister Margaret Mary’s life, her community began to celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart. In 1756, seventy-five years after Margaret Mary’s death, Pope Clement XIII approved devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, paving the way for various ecclesiastical provinces throughout Europe to celebrate the feast. It wasn’t until 1856 that Pope Pius IX placed the Feast of the Sacred Heart on the universal Roman Calendar, to be celebrated on the Friday after Corpus Christi.

The central message of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the infinite and compassionate love exploding from the Heart of Jesus for all mankind. It emphasizes our Lord’s sacred Sacrifice for our salvation and invites us to respond to His love. The Sacred Heart also calls us to make reparation for sins, especially human indifference and ingratitude toward Him. The nature of our Lord’s love is that it cannot be contained within His Heart and necessarily bursts forth. When His love is received, He is consoled. When it is ignored, the love in His Heart expands and waits to gush forth in superabundance upon anyone who is willing to receive it.

As we honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus, ponder the fact that Jesus’ love must pour forth from His Heart. He needs willing recipients to receive that love. Console His heart by being one of those recipients and by loving Him in return. Doing so will win countless graces for you and for the whole world.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/sacred-heart-of-jesus–solemnity/

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The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Catholic Special Day, Daily Saints

Of the greatest and most valuable treasures one could obtain in this world, nothing is more precious, more sacred, and more valuable than the Most Holy Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, our Sovereign and Eucharistic Lord. Millions, billions, or even hundreds of trillions of dollars do not come close to the infinite value and transforming power of the Body and Blood of Christ. No amount of earthly wealth can buy happiness, but the Eucharist bestows it freely. No amount of money can purchase Heaven, but the Eucharist transforms you into a member of the Body of Christ Whom you consume, leading you to Heaven. At the end of our lives, when we stand before the Just Judge, we will realize the transforming power of this Gift. Those who adored Him and received Him faithfully in Communion will be forever grateful they did.

Human dignity demands that we show respect to one another, reverencing the presence of God in each person as a living tabernacle of the Lord. However, we do not bow down before God’s presence in others, nor do we kneel before them in adoration and worship. In this world, the only One Whom we worship and adore, in hidden yet physical form, is our Lord Who is fully present in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is not only a fraternal meal we share with one another, it’s a communion with God Himself that unites us with Him. It is that union with God that also unites us with every other person who is united to God through the sharing of the Most Holy Eucharist.

The Solemnity of Corpus Christi originated with a mystic named Saint Juliana of Cornillon. She was born near Liège, Belgium around the year 1191. At the age of five, she and her sister were orphaned and entrusted to the care of Augustinian nuns. Within that convent, Juliana grew in her faith, participated in Eucharistic adoration, and frequented Holy Communion. She eventually joined the Augustinians and became a nun herself.

At the age of sixteen, she had a mystical vision during Eucharistic adoration in which she saw the moon with a dark stripe. By divine intuition, she understood that the moon symbolized the Church’s life on earth, and the dark stripe symbolized the absence of a feast that was specifically dedicated to the Body and Blood of Christ. In the convent, she had the same vision several more times but kept it to herself for twenty years.

Around the age of thirty-six, she shared her vision with two friends, one a local hermit and the other a fellow nun. Together, these holy women grew deep in their love of Christ in the Eucharist, especially adoring His hidden presence and receiving Him frequently in Holy Communion. After sharing her vision with the bishop, he reluctantly approved a local annual feast in honor of the Blessed Sacrament, and some other bishops followed. However, as word spread about Juliana’s visions, her superior and some clergy opposed her. She had to leave the convent, taking refuge in various Cistercian monasteries for ten years.

In 1258, around the age of sixty-seven, Juliana was adoring Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament in her cell when she died and was taken into the unveiled presence of God in Heaven. Prior to her death, the local Archdeacon in Lièges, Jacques Pantaléon of Troyes, had become familiar with Juliana and believed that her visions were from God and that a universal feast of Corpus Christi was God’s will. In 1261, Archdeacon Jacques Pantaléon was elected pope and took the name Pope Urban IV.

