Christopher’s Corner
· Boston Marathon--April 21--Show your Boston pride and find something for everyone to enjoy. The annual Boston Marathon kicks off with a fitness expo featuring more than 200 exhibitors, followed by a 5K set to draw an estimated 10,000 participants as well as a relay challenge -- all topped by the grand celebration of city spirit.
· Start Total Consecration to Mary April 21 to end on May 24, the feast of Mary, Help of Christians
· Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance of the Angels
· Developmental Disability Awareness Month
· Monday: Litany of Humility
· Spirit Hour: Wodka
Today’s Menu
· Drink: April Rain Cocktail
· Soup: Minestrone
· Main dish: Tartiflette
· Dessert: Classic Strawberry Shortcake
APRIL 21 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.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Day 309 2364-2372
Conjugal fidelity
2364 The
married couple forms "the intimate partnership of life and love
established by the Creator and governed by his laws; it is rooted in the
conjugal covenant, that is, in their irrevocable personal
consent." Both give themselves definitively and totally to one
another. They are no longer two; from now on they form one flesh. the covenant
they freely contracted imposes on the spouses the obligation to preserve it as
unique and indissoluble. "What therefore God has joined together, let
not man put asunder."
2365 Fidelity
expresses constancy in keeping one's given word. God is faithful. the Sacrament
of Matrimony enables man and woman to enter into Christ's fidelity for his
Church. Through conjugal chastity, they bear witness to this mystery before the
world.
St. John Chrysostom suggests
that young husbands should say to their wives: I have taken you in my arms, and
I love you, and I prefer you to my life itself. For the present life is
nothing, and my most ardent dream is to spend it with you in such a way that we
may be assured of not being separated in the life reserved for us.... I place
your love above all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me
than to be of a different mind than you.
The fecundity of marriage
2366 Fecundity
is a gift, an end of marriage, for conjugal love naturally tends to be
fruitful. A child does not come from outside as something added on to the
mutual love of the spouses, but springs from the very heart of that mutual
giving, as its fruit and fulfillment. So, the Church, which "is on the
side of life" teaches that "each and every marriage act must
remain open 'per se' to the transmission of life." "This
particular doctrine, expounded on numerous occasions by the Magisterium, is
based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own
initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative
significance which are both inherent to the marriage act."
2367 Called to
give life, spouses share in the creative power and fatherhood of
God. "Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to
transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that
they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a
certain sense, its interpreters. They will fulfill this duty with a sense of
human and Christian responsibility."
2368 A
particular aspect of this responsibility concerns the regulation of
procreation. For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their
children. It is their duty to make certain that their desire is not motivated
by selfishness but is in conformity with the generosity appropriate to
responsible parenthood. Moreover, they should conform their behavior to the
objective criteria of morality:
When it is a
question of harmonizing married love with the responsible transmission of life,
the morality of the behavior does not depend on sincere intention and
evaluation of motives alone; but it must be determined by objective criteria,
criteria drawn from the nature of the person and his acts criteria that respect
the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of
true love; this is possible only if the virtue of married chastity is practiced
with sincerity of heart.
2369 "By
safeguarding both these essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the
conjugal act preserves in its fullness the sense of true mutual love and its
orientation toward man's exalted vocation to parenthood."
2370 Periodic
continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation
and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria
of morality. These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage
tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In
contrast, "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal
act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural
consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation
impossible" is intrinsically evil:
Thus, the
innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and
wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory
language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads
not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification
of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in
personal totality.... The difference, both anthropological and moral, between
contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle . . . involves in the
final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human
sexuality.
2371 "Let
all be convinced that human life and the duty of transmitting it are not
limited by the horizons of this life only: their true evaluation and full
significance can be understood only in reference to man's eternal
destiny."
2372 The state
has a responsibility for its citizens' well-being. In this capacity it is
legitimate for it to intervene to orient the demography of the population. This
can be done by means of objective and respectful information, but certainly not
by authoritarian, coercive measures. The state may not legitimately usurp the
initiative of spouses, who have the primary responsibility for the procreation
and education of their children. It is not authorized to intervene in this
area with means contrary to the moral law.
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.
Eastertide[7]
·
The spirit of Eastertide is a spirit of sincere
gratitude to the risen Christ.
·
Easter sets a new task before us. We must now begin
to live the life of the new man.
· The time from Easter to Pentecost is merely an extension of the feast of Easter.
PRAYERS AND TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Memorare
(in time of need)[8]
REMEMBER, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it
known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy
intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to thee, O
Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful
and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in
thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: The
sanctification of the Church Militant
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face
[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
[9] Schultz, Patricia. 1,000 Places to See Before You
Die: A Traveler's Life List Workman Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.
[10] Sheraton, Mimi. 1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A
Food Lover's Life List (p. 800). Workman Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.
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