Crucified | AirMaria.com

Sep 01 – Homily – Fr Angelo: Nothing but Christ Crucified

apostolate — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:00:06 +0000

Homily #080901 ( 14min) Play – Fr. Angelo bases his homily on the first reading today by Paul “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Listen as Fr. relates this to Paul’s discourse in Athens, Our Lord’s visit to Nazareth, the Eucharist, and the need for humility.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
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Oct 04 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: St. Francis of Assisi

apostolate — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 11:59:16 +0000

Homily #081004 ( 00min) Play – On this feast day of St. Francis of Assisi celebrated as Solemnity here at the friary, Fr. Ignatius Manfredonia sheds light on this great lover God and Him Crucified.
Ave Maria!
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Oct 10 – Homily – Fr Angelo: St. Daniel and Companion Martyrs

apostolate — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:14:06 +0000

Homily #081010 ( 15min) Play – Fr. Angelo Geiger preaches on the discernment of God’s will in relation to the missionary spirit of St. Daniel and Companion Martyrs who died walking in the footsteps of Christ Crucified.
Ave Maria!
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Cardinal Ratzinger’s Meditations on the 13th and 14th Stations

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:00:32 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

THIRTEENTH STATION:

Jesus is taken down from the Cross and given to his Mother

V/. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.

R/. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

From the Gospel according to Matthew 27:54-55: When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” There were also many women there, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him.

MEDITATION: Jesus is dead. From his heart, pierced by the lance of the Roman soldier, flow blood and water: a mysterious image of the stream of the sacraments, Baptism and the Eucharist, by which the Church is constantly reborn from the opened heart of the Lord. Jesus’ legs are not broken, like those of the two men crucified with him. He is thus revealed as the true Paschal lamb, not one of whose bones must be broken (cf. Es 12:46).

And now, at the end of his sufferings, it is clear that, for all the dismay which filled men’s hearts, for all the power of hatred and cowardice, he was never alone. There are faithful ones who remain with him. Under the Cross stand Mary, his Mother, the sister of his Mother, Mary, Mary Magdalen and the disciple whom he loved.

A wealthy man, Joseph of Arimathea, appears on the scene: a rich man is able to pass through the eye of a needle, for God has given him the grace. He buries Jesus in his own empty tomb, in a garden. At Jesus’ burial, the cemetery becomes a garden, the garden from which Adam was cast out when he abandoned the fullness of life, his Creator. The garden tomb symbolizes that the dominion of death is about to end.

A member of the Sanhedrin also comes along, Nicodemus, to whom Jesus had proclaimed the mystery of rebirth by water and the Spirit. Even in the Sanhedrin, which decreed his death, there is a believer, someone who knows and recognizes Jesus after his death. In this hour of immense grief, of darkness and despair, the light of hope is mysteriously present. The hidden God continues to be the God of life, ever near. Even in the night of death, the Lord continues to be our Lord and Savior. The Church of Jesus Christ, his new family, begins to take shape.

PRAYER : Lord, you descended into the darkness of death. But your body is placed in good hands and wrapped in a white shroud (Mt 27:59). Faith has not completely died; the sun has not completely set. How often does it appear that you are asleep? How easy it is for us to step back and say to ourselves: “God is dead”.

In the hour of darkness, help us to know that you are still there. Do not abandon us when we are tempted to lose heart. Help us not to leave you alone. Give us the fidelity to withstand moments of confusion and a love ready to embrace you in your utter helplessness, like your Mother, who once more holds you to her breast. Help us, the poor and rich, simple and learned, to look beyond all our fears and prejudices, and to offer you our abilities, our hearts and our time, and thus to prepare a garden for the Resurrection.

All: Pater noster, qui es in cælis: sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo.

Vidit suum dulcem Natum

morientem, desolatum,

cum emisit spiritum.

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FOURTEENTH STATION

Jesus is laid in the tomb

V/. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.

R/. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

From the Gospel according to Matthew 27:59-61: Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulcher.

MEDITATION: Jesus, disgraced and mistreated, is honorably buried in a new tomb. Nicodemus brings a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight, which gives off a precious scent. In the Son’s self-offering, as at his anointing in Bethany, we see an “excess” which evokes God’s generous and superabundant love. God offers himself unstintingly. If God’s measure is superabundance, then we for our part should consider nothing too much for God. This is the teaching of Jesus himself, in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:20).

But we should also remember the words of Saint Paul, who says that God “through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ everywhere. We are the aroma of Christ” (2 Cor 2:14ff.). Amid the decay of ideologies, our faith needs once more to be the fragrance which returns us to the path of life.