In 1263, a Eucharistic miracle took place in Bolsena, Italy, about ten miles from where Pope Urban was residing in Orvieto in the Papal States, modern-day Italy. A German priest named Father Peter of Prague stopped at the church in Bolsena to offer Mass during a pilgrimage at the tomb of Saint Christina, a fourth-century martyr. By his own admission, he was struggling to believe in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. During the consecration, the host he was holding began to bleed and flow onto his hands and the linen corporal on the altar. He immediately went to Orvieto to reveal the miracle and his lack of faith to Pope Urban. Pope Urban absolved him and then sent a delegation to investigate the miracle. They brought the corporal back to the cathedral in Orvieto with great solemnity where it remains enshrined today.

In 1264, Pope Urban instituted the universal Solemnity of Corpus Christi and asked the renowned theologian Father Thomas Aquinas to compose the liturgical texts for the feast. Among the texts the future saint and doctor of the Church composed are the revered and frequently sung hymns, “Pange Lingua,” “Tantum Ergo,” “Panis Angelicus,” and “O Salutaris Hostia.” The Thursday after the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity was chosen for the annual feast in honor of the day that the Eucharist was instituted.

After the death of Pope Urban IV, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi was removed from the universal calendar for about fifty-three years until Pope John XXII added it back in 1317. Since that time, the solemnity has grown and become an important annual celebration that often includes Eucharistic processions, adoration, and Mass. In many locations where it is not a holy day of obligation, the solemnity is moved to the following Sunday so as to extend the celebration to the entire people of God. In 1869, Pope Pius IX canonized Saint Juliana of Lièges, adding even greater credence to her miraculous visions and solidifying the importance of this holy solemnity.

As we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, spend time pondering the profound mystery of the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. As we kneel before Him, we truly kneel before His throne in Heaven, despite the reality being veiled from our eyes. As we consume the Blessed Sacrament, we truly consume Christ Himself—Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity—and receive Him into our souls. Though we might not feel Him with our bodily senses, we must allow our spiritual sense of faith to grow so that our love for Him in this Most Precious Gift exponentially increases. Let’s conclude with the “Tantum Ergo,” which is taken from the last two verses of the beautiful hymn of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the “Pange Lingua:”

Down in adoration falling, Lo! the sacred Host we hail; Lo! o’er ancient forms departing, newer rites of grace prevail; faith for all defects supplying, where the feeble senses fail. To the everlasting Father, and the Son who reigns on high, with the Holy Ghost proceeding forth from Each eternally, be salvation, honor, blessing, might and endless majesty. Amen. Alleluia.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/corpus-christi—body-and-blood-of-christ–solemnity/

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The Most Holy Trinity

Catholic Special Day, Daily Saints

First Sunday after Pentecost

One of the most fiercely debated dogmas of our faith in the early centuries of the Church was on the nature of the Most Holy Trinity. Today’s solemnity did not enter the General Roman Calendar until the fourteenth century, partly because we are called to honor and worship the Most Holy Trinity every day and in every liturgy. But designating one Sunday on which we ponder the inner life of the Most Holy Trinity is an opportunity to renew and deepen our honor and worship.

The Trinity is first and foremost a mystery. As The Divine Mystery above all mysteries, we must begin by humbly acknowledging that we will never, not even in Heaven, have a complete understanding of God’s essence, His inner reality. Only God knows Himself fully. Not even the Blessed Virgin Mary or the highest choirs of angels see Him and know Him as He sees and knows Himself. Nonetheless, every creature, whether angel or human, is called to probe the mysteries of God to the fullest extent possible. In that probing, contemplating, and understanding, we discover the purpose of our lives and experience the fullness of beatitude to which we are called. God and God alone satisfies the hungry, weary, and seeking soul.

This might come as a surprise, but God is perfectly simple. Saint Thomas Aquinas, one of the Church’s greatest teachers, explains that angels, the physical world, and humans are made up of different material and immaterial parts that can change over time, making us a complex reality capable of internal and external disunity. God, however, is incapable of change, since He is Perfection. He is exactly Who He is, always has been, and will always be. This results in a divine simplicity and harmonious unity that is infinitely beyond His creation. God doesn’t need anything to exist because it is His very nature to exist as the unchanging, transcendent God.

