Homilies (second one contains the Gospel) from Easter Sunday, 50th Church Dedication Anniversary, Easter Wednesday is found below (7, 18, 4 minutes respectively):
 

> Listen Here
 
> Listen Here
 
> Listen Here
 
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novena  (from Latin novéna "nine each" feminine use of singular of novenas; novem "nine")
- nine days of prayer for some intention or occasion
[Its origin goes back to the nine days that the Disciples and Mary spent together in prayer between Ascension and Pentecost Sunday awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit.  In modern times the one before Pentecost was prescribed for parochial churches.]
 
Divine Mercy Novena  (from Latin divinus "god, godly" + from Latin merces "price paid" = "price paid by God"; from Latin novéna "nine each" feminine use of singular of novenas; novem "nine")
- nine days of prayer from Good Friday to Divine Mercy Sunday (2nd Sunday of Easter) in which special prayers are offered for special intentions revealed Jesus to all through St. Faustina Maria Kowalska
 
Term Review
Divine Mercy  (from Latin divinus "god, godly" + from Latin merces "price paid" = "price paid by God")
- the unfathomable ready willingness of God, Who feels sympathy for us, to reconcile the sinner; that which was revealed to all through St. Faustina Maria Kowalska
 
Divine Mercy Sunday  (see above and from Old English sunnandæg, trans. of Latin diés sōlis "day of the sun")
- Second Sunday of Easter so named by Pope John Paul II in 2000 A.D.
 "My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls, and especially for poor sinners. If only they could understand that I am the best of Fathers to them and that it is for them that the Blood and Water flowed from My Heart as from a fount overflowing with mercy. For them I dwell in the tabernacle as King of Mercy. I desire to bestow My graces upon souls, but they do not want to accept them. You, at least, come to Me as often as possible and take these graces they do not want to accept. In this way you will console My Heart" (Words of Jesus to St. Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament, Divine Mercy in My Soul, 367).

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 Important things you DO NOT do during a flood

• DO NOT drive where the water is over the roads. Parts of the road may already be washed out.
• If your car stalls in a flooded area, DO NOT remain in the car. Abandon it as soon as possible and seek higher ground. Floodwaters can rise rapidly and sweep a car (and its occupants) away. Many deaths have resulted from attempts to move stalled vehicles.
• Avoid areas subject to sudden flooding. DO NOT try to cross a flowing stream where water is above your knees. You could be swept away by strong currents.
• DO NOT sight-see in flooded areas and do not make unnecessary trips. Use the telephone only for emergencies or to report dangerous conditions.

 
"The children of our holy mother the Church rightly hope for the grace of final perseverance and the recompense of God their Father for the good works accomplished with his grace in communion with Jesus. Keeping the same rule of life, believers share the "blessed hope" of those whom the divine mercy gathers into the "holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #2016

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Catholics Come Homehttp://www.catholicscomehome.org
 
Have you been away from the Catholic Faith?  Do you know those who have or have family members who no longer practice?  This website is for you and them!  You can go to the above website to view and play an audio and visual introduction or go here: http://catholicscomehome.org/ for a personalized encounter.  Catholic or not, practicing or not be sure to click here and watch this 2 minute video:
 
***WATCH ----> http://www.catholicscomehome.org/our-evangomercials/ <---- THIS***
Click on English Version in middle of page
 
Catholics Come Home is an independent, non-profit charity started and supported by a number of Catholic families and individuals. They began this ministry to welcome back those who have left the Church, for whatever reasons. The apostolate utilizes the media to inspire, educate and evangelize inactive Catholics and others, and invite them to live a deeper faith in Jesus Christ, in accord with the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church.
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By Ana Paula Morales
ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 13, 2023 / 16:00 pm
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On Resurrection Sunday, April 9, the Christ of Peace statue was dedicated in Tabasco county in Zacatecas state, Mexico. The monumental sculpture which sits atop a pedestal measures 108 feet high, which makes it the largest of its kind in the country.
The statue stands in the center of the esplanade atop “Faith and Religion Hill.”
Present at the dedication were the governor of Zacatecas state, David Monreal Ávila; the president of Tabasco county, Gil Martínez; and the pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in the town of Tabasco, Father Luis Manuel Luévano Díaz.
According to the Christ of Peace Facebook page, the priest blessed the sculpture and gave a message of faith and hope to the thousands of faithful present.

The governor of Zacatecas said on Facebook that “this sculpture is the largest in Mexico. I invite all of you to visit it and discover the wonders that Zacatecas offers.”

​In an interview with Reporte Índigo, Miguel Romo, the artist who created the statue, said it took more than two years to be completed.“If you look, the face is very nicely done. The Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil is very beautiful, but it’s a bit geometrical, with its hands, face, and everything. Not me. I tend to be very realistic, and it’s very difficult at this scale; small scale is very easy, but on this scale it’s very difficult,” the artist explained.
The image was made with steel and various types of polymers. Inside the sculpture there is a staircase and four landings as well as lookouts for visitors.
The sculpture was named Christ of Peace because after its dedication its promoters want tranquility to come to the inhabitants of Zacatecas, a state plagued by organized crime violence.
Some claim that the Christ of Peace sculpture in Mexico is larger than the Christ the Redeemer in Brazil. However, the image in Rio de Janeiro is 98 feet tall with a 26-foot pedestal, whereas the one dedicated in Zacatecas is 98 feet tall with a 10-foot pedestal.

The tallest sculptures of Christ in the world
The largest sculpture of Jesus is that of Christ the King, located in Świebodzin, Poland, with a height of 118 feet, followed by the Christ of Concord in Cochabamba, Bolivia, at 112 feet.
Another image of Jesus that exceeds 98 feet in height is Christ the Redeemer of Tihuatlan in Veracruz state, Mexico, at 103 feet.
Currently, the Christ the Protector statue, which will measure 141 feet, is under construction in Brazil.

After a lengthy process, former St. Peter Middle School students secured a patent for their 2016 school project, “The Friendchip.” The product, created by the school’s “Brickbusters” robotics team, is a microchip programmed to assist pets in communicating with their owners.
The idea for the project developed in August 2016 when students brainstormed ideas to develop an invention that would help animals and people for the First Lego League Animal Allies Challenge of the year.
Team members included Hannah Schulgen, Avonna Niegelsen, Sarah Scanlan, Olivia Sween, (veteran members) Lucy Schrieber, Mary Schieber, Brietta Coen and Aidan Coen.
While developing their idea, the students participated in extensive community volunteer work and met three times a week to develop the microchip. They traveled to Marquette University to meet with biomedical engineering students to learn how to research and visited MSOE to learn about soldering circuit boards. They visited an animal sanctuary to study animals and prosthetics, and Lakeland Animal Shelter about the veterinary needs of the animals in the shelter. They also interviewed Dr. Bob Korman, Milwaukee County Zoo veterinarian, to understand the challenges of working with larger animals and toured Lake Geneva Animal Hospital to learn about small animal needs and challenges.
Following the animal research, the students visited the Nano Lab at UW-Madison to grasp the concept of microchips’ minute parts and learn how to create a product to monitor animal health systems and send updates to veterinarians from pet owners’ homes.
After the chip — which can sense temperature, blood sugar and movement — was completed, the team participated in several competitions, ultimately placing in the top three of 32,000 teams in the St. Louis World Lego League Tournament.
Realizing they were on to something, the team wanted to pursue a patent and reached out to Nicholas Zepnick, a patent attorney with Foley and Lardner, LLP. After Zepnick and his colleague Arthur Siebel met with students, they surprised students with a pro bono offer to help them secure the patent.
Mary Schrieber is grateful to have the patent, especially after she didn’t think the project would ever come to fruition. The East Troy High School senior attended St. Peter’s Parish School from pre-K through eighth grade. She was a member of St. Peter’s first Lego League team for many years, in addition to the 2017 patent team.
“Finally, being approved for this patent makes me and the rest of the Brickbuster team incredibly grateful and proud. After five years and two failed attempts, it was looking less and less likely that we would be able to call ourselves official inventors,” she said. “After the second denial, the team even considered retracting our application. When our amazing lawyers, Nick Zepnick and Arthur Siebel, reached out to us that our patent had gone through, we were completely ecstatic. I remember rushing to our team group chat as soon as I read the email and calling some of my teammates.”
Now that the patent is official, Schrieber explained that the team decided to motivate other students by advocating for other youth in STEM by sharing their story.
“Hopefully, our experience will inspire other young entrepreneurs to pursue their own ideas,” she said. “In regards to the patent itself, we plan to continue slowly sharing our invention with the professionals we meet at our respective universities while we all pursue our own education and careers. While we don’t have any specific goals for it, we hope that, someday, the networks we form will help us make our patent a reality.”
Olivia Sween is a senior at Mukwonago High School and was a part of First Lego League for four years. She said she learned that children are as capable as adults in changing the world and making their impact.
“The patent is a physical representation of resilience, creativity, hard work and the power of the adolescent mind,” Sween said. “I am so grateful to Foley for taking on this project on a pro bono basis and for continually supporting our team for the past five years of the process.”

Pope Francis at the Regina Coeli: ‘Never Tire of Seeking the Risen Christ’

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Pope Francis said Monday that Christians should “never tire of seeking the risen Christ.”
Speaking before the recitation of the Regina Coeli April 5, the pope noted that Easter Monday is known in Italy as Lunedì dell’Angelo, or the Monday of the Angel.
Referring to the Gospel reading (Matthew 28:1-15) in which Mary Magdalene and the other Mary encountered an angel at the empty tomb while looking for Jesus, he observed that the angel greeted the women with the words “Do not be afraid.”
“We can reap a precious teaching from the angel’s words: we should never tire of seeking the risen Christ who gives life in abundance to those who meet him,” he said.
The pope gave his address in the library of the Apostolic Palace due to coronavirus restrictions. Italy entered a three-day nationwide lockdown on Saturday. Easter Monday -- also known in Italy as La Pasquetta, or “Little Easter” -- marked the final day of the lockdown, which the authorities hope will help to reduce a third wave of the virus.
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Standing beneath Pietro Perugino’s painting of the Resurrection, Pope Francis recalled the angel’s next words to the women: “I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.”
He commented: “This expression ‘He has risen’ goes beyond human capacity. Even the women who had gone to the tomb and had found it open and empty could not confirm ‘He has risen,’ but they could only say that the tomb was empty.”
“‘He has risen’ is a message… Only an angel could say that Jesus had risen, only an angel with the authority to be the bearer of a heavenly message, with the power given by God to say it, just as an angel -- only an angel -- had been able to say to Mary: ‘You will conceive a son, [….] and he will be called the Son of the Most High’ (Luke 1:31-32).”
The pope pointed out that in St. Matthew’s account there was a “great earthquake” as the angel rolled back the stone at the entrance to Jesus’ tomb and sat upon it.
“That large stone, that was supposed to be the seal of the victory of evil and death, was put underfoot, it becomes the footstool of the angel of the Lord. All of the plans and defenses of Jesus’ enemies and persecutors were in vain. All the seals had crumbled,” he said.
“The image of the angel sitting on the stone before the tomb is the concrete manifestation, the visible manifestation of God’s victory over evil, the manifestation of Christ’s victory over the prince of this world, the manifestation of the victory of light over darkness.”

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Remember the Missionaries of Mercy? Here's What They've Been Up ToBy Elise Harris
Vatican City, Apr 6,  (EWTN News/CNA)
Hundreds of Pope Francis' missionaries of mercy are gathering at the Vatican in coming days for formation and fellowship, for the first time since their mandate was extended at the end of the Jubilee of Mercy.

It has been two years since the missionaries were first commissioned on Ash Wednesday 2016 during the jubilee, and it has been nearly 18 months since the pope extended their mandate at the close of the holy year, allowing them to continue hearing confessions freely in every diocese throughout the world and lifting censures - ecclesiastical penalties - that normally require the permission of the pope. 

