Monday, April 10, 2023
Monday Night at the Movies
Monday in the Octave of Easter
Monday in the Octave of Easter
Matthew,
Chapter 28, verse 8-10
8 Then
they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to
announce this to his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them on their
way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
10Then Jesus said to
them, “Do not be AFRAID.
Go tell my brothers
to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Our deepest fear
is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear
is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is
within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson.
Monday
in the Octave of Easter[1]
IN the Introit of the Mass of this day the Church brings before our eyes the entrance of the Israelites into the promised land, which is a type of the kingdom of heaven, under Josue, who is a type of Christ. The Lord hath brought you into a land flowing with milk and honey, alleluia: and that the law of the Lord may be ever in your mouth, alleluia, alleluia. Give glory to the Lord and call upon His name, declare His deeds among the gentiles.
Prayer.
O God, Who hast bestowed remedies on the world in the paschal solemnities, grant to Thy people heavenly gifts, we beseech Thee, that they may both deserve to obtain perfect liberty, and arrive at life everlasting.
EPISTLE. Acts x. 37-43.
In those days: Peter standing in the midst of the people, said: Men, brethren, you know the word which hath been published through all Judea: for it began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached, Jesus of Nazareth: how God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost, and with power, Who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things that He did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, Whom they killed, hanging Him upon a tree. Him God raised up the third day, and gave Him to be made manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses preordained by God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after He arose again from the dead: and He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He Who was appointed by God to be judge of the living and of the dead. To Him all the prophets give testimony, that by His name all receive remission of sins, who believe in Him.
Explanation.
Through Jesus sent from God, and through Him alone, forgiveness of sins and salvation are promised to all who truly and firmly believe in Him and show their belief by deeds. Have such a lively faith, and thou shalt receive forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.
GOSPEL. Luke xxiv. 13-35.
At that time: two of the disciples of Jesus went the same day to a town, which was sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, named Emmaus. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that while they talked and reasoned with themselves, Jesus Himself also drawing near went with them. But their eyes were held that they should not know Him. And He said to them: What are these discourses that you hold one with another as you walk, and are sad?
And the one of them, whose name was Cleophas, answering, said to Him: Art Thou only a stranger in Jerusalem and hast not known the things that have been done there in these days? To whom He said: What things?
And they said: Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, Who was a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and princes delivered Him to be condemned to death and crucified Him. But we hoped that it was He that should have redeemed Israel: and now besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company, affrighted us, who before it was light were at the sepulcher. And not finding His body, came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who say that He is alive. And some of our people went to the sepulcher: and found it so as the women had said, but Him they found not. Then He said to them: O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into His glory?
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things that were concerning Him. And they drew nigh to the town whither they were going, and He made as though He would go farther. But they constrained Him, saying: Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent. And He went in with them. And it came to pass, whilst He was at table with them, He took bread, and blessed, and broke, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him: and He vanished out of their sight. And they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within us, whilst He spoke in the way, and opened to us the Scriptures?
And rising up the same hour they went back to Jerusalem: and they found the eleven gathered together, and those that were with them, saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way: and how they knew Him in the breaking of bread.
Why did
Jesus appear as a stranger to the two disciples?
He appeared to them as a stranger, says St.
Gregory, because He meant to deal with them according to their dispositions,
and according to the firmness of their faith. They seemed not to have believed
in Him as the Son of God, but to have expected a hero or prince who should
deliver them from their subjection to the Romans. Thus, Christ was, indeed, yet
a stranger in their hearts, and chose to appear to them as such, to free those
who loved Him from their false notions, to convince them of the necessity of
His passion, and to reveal Himself to them, as soon as their understandings
should be enlightened, and their hearts filled with desire. Thus, God orders
the disposal of His graces according to our dispositions; according to our
faith and trust; according to our love and fidelity.
Easter Monday[2] was reserved as a special day for rest and relaxation. Its most distinctive feature is the Emmaus walk, a leisurely constitution inspired by the Gospel of the day (Luke 24.13-35). This can take the form of a stroll through field or forest or, as in French Canada, a visit to one's grandparents.
·
Games
of mischief dating to pre-Christian times also take place on Easter
Monday and Tuesday. Chief among them are drenching customs,
where boys surprise girls with buckets of water, and vice versa, or switching
customs, where switches are gently used on each other.
Visiting Day[3]
In Paschal tide joy,
perform works of mercy toward the sick and elderly on Easter Monday. For Easter
Monday there is an old custom, still very much alive in the old country, which
might well be duplicated here, even though Easter Monday is not generally a holiday,
as it is in Europe? In honor of the Gospel of the day, which tells of the two
disciples who went to Emmaus and met Our Lord on the way, Easter Monday became
a visiting day. Wherever there are old or sick people, they are visited by
young and old.