Within this divine simplicity and perfect unity we can distinguish various attributes of God, noting that each attribute is perfectly united with the others in the most simple and complete way. God alone is all-powerful and has supreme authority over all creation. He alone perceives all potentiality within creation and within Himself. He is perfectly wise, just, and merciful. He is both completely beyond creation (transcendent) and intimately involved with every aspect of creation (immanent). God is the perfection of holiness and morality. He is the only standard of goodness and truth. He is present everywhere at all times—unchanging and eternal. God is Love.

This philosophically rich language attempts to describe God in His oneness—He is One God, not three Gods. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each share perfectly in the one divine nature, and all share the same divine attributes. To understand the profound mystery of the Trinity, we must start with the above oneness of God and then move into His threefold Personhood.

How can something be one and three at the same time? We know that God is one-in-three solely because this is the way the Scriptures reveal God to us. The Old Testament alluded to the threefold personhood of God, and Jesus explicitly identified the three persons as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Without this revelation from our Lord, human reason alone could never arrive at the realization that God is One in Three.

In Sacred Scripture and Church teaching, God’s attributes and existence can be summed up as Love. “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Love cannot exist without a giver, a receiver, and the love that unites them. Hence, it is the very nature of God to love perfectly, to receive love perfectly, and to be love itself.

In the Trinity, the Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father, and this mutual love is personified in the Holy Spirit. This “love” in God is defined by the Church as an “eternal begetting” and as an “eternal procession,” which are fundamentally different from an act of creation. The words “begetting” and “proceeding” are used to point to the relational origin of love. The Father eternally begets the Son, reflecting an eternal exchange of love. The Holy Spirit, then, proceeds from both the Father and the Son, emanating from their mutual love. These profound mysteries are articulated in the Nicene Creed:

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made…I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

The formulation of the Trinitarian relationship in the Creed reveals the profound depth of God’s nature: God is of one essence, yet three distinct Persons. Each Person is involved in an eternal, loving relationship with the others. The mystery within this formulation requires contemplation, as it reveals a God Who is deeply relational and Whose very nature is to exist in a state of perfect, self-giving love.

If these definitions of God seem beyond your grasp, you are correct. They are. By God’s grace, these basic definitions of the Most Holy Trinity took shape, beginning with Church councils in the fourth and fifth centuries. Later, theologians such as Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas deepened our understanding. However, even if you were to spend years studying the best theology on the Trinity, you would still only be able to comprehend a slight image of Who God is.

The best way to grow in a deeper understanding of God and all of reality is through the deepest forms of contemplative prayer. Contemplative prayer is not something you can simply turn on. It is an infused prayer that only God can bestow as He invites you to enter into His divine presence. Contemplative prayer begins with a profound purification process by which all sin is purged from one’s life, as well as all attachment to sin, and then all conceptual knowledge of God is eliminated so that the mind can gaze upon God through infused knowledge. This mystical prayer is well taught by the greatest saints of the Church, especially Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Ávila. Being drawn into the mystery of God’s inner life sometimes includes periods of mystical ecstasy, raptures, intellectual visions, and other mystical phenomena. Though few reach that height of prayer in this life, it’s helpful to know it is possible and to know that directly infused knowledge of God through mystical prayer is the only way to achieve some comprehension of the Most Holy Trinity.

As you strive to deepen your own prayer life, offer your praise to God the best you can. Profess your unwavering belief in the Creed, despite not fully understanding it. Most importantly, open your heart to God, Who is Love, and love Him in return with every power of your soul. By doing so, you will be on the slow and steady road to a mystical union of love with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/first-sunday-after-pentecost-holy-trinity–solemnity/

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Pentecost Sunday

Catholic Special Day, Daily Saints

Sunday after the Seventh Week of Easter

Today, we celebrate the most glorious Solemnity of Pentecost, the promised Gift of the Father and the Son to Jesus’ disciples. After rising from the dead, Jesus appeared to His disciples for forty days. During those appearances, He offered them proof of His resurrection, continued to teach them, and reminded them of all He had revealed to them about His death and Resurrection, preparing them for the next step of their mission. “While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for ‘the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit’” (Acts 1:4–5).

