Tuesday, April 19, 2022

April 19 Easter Tuesday

Psalm 33, verse 18-19

¹⁸ Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those who FEAR him, upon those who count on his mercy, ¹⁹To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive through famine.

You cannot receive if you do not ask. Let us ask for God’s mercy and count on it, to deliver our soul from death and keep us alive through this earthly famine for ourselves and others. In fact, one pious work we could do this week is a Novena to the Divine Mercy. In the novena Christ asks us to pray each day for certain groups of people.

1. All Sinners

2. Priests and Religious

3. Devout Souls

4. Unbelievers

5. Heretics

6. Children

7. Saints

8. Those in purgatory

9. And the Lukewarm

A good time to pray the novena is the hour of Christ’s death. “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…”

Today if you have time would be a good day to read Saint John Paul II’s encyclical[1] letter-Rich in Mercy

Easter Tuesday[2]

To praise and thank God for the mystery of redemption, the Church sings at the Introit of the Mass: He hath given them the water of wisdom to drink, alleluia. He shall be made strong in them, and shall not be moved, alleluia. And He shall exalt them forever, alleluia, alleluia (Ecclus. xv. 3). Give glory to the Lord, and call upon His name, declare His deeds among the Gentiles (Ps. civ. 1).

Prayer. O God, Who dost ever multiply thy Church by a new progeny, grant to Thy servants that they may retain in their lives the mystery which they have received by faith.

EPISTLE. Acts xiii. 26-33.

In those days, Paul rising up, and with his hand bespeaking silence, said: Men, brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you fear God, to you the word of this salvation is sent. For they that inhabited Jerusalem, and the rulers thereof, not knowing Jesus, nor the voices of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, judging Him have fulfilled them. And finding no cause of death in Him, they desired of Pilate that they might kill Him. And when they had fulfilled all things that were written of Him, taking Him down from the tree they laid Him in a sepulcher. But God raised Him up from the dead the third day: Who was seen for many days by them, who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who to this present are His witnesses to the people. And we declare unto you that the promise, which was made to our fathers, this same God hath fulfilled to our children, raising up Jesus Christ our Lord.

Explanation.

Like St. Peter, so St. Paul founds the truth of his doctrine upon the resurrection of Jesus, because Christ had given this as the special proof of the truth of His doctrine. Had He not risen from the dead He would not have been the Son of God and could not have redeemed mankind. The resurrection is, therefore, the foundation of our belief. On that account He allowed His disciples for a while to doubt, and only to believe after He had given them proofs of His resurrection by repeatedly appearing to them; that by their doubts and cautious unbelief the wounds of unbelief in our hearts might be healed, and we might know how true is the resurrection, and how firmly founded our faith.

GOSPEL. Luke xxiv. 36-47.

At that time: Jesus stood in the midst of His disciples, and saith to them: Peace be to you: it is I, fear not. But they being troubled and frighted, supposed that they saw a spirit. And He said to them: Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?

See My hands and feet, that it is I Myself; handle, and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see Me to have. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet. But while they yet believed not, and wondered for joy, He said: Have you here anything to eat?

And they offered Him a piece of a broiled fish and a honeycomb. And when He had eaten before them, taking the remains He gave to them. And He said to them: These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me. Then He opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures. And He said to them: Thus, it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead the third day: and that penance and remission of sins should be preached in His name unto all nations.

Why does Jesus greet His disciples with the words, “Peace be to you?”

1. Because He came to restore to men that peace with God, with themselves, with their neighbor, which sin had destroyed.

2. Because peace is a mark of the children of God, as discord is of sinners.

3. Because peace is the greatest of all goods. Therefore, it is that He will have His apostles, after His example, give the greeting of peace on entering a house.

4. Finally, Because He desired to encourage His disciples to confidence by His friendliness.

Why did Our Savior retain the marks of His wounds after His resurrection?

· To show that it was the same body which had been wounded during His passion, and to show that He was really risen from the dead.

· To teach us that we too shall, in like manner, rise with our bodies.

· To make known to us the greatness of His love, through which He has graven us, as it were, on His hands and feet, and in His heart.

· To impart to us confidence in His endless mercy, and to encourage us to combat against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

· To prepare a place of refuge, and an inexhaustible fountain of consolation for all the miserable, afflicted, and tempted.

· To terrify the impenitent, whom, on the Day of Judgment, He will show how much He has suffered for them, and that they have been the cause of their own destruction. Oh, let us endeavor to think often on the wounds of Jesus, that we may thereby be encouraged to lead pious lives acceptable to God.

Aspiration

O Jesus, grant that the precious blood which flowed from Thy wounds for me and all sinners may not be lost.

Instruction on what we ought to believe concerning the Holy Scriptures.

“He opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.” Luke xxiv. 45.