The missionaries, who number over 1,000 and come from all over the world, have spent much of the past two years working to spread the message of God's mercy and forgiveness through their daily activities and ministries, including talks, retreats, and social communications. An emphasis on confession is central to their work, which many of the missionaries say is greatly needed. 

“I'm very grateful the Holy Father has continued our mandate, because not only is it needed, but also, it's a joy to do this work as a priest,” Fr. John Mary Devaney told EWTN News April 6. 

He said the missionaries originally got a letter informing them that their mandate would end with the close of the Jubilee of Mercy, and were surprised and delighted when Pope Francis published a letter the day after the end of the holy year saying their ministry would be extended. 

Devaney said the majority of American Catholics he meets do not go to confession regularly. But when he has heard the confession of someone who has been away for decades, the experience is largely life-changing for the penitent. 

The encounter with God’s mercy in a new or forgotten way is so powerful, he said, that “I have no doubt that they will continue to go to confession again.”

Devaney, who comes from the Archdiocese of New York, hosts the weekly program Word to Life on SiriusXM radio, and is just one of some 600 Missionaries of Mercy expected to come to Rome for an April 8-11 meeting focused on spiritual formation and building fellowship. 

During the meeting, missionaries will have the opportunity to go to confession themselves and listen to talks dedicated to themes relevant to their ministry, such as confession as a sacrament of mercy, and sin and mercy in the life of the priest. 

The event will open April 8 with Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday, which the missionaries will concelebrate alongside Pope Francis. 

They will hear talks from Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; Archbishop Rino Fisichella, prefect of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization; and Archbishop Jose Octavio Ruiz Arenas, secretary for the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization.

The missionaries’ work was placed under the jurisdiction of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, from which they receive instruction and ongoing communication throughout the year. 

According to Msgr. Graham Bell, an official working with the council, the main idea for the event is that it offer “ongoing formation” to the missionaries. 

“It's about the exercise of your ministry as Missionaries of Mercy. So it's understanding how mercy works, how it functions in the life of persons, and in the life of priests,” he told EWTN News April 5, adding that the scope is simply “to make them better at what they do.”

What the council wants from the missionaries, he said, is to place a strong emphasis on the sacrament of confession, and to promote their ministry through specific activities, particularly during major liturgical seasons such as Lent and Advent. 

And with no clear end in sight to the missionary mandate, Bell said the idea is to continue having meetings on a regular basis to offer formation and time to share stories. So far, from the feedback the council has received, the missionaries “have a very, very strong impact,” he said. 

For Fr. Roger Landry, a missionary of mercy who works for the Holy See's Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York, the ministry of mercy is always needed in the Church, but is especially crucial in the modern global context. 

Landry told EWTN News that both St. John Paul II and Pope Francis have emphasized that “we are living in a 'kairos of mercy,' a time in which God’s loving forgiveness is especially crucial.”

This, he said, is because “we’re living at a time in which unexpiated guilt is wreaking so much havoc.” 

“After two World Wars and the Cold War, the Holocaust, the genocides in Armenia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, after so many atrocities from tyrannical governments, after the waterfalls of blood flowing from more than two billion abortions worldwide, after the sins that have destroyed so many families, after so much physical and sexual abuse, after lengthy crime logs in newspapers every day, after the scourge of terrorism, after so much hurt and pain, the terrible weight of collective guilt crushes not only individuals but burdens structures and whole societies.”

The modern world, he said, is like “one big Lady Macbeth, compulsively washing our hands to remove the blood from them, [but] there is no earthly detergent powerful enough to take the blemishes away.”

People can speak to psychiatrists and psychologists, but their words and advice can only help deal with guilt, “not eliminate it,” Landry said. 

“We can confess ourselves to bartenders, but they can only dispense Absolut vodka, not absolution, and inebriation never brings expiation.”

There is also the attempt by many to try to escape reality through “distractions and addictions” such as sports, drugs, entertainment, food, power, materialism, lust and many other things, Landry said, but stressed that none of this “can adequately anesthetize the pain in our soul from the suffering we’ve caused or witnessed.”

“We’re yearning for a second, third or seventy-times-seventh chance. We’re pining for forgiveness, reconciliation, and a restoration of goodness. We’re hankering for a giant reset button for ourselves and for the world.”

Landry said his mandate has also impacted his work at the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the U.N., much of which is already dedicated to the works of mercy, such as caring for the poor, defending the vulnerable, feeding the hungry and seeking to provide education and care for those suffering due to war. 

In addition to his work at the U.N., Landry said bishops have also sought him out and asked him to come to their dioceses to speak and hear confessions, and “thanks be to God, there has been a lot of fruit.”

Similarly, Fr. John Paul Zeller, a friar with the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word and a missionary of mercy from Birmingham, Ala., said he has had the opportunity to travel around the United States and offer talks and retreats centered on mercy, and has seen enormous fruits. 

One of the things he has emphasized the most is reaching out to people who have been far from the Church or who have had a bad experience in confession, and have either left the Church or refused to go back to the sacrament as a result. 

In comments to EWTN News, Zeller noted that when they were first commissioned in 2016, Pope Francis told them that people had been “lambasted” at times by priests in the confessional, and that this experience did a lot of damage. 

“I really took that to heart,” Zeller said, explaining that there have been multiple times he has stood in front of a group and apologized for these bad experiences, saying “if anybody here has had a bad experience in the confessional, from childhood until now, I beg you in the name of Jesus Christ, I beg you in Jesus' name and as a representative of our Holy Father, I beg your forgiveness.”

The results have been profound, not only in people returning to the sacrament, but in those seeking him out for spiritual advice or guidance.

“So many people are starving for a shepherd, starving for someone to show them love, show them that they care and to listen to them,” he said, adding that “it's been such a privilege” to be put into situations where he is able to offer help to a person in real need. 

However, Zeller stressed that mercy doesn't mean a lack of justice. These two virtues, he said, are not opposed, but rather, according to the logic of God, they are “the same thing.”

“Sometimes we come across as thinking mercy is just being all sappy and not firm with people and not clear with people…. [But] when we're exercising mercy, we need to exercise the virtue of justice too.”

In addition to talks and retreats, Fr. Devaney has turned to media to get the message of mercy out. 

Though his primary ministry is carried out at a hospital, Devaney said that he and another missionary of mercy – Nigerian Fr. Augustine Dada, who is currently one of the missionaries serving in New York – decided to offer a special program dedicated to mercy on his SiriusXM radio show for Lent. 

Looking forward, the missionaries voiced hope that a full list of all the Missionaries of Mercy would be made public so that people would know where to find one if needed.

They also expressed a desire for additional instruction on the technicalities of how to lift censures -  penalties for certain delicts, or canonical “crimes” - which they have been given the faculty to remit. Some of the missionaries said they are uncertain about the process for remitting those penalties. 

The missionaries were initially given the faculty to remit penalties for four of these types of delicts: profaning the Eucharistic species by taking them away or keeping them for a sacrilegious purpose; the use of physical force against the Roman Pontiff; the absolution of an accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment, (“thou shalt not commit adultery”) and, in limited circumstances, a direct violation against the sacramental seal by a confessor.

In an April 2017 letter confirming their mandate, the pope added an additional delict to the list, allowing the missionaries to remit the penalty associated with recording what a priest or penitent says in confession, and the diffusion of that the recording online. 

Fr. Zeller told EWTN News that while he was in Rome for the commissioning of the missionaries during the jubilee, he was able to visit the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican court dealing with some cases of excommunication and with matters addressed in confession, where he got an explainer from an official on how remitting censures works.

For more than an hour, “I asked questions upon questions, and we went over the different censures,” Zeller said, adding that “to see how the Church deals with them and how much the Church deals with the salvation of souls was astounding to me.”

“I came away from there with a renewed sense of how much the Church cares about the soul,” he said, explaining that when the Penitentiary gets an inquiry from a priest involving a delict that incurred automatic excommunication, a response, remission, and penance are sent back within 24 hours.

“Nothing happens that quickly in the Church, nothing,” he continued. “Everything, on every level of the Church, everything takes so long...but when it comes to sin, when it comes to that restoring people to grace...I am just so grateful for...how much the Church cares about the salvation of souls.”

A response is “sent out in less than 24 hours. That's saying a lot,” Zeller emphasized. He said he has had the opportunity to explain the process to other priests, and hopes that in the future, better formation will be offered in seminaries for how to handle these delicts if they are confessed. 

However, while remitting censures is a part of their mandate, the missionaries agreed that it is not the most important part.

Fr. Devaney told EWTN News that the circumstances that incur censures are rare, and that while they have been given the faculty to remit them, “the core and heart of what [Pope Francis] wants is for us to just go and renew Catholics, in particular, with God's mercy.”

​Vatican City, Mar 20,  (EWTN News/CNA) - On Palm Sunday Pope Francis said the path toward salvation can be summed up by humility and service, and encouraged pilgrims to contemplate Jesus' shameful Passion and Death throughout Holy Week.

"Today's liturgy teaches us that the Lord has not saved us by his triumphal entry or by means of powerful miracles," the Pope said March 20.

Instead, in the day's second reading from St. Paul to the Philippians, the apostle "epitomizes in two verbs the path of redemption: Jesus 'emptied' and 'humbled' himself."

These two verbs, Francis said, "show the boundlessness of God's love for us. Jesus emptied himself: he did not cling to the glory that was his as the Son of God, but became the Son of man in order to be in solidarity with us sinners in all things; yet he was without sin."

Jesus chose to take on the condition of a servant rather than that of a king or a prince, the Pope observed, adding that "the abyss" of Jesus' humiliation seems to be "bottomless" as Holy Week approaches.
 
However, just as he entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, Jesus also wants to enter our lives and cities in the same way, Francis said. "He comes to us in humility; he comes in the name of the Lord."

Pope Francis spoke to the thousands of pilgrims present in St. Peter's Square for his Palm Sunday Mass.

Before opening the celebration, he blessed the palms used in the day's liturgy from the obelisk in St. Peter's Square, and led a procession up to the main altar.

After listening to the lengthy account of Jesus' Passion and Death from the Gospel of Luke, Francis told attendees that the first sign of Jesus' humble and endless love in Holy Week is expressed in the washing of his disciples' feet on Holy Thursday.

By washing their feet, Jesus shows us by example "that we need to allow his love to reach us, a love which bends down to us," he said.

"We cannot do any less, we cannot love without letting ourselves be loved by him first, without experiencing his surprising tenderness and without accepting that true love consists in concrete service."

However, Francis noted that this act is "only the beginning," and that Jesus' humiliation reaches its climax during his Passion, when he is sold for 30 pieces of silver and betrayed by the kiss of a man whom he had chosen and called as his disciple, and whom he called a friend.

In addition to Judas' betrayal, Jesus is abandoned by nearly all the rest of his disciples, he is denied by Peter three times, and is humiliated by mockery, spitting, insults and physical beatings.

Jesus "suffers in his body terrible brutality: the blows, the scourging and the crown of thorns make his face unrecognizable," the Pope said, noting how Jesus was also shamed by the condemnation of religious and political leaders.

In being sent from Pilate to Herod and then back to the Roman governor, Jesus experiences indifference "in his own flesh," because "no one wishes to take responsibility for his fate," Francis observed.

Even the crowd, who had previously welcomed him, call for his crucifixion and ask that a murderer be released instead, the Pope recalled. This then leads to Jesus' death in the "most painful form of shame" intended for traitors, slaves and the worst of criminals.

However, as if his isolation, defamation and pain weren't enough, Jesus takes it a step further, Pope Francis said, explaining that in order to be in complete solidarity with man, "he also experiences on the Cross the mysterious abandonment of the Father."

Jesus faces his final temptation while hanging from the Cross, when he is challenged to come down and save himself. Though instead of giving in, the Lord entrusts himself to his Father in order to conquer evil for good and show the face "of a powerful and invincible God," he said.

Francis explained that even at "the height of his annihilation, (Jesus) reveals the true face of God, which is mercy," by forgiving those who crucify him, moving the heart of the centurion and promising paradise to the repentant thief.