During the ten days after Jesus’ Ascension, the eleven Apostles gathered together in the upper room with the mother of Jesus and many other disciples, totaling 120 in all. The gathering place was most likely the same place that the Apostles ate the Passover meal, the first Eucharist, with Jesus. As they met, the first order of business was to choose a successor to Judas. They cast lots, and Matthias was chosen to be one of the Twelve.

On the fiftieth day after Jesus’ Resurrection, ten days after His Ascension, the 120 disciples were once again gathered in the upper room when they experienced something beyond their imagination. From the sky came a noise like a strong driving wind. It filled the room they were in. Tongues, as of fire, fell upon all gathered, and they were given the gift of tongues, which enabled them to speak in different languages—by the power of the Holy Spirit—to the diverse groups of people in Jerusalem. This is what Jesus had promised them, and suddenly they understood as they received the Gift of God.

After receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples went out into the community of Jerusalem and began to boldly proclaim the Gospel to all. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were shocked and confused. Some accused the disciples of being drunk and scoffed at them. Some, however, quickly believed. Peter then stood up and gave a stirring and powerful sermon that presented the whole mystery of salvation. He spoke of Jesus as the Savior and the need to repent and be baptized. “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day” (Acts 2:41). The new followers then devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles and to the celebration of the Eucharist. A strong Christian community was formed in Jerusalem.

As the community continued to grow, learn the teachings of the Apostles, and receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, miracles took place. Peter and John cured a blind man. Soon, there were 5,000 converts to Christ who were filled with the Holy Spirit. More miracles took place at the hands of all of the Apostles, people from the surrounding villages came and were converted, and the new believers lived as one, sharing their food and resources with others.

Soon the members of the Sanhedrin became concerned. They thought they had stopped Jesus, but they saw that the Apostles were converting thousands. The Apostles were arrested and jailed, but an angel let them out in the night, and they appeared in the Temple the next day, continuing to preach and heal. The bewildered Sanhedrin members did not know what to do. They hoped that the new excitement would soon subside and everything would go back to normal—but it didn’t.

Recognizing the need to better care for the poor with the money and provisions the thousands of disciples held in common, the Apostles appointed seven men to be deacons for the task, so that the Apostles could continue to preach, heal, and offer the sacraments. Shortly afterward, blood was shed. Stephen, one of the newly ordained deacons, was martyred. “On that day, there broke out a severe persecution of the church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (Acts 8:1).

The above illustrates the role of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost was the birthday of the Church. The Holy Spirit’s mission was to form the Church and empower each baptized member of Christ’s body to fulfill his or her specific duty. Some were to preach, some cared for the poor, some shed their blood for their faith, and others were to be sent to other towns and villages. The scattering of the community of the believers in Jerusalem was clearly permitted by the Holy Spirit as a way of expanding the Church beyond Jerusalem. The newly converted and empowered disciples traveled far and wide to expand the newborn Church that grew at a rapid pace as the new Body of Christ matured and fulfilled its mission.

In the years and centuries ahead, the Holy Spirit continued to form the Church. The Apostles were inspired to write what is today the New Testament so that future believers would have firsthand accounts of the Gospel. From there, the successors to the Apostles, in union with the successor of Saint Peter, helped to form the Sacred Tradition, which is the ongoing deepening revelation of the Word of God to address new questions that arose. Jesus’ promise to Peter and his successors that He would give to him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, so that he and his successors could bind and loose on earth as it is in Heaven, evolved and helped the Church to mature. The Holy Spirit enabled the growing communities to continue to take nourishment through the Sacraments. The believers were empowered to pray and to enter into a personal relationship with Him Who rose and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. Other believers were filled with charisms needed to build up the Church. The Gospel continued to be preached to the ends of the earth, and the people of God were drawn into lives of profound holiness and union with God. This is all effected by the Gift of the Holy Spirit first given at Pentecost and continually given today.