Lent and Easter[4]
571 The Paschal mystery of Christ's cross and Resurrection stands at the center of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. God's saving plan was accomplished "once for all" by the redemptive death of his Son Jesus Christ.
1171 In the liturgical year the various aspects of the one Paschal mystery unfold. This is also the case with the cycle of feasts surrounding the mystery of the incarnation (Annunciation, Christmas, Epiphany). They commemorate the beginning of our salvation and communicate to us the first fruits of the Paschal mystery of Christ.
It is the same Paschal
Mystery that we celebrate every Sunday at every Mass. This mystery should evoke
the ancient Passover of the Jews when the firstborn children of Israel were
spared, and they were liberated from slavery. Their delivery began in each
household with the sacrifice of the lamb and the smearing of the lamb’s
blood on the doorposts which delivered the Jews out of vice into virtue and the
worship of God in sincerity and truth. In the Last Supper Christ became the
lamb that transformed his execution into a once for all sacrifice. During Lent
we mirror the Jews 40 years of purification when God purged them of the
residual effects of generations of interaction with Egyptian Idolatry. Christ
in His own life fasted for 40 days in the wilderness as a model, like His
baptism for His disciples to imitate. So, every year, we prepare like Him for
our Easter where we will offer our sacrifice, small as it may be to Him. Lent
is the season of fasting that begins today and ends on Holy Saturday (except
for Sundays; ancient Fathers forbade fasting on Sundays). This is our tithe or
a tenth part of our year for the Lord. We fast from “good” things; for in our
fast we give them to God, so that we learn not to put anything before Him. We
pray that by this movement of purification we may be illuminated
and finally come to union with Him. In a sense during Lent we “pass
over” from sin through penance to communion.
Divine Mercy Novena[5]
Fourth Day
Today Bring Me the Pagans and Those Who Do
Not Know Me.
Most
Compassionate Jesus, You are the Light of the whole world. Receive into the
abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of pagans who as yet do not
know You. Let the rays of Your grace enlighten them that they, too, together
with us, may extol Your wonderful mercy; and do not let them escape from the
abode which is Your Most Compassionate Heart.
Eternal
Father turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of pagans and of those who as yet
do not know You, but who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus.
Draw them to the light of the Gospel. These souls do not know what great
happiness it is to love You. Grant that they, too, may extol the generosity of
Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.
Novena for the Poor Souls[6]
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.
MONDAY O Lord
God Almighty, I beseech Thee by the Precious Blood which Thy divine Son Jesus
shed in His cruel scourging, deliver the souls in Purgatory, and among them
all, especially that soul which is nearest to its entrance into Thy glory, that
it may soon begin to praise Thee and bless Thee forever. Amen. Our Father. Hail
Mary. Glory Be.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION ONE-PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
CHAPTER THREE-THE LIFE OF PRAYER
Article 1-EXPRESSIONS OF PRAYER
III. Contemplative Prayer
2709 What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers:
"Contemplative prayer [oracion mental] in my opinion is nothing else than
a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone
with him who we know loves us."
Contemplative prayer seeks him "whom my soul loves." It is
Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the
beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be
born of him and to live in him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but
our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.
2710 The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises
from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. One does not
undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time for
the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up, no matter what trials and
dryness one may encounter. One cannot always meditate, but one can always enter
into inner prayer, independently of the conditions of health, work, or
emotional state. the heart is the place of this quest and encounter, in poverty
ant in faith.
2711 Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into
the Eucharistic liturgy: we "gather up:" the heart, recollect our
whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place
of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence
of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back to the
Lord who loves us, so as to hand ourselves over to him as an offering to be
purified and transformed.
2712 Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of
the forgiven sinner who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who
wants to respond to it by loving even more.8 But he knows that the love he is returning is poured out by the
Spirit in his heart, for everything is grace from God. Contemplative prayer is
the poor and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper
union with his beloved Son.
2713 Contemplative prayer is the simplest expression of the
mystery of prayer. It is a gift, a grace; it can be accepted only in humility
and poverty. Contemplative prayer is a covenant relationship established by God
within our hearts. Contemplative prayer is a communion in which the Holy
Trinity conforms man, the image of God, "to his likeness."
2714 Contemplative prayer is also the pre-eminently intense
time of prayer. In it the Father strengthens our inner being with power through
his Spirit "that Christ may dwell in (our) hearts through faith" and
we may be "grounded in love."
