by Faith Central & Steve Welsh
“#Easter’s empty tomb is a call to #conversion. By this tomb, we should know for certain that #God has made #Jesus both #Lord and #Messiah ….”
“How does #Jesus make himself known at #Emmaus? First, He interprets ‘all the Scriptures’ as referring to Him. In today’s First Reading and Epistle, Peter also opens the Scriptures to proclaim the meaning of Christ’s death according to the Father’s ‘set plan’ — foreknown before the foundation of the world. … In every Eucharist, we reenact that Easter Sunday at Emmaus. Jesus reveals Himself to us in our journey. He speaks to our hearts in the Scriptures. Then at the table of the altar, in the person of the Priest, He breaks the bread. The Disciples begged him, ‘Stay with us.’ So He does. Though He has vanished from our sight, in the Eucharist—as at Emmaus—we know Him in the breaking of the bread.”
“I will also relate the manner in which we dedicate ourselves to #God when we have been made new through #Christ … Those who believe that what we teach and say is true, and who undertake to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and entreat God with fasting for the remission of their past sins, we also praying and fasting with them. Then they are brought by us to where there is water and are regenerated in the same manner in which we ourselves were regenerated. In the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they are then washed with water. For Christ said, ‘Unless you be born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ ….”
The Divine Mercy Chaplet in song, produced by Trish Short, and featuring scenes from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy. More details follow below the video.
The primary prayers of the Divine Mercy Chaplet include:
Opening Sign of the Cross, Our Father, Hail Mary, The Apostles Creed …
Utilizing a Rosary, on each large bead starting a decade:
“Eternal Father, we offer You the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Your dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ … In atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”
On each of the ten small beads within a decade:
“For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion … have Mercy on us, and on the whole world.”
Concluding prayer:
“Holy God, Holy Might One, Holy Immortal One, have Mercy on us, and on the whole world.” (three times)
There are some additional optional prayers, and a closing Sign of the Cross
[provisional posting; please check back for more links and details]
“… Some people want Jesus without the Church. No can do. Jesus is found in His Church, among those who have gathered. There is surely joy to be found in a personal relationship with Jesus, but the Lord also announced a special presence whenever two or three are gathered in His name. It is essential for us to discover how Mass attendance is essential for us if we want to experience the healing and blessing of the Lord. This Gospel has a lot to say to us about the need for us to gather together to find the Lord’s blessing in the community of the Church, in His Word, and in the Sacraments. Let’s look at today’s Gospel in five stages. …”
“… the Lord appeared to two disciples while they were walking on the road. They were talking about him, even though they did not believe. He did not show them an appearance which they could recognize, but the Lord behaved before the eyes of their bodies in accord with what was going on inwardly before the eyes of their hearts. … They set the table, brought food, and recognized in the breaking of the bread the God they did not know as He explained the Sacred Scriptures. They were not enlightened by hearing God’s commandments, but by putting them into practice.”
“Pope Benedict XVI describes the Resurrection of Jesus as an ‘evolutionary leap’ in which a new dimension of human existence emerges. This new dimension ‘affects all of us and opens up for us a new space of life, a new space of being in union with God.’ That means we’re all capable of undergoing this evolutionary leap. How’s that possible? I’ve heard this new dimension called ‘resurrection-life.’ Jesus founded the Church and instituted the sacraments for the purpose of pouring that same resurrection-life into us. At baptism he gives us our initial influx of it. By baptizing people at the Easter Vigil, the Church is reminding us that, because of our own baptism, we participate in the same divine life that raised Jesus from the dead and that spiritually restores us after the death of sin. …”
“‘I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here.’ This was how the angel spoke to the women; for that very reason he had opened the tomb. It wasn’t so as to let out the Christ, who was already no longer there, but to make it known that Christ was no longer there. ‘He has been raised as he said… Come and see the place where he lay’ (Mt 28:5-6). Come, women, come! See the place where you laid Adam, where the human race was buried. Understand that his pardon was as great as the injustice done to the Lord was great… When the women go into the sepulcher they take their share in the burial, they identify with the Passion. Leaving the sepulcher they stand upright in faith before they rise again in the flesh. ‘Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed’ … Scripture says: ‘Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice before him with trembling’ (Ps 2:11). …”
http://dailygospel.org/main.php?language=AM&module=commentary&localdate=20170417
“… Like most of the resurrection accounts, John’s version paints a portrait of a journey that some of the early disciples have to make: out of fear and into faith. It shows the need to experience the resurrection and then come to understand it more deeply. While the Gospel account begins with Mary Magdalene, the focus quickly shifts to St. John; let’s study his journey. …”
“Pope Francis celebrated the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday evening in St. Peter’s Basilica …”