In addition to building up the Church and enabling it to fulfill its divine mission, the Holy Spirit also sanctifies every individual believer, especially through the bestowal of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord…They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations” (#1831). Additionally, the Holy Spirit instills twelve fruits: “The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: ‘charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity’” (#1832). These graces are first given in Baptism and perfected in Confirmation. Each baptized and confirmed member of Christ has the potential to fully realize these graces so as to grow in holiness and fulfill their divine mission.

As we celebrate the great Solemnity of Pentecost, call on the Holy Spirit in your life. Too often we receive Baptism and Confirmation with a closed mind and heart. We fail to allow the Holy Spirit to become fully active in our lives. Pray to the Holy Spirit today, and open yourself more fully to all that God wishes to bestow upon you so that you will become holy and a more active member of His Body, the Church.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/pentecost/

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Seventh Sunday of Easter

Catholic Special Day

First Reading Acts 1:12-14

After Jesus had been taken up to heaven the apostles
returned to Jerusalem
from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem,
a sabbath day’s journey away.

When they entered the city
they went to the upper room where they were staying,
Peter and John and James and Andrew,
Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew,
James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot,
and Judas son of James.
All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer,
together with some women,
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Responsorial Psalm Psalms 27:1, 4, 7-8

R. (13) I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
One thing I ask of the LORD;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call;
have pity on me, and answer me.
Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Second Reading 1 Peter 4:13-16

Beloved:
Rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ,
so that when his glory is revealed
you may also rejoice exultantly.
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you,
for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
But let no one among you be made to suffer
as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as an intriguer.
But whoever is made to suffer as a Christian should not be ashamed
but glorify God because of the name.

Alleluia John 14:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I will not leave you orphans, says the Lord.
I will come back to you, and your hearts will rejoice.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel John 17:1-11a

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said,
“Father, the hour has come.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
just as you gave him authority over all people,
so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.
Now this is eternal life,
that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
I glorified you on earth
by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.
Now glorify me, Father, with you,
with the glory that I had with you before the world began.

“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.
They belonged to you, and you gave them to me,
and they have kept your word.
Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,
because the words you gave to me I have given to them,
and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you,
and they have believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me,
because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours
and everything of yours is mine,
and I have been glorified in them.
And now I will no longer be in the world,
but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.”

Source: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051726-Sunday

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The Ascension of the Lord

Catholic Special Day, Daily Saints

The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord commemorates the fortieth day after the Resurrection when Jesus ascended body and soul into Heaven and took His seat at the right hand of His Father. Traditionally, the location of the Ascension is believed to be less than a mile east of the Old City of Jerusalem, and that spot is marked by the Chapel of the Ascension, which is said to contain a miraculous imprint of the footprints of Christ before He ascended. The event of the Ascension is found in the Gospels and Acts (Mark 16:19–20; Luke 24:50–53; Acts 1:6–12). It is also alluded to in various other passages (John 6:62; Ephesians 4:7–10; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 3:21–22).

Only Jesus and His Blessed Mother have entered into the glories of Heaven, body and soul. Jesus’ Ascension implies that He did so by His own authority and power. The Blessed Virgin Mary’s Assumption implies that she entered Heaven, body and soul, by God’s power, and not her own.

The Ascension marks the completion of Jesus’ earthly mission. He first united His divine nature with human nature through the Incarnation at the moment of the Annunciation. Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches that from that moment on, Jesus, the Son of God, experienced three types of knowledge. First, being God, He had beatific knowledge, that is, a direct knowledge of His essence, the Father’s essence, and the Holy Spirit’s essence. Second, He had the perfection of infused knowledge, that is, a bestowal of all truths given to the angels in Heaven, especially those truths necessary for the completion of His divine mission. Third, He began to acquire learned knowledge, or experiential knowledge. This was the form of knowledge attained through His human nature from the senses and His human reason.

As Jesus fulfilled His mission through life, His learned knowledge continued to grow until it was perfected in human form. It was never imperfect in the sense of sin, but only in the sense of growth through human experience and human love. He experienced all things, allowed the perfection of His beatific and infused knowledge to guide His human experiences and brought those human experiences and knowledge to perfection. His free embrace of the Cross manifested the perfection of divine love in human form, and His Resurrection brought that perfect unity of human and divine love to a new and transformed resurrected state of human existence. But that was not all. Today we commemorate the fact that Jesus took His perfected human nature into the Beatific Vision, enabling humanity itself to follow. The Blessed Virgin Mary was the first to do so given her sinless state.