At the very moment of his burial, Jesus’ words are fulfilled: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24). Jesus is the grain of wheat which dies. From that lifeless grain of wheat comes forth the great multiplication of bread which will endure until the end of the world. Jesus is the bread of life which can satisfy superabundantly the hunger of all humanity and provide its deepest nourishment.

Through his Cross and Resurrection, the eternal Word of God became flesh and bread for us. The mystery of the Eucharist already shines forth in the burial of Jesus.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, in your burial you have taken on the death of the grain of wheat. You have become the lifeless grain of wheat which produces abundant fruit for every age and for all eternity. From the tomb shines forth in every generation the promise of the grain of wheat which gives rise to the true manna, the Bread of Life, in which you offer us your very self.

The eternal Word, through his Incarnation and death, has become a Word which is close to us: you put yourself into our hands and into our hearts, so that your word can grow within us and bear fruit. Through the death of the grain of wheat you give us yourself, so that we too can dare to lose our life in order to find it, so that we too can trust the promise of the grain of wheat. Help us grow in love and veneration for your Eucharistic mystery to make you, the Bread of heaven, the source of our life.

Help us to become your “fragrance”, and to make known in this world the mysterious traces of your life. Like the grain of wheat which rises from the earth, putting forth its stalk and then its ear, you could not remain enclosed in the tomb: the tomb is empty because he the Father “did not abandon you to the nether world, nor let your flesh see corruption” (Acts 2:31; Ps 16:10 LXX). No, you did not see corruption. You have risen, and have made a place for our transfigured flesh in the very heart of God. Help us to rejoice in this hope and bring it joyfully to the world. Help us to become witnesses of your resurrection.

Quando corpus morietur,

fac ut animæ donetur

paradisi gloria.

Amen.

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Bl. Teresa of Calcutta’s Vision of the Crucified and His Holy Mother

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 17:00:27 +0000

Ave Maria Mediations

In 1947 Mother Teresa was shown a vision in three parts. In the first scene she saw the painful plight of the poor and the yet greater inner poverty that was hidden beneath their material poverty…they were reaching out to her.

In the second scene, Mother Teresa saw the same crowd of the poor…Our Lady was there in the midst of them and Mother Teresa was kneeling at her side; she heard her say:

“Take care of them…they are mine…bring them to Jesus…carry them to Jesus…fear not…teach them to say the rosary…the family rosary, and all will be well…fear not…Jesus and I will be with you and your children.”

In the third scene was the same crowd again and they were covered with darkness. There in the midst of an anguished crowd that seemed unaware of His presence, was Jesus on the Cross. Our Lady was before Him…and Jesus said to Mother Teresa:

“I have asked you…she, My Mother has asked you. Will you refuse to do this for me…to take care of them, to bring them to Me?”

Mother Teresa’s entire life was directed toward returning the Father’s measureless love poured out in Jesus crucified, present in the Eucharist, dwelling in her heart and hidden in the needy.

“The slap on the face, the spitting on His face, the crowning with thorns, the scourging, the removing of His clothes, the crucifixion…putting the Cross in the center, showing that He was worse than the other two. The burial in somebody’s grave, all these and many others, especially the terrible longing to be loved, the terrible lonliness, the terrible feeling of pain for His Mother. All, all these are the love with which He loved you and me.” (Mother Teresa)

One sees in these visions the central and defining role Our Lady would play in every aspect of Mother Teres’as life and work. …Our Lady becomes a bridge both between Mother Teresa and the poor who cried out to her and between the poor and the crucified Jesus Who thirsted for them, Who yearned to love and be loved by them.

(excerpts from “Mother Teresa: In the Shadow of Our Lady” by Joseph Langford, MC)

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Look Down upon Me, Good and Gentle Jesus

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 17:00:08 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus (En ego, o bone et dulcissime Iesu)

Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, while before your face I humbly kneel, and with burning soul pray and beseech you to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment, while I contemplate with great love and tender pity your five wounds, pondering over them within me, calling to mind the words which David, your prophet, said of you, my good Jesus: “They have pierced my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones” (Ps 21, 17-18).

How to Approach Christ’s Passion

Listen to the Lord’s appeal: In me, I want you to see your own body, your members, your heart, your bones, your blood. You may fear what is divine, but why not love what is human? You may run away from me as the Lord, but why not run to me as your father?

Perhaps you are filled with shame for causing my bitter passion. Do not be afraid. This cross inflicts a mortal injury, not on me, but on death. These nails no longer pain me, but only deepen your love for me. I do not cry out because of these wounds, but through them I draw you into my heart.

My body was stretched on the cross as a symbol, not of how much I suffered, but of my all-embracing love. I count it no loss to shed my blood: it is the price I have paid for your ransom. Come, then, return to me and learn to know me as your father, who repays good for evil, love for injury, and boundless charity for piercing wounds.