"If the mystery of evil is unfathomable, then the reality of Love poured out through him is infinite, reaching even to the tomb and to hell," the Pope said.

Jesus, he added, "takes upon himself all our pain that he may redeem it, bringing light to darkness, life to death, love to hatred."

Pope Francis concluded his homily by noting how God's way of acting seems to be distant from our own, since "he was annihilated for our sake, while it seems difficult for us to even forget ourselves a little."

"He comes to save us; we are called to choose his way: the way of service, of giving, of forgetfulness of ourselves," he said, and encouraged attendees to pause during Holy Week to contemplate the Crucifix.

By humbling himself, Jesus invites us to walk the same path, Francis said, urging pilgrims to ask him "for the grace to understand something of the mystery of his obliteration for our sake; and then, in silence, let us contemplate the mystery of this week."

After Mass Pope Francis greeted youth present for the 31st World Youth Day, the national celebration of which will take place July 25-31 in Krakow, and led pilgrims in praying the Angelus.

Chaplet of Divine Mercy


 
1. Begin with the Sign of the Cross, 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary and The Apostles Creed.
2. Then on the Our Father Beads say the following:
Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
3. On each of the 10 Hail Mary Beads say the following:
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
(Repeat step 2 and 3 for all five decades).
4. Conclude with (three times):
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.  Sign of the Cross.
 
Divine Mercy Novena
 
Jesus asked that the Feast of the Divine Mercy be preceded by a Novena to the Divine Mercy which would begin on Good Friday.  He gave St. Faustina an intention to pray for on each day of the Novena, saving for the last day the most difficult intention of all, the lukewarm and indifferent of whom He said:
"These souls cause Me more suffering than any others; it was from such souls that My soul felt the most revulsion in the Garden of Olives. It was on their account that I said: 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass Me by.' The last hope of salvation for them is to flee to My Mercy."
In her diary, St. Faustina wrote that Jesus told her:
"On each day of the novena you will bring to My heart a different group of souls and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy ... On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My passion, for the graces for these souls."



The different souls prayed for on each day of the novena are:
DAY 1 (Good Friday)  - All mankind, especially sinners
DAY  2 (Holy Saturday) - The souls of priests and religious
DAY 3 (Easter Sunday)  - All devout and faithful souls
DAY 4 (Easter Monday) - Those who do not believe in Jesus and those who do not yet know Him
DAY  5 (Easter Tuesday) - The souls of separated brethren
DAY  6 (Easter Wednesday) - The meek and humble souls and the souls of children
DAY  7 (Easter Thursday) - The souls who especially venerate and glorify Jesus' mercy
DAY  8 (Easter Friday) - The souls who are detained in purgatory; 
DAY  9 (Easter Saturday) - The souls who have become lukewarm.
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy may also be offered each day for the day's intention, but is not strictly necessary to the Novena.


First Day
"Today bring to Me all mankind, especially all sinners,
and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. In this way you will console Me in the bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges Me."
Most Merciful Jesus, whose very nature it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart, and never let us escape from It. We beg this of You by Your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion show us Your mercy, that we may praise the omnipotence of Your mercy for ever and ever. Amen.


Second Day
"Today bring to Me the Souls of Priests and Religious,
and immerse them in My unfathomable mercy. It was they who gave me strength to endure My bitter Passion. Through them as through channels My mercy flows out upon mankind."
Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service,* that they may perform worthy works of mercy; and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard -- upon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.
* In the original text, Saint Faustina uses the pronoun "us" since she was offering this prayer as a consecrated religious sister. The wording adapted here is intended to make the prayer suitable for universal use. 


Third Day
"Today bring to Me all Devout and Faithful Souls,
and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. These souls brought me consolation on the Way of the Cross. They were a drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness." 
Most Merciful Jesus, from the treasury of Your mercy, You impart Your graces in great abundance to each and all. Receive us into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart and never let us escape from It. We beg this grace of You by that most wondrous love for the heavenly Father with which Your Heart burns so fiercely.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon faithful souls, as upon the inheritance of Your Son. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, grant them Your blessing and surround them with Your constant protection. Thus may they never fail in love or lose the treasure of the holy faith, but rather, with all the hosts of Angels and Saints, may they glorify Your boundless mercy for endless ages. Amen.


Fourth Day
"Today bring to Me those who do not believe in God and those who do not know Me, 
I was thinking also of them during My bitter Passion, and their future zeal comforted My Heart. Immerse them in the ocean of My mercy."  
Most compassionate Jesus, You are the Light of the whole world. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who do not believe in God and of those 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 those who do not believe in You, 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.
*Our Lord's original words here were "the pagans." Since the pontificate of Pope John XXIII, the Church has seen fit to replace this term with clearer and more appropriate terminology.


Fifth Day
"Today bring to Me the Souls of those who have separated themselves from My Church*,
and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. During My bitter Passion they tore at My Body and Heart, that is, My Church. As they return to unity with the Church My wounds heal and in this way they alleviate My Passion."  
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 those who have separated themselves from Your Church. 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 those who have separated themselves from Your Son's Church, who have squandered Your blessings and misused Your graces by 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 His Most Compassionate Heart. Bring it about that they also may glorify Your great mercy for endless ages. Amen.
*Our Lord's original words here were "heretics and schismatics," since He spoke to Saint Faustina within the context of her times. As of the Second Vatican Council, Church authorities have seen fit not to use those designations in accordance with the explanation given in the Council's Decree on Ecumenism (n.3). Every pope since the Council has reaffirmed that usage. Saint Faustina herself, her heart always in harmony with the mind of the Church, most certainly would have agreed. When at one time, because of the decisions of her superiors and father confessor, she was not able to execute Our Lord's inspirations and orders, she declared: "I will follow Your will insofar as You will permit me to do so through Your representative. O my Jesus " I give priority to the voice of the Church over the voice with which You speak to me" (497). The Lord confirmed her action and praised her for it.


Sixth Day
Today bring to Me the Meek and Humble Souls and the Souls of  Little Children,
and immerse them in My mercy. These souls most closely resemble My Heart. They strengthened Me during My bitter agony. I saw them as earthly Angels, who will keep vigil at My altars. I pour out upon them whole torrents of grace. I favor humble souls with My confidence.    
Most Merciful Jesus, You yourself have said, "Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart." Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart all meek and humble souls and the souls of little children. These souls send all heaven into ecstasy and they are the heavenly Father's favorites. They are a sweet-smelling bouquet before the throne of God; God Himself takes delight in their fragrance. These souls have a permanent abode in Your Most Compassionate Heart, O Jesus, and they unceasingly sing out a hymn of love and mercy.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon meek souls, upon humble souls, and upon little children who are enfolded in the abode which is the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls bear the closest resemblance to Your Son. Their fragrance rises from the earth and reaches Your very throne. Father of mercy and of all goodness, I beg You by the love You bear these souls and by the delight You take in them: Bless the whole world, that all souls together may sing out the praises of Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.


Seventh Day
Today bring to Me the Souls who especially venerate and glorify My Mercy*,
and immerse them in My mercy. These souls sorrowed most over my Passion and entered most deeply into My spirit. They are living images of My Compassionate Heart. These souls will shine with a special brightness in the next life. Not one of them will go into the fire of hell. I shall particularly defend each one of them at the hour of death.
Most Merciful Jesus, whose Heart is Love Itself, receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who particularly extol and venerate the greatness of Your mercy. These souls are mighty with the very power of God Himself. In the midst of all afflictions and adversities they go forward, confident of Your mercy; and united to You, O Jesus, they carry all mankind on their shoulders. These souls will not be judged severely, but Your mercy will embrace them as they depart from this life.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls who glorify and venerate Your greatest attribute, that of Your fathomless mercy, and who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls are a living Gospel; their hands are full of deeds of mercy, and their hearts, overflowing with joy, sing a canticle of mercy to You, O Most High! I beg You O God:

Show them Your mercy according to the hope and trust they have placed in You. Let there be accomplished in them the promise of Jesus, who said to them that during their life, but especially at the hour of death, the souls who will venerate this fathomless mercy of His, He, Himself, will defend as His glory. Amen.
*The text leads one to conclude that in the first prayer directed to Jesus, Who is the Redeemer, it is "victim" souls and contemplatives that are being prayed for; those persons, that is, that voluntarily offered themselves to God for the salvation of their neighbor (see Col 1:24; 2 Cor 4:12). This explains their close union with the Savior and the extraordinary efficacy that their invisible activity has for others. In the second prayer, directed to the Father from whom comes "every worthwhile gift and every genuine benefit,"we recommend the "active" souls, who promote devotion to The Divine Mercy and exercise with it all the other works that lend themselves to the spiritual and material uplifting of their brethren.


Eighth Day
"Today bring to Me the Souls who are in the prison of Purgatory,
and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice."   
Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to You, and yet, who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of Purgatory, that there, too, the power of Your mercy may be celebrated.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. Amen.


Ninth Day
"Today bring to Me the Souls who have become Lukewarm,
and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. These souls wound My Heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: 'Father, take this cup away from Me, if it be Your will.' For them, the last hope of salvation is to run to My mercy." 
Most compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion Itself. I bring lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart. In this fire of Your pure love, let these tepid souls who, like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercise the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love, and bestow upon them the gift of holy love, for nothing is beyond Your power.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon lukewarm souls who are nonetheless enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Father of Mercy, I beg You by the bitter Passion of Your Son and by His three-hour agony on the Cross: Let them, too, glorify the abyss of Your mercy. Amen. 
 
[This is a weekly electronic newsletter from Father Robert Zwilling, the parish priest of St. Michael Parish and St. Barbara Parish. This will be sent out weekly on Wednesdays. Please recommend this to individuals you think might be interested. Any suggestions or comments are welcomed, or if you wish to no longer receive this please e-mail: Roman.Catholic.Good.News@gmail.com]
 
 
"It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death."-Catechism of the Catholic Church #393
 
 
 
From Roman Catholic Good News e-weekly 4-11-2007
Divine Mercy
 Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
         There was a girl named Elena who lived in Poland during the early part of the 20th century.  While at a dance during her teenage years, Jesus Christ on the Cross appeared to Elena.  Bleeding and bruised He appealed to her with the words, "How long must I wait for you?"  This being the final confirmation that God was calling her to follow Him by being a nun, Elena left the dance immediately going to a nearby church to pray.  Without even returning home, Elena then went to the city of Crawcow so that Jesus would not have to wait anymore.  And the world has never been the same as Elena, later known as Saint Faustina Maria Kowalska, brought the world: Divine Mercy!
 
         Friends, we are now in the time of great joy called the Easter Octave.  The Easter Octave is the 8-day extension of Easter Sunday.  It is as if all this time is one big EASTER SUNDAY.  The Easter Octave extends until the Second Sunday of Easter, which is now called Divine Mercy Sunday.  The Easter Octave is like eight Sundays day after day to celebrate the key of our Faith, the bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
 
            There were three individuals in the early 20th century who lived at the same time, in the same country (Poland), and at one time, were no further than 15 miles away from each,   though they never met face to face. Divine Mercy (that is, the Love of God manifested) enveloped them, and Consecration to Mary infused them with zeal.  Because of their abandonment to Jesus, the world has never been the same.  Their names are St. Faustina Maria Kowalska-the Apostle of Divine Mercy; St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe-Founder of the Militia Immaculatae; and Pope John Paul the Great.
 
            Jesus Christ appeared to St. Mary Faustina many times in her life as she records in her diary called Divine Mercy in My Soul.  St. Maximilian spread the message that Jesus gave, and Pope John Paul II received that message and fulfilled Christ Jesus's will by proclaiming Divine Mercy Sunday in the great Jubilee Year of 2000.
 
         The details of Divine Mercy Sunday can be found below.  The second website is about the message of Divine Mercy, the third website is about St. Maximilian Kolbe, and the fourth is more on the life of Saint Mary Faustina:
 
http://www.divinemercysunday.com/
 
http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/index.htm
 

May the Divine Mercy envelope us all!
 