The final stage of the salvation of humanity will take place when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. At that time, every human body will rise, will endure the final purification and transformation, and will share in the new and resurrected state in which the faithful will be able to stand, body and soul, before the Most Holy Trinity and experience the fullness of the Beatific Vision forever. What Jesus has already accomplished in His human form is what we look forward to in hope at the end of time.

The Feast of the Ascension was celebrated annually from as early as apostolic times. Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, and Saint Augustine all attest to this fact. When the Council of Nicaea set the date for the celebration of the Resurrection in 325, it chose to keep Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox in spring. This decision also set the day for the Ascension being forty days after Easter, on a Thursday. Today, many ecclesiastical provinces transfer the Thursday celebration to the following Sunday to provide for a wider celebration.

Though every aspect of Christ’s life is shrouded in mysteries which will only be fully understood by the faithful when they stand before Him and behold the Beatific Vision, today we especially ponder this beautiful and profound mystery of our faith. As we celebrate the Ascension, try to prayerfully meditate upon the perfect unity of Jesus’ human and divine natures. Ponder further the truth that because the Son of God is both God and man, and He beholds His Father and the Holy Spirit as both God and man, He invites each of us to begin to share in that glorious vision. Only after we fully die in and with Him and rise to new life in and with Him will we be able to know Him clearly and share in His glorious resurrected and ascended life. Until that moment comes, it’s important to ponder that which is incomprehensible. We must know that we do not know, believe what is beyond belief, hope in that which is more than we can understand. God is a mystery; the Ascension is a mystery—but they are mysteries that must be penetrated by prayer. Do so today as we commemorate this holy culmination of the earthly life and mission of Christ.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/the-ascension-of-the-lord/

The Ascension of the Lord Read More »

Third Sunday of Easter

Catholic Special Day

First Reading Acts 2:14, 22-33

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
You who are Israelites, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
For David says of him:
I saw the Lord ever before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope,
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.

“My brothers, one can confidently say to you
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father
and poured him forth, as you see and hear.”

Responsorial Psalm Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

R. (11a) Lord, you will show us the path of life.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You will show me the path to life,
abounding joy in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Second Reading 1 Peter 1:17-21

Beloved:
If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially
according to each one’s works,
conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning,
realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,
handed on by your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious blood of Christ
as of a spotless unblemished lamb.

He was known before the foundation of the world
but revealed in the final time for you,
who through him believe in God
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in God.

Alleluia Cf. Luke 24:32

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us;
make our hearts burn while you speak to us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Luke 24:13-35

That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted
what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

Source: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041926.cfm

Third Sunday of Easter Read More »

Divine Mercy Sunday

Catholic Special Day, Daily Saints

In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized Saint Maria Faustina Kowolska and added the Feast of Divine Mercy to the Church’s official calendar. Saint Faustina, who died in 1938, was a member of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Krakow, Poland. She came from a simple and poor family of farmers, had only three years of rudimentary education, and performed the humblest of tasks in her convent. But she also was a mystic who was privileged to have many private revelations from our Lord. In obedience to her superior and spiritual director, she recorded these private revelations in six notebooks. Those notebooks are known today under the title: Divine Mercy in My Soul: Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. The messages contained within her diary present profound communications from God for our day and age. Though the messages are many, there are several new ways that God is calling us to a new form of devotion.

A first way is through meditation on the image of Divine Mercy. Of this, Saint Faustina wrote:

In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy. After a while Jesus said to me, “paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You” (#47).
“The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous; the red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My most tender Mercy at that time when My agonizing Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross….Fortunate is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him” (#299).

A second way is through our participation in the Solemnity of Divine Mercy:

“On that day (the 8th day of Easter each year) the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity” (#699).