Is it free to everyone to read and explain Holy Scripture according to his own opinion?

No; that must be done with submission and conformity to the teaching of the Church. Questions of faith cannot be settled by appealing to the Holy Scriptures alone, since they themselves are liable to be misunderstood. For this reason, the Church has done wisely in making the printing, reading, and explaining of Holy Scripture depend upon the permission of lawful spiritual superiors.

What, therefore, must one do who desires to read the Holy Scriptures?

§ He must read them, only with the permission of the ecclesiastical superiors.

§ With the subjection of his own opinion to the decisions of the Church, and the interpretation of the holy fathers.

§ With suitable preparation, by prayer and fasting, as St. Thomas of Aquinas did, and with devotion and care.

After 40 days of Fasting-Easter marks 50 Days of Feasting[3]

Easter week is the week of the baptized. They have passed from death to life, from the darkness of sin to the life of grace in the light of Christ. They are governed by the principle enunciated by St. Paul that, risen with Christ, the Christian must raise his desires to heaven, detach himself from earthly pleasures in order to love those of heaven. The Fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost are celebrated in joyful exultation as one feast day, or better as one "great Sunday."

The Sundays of this season rank as the paschal Sundays and, after Easter Sunday itself, are called the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Sundays of Easter. The period of fifty sacred days ends on Pentecost Sunday. The first eight days of the Easter Season make up the octave of Easter and are celebrated as solemnities of the Lord.

On the fortieth day after Easter the Ascension is celebrated, except in places where, not being a holy day of obligation, it has been transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter. This solemnity directs our attention to Christ, who ascended into heaven before the eyes of his disciples, who is now seated at the right hand of the Father, invested with royal power, who is there to prepare a place for us in the kingdom of heaven; and who is destined to come again at the end of time.

The weekdays after the Ascension until the Saturday before Pentecost inclusive are a preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.

Divine Mercy Novena[4]

Fifth Day - Today Bring to Me the Souls of Heretics and Schismatics.

Most Merciful Jesus, Goodness Itself, You do not refuse light to those who seek it of You. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of heretics and schismatics. Draw them by Your light into the unity of the Church, and do not let them escape from the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart; but bring it about that they, too, come to glorify the generosity of Your mercy.

Eternal Father turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of heretics, and schismatics, who have squandered Your blessings and misused Your graces obstinately persisting in their errors. Do not look upon their errors, but upon the love of Your Own Son and upon His bitter Passion, which He underwent for their sake, since they, too, are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Bring it about that they also may glorify Your great mercy for endless ages. Amen.

Novena for the Poor Souls[5]

O Mother most merciful, pray for the souls in Purgatory!

PRAYER OF ST. GERTRUDE THE GREAT O Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in Purgatory and for sinners everywhere— for sinners in the Universal Church, for those in my own home and for those within my family. Amen.

PRAYER FOR THE DYING O Most Merciful Jesus, lover of souls, I pray Thee, by the agony of Thy most Sacred Heart, and by the sorrows of Thine Immaculate Mother, to wash in Thy Most Precious Blood the sinners of the whole world who are now in their agony and who will die today. Heart of Jesus, once in agony, have mercy on the dying! Amen.

ON EVERY DAY OF THE NOVENA V. O Lord, hear my prayer; R. And let my cry come unto Thee. O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant unto the souls of Thy servants and handmaids the remission of all their sins, that through our devout supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired, Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

TUESDAY O Lord God Almighty, I beseech Thee by the Precious Blood of Thy divine Son Jesus that was shed in His bitter crowning with thorns, deliver the souls in Purgatory, and among them all, particularly that soul which is in the greatest need of our prayers, in order that it may not long be delayed in praising Thee in Thy glory and blessing Thee forever. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION ONE "I BELIEVE" - "WE BELIEVE"

CHAPTER THREE MAN'S RESPONSE TO GOD

Article 2 WE BELIEVE

II. The Language of Faith

170 We do not believe in formulae, but in those realities they express, which faith allows us to touch. "The believer's act [of faith] does not terminate in the propositions, but in the realities [which they express]." All the same, we do approach these realities with the help of formulations of the faith which permit us to express the faith and to hand it on, to celebrate it in community, to assimilate and live on it more and more.

171 The Church, "the pillar and bulwark of the truth", faithfully guards "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints". She guards the memory of Christ's words; it is she who from generation to generation hands on the apostles' confession of faith. As a mother who teaches her children to speak and so to understand and communicate, the Church our Mother teaches us the language of faith in order to introduce us to the understanding and the life of faith.

Daily Devotions

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Conversion of Sinners

· Make reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday Devotion

· Pray Day 6 of the Novena for our Pope and Bishops

· Tuesday: Litany of St. Michael the Archangel

· Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

· Manhood of the Master-week 9 day 3