 
 
"The divine name, "I Am" or "He Is", expresses God's faithfulness: despite the faithlessness of men's sin and the punishment it deserves, he keeps "steadfast love for thousands". By going so far as to give up his own Son for us, God reveals that he is "rich in mercy". By giving his life to free us from sin, Jesus reveals that he himself bears the divine name: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will realize that 'I AM'." -Catechism of the Catholic Church #211
 ​

The Last Hope of Salvation
First published April 11th, 2007. 
THE FEAST OF WHAT?
THIS coming Sunday, the eighth day in the Octave of Easter, is Divine Mercy Sunday. Many Catholics still have no idea what this is. which as you'll see, is a tragedy.
According to Saint Faustina's diary, Jesus said of this Feast day:
I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy.  If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity. tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near. -Diary of Divine Mercy, St. Faustina, n. 965 
The "last hope of salvation"? One might be tempted to dismiss this along with other dramatic private revelation-except for the fact it was Pope John Paul II who inaugurated the Sunday after Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday according to this private revelation! (See Part II for a complete understanding of Diary entry 965 which does not restrict salvation to Divine Mercy Sunday.)
Consider these other facts:
.    After he was shot in 1981, Pope John Paul asked that the diary of St. Faustina be entirely re-read to him.
.    JPII instituted the Divine Mercy Feast in the year 2000. at the beginning of the millennium which he considered the "threshold of hope."
.    St. Faustina wrote: "From [Poland] will come forth the spark that will prepare the world for My final coming."
.    In 1981 at the Shrine of Merciful Love, John Paul II said,
Right from the beginning of my ministry in St. Peter's See in Rome, I consider this message [of Divine Mercy] my special task. Providence has assigned it to me in the present situation of man, the Church and the world. It could be said that precisely this situation assigned that message to me as my task before God.  -JPII, November 22, 1981 at the Shrine of Merciful Love in Collevalenza, Italy
.    During a 1997 pilgrimage to St. Faustina's tomb, JPII testified:
The message of Divine Mercy has always been near and dear to me. [it] forms the image of this pontificate.
Forms the image of his pontificate! And it was spoken at the tomb of St. Faustina, whom Jesus called His "Secretary of Divine Mercy."
.    And as a rather dramatic exclamation point from Heaven, the Pope died in the beginning hours of the Feast of Divine Mercy. 
The other title I considered for this article was "When God hits us on the head with a hammer." How can the significance of this Feast escape us when we consider these facts? How can bishops and priests fail to preach, then, the message of Divine Mercy which the Pope considered his "task before God", and therefore, the task of all those in communion with him?
 
AN OCEAN OF PROMISES
I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners.  ON THAT DAY 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. -Ibid. n. 699
Some pastors ignore this Feast because "there are other days, such as Good Friday, when God remits sins and punishment under similar conditions." That's true. But that's not all Christ said of Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus is promising to "pour out a whole ocean of graces." 
On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. -Ibid.  
What Jesus is offering is not just forgiveness, but incomprehensible graces to heal, deliver, and strengthen the soul. I say incomprehensible, because this devotion has a special purpose. Jesus said to St. Faustina:
You will prepare the world for My final coming. -Ibid. n. 429
If that is so, then this opportunity for grace has paramount significance for the Church and for the world. This is indicated with a certain urgency when Jesus says to Faustina:
Secretary of My mercy, write, tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of my justice, is near. -Ibid. n. 965
 
TIME OF MERCY
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. In one of her apparitions, the children witnessed an angel hovering above the world about to strike the earth with a flaming sword. But a light emanating from Mary stopped the angel, and justice was delayed. The Mother of Mercy was able to implore God to grant the world a "time of grace."
We know this because Jesus appeared a short time later to a Polish nun named Faustina Kowalska to "officially" announce this time of grace:
I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of [sinners]. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation. Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy. -Diary of St. Faustina, n. 1160, 1588.
Christ's words further indicate the proximate times we are living in, as foretold in Scripture:
Before the day of the Lord comes, the great and manifest day [.] it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2:20-21)
As I wrote in Prophetic Perspective, God is patient, allowing His plan to come to fruition, even over the course of generations. However, this does not mean His plan cannot enter its next phase at any moment.
The signs of the times tell us that it could be "soon."
 
TODAY IS THE DAY
"Today is the day of salvation," says Scripture. And this Sunday is the Day of Mercy. It was asked for by Jesus, and made so by John Paul the Great. We should be shouting to the world at this point-for an ocean of graces is to be poured out, and it is only hours away. 
This is what Christ promised on Divine Mercy Sunday:
I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy. -n. 1109
And so, the Holy Father has granted a plenary indulgence ("complete pardon") under the following conditions:
.a plenary indulgence [will be] granted under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of Supreme Pontiff) to the faithful who, on the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, in any church or chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honour of Divine Mercy, or who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!") -Apostolic Penitentiary Decree, Indulgences attached to devotions in honour of Divine Mercy; Archbishop Luigi De Magistris, Tit. Archbishop of Nova Major Pro-Penitentiary;



+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
Divine Mercy Sunday – Sunday, April 16th, 2023
The First Reading - Acts 2:42-47
They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Reflection
The first line of this Reading from Acts gives a kind of perennial description of the four necessary habits of the Christian life.  “They devoted themselves,” the text says, “to the apostle’s teaching, to fellowship (Gk. koinonia, also translated ‘communion’), to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.”  On the one hand, these are the four basic elements of Mass.  “The Apostle’s teaching” refers to the Liturgy of the Word, where the Scriptures of the Old Testament are read and explained in light of the apostolic teaching contained in the Epistle and the Gospel.  The “fellowship” (or ‘communion’) is demonstrated in the two “passings”: the “passing of the peace” and the “passing of the plate.”  Both these ritual acts are demonstrations of our fellowship or communion with one another as disciples of Christ: communion of spiritual goods (the sign of peace) and communion in material goods (the collection plate).  The “breaking of the bread” refers to the Liturgy of the Eucharist proper, and “the prayers” refers to the collect, the Eucharistic prayer, and the other liturgical prayers that shape the Mass.  So these four elements of early Christian life are perpetually present at each Lord’s Day Mass.
Adults – How do you practice these habits of the Christian life outside of Mass?
Teens -Pick one of these four habits and research how the Early Christians lived it out.
Kids – How does living our Christian faith bring others to Jesus?
Responsorial- Psalm 118: 2-4, 13-15, 22-24
R. Alleluia.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. Alleluia.
I was hard pressed and was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just:
R. Alleluia.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. Alleluia.
Reflection
The refrain says, “Give thanks (Todah) to the LORD, for he is good, his love is everlasting.”  And one of the verses says, “His +mercy+ endures for ever.”  Actually, the word translated “love” and “mercy” are actually the same in Hebrew: it is the word hesed, which can mean “love” or “mercy” but whose meaning is actually more technical: it is the term for covenant fidelity.  “Hesed” describes how covenant partners are supposed to treat one another, so yes, it includes concepts of love, mercy, longsuffering, but all within a covenantal context, a context of being in an oath-bound familial relationship.  Divine Mercy Sunday is really a celebration of God’s hesed—his faithfulness to the covenant.  God does not show mercy to us arbitrarily: he shows mercy because he has promised to do so, he has sworn to do so by multiple oaths throughout salvation history. -Pray a prayer of thanksgiving today.
The Second Reading- 1 Peter 1:3-9
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you
who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time. In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith,
more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Reflection - This text is poignantly appropriate after the celebration of Easter.  Peter says, “Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him”—this statement seems like a tailor-made commentary on the Gospel Reading from John 20.  Unlike Thomas, we cannot stick our hands in his side, but we still love and believe, and these are the things that are necessary for salvation.  -List five reasons you have to rejoice.
The Holy Gospel according to John 20:19-31
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
Reflection
We see the Lord having great mercy on Thomas, the doubter.  Although he could have been rightfully indignant about Thomas’ lack of faith, Our Lord “goes the second mile” and condescends to show himself to Thomas in ways that will satisfy Thomas’ doubts.  Significantly, Thomas is invited to thrust his hand into the side of Christ—the very wound from which the mercy-flow of blood and water came forth.  We don’t actually know if Thomas took the Lord up on his offer—despite iconography that shows him doing so.  But we do know that Thomas responded to the Lord’s mercy by recognizing his true nature: “My Lord and My God!”  In many ways, this is the climactic statement of the entire Gospel of John.  The Apostle is leading us to the point that we, too, can make this whole-hearted confession with Thomas. Let’s not fall into the trap of thinking, “Faith was easy then, but now it’s hard.”  It was hard for the first disciples to believe that Jesus of Nazareth, a man they knew and ate with, was also the God who revealed himself to Moses.  After all, for the most part Our Lord looked normal.  Aside from a few incidents which only a few witnessed (the Transfiguration), his body looked similar to other men’s bodies.  No halo followed him around.  He did all the things other people did.  He performed miracles—but so had other prophets who were not divine.  So we should not underestimated the demands on the faith of the first Apostles.  Likewise, we should not exaggerate the demands on our faith today.  In many ways we are blessed with a long tradition and a great deal of truth and insight that the Church has been given over two thousand years.  We have categories and language to speak accurately about how Jesus can be both God and man (one “person,” two “natures”) and how the Eucharist can be his body (“substance” and “accidents”).  This intellectual framework is a help to faith, as is the clarity and coherence of teaching readily available to us in, for example, the Catechism.  Embrace of Christ and his claims always has required an act of faith, both for Thomas and for us.  Christ gave him helps for his faith—but he gives us helps, too.  Let’s not make excuses; let’s make the good confession.
Adults – When you are next able to receive Holy Communion make the prayer of Saint Thomas your own – “My Lord and my God!”
Teens – Look up and read about Eucharistic Miracles.
Kids – Thank Jesus for the love and mercy that He gave Thomas, and that He gives us.
LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK!  - Let us believe and act on all that Jesus tells us through His Church!
​

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
 
         I plan to put out another mini-weekly for this holiest week of the Church year.  I will add parts of the main weekly to each of these. 
 
         If you are interested, please find homilies from Palm Sunday and Monday of Holy Week below as well as the readings of Sacred Scripture for Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday of this Holy Week.
 
         Transform your life this week and pray that countless souls will turn from their sins and receive Christ Jesus, beginning with ourselves!
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
 
P.S.  Readings for Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion are here:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040223.cfm

​

Readings for:
Monday of Holy Week can be found here:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040323.cfm
Tuesday of Holy Week can be found here:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040423.cfm

Wednesday of Holy Week can be found here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040523.cfm
+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
The First Reading - Isaiah 50:4-7
The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
Reflection
The common conviction of the followers of Jesus of Nazareth is that these texts speak of Him; moreover, that the prophecies of the Scriptures of Israel only make sense and come into focus when seen in the light of the life, death, and resurrection of this Jesus, who was and is the anointed Servant. So we can take the words of Isaiah 50 as the words of Jesus himself.  Although he submits to torture and death (“I gave my back to those who beat me …”) he knows that he will be vindicated (“knowing that I shall not be put to shame”).  This confidence in the midst of suffering is important for interpreting the Gospel for this Sunday.
Adults - What builds your confidence in the Lord during these challenging times?
Teens -What is your favorite passage of Scripture to reflect on during times of suffering?
Kids - What reminds you that Jesus is with you all the time?

Responsorial- Psalm 22: 8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
All who see me scoff at me;
they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:
"He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,
let him rescue him, if he loves him."
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Indeed, many dogs surround me,
a pack of evildoers closes in upon me;
They have pierced my hands and my feet;
I can count all my bones.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
They divide my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
But you, O LORD, be not far from me;
O my help, hasten to aid me.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
"You who fear the LORD, praise him;
all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
 revere him, all you descendants of Israel!"
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Reflection
Jesus cites Psalm 22 from the cross.  The “Cry of Dereliction,” (“My God, My God …”) is, of course, actually the first line of Psalm 22. When Jesus cites “My God, My God …” from the cross in today’s Gospel, he is really making a reference to all of Psalm 22, inviting the bystanders to interpret what is happening to him in light of this psalm. How does the Psalm end? It’s a mystical prophesy of the glorification of God in the Church, which will ever praise Him for the salvation he accomplished for his messianic servant. What are some ways you have seen God bring good out of evil?