A third way is through the recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy:

Once, as I was going down the hall to the kitchen, I heard these words in my soul: “Say unceasingly the chaplet that I have taught you. Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy. I desire that the whole world know My infinite mercy. I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy” (#687).

A fourth way is by honoring Jesus’ passion at the 3 o’clock hour:

At three o’clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy for the whole world. I will allow you to enter into My mortal sorrow. In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of me in virtue of My Passion” (#1320).

A fifth way is through an apostolic movement to spread the message of Divine Mercy. During her lifetime, Sister Faustina believed Jesus was calling her to found a new congregation, but that never materialized. Jesus, nonetheless, spoke to her in ways that revealed His desire that this “new congregation” be established. Since a formal religious congregation was never founded in her lifetime, we must look to the founding of subsequent congregations and apostolic movements that seek to spread the messages of Divine Mercy. God is calling each of us not only to receive His mercy but to spread that mercy to others in personal and organized ways.

Though Saint Faustina died in 1938, we should see the messages in her Diary as messages God especially desires we learn and live today. God moves slowly and methodically. He first revealed these messages, then allowed them to be studied by the Church for decades, then led Pope John Paul to canonize her and establish the universal Feast of Mercy on the last day of the octave of Easter in the year 2000. For these reasons, we should see this as one of the newest and most relevant devotions in our lifetimes.

As we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, ponder the profound significance of this new form of devotion for the Church and world today. We need God’s abundant Divine Mercy to flow from the gates of Heaven upon us more than ever. Only in Heaven will we understand the full depths of God’s Mercy. For now, we must trust all that He has revealed through his humble servant Saint Faustina and respond to the requests He has given to us through her. Commit yourself to the various ways God has called us to call upon His Mercy and do so with as much vigor and devotion you can offer Him. The following is the 3 o’clock prayer Jesus gave to Saint Faustina:

Prayer: You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us (#1319). Jesus, I trust in You.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/triduum-and-easter-prayers/divine-mercy-sunday/

Divine Mercy Sunday Read More »

Easter Sunday

Catholic Special Day, Daily Saints

Today’s glorious solemnity is the ultimate cause of all joy, fulfillment, happiness, and glory. If Jesus only died on the Cross, destroying death, something would be missing—the restoration of life into a transformed and glorified living. Easter is not only about the forgiveness of sins, it’s about the temporal and eternal glorification of every human soul who dies and rises with Christ. When we focus upon the Gospel and consider the many lessons Jesus taught and the example He set, the Cross is often considered the difficult message and Easter the easy message. But is it?

The message of the Cross, as presented to us through both Jesus’ teachings and His lived example, is certainly challenging. Each one of us is called to the same depth of selfless surrender of our lives to the Father’s will. We must each die completely to ourselves, be purified from every sin and every attachment to sin, from every bad habit and every worldly thought, and from everything that is not God and God alone. When our calling to die with Christ and to embrace His Cross is clearly understood, as it has been by the saints, it is likely that Christians become overwhelmed at the seemingly daunting and impossible task of dying in and with Christ.

When it comes to the Resurrection, one might be tempted to say that it is easy to accept the message it presents. New life in Christ, the fullness of joy, complete transformation, and eternal beatitude in Heaven—these initially appear easy to embrace. However, the challenge that the profound reality of Easter presents to us is that we can be certain that our current understanding of what it means to share in the Resurrection of Christ is but the faintest shadow of the reality. In truth, very few people in this life have come close to understanding the glory to which we are called on account of the Resurrection. Saints Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Sienna, John of the Cross, Thérèse of Lisieux, to name a few, are among those who penetrated the mystery of Easter while still here on earth. They achieved this spiritual knowledge only by fully dying with Christ through a life of profound prayer, penance, and charity that completely united their souls to the Most Holy Trinity.

As we celebrate Easter, it is important to know that we do not yet know all that is promised to us by the Resurrection of Christ. If we can at least know that, then our spiritual appetites will make us hungry to know. Too often, Christians go through life satisfied with the most basic understanding of the Gospel. We know that God became man, lived His life, gathered followers, taught and performed miracles, died on the Cross, rose again, ascended into Heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, we have hope in His promise that if we remain in His grace, then we will share in Heaven after we die. But this is an exceptionally incomplete view of the full reality that has been comprehended in this life by the saints. It is their understanding we must seek with every power of our souls.