2715 Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. "I
look at him and he looks at me": this is what a certain peasant of Ars
used to say to his holy cure about his prayer before the tabernacle. This focus
on Jesus is a renunciation of self. His gaze purifies our heart; the light of
the countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see
everything in the light of his truth and his compassion for all men.
Contemplation also turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ. Thus
it learns the "interior knowledge of our Lord," the more to love him
and follow him.
2716 Contemplative prayer is hearing the Word of God. Far from
being passive, such attentiveness is the obedience of faith, the unconditional
acceptance of a servant, and the loving commitment of a child. It participates
in the "Yes" of the Son become servant and the Fiat of God's lowly
handmaid.
2717 Contemplative prayer is silence, the "symbol of the
world to come" or "silent love." Words in this kind of
prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love. In
this silence, unbearable to the "outer" man, the Father speaks to us
his incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose; in this silence the Spirit of
adoption enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus.
2718 Contemplative prayer is a union with the prayer of Christ
insofar as it makes us participate in his mystery. the mystery of Christ is
celebrated by the Church in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit makes it come
alive in contemplative prayer so that our charity will manifest it in our acts.
2719 Contemplative prayer is a communion of love bearing Life
for the multitude, to the extent that it consents to abide in the night of
faith. the Paschal night of the Resurrection passes through the night of the
agony and the tomb - the three intense moments of the Hour of Jesus which his
Spirit (and not "the flesh [which] is weak") brings to life in
prayer. We must be willing to "keep watch with (him) one hour."
PRAYERS AND TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
How
to Baptize in case of an Emergency[7]
When an individual is on their deathbed, anyone can baptize them into the Christian faith.
Baptism
is a beautiful sacrament, one that opens the doorway to God’s grace into a
person’s soul, initiating them into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
As
the Catechism
of the Catholic Church explains,
“Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole
Christian life, the gateway
to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door
which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from
sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated
into the Church and made sharers in her mission: Baptism is the sacrament of
regeneration through water in the word” (CCC 1213).
In normal circumstances, a bishop, priest or deacon is the ordinary minister
of the sacrament. However, in an emergency, anyone can baptize a person who wants to be baptized.
In case of necessity, anyone, even a non-baptized person, with the required
intention, can baptize, by using the Trinitarian
baptismal formula.
The intention required is to will to do what the Church does when she baptizes.
The Church finds the reason for this possibility in the universal saving will
of God and the necessity of Baptism for salvation. (CCC 1256)
Most often this is seen in birthing centers, where newborn infants are quickly baptized by a nurse or doctor, when death appears imminent. In this particular case, the parents request this to be done (usually beforehand) and those administering baptism do so with the right intention. Sometimes a baby will recover, in which case the parish priest will perform additional rites surrounding the sacrament of baptism, as it is not possible to be baptized twice. At the other end of the spectrum, adults who are dying can also be baptized if they request it, by anyone who is present. Fr. Paul de Ladurantaye explains in the Arlington Catholic Herald exactly how this is done.
In
the case of
necessity (e.g., the danger of death), the person who baptizes pours water three
times
over the candidate’s head, or immerses the candidate three times in water,
while simultaneously pronouncing the baptismal formula: “N., I baptize you in the name of
the Father (the minster pours water or immerses the first time), and of the Son
(the minister pours water or immerses a second time), and of the Holy Spirit
(the minister pours water or immerses a third time).” A lay person who
administers an emergency baptism must at least have the intention to do what
the Church does when baptizing. It is also desirable that, as far as possible,
one or two witnesses to the baptism be present.
It
must be kept in mind that this type of baptism performed by laypeople should
only be administered to people in an emergency situation. If the person recovers and returns to
full health, then that person should present themselves to the nearest parish
and explain their situation so that they can be fully welcomed into the
Catholic Church.
If
a priest or deacon is available and able to come to the bedside of someone
dying, then that option should be pursued first. However, if that is not an
option and time does not allow an extensive search for an ordained minister, a
layperson should step in.
Daily
Devotions
· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Restoring the Constitution
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
· Make reparations to the Holy Face
·
30
Days with St. Joseph Day 22
[1] Goffines Devout Instructions, 1896
[4] Hahn, Scott, Signs of Life; 40
Catholic Customs and their biblical roots. Chap. 7. Lent and Easter.
[5]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=1032
[6]Schouppe S.J., Rev. Fr. F. X..
Purgatory Explained
[7] https://aleteia.org/2020/03/30/how-laypeople-can-baptize-in-an-emergency/
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