The Second Reading- Philippians 2:6-11
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming  obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Reflection - This famous passage—often thought to be an early Christian hymn or creed that St. Paul is quoting—gives an outline of the whole Gospel. The human is not exalted at the expense of the divine; rather, human and divine are exalted together.  God and man are mutually glorified by loving each other.  Humanity becomes more human by becoming more divine.  Divinization also humanizes.  -How do God and man glorify one another?

The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 26:14-27:66
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, “My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”’” The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been  born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.” While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on  behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father.” Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed; but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him in reply, “Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be.” Jesus said to him, “Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” And all the disciples spoke likewise. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me.” He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep.  He said to Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you  may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!” Then he returned once more and found them  asleep, for they could not keep their eyes open. He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing  again. Then he returned to his disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners. Get up, let us go. Look, my betrayer is at hand.” While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs, who had come from the chief priests and the elders of the people. His betrayer had arranged a sign with them, saying, “The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him.”  Immediately he went over to Jesus and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and he kissed him. Jesus answered him, “Friend, do what you have come for.” Then stepping forward they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus put his hand to his sword, drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels? But then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must come to pass in this way?” At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to seize me? Day after day I sat teaching in the temple area, yet you did not arrest me. But all this has come to pass that the writings of the prophets may be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled. Those who had arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. Peter was following him at a distance as far as the high priest’s courtyard, and going inside he sat down with the servants to see the outcome. The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward who stated, “This man said, ‘I can destroy the temple of God and within three days rebuild it.’” The high priest rose and addressed him, “Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?” But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy; what is your opinion?” They said in reply, “He deserves to die!” Then they spat in his face and struck him, while some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy for us, Christ: who is it that struck you?” Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the maids came over to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it in front of everyone, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about!” As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazorean.” Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man!” A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter,  “Surely you too are one of them; even your speech gives you away.” At that he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately a cock crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the cock crows you will deny me three times.” He went out and began to weep bitterly. When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor. Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, deeply regretted what he had done. He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? Look to it yourself.” Flinging the money into the temple, he departed and went off and hanged himself. The chief priests gathered up the money, but said, “It is not lawful to deposit this in the temple treasury, for it is the price of blood.”  After consultation, they used it to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why that field even today is called the Field of Blood. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of a man with a price on his head, a price set by some of the Israelites, and they paid it out for the potter’s field just as the Lord had commanded me. Now Jesus stood before the governor, and he questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”  Jesus said, “You say so.” And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?” But he did not answer him one word, so that the governor was greatly amazed. Now on the occasion of the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them, “Which one do you want me to release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed him over. While he was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him.” The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus. The governor said to them in reply, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”  They answered, Barabbas!” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” But he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Let him be crucified!” When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourselves.” And the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him.  They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his  head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him. As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha ¬—which means Place of the Skull —, they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink. After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And they placed over his head the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left. Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, and come down from the cross!” Likewise, the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The revolutionaries who were crucified with him also kept abusing him in the same way. From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “This one is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. But the rest said, “Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.” But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” There were many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him. Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.  When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be handed over. Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb. The next day, the one following the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said, ‘After three days I will be raised up.’ Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ This last imposture would be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “The guard is yours; go, secure it as best you can.” So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a  seal to the stone and setting the guard. or Jesus stood before the governor, Pontius Pilate, who questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?” But he did not answer him one word, so that the governor was greatly amazed. Now on the occasion of the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them, “Which one do you want me to release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed him over. While he was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him.” The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus. The governor said to them in reply, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They answered, Barabbas!” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” But he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Let him be crucified!” When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourselves.” And the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him. As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha — which means Place of the Skull —, they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink. After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And they placed over his head the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.  Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left. Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, and come down from the cross!” Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The revolutionaries who were crucified with him also kept abusing him in the same way. From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “This one is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. But the rest said, ‘Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.” But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were  split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”
Reflection
Our Gospel Reading is one of the longest of the year: the whole Passion account according to Mt 26:14—27:66.  There is so much going on in this passage, it is impossible to comment on it all.  Just a couple of things to reflect on:
● The sale of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver recalls to mind the figure of Joseph in the Old Testament, sold by his brother Judah (=Judas) for pieces of silver to the Midianites who put him into slavery in Egypt.  Joseph descended into the pit of prison before being lifted out and set at the right hand of Pharaoh, the de facto ruler of the known world.  This typifies the death, resurrection and ascension.  Jesus is the new Joseph who will feed the world with the gift of finest wheat.
● At the Last Supper, Jesus speaks over the cup: “This is my blood of the covenant.”  This phrase, “blood of the covenant”, is very uncommon in the Bible.  All occurrences of the phrase ultimately are references to Moses’ covenant solemnization ceremony at Sinai, where he sprinkled the twelve tribes with blood and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you.”  By repeating these words, Jesus is posturing himself as a New Moses who makes a new and better covenant with the twelve apostles on Mt. Zion than Moses made with the twelve tribes at Mt. Sinai.  There is a subtle difference in the wording, however: now it is “my blood of the covenant.”  This covenantal blood is not that of bulls and goats (Heb. 10:4), but of the son of God.  Later, the author of Hebrews will say: “For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Heb 9:13-14).
Adults - In today’s liturgy we start out praising Jesus and end up yelling “Crucify Him!” Is this something we also do in our daily lives? How?
Teens - Reflect on the fact that if you were the only person to ever live, Jesus still would have died for you.
Kids - Set aside a special, extra time to pray this Holy Week.
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Hallow is a prayer app that offers guided meditation sessions to help us grow in our faith & spiritual lives and find peace in God. 
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The Hallow app offers many ways to deepen your prayer life, such as:  
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Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
 
      Jesus' Name means 'God saves.'  But how does God save us and from what?  Sin of course.  How does He do this?  By becoming Mercy and seeking us.  Is that all?  No, your right, we must confess our sins.  Why?  Not so God can condemn us, so that God can forgive us.  No sin, No Savior!
 
"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."  Hebrews 4:16


 
       Let us go to Confession/Reconciliation/Penance!  Fear and Shame are not awaiting you, comfort and peace are.  You will not meet a yelling priest, you will meet Jesus Christ, Who will forgive you and let you begin again!
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
 
P.S.  Sunday was the Fifth Sunday of Lent.  The readings can be found at:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040322-YearC.cfm
 
Homilies (second one contains the Gospel) from Fifth Sunday of Lent (7 and 9 minutes):
 
Listen

Listen
 
                                      

"Helpful Hints of Life"
 
Beating the Blues
 
-Go for a walk, physical activity such as aerobic exercise like jogging, swimming, or brisk walking, is a great way to perk up a blue mood.  Exercise releases endorphins, a group of proteins produced by the brain that are thought to elevate mood.
-Keep busy by filling up your schedule.  Immerse yourself in a favorite activity, find a new hobby, volunteer, plan a vacation, or take an evening course.

-Don’t isolate yourself from others when you feel blue.  This can make things worse.  Make a date to go out with friends, do some volunteer work, write a letter, or telephone a relative or an old friend.

-Music can have a profound effect on emotions.  Listen to some of your favorite upbeat music.  Sing along at the top of your lungs or dance around the room.  Avoid sad songs or music that reminds you of a loss.
-Express your creativity by painting, sculpting, knitting, embroidery, cooking, or any other art or craft.  Try something new.  This will help you forget your worries.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


+JMJ+


HOW CAN I HELP?
1) →Check on family and neighbors to make sure everyone is okay and needs are being taken care of.← (Call if you can. If you drop by, make sure you maintain social distance to the degree possible.)
2) →Donate blood.← (This is much needed now as many blood drives at colleges and churches have had to be cancelled and hospitals will have increased need. Blood donation is very safe and they are taking extra precautions with current illness going around.)
3) →Explore ways to help or volunteer virtually.← (So much can be done over the phone and internet today. Search your local community needs.)
4) →Waste not, want not.← (Use the food in your house. Be careful to stay up on item dates. Freeze food you will not use right away. Buy what you will use.)
5) →Make a donation to those serving others.← (Local, national, and international organization exist to serve and help others. Look up one or ask locally what most needs assistance.)
6) →Be a leader and provide good example.← (Be the first to do the right thing. Explain directions that are hard to understand or follow. Encourage others to look toward their neighbor and fellow human being.)
7) →Take care of yourself.← (As they say, secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others. In other words, self-care is incredibly important at a time like this, and ensuring that you’re making safe and smart choices is a civic duty of the utmost importance. Be patient and kind to all, especially yourself!)




WAYS TO COMBAT OR MITIGATE RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES AT THIS TIME:
1) Wash hands often to remove potential viruses or items that might cause illnesses.
2) Social Distance yourself from another at least 3-6 feet to keep micro-droplets from our mouth or nose (even if we are not sneezing or coughing) from coming into contact with the other person.
3) Stay aware of symptoms and check if you have a fever. If you have symptoms, CALL your doctor’s office or an urgent care to get further instruction of how to proceed. You may also be able to receive care on the phone or be diagnosed through what is called Tele-medicine. (Emergency situations should call 911)
4) Clean surfaces such as door handles, counters, and commonly touched surfaces with a disinfectant often so that viruses or items that cause illness may be wiped away and less likely to infect persons.
5) Get plenty of rest, fluids, eat balanced meals as one is able, and exercise limitedly to stay as healthy as possible.

"Finally, through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God's merciful love, into communion with Christ. And the humble are always the first to accept him: shepherds, magi, Simeon and Anna, the bride and groom at Cana, and the first disciples."  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #725

Meghan Schultz Blogs
A group of Ukrainian refugee women and 41 children arrived at the doors of Franciscan University’s Austria campus this week. 

The Steubenville, Ohio, university is providing food and shelter for the next two months, according to Austrian Program Director Tom Wolter, who said that many refugees have little to no contact with people or places outside of Ukraine itself and require assistance with more than just travel plans. 

“The need is acute,” Wolter said in a press release, referencing the millions of refugees escaping into Poland and surrounding European countries. 

Franciscan’s Austrian program staff are collaborating with an Austrian organization, Kleine Herzen (Little Hearts), that provides aid to children affected by the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Kleine Herzen organizer Oksana Nazarchuk met and traveled with the refugees from the Ukrainian border to the campus, Kartause Maria Thronus Iesu (Monastery of Our Lady, Throne of Jesus). The children will be able to go to school in a monastery classroom, and the refugees can pray in the Byzantine Catholic chapel.

“The refugees found not only shelter but also the support and love from Franciscan University,” Nazarchuk said. “Most mothers were crying, seeing such support and readiness to help.” 

Wolter and staff recently returned from the Poland-Ukraine border, where they transported fleeing families to welcoming Viennese homes. Austrian program staff have provided assistance since the beginning of the war, including providing food and additional supplies to refugees. 

Fewer Franciscan students enrolled in the Austrian study-abroad program this semester due to concerns related to COVID-19, which resulted in additional space the campus could make available to refugees. The monastery, “a beautifully restored 14th-century Carthusian monastery in the foothills of the Austrian Alps,” usually hosts about 200 Franciscan students each semester.

Franciscan University currently accepts donations to its newly established Ukrainian Relief Fund, which will aid in covering costs of shelter, food and daily living items for refugees housed at the monastery.

If the amount of funds received exceeds what is necessary, additional monetary support will be contributed to “Austrian organizations that are housing or collecting supplies for refugees.” All donations will be tax deductible.