What does it mean to share in the new life of Christ? What does it mean to share in the glory of the Resurrection? What will Heaven be like for those who enter into the highest realms of glory in this life compared to those who only do the basics? What will the New Heavens and the New Earth be like when Jesus returns in all His glory for the Final Judgment? If these are questions you have never deeply pondered and probed, then know that the answers that await you are more glorious than you could ever imagine. In other words, if you were to sit quietly and spend all day trying to imagine the best and most glorious life, trying to use your mind to draw a picture of the happiness and full joy of Heaven, you can be certain that you could never even come close to imagining the reality. That humble fact ought not discourage you; it should fill your conscience with a desire to know what you do not know. That is the first step.

A deep and vast spiritual comprehension of the joy of sharing fully in the Resurrection of Christ can only be given to us by a direct infusion of grace by God Himself. When a soul receives this infused knowledge, they become so overwhelmed with wonder and awe that they realize that committing even the smallest sin is absolute foolishness and is the path to the loss of everything. They realize that if they were to gain everything this world has to offer—every comfort, wealth, power, and prestige—they would be absolutely miserable compared to the person who shares fully in the Resurrection. They realize that the only thing worth anything is the complete abandonment of one’s life to the will of God, a willingness to suffer anything and everything for Christ, to serve and not be served, to forgive everyone completely, to love with every fiber of their being, and to continuously remain in a state of prayerful recollection with God.

If living such a life seems impossible, it’s not. It only seems that way when we fail to grasp the prize that awaits those who strive for the perfection of divine union. The Easter message and mystery is not just about being good and happy. It’s not just about trusting in the hope of Heaven after we die. The fullness of the message and mystery of Easter can only be understood if we begin the long and difficult journey toward divine union. Only those who begin it in haste have a chance of completing it. Begin it today by acknowledging that there is so much that you do not know. There is so much that God is calling you to and wants to bestow upon you. There is more joy in the Resurrection of Christ than anything else in life. Don’t aim for the lowly and passing things of life—aim for the highest heights of glory. Seek to understand the Resurrection this Easter so that you will be able to share more fully in the higher grades of glory that God wants to bestow upon you.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/easter-sunday/

Easter Sunday Read More »

Prayer Meditation for Holy Saturday

Catholic Special Day, Daily Saints

My Lord, today all is silent. You have given Your precious life for the salvation of the world. You died a horrific death, poured out all Mercy from Your wounded Heart, and now You rest in peace in the tomb as the soldiers keep vigil.

Lord, may I also keep vigil with You as You sleep. I know that this day ends with Your glorious triumph, Your victory over sin and death. But for now I sit quietly mourning Your death.

Help me, dear Lord, to enter into the sorrow and the silence of this Holy Saturday. Today no Sacraments are celebrated. Today the world waits in mourning in anticipation of the glory of new life!

As I keep vigil, awaiting the celebration of Your Resurrection, fill me with hope. Help me to look forward to the celebration of Your Resurrection and also to look forward to the hope of my own share in the new life You won for the world. I entrust my whole being to You, dear Lord, as You lay lifeless and still. May Your rest transform the brokenness of my own soul, my weaknesses, my sin, and my frailty. You are glorious, and You bring the greatest good out of Your apparent defeat. I trust in Your power to do all things, and I entrust my life to You. Jesus, I trust in You.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/triduum-and-easter-prayers/prayer-meditation-for-holy-saturday/

Prayer Meditation for Holy Saturday Read More »

First Sunday after Pentecost

Sunday after the Seventh Week of Easter

First Reading Acts 1:12-14

Responsorial Psalm Psalms 27:1, 4, 7-8

Second Reading 1 Peter 4:13-16

Alleluia John 14:18

Gospel John 17:1-11a

First Reading Acts 2:14, 22-33

Responsorial Psalm Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

Second Reading 1 Peter 1:17-21

Alleluia Cf. Luke 24:32

Gospel Luke 24:13-35

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