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Second Sunday After Easter

22 April 2012

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.”

Jn. 10:11

Today’s meditation is taken from Fr. Gabriel of St. Magdalene, OCD’s book, Divine Intimacy (#154):   “The liturgy today sums up in the gentle figure of the Good Shepherd all that Jesus has done for our souls.  The shepherd is everything to his flock; their life, their sustenance, and their care is entirely in his hands, and if the shepherd is good, they will have nothing to fear under his protection, (more…)

Homily #120412 ( 10min) Play – On Easter Sunday Jesus appeared to the disciples and they thought that they were seeing a ghost because they did not understand and trust Our Lord’s words that He would rise again. Jesus helps them by eating in front of them and showing them his wounds to let them know that He completely overcame the power of death, letting them apprehend the magnitude of His victory when the clouds of doubt and defeat where weighing upon the early Church. Let us remember this Easter joy when we witness the many tribulations and seeming defeats for the Church that will inevitably come.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Thursday of Easter Week – Wkdy – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: act 3:11-26
Resp: psa 8:2, 5, 6-7, 8-9
Gsp: luk 24:35-48

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Homily #120410 ( 10min) Play – Our Lord is called a Rabbi, Teacher, by both His enemies and His friends. He spoke openly for the truth and died for the truth. But, Fr. Angelo preaches on how He was more than a teacher because He spoke with an authority beyond the scribes and Pharisees because He embodied, or really incarnated, the truth in Himself and the resurrection of this body is therefore His greatest teaching moment. By listening to His words of truth we too will rise from bodily death to eternal life to be with Him and His Father.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Tuesday of Easter Week – Wkdy – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: act 2:36-41
Resp: psa 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
Gsp: joh 20:11-18
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Homily #120409 ( 09min) Play – Jesus’ enemies worked in the darkness and where accustomed to slick lying but in the face of this our Lord continued to be honest.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Monday of Easter Week – Wkdy – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: act 2:14, 22-32
Resp: psa 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
Gsp: mat 28:8-15

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Homily #120408 ( 16min) Play – Fr. Angelo preaches on Easter Sunday on the two great signs of what God has done for us, the Empty Tomb and the Perpetual Virginity. The virgin womb of Mary is the gate of life and is the miraculous sign that Jesus is Our Lord and Savior, pointing to His Divinity. The tomb is normally the gate of death, but because Christ’s tomb is empty it is the perpetual sign that God’s Word is the last word and His power is even greater than death. And so we have the Easter hope that God can triumph over all evil and sin, even our own sin.

Ave Maria!
Mass: Easter Sunday (Opt 1) – Solemnity – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: act 10:34, 37-43
Resp: psa 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
2nd: col 3:1-4
Gsp: joh 20:1-9

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Sorry, Computer Failure, Homily was not captured - Jesus said that He was going to be handed over to His enemies to be crucified. But He also said that he would rise again. Today we celebrate the joy of His Resurrection that after the sadness of the crucifixion and the seeming finality of that, the finality of death, and yet He breaks free from the grip of death and gives us the hope of doing the same. Fr. Angelo exhorts us to seek peace  by having faith in Christ’s promises.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil) – Solemnity – Form: OF
Readings:
First: Genesis 1:1–2:2
Resp: Psalms 104:1-2, 5-6, 10, 12, 13-14, 24, 35
Second: Genesis 22:1-18
Resp: Psalms 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11
Third: Exodus 14:15–15:1
Resp: Exodus 15:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 17-18
Fourth: Isaiah 54:5-14
Resp: Psalms 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13
Fifth: Isaiah 55:1-11
Resp: Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6
Sixth: Baruch 3:9-15, 32–4:4
Resp: Psalms 19:8, 9, 10, 11
Seventh: Ezekiel 36:16-28
Resp: Psalms 42:3, 5; 43:3, 4
Epistle: Romans 6:3-11
Resp: Psalms 118:1-2, 16, 17, 22-23
Gospel: Mark 16:1-8

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Homily #120318 ( 45min) Play – On this Laetare Sunday, Fr. Bonaventure preaches on today’s Gospel, starting with a question from the St. Pius X Catechism, which asks:

1. Q: Are you a Christian?
   A: Yes, I am a Christian, by the grace of God.
2. Q: Why do you say: By the grace of God?
   A: I say: By the grace of God, because to be a Christian is a perfectly gratuitous gift of God, which we ourselves could not have merited.
3. Q: Who is a true Christian? (more…)

Homily #100516 ( 17min) Play – On this Seventh Sunday of Easter, the last Sunday before Pentecost, Fr. Angelo preaches on the need to practice vigilance in prayer as the Apostles and Mary practiced between the Ascension of the Lord and the coming of the Holy Spirit during Pentecost. We remember this and follow their example in the liturgical season by praying the Novena, the nine days of prayer between the Ascension, last Thursday, through to Pentecost Sunday.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
1: Acts 1:1-11
R: Ps 47:2-3,6-9
2: Eph 1:17-23
G: Lk 24:46-53

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Homily #100502 ( 09min) Play – Fr. Ignatius preaches on the first reading from James and explains how the meekness of Jesus conquers all, and how we are to follow in His footsteps submitting to the will of the Father and to His truth.
Ave Maria! Fourth Sunday after Easter – Mass: EF, Cantate Domino – Readings: 1st: jam 1:17-21 – Gsp: joh 16:5-14

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Homily #100425 ( 22min) Play -  Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, the forth Sunday in Easter where the readings refer to Jesus as the Good Shepherd, specifically how he leads His sheep to eternal life. It is also the Church-wide prayer day for vocations to the priesthood. Fr. Angelo preaches on the need for good shepherds, especially in the face of Church scandals and in the face of a society that is in a state of moral decay which is leading so many to eternal death.

Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”

Ave Maria! Mass readings
1: Acts 13:14,43-52
R: Ps 100:1-2,3,5
2: Rev 7:9,14-17
G: Jn 10:27-30

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Homily #100419 ( 06min) Play – Our Lord advises us to labor for existence in the Life to come. How much society would change for the good if all labored for what is truly good, and would remember that those who live only for this present moment will indeed find themselves forever in Hell.
Ave Maria! Mass readings

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Homily #100418t ( 07min) Play – Peter and the others went back to doing as they did before they met the Christ, and when suddenly our Lord appears in their presence, Peter being uncovered quickly clothes himself and jumps into the water after Christ.
Ave Maria! Mass readings

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In my last post I promised more on the Holy Sepulcher and the Holy Grail and their relation to an Easter catechesis and the tradition of chivalry. There is much there to reflect on, much to be researched and assimilated, so it will take at bit more time.

Meanwhile, however, I thought I would point out that in the Office of Readings this week we have been reading from the the Jerusalem Catechesis, or otherwise known as the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem (+386).  The Catechesis consists in twenty-three lectures, the first eighteen of which were delivered to the candidates for baptism during Lent and the last five to the newly baptized during Easter, and is an excellent example of the mystogogia. In fact, at the end of the prologue for Lectures St. Cyril makes sure his readers understand that his instructions are only for those whose Baptism is imminent, and is to be seen neither by the other catechumens nor heathens. (more…)

This was originally posted on MaryVictrix on Holy Thursday, April 1st and was meant to be the first part of the post just below.