Wolter emphasized the need the Franciscan campus is meeting: “The initial wave of refugees who left Ukraine had friends or family in Europe and simply needed assistance in their travels. However, as the conflict continues to increase in both intensity and in scope, further migration has occurred with refugees having no family, friends or contacts outside of their home country.”

​
CULTURE OF LIFE |  APR. 6
Unplanned Opportunity: How a Movie’s Unexpected Success Is Reinvigorating Pro-Lifers
The film based on pro-life advocate Abby Johnson’s book of the same name is performing big at the box office — and in more important ways, as well.
Elisabeth DeffnerWhen the crowd of moviegoers spotted Mark Cavaliere in his blue 40 Days for Life shirt, it was like they’d spotted a movie star on the street.
“Hey, that’s the same shirt from the movie!” he heard some of them exclaim.
“They couldn’t comprehend it,” said the executive director of the Southwest Coalition for Life with a chuckle.
He was just gathering his 40 Days for Life materials from the theater where his organization had hosted a screening of Unplanned, the movie based on pro-life advocate Abby Johnson’s book of the same name. The people awed by his shirt had been in a neighboring theater, watching the same movie.
“I passed out information to people leaving the general showing, as well,” said Cavaliere, whose organization has hosted more than half a dozen screenings of the film.
At each of those screenings, Cavaliere spoke to the audience before and after the film, telling them about the Coalition for Life and the 40 Days for Life campaign. “This 40-day prayer vigil you just saw [depicted in the movie], and the power of that prayer, is happening right now in our own backyard,” he told them. “This could be your story, just by signing up for an hour of prayer.”
And his presentations have been working. Typically, the Southwest Coalition for Life works with more than 600 volunteers during each 40 Days for Life campaign. The group is able to place volunteers in front of three abortion businesses, 7am-7pm, each day of the campaign.
Cavaliere is still working his way through all the cards of interested volunteers submitted to him at the Unplanned screenings his group hosted — but he’s already topped more than 100 new potential vigil participants and expects that number to more than double.
“With all the laws going on recently, with late-term abortion and infanticide laws — people are just fed up,” he said. “It’s finally a wake-up call.
“They want to do something. They just need a little bit of direction.”


By the Numbers
Independently made with a budget of $6 million, Unplanned officially opened March 29 in 1,059 theaters. Disney’s Dumbo, with a budget of $170 million, opened the same day, in roughly four times as many theaters.
The next day, Forbes ran a story headlined “Friday Box Office: ‘Dumbo’ Disappoints, ‘Unplanned’ Surprises and ‘Beach Bum’ Bombs.” On more than 4,000 screens, Dumbobrought in a little more than $15 million on opening day; Unplanned earned $2.72 million.
As of this writing, Unplanned remains No. 4 at the box office and has brought in more than $8.6 million (including nearly $900,000 in ticket sales Tuesday).
“Every single number is off the wall,” said Cary Solomon, who co-wrote and co-directed the film with Chuck Konzelman.
An additional 457 theaters will be showing the film this weekend, but the duo — who are also the team behind God’s Not Dead and God’s Not Dead 2 — don’t expect the phenomenon to stop there.
“I think if we have a good weekend, we’ll do that again. We’ll go over 2,000 [theaters],” said Solomon.
Largely, the film’s early success has been achieved without benefit of coverage in the secular media, which has dismissed the film as merely “a faith-based film” — in other words, one that will not appeal to the general public — and pro-life “propaganda.”
Given the subject matter and a CGI depiction of an abortion, the film was rated R (no one under 17 admitted without a parent or guardian). Many in the pro-life community wondered why an underage girl can, in many states, obtain an abortion without parental consent … and yet would not be allowed to see a movie about abortion without being accompanied by a parent or guardian.
But now that R rating seems like a blessing. “It lent credibility to the movie,” said Konzelman. “It gave credibility to a movie that was being frozen out by mainstream media.”
It was also a big talking point that may have increased the film’s exposure before release.
An open letter signed by evangelical Protestant celebrities, including Alveda King, Mike Huckabee, singer/actor Pat Boone and actor Kevin Sorbo, pointed out that The Passion of the Christ also received an R rating — which, in the writers’ opinions, should in this case stand for “recommended.”
Archbishop Joseph Naumann, the head of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, wrote a commentary for The Wall Street Journal, “Hollywood Admits Abortion Is Violent,” in which he recommends the film “to all people of goodwill.”
“Unplanned wasn’t produced to shame women who have had abortions or to condemn those who perform them. It’s about redemption,” he wrote. “Perhaps Abby Johnson’s courage in coming forward will change our nation from one that embraces violent, R-rated solutions for unplanned pregnancies to one that sees each human life as a gift to be celebrated.” 
When the film’s Twitter account was mysteriously suspended on opening day, and the social-media platform provided no reason for the suspension, that seemingly injurious action may have actually benefited the film, theorize the people behind the project.
Later on opening weekend, the Twitter account was restored … but when Twitter users clicked to follow the account, they were unable to complete the action. Both incidents got significant publicity from people frustrated that they could not follow the account — and ultimately may have resulted in even greater follower numbers.
On Friday, the @UnplannedMovie Twitter account had 7,000 followers. As of this writing, it has 348,698 followers; that’s more than Planned Parenthood, which has slightly over 260,000 Twitter followers.
“There was a passive-aggressive resistance toward any publicity for the film,” said Solomon, referring to — among other things — major networks’ rejection of the film’s ads.  “All [Twitter] did was give us a wonderful story to back up that fact.”


Beyond the Numbers
The film’s real-life protagonist, Abby Johnson, has also been thrust into the spotlight because of the film’s success. Before the film’s release, she had 45,000 Twitter followers — a community she’d grown over a number of years. As of this writing, she has 113,634.
More importantly, she says she’s receiving about 150 messages a day across various platforms — social media, email and so on — from abortion workers seeking assistance from Johnson’s organization And Then There Were None to leave the industry. But, Johnson said, “Ninety percent of those messages are people saying, ‘I’m pro-life, I’ve been pro-life, but I’ve never been active in this movement. What can I do?’”
Before the release of Unplanned, some might have wondered if the film — which portrays Johnson’s journey from a Planned Parenthood employee of the year to one of the pro-life movement’s most vocal advocates — would simply preach to the choir. That is simply not the case, Johnson said.
“It’s awakened the choir!” she said. “It’s not just preaching to the choir: I feel like we’re teaching the choir how to sing.”
Shawn Carney, founder of 40 Days for Life and a key character in the cinematic adaptation, agrees.
“The ‘preaching to the choir’ argument is true if Unplanned makes $2 million opening weekend; but I think that myth was gone by midday Saturday,” he said. “What kind of ‘Christian movie’ makes nearly $1 million on a Tuesday?”
Konzelman and Solomon bought the film rights to Johnson’s book six years ago, and it has been a challenging journey to get funding, to get distribution and to get publicity for the project. But they are not surprised that the timing for the film’s release seems so providential, in the wake of New York’s aggressive late-term abortion legislation and resulting debate about infanticide of babies who have the temerity to survive the procedure.
“The timing of the movie was divine, for sure,” Carney said. “It’s not just bringing us new waves of volunteers. It’s bad for the abortion industry.”
“More than anything, the Unplanned movie has contributed to the desire for more and more people to continue to be out there after 40 Days for Life,” added Cavaliere. “We’ve never had so many people say, ‘We don’t want to stop.’
“If [abortion providers] are doing this, that we saw on the screen, full time, year-round … how can we be out here part time?”


On the Sacrament of Marriage
"Married life is a most beautiful thing and we must guard it always"

VATICAN CITY  (Zenit.org) - Here is a translation of the Holy Father's catechesis on the sacraments today during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!

Today we conclude the series of catecheses on the Sacraments speaking of Marriage. This Sacrament leads us to the heart of God's plan, which is a covenant plan with His people, with all of us, a plan of communion. At the beginning of the Book of Genesis, the first Book of the Bible, as the crowning of the account of creation, it states: "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them ... Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Genesis 1:27; 2:24).

The married couple is the image of God: the man and the woman, not only the man, not only the woman, but both. This is the image of God: the love, the covenant of God with us is represented in that covenant between man and woman. And this is very beautiful! We are created to love, as reflection of God and of His love. And in the conjugal union the man and the woman realize this vocation in the sign of reciprocity and of communion of a full and definitive life.

When a man and a woman celebrate the Sacrament of Marriage, God, so to speak, is "mirrored" in them, He imprints in them His own features and the indelible character of His love. Marriage is the icon of God's love for us. God, in fact, is also communion: the three Persons of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit have lived always and forever in perfect unity. And this is in fact the mystery of Marriage: God makes of the two spouses a single existence. The Bible uses a strong expression and states "one flesh," so intimate is the union between man and woman in marriage. And this is precisely the mystery of marriage: the love of God that is mirrored in the couple that decides to live together. Therefore, man leaves his home, the home of his parents and goes to live with his wife and unites himself so strongly to her that the two become � the Bible states � one flesh.

In the Letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul highlights the fact that a very great mystery is reflected in Christian spouses: the relationship established by Christ with the Church, a nuptial relationship (cf. Ephesians 5:21-33). The Church is the Bride of Christ. This is the relationship. This means that Marriage responds to a specific vocation and must be considered as a consecration (cf. Gaudium et spes, 48; Familiaris consortio, 56). It is a consecration: the man and the woman are consecrated in their love. By virtue of the Sacrament, the spouses are invested in fact in a true and proper mission, so that they can render visible, from simple ordinary things, the love with which Christ loves his Church, continuing to give his life for her, in fidelity and in service.

It is truly a stupendous plan that is inherent in the Sacrament of Marriage! And it is acted out in the simplicity and also in the fragility of the human condition. We know well how many difficulties and trials the life of two spouses has. What is important is to keep alive the bond with God, who is the basis of the conjugal bond. And the true bond is always with the Lord. When the family prays, the bond is maintained. When the husband prays for the wife and the wife prays for the husband, the bond becomes strong; one prays for the other.

It is true that in matrimonial life there are many difficulties, many: work, lack of money, children having problems � so many difficulties. And so often the husband and wife become a bit nervous and quarrel between themselves. They quarrel -- it is always so in marriage -- sometimes even plates fly. However, we must not become sad because of this; the human condition is like this. And the secret is that love is stronger from the moment there is quarreling, so I always advise spouses: Never end the day when you quarreled without making peace. Always! And it is not necessary to call the United Nations to come to one's home to make peace. A small gesture, a caress, a hello is sufficient! And until tomorrow -� and tomorrow one begins again. And this is life; it must be carried forward thus, carried forward with the courage of wanting to live it together. And this is great, it is beautiful! Married life is a most beautiful thing and we must guard it always, protect the children.

At other times I have said in this square something that helps marital life a lot. They are three words that must always be said, three words that must be in the home: please, thank you, sorry [permesso, grazie, scusa] -- three magical words.

Please, so as not to be invasive in the life of the spouse. Please, but what does this seem to you? Please, allow me.

Thank you: to thank one's spouse: thank you for what you did for me, thank you for this. The beauty of rendering thanks!

And as we all make mistakes, the other word which is a bit difficult to say, but which must be said: sorry.

Please, thank you, sorry. With these three words, with the prayer of the husband for his wife and vice versa, with making peace always before the day ends, the marriage will go forward -- the three magical words, prayer and always making peace.

May the Lord bless you and pray for me.

* * *

Speaker:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Today we conclude our catechesis on the sacraments with the sacrament of Matrimony, which brings us to the very heart of God's loving plan for the human family. The Triune God created us � men and women � in his image and calls us to mirror the mystery of his love. Married couples carry out this vocation in a full and definitive communion of life. As "one flesh", they become living icons of God's love in our world, building up the Church in unity and fidelity. Christian marriage also reflects the mystery of Christ's own faithful and sacrificial love for his body, the Church. Christian spouses thus receive a special consecration and a special mission. While a noble vocation, marriage is not an easy one: it must constantly be strengthened by a living relationship with the Lord through prayer: mornings and evenings, at meals, in the recitation of the Rosary, and above all through the Sunday Eucharist. Today let us pray for all families, especially those experiencing difficulties, so that by God's mercy they can always be joyful models of faith, love and generous service in our communities.

Holy Father (In Italian):

I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims present at today's Audience, including those from England, Wales, Denmark, Norway, Malta, Japan, Canada and the United States. I am pleased to welcome the Catholic Health Care Federation from the United States and the priests of the Institute for Continuing Theological Formation at the Pontifical North American College. Upon all of you, and upon your families, I invoke joy and peace in Christ our Lord.

* * *

I welcome the Italian-speaking pilgrims! I welcome the participants in the Seminar organized by the Pontifical Council for the Family; the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, who are holding their General Chapter, and the other women religious present. I greet the faithful of the parishes and the numerous groups, in particular the representation of the workers of ALCOA of Portovesme. I greet the Multiple-Sclerosis Association; the Association of Artillery Men of Italy and the Professional Soccer League. May this pilgrimage reinforce in everyone faith, hope and charity.

A special thought goes to the Jemo 'Nnanzi group of Aquila, Jemo 'Nnanzi. Five years after the earthquake devastated your city, I join you in prayer for the numerous victims, and I entrust to the protection of Our Lady of Roio all those who still live in hardship. I encourage all to keep hope alive! May the reconstruction of dwellings be accompanied by that of churches, which are houses of prayer for all, and of the artistic patrimony, to which the re-launching of the territory is linked. Jemo 'Nnanzi.

I greet the young people, the sick and the newlyweds, remembering them with the liturgy of Saint Francis of Paola. Dear young people, especially you, of the Village of youngsters of Maddaloni, learn from him that humility is strength and not weakness! Dear sick, do not tire of asking in prayer for the Lord's help. And you, dear newlyweds, compete in esteeming and helping one another.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pope Interviewed by Belgian Youth GroupSpeaks Candidly on Poverty, Throwaway Culture, Personal Experiences

VATICAN CITY  (Zenit.org) - Pope Francis has given a candid interview to five young people from a youth group in Fiandre, Belgium, who interviewed him for a communications project entitled, "Verse Vis.".

The 30 minute video, entitled "Habemus Papam", documents the journey of the young journalists, who come from various backgrounds and beliefs, and culminates with their interview with the Holy Father. Bishop Lucas Van Looy of Ghent arranged the interview with the Pope, which took place on March 31st.

The first question was about the Holy Father's focus on the poor. Pope Francis said that the poor and those affected by poverty are at the heart of the Gospel.

"Two months ago," the Pope recalled, "I heard a person saying, when I spoke about the poor: 'This Pope is a communist.' And no, this is the banner of the Gospel, not of Communism but of the Gospel! It is poverty without ideology and that is why I believe the poor are at the center of the proclaimation of Jesus."

One of the young people, who declared she was an atheist, said she was inspired by the Holy Father's words and asked for a message for believers and nonbelievers alike. The Pope stressed the need for a dialogue spoken with authenticity and a knowledge that "we are all brothers."

While man is at the center of history, he said, in today's world, man has been taken away and replaced with power and money. The Holy Father emphasized the existence of a "throwaway culture" that regards, children and youth as an impediment. Highlighting the plight of the elderly, the Pope also said there is a "hidden euthanasia" that occurs because the elderly are no longer cared for.

However, the Holy Father expressed his hope that young politicians today are recognizing this and will act. These young politicians, he said "are happy because they - whether they are from the left or the right - speak a new 'tune', with a new tune, a new style of politics, and that gives me hope."

When asked a question on what has he learned from past mistakes, the Pope replied laughing: "I have made mistakes and I [continue to] make mistakes." The 77 year old Pontiff regarded mistakes as "the great teachers of life."

"They are great teachers, they teach you so much. I won't say that I have learned from all my mistakes, I haven't because I am (knocks on desk), I'm hard-headed and it is not easy to learn. But I have learned from many mistakes and this has done me well."

The Holy Father spoke candidly during his role as Superior General of the Jesuits, a time where he said he made "many mistakes with authoritarianism."

"I was very authoritarian at 36 years old. And then I learned that you must dialogue, you should hear what others think, But it wasn't learned once and for all. The path is long and I learned from my attitude that was a bit authoritarian as a religious superior to find a path to not be so much [...] but I still make mistakes."

Before concluding their interview, the young journalists asked the Pope if he had a question for them. Pope Francis replied by saying he would ask them something from the Gospel: "Where is your treasure?"

"What treasure does your heart rest in?" he asked. "Because where your treasure is, that is where your life is. The heart is attached to treasure, a treasure that we all have, It can be power, money, pride, there are so many. Or is it goodness, beauty, the will to do good? There are so many treasures we can place our heart in. So where is your heart? That is the question that I will ask but you have to answer to yourselves alone, in your home." (J.A.E.)

--- --- ---

On the NET:

For the video of the interview, go to: http://www.een.be/programmas/koppen/habemus-papam

Note: Video is in Flemish (Belgian Dutch), though questions are asked in English. The Pope responds in Italian.



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  "Now - and this is daunting - this outpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have trespassed against us. Love, like the Body of Christ, is indivisible; we cannot love the God we cannot see if we do not love the brother or sister we do see. In refusing to forgive our brothers and sisters, our hearts are closed and their hardness makes them impervious to the Father's merciful love; but in confessing our sins, our hearts are opened to his grace." -Catechism of the Catholic Church #2840
 

​A bit of humor…

Tried and True Method

Flummoxed by his true-false final exam, a student decides to toss a coin up in the air. Heads means true; tails, false. Thirty minutes later, he’s done, well before the rest of the class. But then the student starts flipping the coin again. And soon he’s murmuring and sweating over each question.
"What’s wrong?" asks the concerned teacher.
"I’m rechecking my answers," says the student.

That's It
When my coworker Donsa was promoted, we decided to celebrate. Her boss called the baker and ordered a cake.
"Two questions," said the baker. "Is Donsa a man or a woman? And what do you want the cake to say?"
"The cake should read ‘Congratulations’" the boss said. "Oh, and Donsa"s a woman." The next day, the office celebrated with a cake that read "Congratulations—Donsa’s a woman."



I Have a Question

During our computer class, the teacher chastised one boy for talking to the girl sitting next to him.
"I was just asking her a question," the boy said.
"If you have a question, ask me," the teacher tersely replied.
"Okay," he answered. "Do you want to go out with me Friday night?"

Grannies on the Road

Sitting on the side of the road waiting to catch speeding drivers, a
state trooper sees a car puttering along at 22 mph. He thinks to
himself, "This driver is as dangerous as a speeder!" So he turns on his
lights and pulls the driver over.

Approaching the car, he notices that there are five elderly ladies - two
in the front seat and three in the back, wide-eyed and white as ghosts.
The driver, obviously confused, says to him, "Officer, I don't
understand. I was going the exact speed limit. What seems to be the
problem?"

The trooper trying to contain a chuckle, explains to her that 22 was the
route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned
and thanked the officer for pointing out her error.

"But before you go, Ma'am, I have to ask, is everyone in this car OK?
These women seem awfully shaken."

"Oh, they'll be all right in a minute, officer.. We just got off Route 127 
: )


Love the Irish

Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place.   Looking up to heaven he said, 'Lord take pity on me.   If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish Whiskey!' 

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.

Paddy looked up again and said, 'Never mind, I found one.'
​

 +JMJ+


PRAYER DURING TIME OF ILLNESS
Holy Virgin of Guadalupe,
Queen of the Angels and Mother of the Americas.
We fly to you today as your beloved children.
We ask you to intercede for us with your Son, as you did at the wedding in Cana.
Pray for us, loving Mother,
and gain for our nation and world,
and for all our families and loved ones, the protection of your holy angels, that we may be spared the worst of this illness.
For those already afflicted,
we ask you to obtain the grace of healing and deliverance.
Hear the cries of those who are vulnerable and fearful,
wipe away their tears and help them to trust.
In this time of trial and testing,
teach all of us in the Church to love one another and to be patient and kind. Help us to bring the peace of Jesus to our land and to our hearts.
We come to you with confidence,
knowing that you truly are our compassionate mother, health of the sick and cause of our joy.
Shelter us under the mantle of your protection, keep us in the embrace of your arms, help us always to know the love of your Son, Jesus. Amen.


 
 
 
 
 
"We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren. To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell.""  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #1033

 

 

 

He breathed on them (the Apostles) and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you do not forgive are not forgiven."
–John 20:22-23
 
Jesus did not give the Apostles the ability to read people's mind.  The only way the Apostles would know whether to forgive sins or not was if the people confessed their sins to them.  Bishops are successors of the Apostles who receive the same power and Holy Spirit who pass it on to priests.
 
Frequently Asked Questions About Confession
Is this sacrament called confession, penance or reconciliation?
Yes! This sacrament involves all three elements and historically has been called by all three names. Today the Church refers to it as the Sacrament of Penance or the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
 
Why do we need a sacrament of Reconciliation?
"Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reason conversion entails both God's forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church…" (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] 1440). Only God forgives sins. Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole Church should be a sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation (CCC1442). The priest "is not the master of God's forgiveness, but its servant" (CCC 1466).
 
What happens in the Sacrament of Penance?
"Through the sacrament of penance, we, the faithful, acknowledge the sins we have committed, express our sorrow for them, and, intending to reform our ways, receive God's forgiveness and become reconciled with God and with the Church" (USCCB Committee on Pastoral Practices). "Jesus' call to conversion and penance… does not aim first at outward works… but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion" (CCC 1430). Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts return to him.
 
What sins should be confessed?
The Church teaches that "all serious (mortal) sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are most secret… for these sins sometimes wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly" (CCC 1456). At the same time, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) "is strongly recommended… for it helps us to form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies (patterns of weakness that can lead us to sin), let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father's mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful" (CCC 1458).
 
What are the effects of this sacrament?
"The forgiven penitent is reconciled with himself in his inmost being… He is reconciled with his brethren whom he has in some way offended and wounded. He is reconciled with the Church. He is reconciled with all creation" (John Paul II). "The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God's grace (which was lost by Adam and Eve and confirmed by our personal sins) and joining us with him in an intimate friendship" (CCC 1468), "for those who receive the sacrament with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation" (CCC 1551) (i.e. you feel good after going to Confession).
Did you know?
• In the early Church, the Sacrament of Penance could be received only once in a lifetime.
The penances assigned were often very long and severe, sometimes lasting several years. During this time penitents usually had special places in church, wore special clothes, and commonly left the Sunday liturgy after the homily, just like the catechumens.
 
• At one time the Church had a two-track system of public Penance and private Penance.
Public sins required public penance and private sins required private penance.
 
• For centuries penitents were required to do their assigned penance and then return to receive absolution. Practical difficulties with this became apparent when the confessor was a wandering missionary and when the penances sometimes took the penitent on a pilgrimage to foreign lands.
 
HOW TO GO TO CONFESSION
 
Many people have avoided celebrating the Sacrament of Penance, sometimes for years at a time, because they “don’t know what to do.” But confession doesn’t need to be scary or intimidating! The following brief explanation will help you understand how the Sacrament is celebrated individually.
 
1 Preparation
The celebration of this sacrament begins at home, with the private preparation you make. This preparation is called the examination of conscience. “The penitent compares his or her life with the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the example of Christ and then prays to God for forgiveness.” The examination of conscience should take into account your relationship to God and to others. Usually, we know our sins all too well; the examination of conscience will help us to look at them in the light of the Gospel, and be better able to express them in confession.  Also, we are sometimes unaware of how serious some sins are and the effect they have on our lives.  A thorough examination of conscience will help us identify and remove all that is hindering us in our relationship with God, one another, and ourselves.  A doctor needs help to remove all the illness or cancer from a patient, thus we need help to remove all sin so as to have true health and divine life.  (Please pray over attached Examination of Conscience for Adults.)
 
2 Welcome of the Priest
You have the option of confessing your sins face to face, or of confessing anonymously. This is your choice. The priest welcomes you and then both you and he make the sign of the cross, saying, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Then in his own words the priest urges you to have confidence in God. Then you continue, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.  It has been (# weeks, months, or years) since my last Confession.”  If you don’t know the priest, you may want to indicate your state of life (i.e. married, single, widowed, divorced), and anything else that may help your confessor.  Be sure to mention how long it has been since your last confession.  The true priest will be glad you are there and not judging you on how long it has been since you lasted came to this Sacrament.
 
3 Confession of Sins
Next the priest invites you to confess your sins. Occasionally, the priest may ask questions to help you in making a full confession. The confession of sins should be as complete as possible. That doesn’t mean it needs to take a long time. The important thing is that the penitent “looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible” (Catechism 1455).  Venial sins and faults may be confessed in general, however, all mortal/serious sins must be confessed by their name and the number of times they were committed since the last Confession.  If you need help confessing your sins, let the priest know.  He can ask you questions or help you examine your life in light of God’s law.
 
4 Advice of the Priest
Sacramental confession is not therapy; the priest will not attempt to solve your problems for you.  What he will do, however, is offer some advice to help you in starting a new life. He will give a “penance,” which may take the form of prayer, self-denial, service to one’s neighbor, or works of mercy.
 
5 Act of Contrition, the Prayer of the Penitent
Next the priest invites you to pray an act of contrition. There are many different options for this prayer. There is one on the Examination of Conscience that you may take with you.  It should also be available for you in the Confessional.
 
6 Prayer of Absolution
Now the priest extends his hands over your head and prays the prayer of absolution, making the sign of the cross over you during the final words: “through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” You respond, Amen.  These are generally considered the sweetest words this side of heaven for those who know anything can be forgiven in this life if we confess it with true sorrow.
 
7 Dismissal
Now the priest dismisses you. You respond, “Thanks be to God.” If you are making your confession as part of a communal celebration, remain in the church for the conclusion of the celebration. If not, ‘go in peace to love and serve the Lord’!
 
Based on Celebrating the Sacrament of Penance: Questions and Answers, a publication of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

   
 
Guide for Examination of Conscience for Confession of Sins

 
6 STEPS FOR A GOOD CONFESSION
1)  Examine your conscience - what sins have you committed since your last good confession.
2)  Be sincerely sorry for your sins.
3)  Confess your sins to the priest.
4)  Make certain that you confess all your mortal sins and the number of them.
5)  After your confession, do the penance the priest gives to you.
6)  Pray daily for the strength to avoid the occasion of sin, especially for those sins you were just absolved from.
 
ACT OF CONTRITION
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend You, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.
Amen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. You shall not have other gods before Me.
___How have I acted toward God?
___ Do I think of God and speak to Him by
praying to Him every day?
___ Have I made a bad confession (purposely
avoiding to confess a mortal sin)?
___ Have I received Jesus in Holy Communion
unworthily (with mortal sin on my soul)?
2. You shall not take the Name of the
Lord your God in vain.
___ Have I used bad words?
___ Have I jokingly or irreverently spoken about
God or holy things?
___ Have I tried hard to keep the promises and
resolutions which I have made to God?
___ Have I spoken God’s Name in anger?
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
___ Do I go to Mass on Sunday?
___ Do I do all I can to make Sunday a day of rest
and joy for my family?
___ Do I take part in the Mass, or do I distract
others by laughing, talking, or playing?
___ Have I deliberately failed to pay attention at
Mass?
___ Am I generous in helping the Church,
contributing some of my allowance or savings
at collection time to help the Church in her
necessities as much as I can?
___ Have I fulfilled my yearly Easter duty of
receiving Holy Communion (and going to
Confession, if necessary)?
4. Honor your father and your mother.
___ Do I pay attention to my parents, priest, and
teachers, especially when they talk to me about
God?
___ Do I obey my parents and teachers quickly and
cheerfully, or must I be reminded many times?
___Do I tell my parents or those in authority over
me that I am sorry and ask them to forgive me
when I have not obeyed them or have not been
respectful toward them?
___ Have I failed to express my love for my
parents?
___ Do I nurse angry feelings or show resentment
when I am corrected by my parents?
___ Do I obey the rules of my home and school?
___ Do I pray every day for the help I need to be a
holy child, and a holy brother or sister?
5. You shall not kill.
___ Have I treated other people badly?
___ Do I help my brothers, sisters, and classmates
when they need my help?
___ Am I kind to everyone?
___ Did I hurt anyone on purpose?
___ Have I fought with my brothers, sisters, or
friends?
___ Am I willing to talk or play with everyone?
___ Have I forgiven all those who have hurt me,
for love of Jesus?
___ Did I make fun of anyone, put anyone down,
or tease anyone to the point of upsetting
them?
___ Have I hated anyone or nursed bad feelings,
resented, or refused pardon toward any
person?
___ Have I sought pardon of those whom I have
offended?
___ Do I do all my class work and my chores at
home well?
___ Do I take care of my health by eating the
right food, getting enough sleep, and doing
other things that I know are good for me?
6. You shall not commit adultery.
___ Have I kept my mind, heart, and body pure,
as the dwelling, or temple, of God?
___ Have I been impure with touches (by myself
or with another person)?
___ Have I been impure with words or thoughts?
___ Have I watched impure movies or television
programs or listened to music that offended
God?
___ Have I engaged in impure conversations?
Did I begin them?
___ Have I neglected to dress modestly or to
otherwise safeguard purity?
___ Have I willfully looked at immodest pictures?
___ Have I displayed immodest looks or glances at
myself or others?
7. You shall not steal.
___ Did I steal or keep things that are not mine?
___ Am I willing to share my things with others?
___ Did I return things I have borrowed or stolen?
___ Have I seriously entertained temptations to
steal?
___ Have I been greedy?
8. You shall not lie.
___ Did I tell the truth?
___ Have I lied?
___ Did I say things about other people that are not
true?
___ Did I cheat in class or in games?
___ Have I gossiped about another person?
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
___ Do I think mostly about myself and what I
want?
___ How often do I think about other people and
what they would like?
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s
goods.
___ Do I thank God for the things that He has
given me?
___ Do I thank my parents and relatives for the
things they have given me?
___ Do I spend more time thinking about things
that I want than I do talking to God?
Steps to a Good Confession:
1. Carefully examine your conscience.
2. Be sincerely sorry for your sins.
3. Make a firm resolution not to sin again and to
avoid the near occasion of sin.
4. Tell your sins to the priest and receive
absolution.
5. Do the penance the priest gives you.
Suggested Dialogue:
Priest: May the Lord be on your heart, on your
mind, and on your lips so that you may know your
sins, and confess them with true repentance and a
firm purpose of amendment.
Penitent: Bless me Father, for I have sinned.
It has been ________ since my last confession.
Here state your sins.
Priest gives counsel and penance.
Penitent makes Act of Contrition:
Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having
offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because
I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,
but most of all because they have offended Thee,
my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my
love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace,
to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend
my life. Amen.
Receive absolution and then respond “Thanks be to God.”
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily sins against the Body and Blood of the Lord. ... He who eats and drinks without recognizing the Body eats and drinks judgment on himself." (1 Cor 11:27-29)
 
So, to receive Holy Communion while in the state of mortal sin (having committed a mortal sin which has not been confessed and forgiven in the Sacrament of Confession) is itself a mortal sin - a mortal sin of sacrilege.
 
"When he celebrates the sacrament of Penance, the priest is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the Good Samaritan who binds up wounds, of the Father who awaits the prodigal son and welcomes him on his return, and of the just and impartial judge whose judgment is both just and merciful. The priest is the sign and the instrument of God's merciful love for the sinner." -Catechism of the Catholic Church #1465


+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
Fifth Sunday in Lent – Sunday, March 26th, 2023
The First Reading - Ezekiel 37:12-14
Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD. I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD.
Reflection
“You shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people!”  Ezekiel 37:12 Thus, when Jesus opens Lazarus’ grave and causes him to rise, we know that Jesus is “the LORD,” that is, YHWH, the God of Israel.  The sign of Lazarus’ resurrection points to the divinity of Christ. Now, most study bibles will have notes in the margin or the bottom of the page informing the reader that this passage from Ezekiel 37 has nothing to do with resurrection from the dead, but only pertains to the restoration of the national hopes of Israel. It is true that it pertains to the national hopes of Israel.  However, the ancient manuscripts of Ezekiel were circulated without the notes in the RSVCE2 or NAB, etc., and the ancient readers tended to assume that, since the text explicitly describes resurrection from the dead, it was about the resurrection of the dead. The issue has to do with God’s promises to Israel.  In Ezekiel’s lifetime (c. 637-572 BC), many Israelites were nearing death in exile and realizing that they would never see the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises personally.  So was their faith in God meaningless? The point of Ezekiel’s vision is this:  “If he has to, O Israelites, God will drag you out of your graves in order to fulfill his covenant promises to you.  So your faith is not in vain!”  God is able to do the unthinkable to be faithful to his word. The same is true for us.  The basis of Christian hope is in the resurrection from the dead, because in this life none of us receives the fullness of all the good that God has promised us in Christ.
Adults - What is helping you focus on hope during these difficult times?
Teens -Spend some time this week learning about the covenants of Salvation History.
Kids - What helps your hope in Jesus grow?
Responsorial- Psalm 130: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
R.With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,
LORD, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
I trust in the LORD;
my soul trusts in his word.
More than sentinels wait for the dawn,
let Israel wait for the LORD.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
For with the LORD is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel
from all their iniquities.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Reflection
“Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!”  What depth is deeper than that of death?  God’s salvation reaches even the realm of the dead, the biblical Sheol, the lowest level of the cosmos in biblical cosmology.  The Psalm is thus understood as the cry of the penitent soul from Sheol.  Though the soul knows of his iniquities, nonetheless he hopes in God’s abundant mercy and awaits the resurrection: “more than sentinels wait for the dawn, let Israel wait for the LORD.” -What is your favorite bible verse hope?
The Second Reading- Romans 8:8-11
Brothers and sisters: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you.
Reflection - St. Paul speaks first of all of spiritual life and death: to be in sin is spiritual death; to be in Christ is to be alive.  But the spiritual reality has implications for physical reality.  Christ “will give life to our mortal bodies also.”  The Church continues, obstinately, to believe not just in the resurrection of the “dead,” but the resurrection of the “body.” While the next life retains many mysteries, we will certainly have a new body.  -Consider that the spiritual realities of this life are just as, if not more, real than the physical.
The Holy Gospel according to John 11:1-45
Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. So the sisters sent word to him saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” He said this, and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.” So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.” When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said,  Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?” So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And when he had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.
Reflection
In response to Mary’s weeping and that of the other mourners, Jesus becomes “perturbed”—in verse 33 and also 38.  The Greek word used here (embrimaomai) is very strong—“he became angry within himself.”  What is the cause of Jesus’ anger?  The brute fact of death in a fallen, sinful world?  A lack of faith among the mourners?  Commentators have not come to a satisfactory consensus.  Surely, though, one of the purposes of St. John in reporting the emotion of Jesus is to stress his sharing in our human nature, including the depth of human emotion.  It is often said that the Gospel of John portrays Jesus as most clearly divine among all the Gospels; at the same time, John portrays Jesus in some of the most deeply human moments of his ministry: “Jesus wept.”
Adults - Jesus is close to us in all of the events of our lives. How can time with Christ bring you comfort in this time?
Teens - What does it mean to you that “Jesus wept?”
Kids - Thank Jesus for always being close to you!
LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK!  - It was Martha and Mary’s faith, even when confronted with Lazarus’ death that gave rise to the extraordinary miracle worked by Christ. This is not only a consoling story narrated in the letters of the Gospel, but it is also accessible to us today in the Church from the day of our Baptism until when we are incorporated to Him by means of the Spirit that He has given to us. ‘If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.’ (Rom 8:11)