St. Peter Chrysologus

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Mar 30 – Homily – Fr Bonaventure: We Crucified Him

apostolate — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:40:36 +0000

Homily #100330 ( 04min) Play – As we read the gospel accounts of this week we are saddened because we see our Lord suffering and that it is our own sins which caused this. However, we also have reason to rejoice because by His death we will be made clean and be resurrected to life with Him.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
1: Isa 49:1-6
R: Ps 71:1-6,15,17
G: Jn 13:21-33,36-38

Audio (MP3)

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In honor of the Month of the Precious Blood

apostolate — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:35:48 +0000

Mary Vitamin for July 23rd

Topic: The First Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary
(In honor of the month of the Precious Blood)

Quote:
And there appeared to him an angel from heaven strengthening him. And being in
an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood,
trickling down upon the ground.
Luke 22:43-4

Meditation:
Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich explains that Our Lord in the garden of
Gethsemane “understood not only the consequence of every species of
concupiscence, but also its own peculiar expiatory chastisement, the
significance of all the instruments of torture connected with it; so that not
only the thought of the instrument made Him shudder, but also the sinful rage of
him that invented it, the fury and wickedness of all that had ever used it, and
the impatience of all, whether innocent or guilty, who had been tortured with
it. All these tortures and afflictions Jesus perceived in an interior
contemplation, and the sight filled Him with such horror that a bloody sweat
started from the pores of His sacred Body.”
The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations, Volume 4, (Tan Books), 89

Does a mother suffer only when she witnesses the suffering of her child? Or does
she suffer over and over again in her heart, anticipating the suffering of her
child? Is Our Lady not aware of the avarice of Judas and the hatred of the
leaders in the Temple towards her Son? A mother in her compassion cannot help
but anticipate the pain and suffering of her child. It is not recorded in Holy
Scripture that Our Lady was present in the Garden, but her heart was always
unwaveringly united with God, and she would share in his agony on the eve of the
great manifestation of God’s passionate love for mankind. She would share, the
way a Mother shares in the suffering of her son: silently, meekly, heart
breaking, full of love, yet accepting.

Resolution:
I will meditate in the Rosary what it cost Our Lady to accept the Will of God in
the Redemption of humanity. Our Lady does not need to be present in
the Garden of Gethsemane to share in the suffering of Her Son.

Marian Vow:
The Immaculate was the universal Mediatrix of redemption, to wit, was the only
Coredemptrix who has shared in person with the Redeemer –“under Him and with
Him” (LG 56) — the work of universal redemption, cooperating actively with her
tears, mixed in the Blood of Her Crucified Son, to rescue sinful mankind, from
Adam to the last man who lives on the earth.
Marian Seraphic Pathways, Statutes #51

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate

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Mary Vitamin is a daily Email support for Marian mental prayer. Each day (Monday through Friday) members will receive a brief Marian quote with a corresponding Marian meditation and resolution. The Mary Vitamin is designed to make mental prayer a little simpler and bring Our Lady into your day in a systematic way.

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Mary Vitamin – Carrying of the Cross

apostolate — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:43:41 +0000

Mary Vitamin July 30th

Topic: Fourth Sorrowful Mystery – Carrying of the Cross
In honor of the Month of the Precious Blood

Quote:
Then therefore [Pontius Pilate] delivered him to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him forth. And bearing his own cross, he went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha.
John 19:16-17

Meditation:
Father Frederick Faber
It was a dreadful thing for a mother to walk the streets over her own son’s blood. No one cared for it. No heart was touched. None suspected the heavenly mystery, at which angels were gazing in silent stupor. Mary too must tread upon it. It was sorrow almost literally trampling its own heart under foot. She must tread on that which she was worshipping. That which colored the street-mud, which blotched the paving-stones, which clung, half wet and half dry, to the garments of the multitude, was hypostatically united to the Godhead. It merited the plenitude of divine worship. Mary was adoring it at every step.
Father Faber, The Foot of the Cross, (Tan Books), 220.

Resolution:
Today, when about my ordinary activities, I will try to remember the steps taken by Our Lady following Our Lord and Her Worship of the Precious Blood. When I walk up the stairs today, in particular I will remember the Precious Blood and I will make a Spiritual Communion.

Marian Vow:
Let the tertiaries, if possible, participate everyday in the holy sacrifice of the altar, standing at the foot of the cross of Calvary, in union with the Immaculate Coredemptrix, to offer themselves as victims united with the Divine Victim, Jesus Crucified, receiving in their own hearts Holy Communion (or at least spiritual Communion, if it is not possible to receive the Sacrament). Nourished with the Eucharistic Jesus, united to the Immaculate Mediatrix, let the tertiaries each day live faithfully the daily obligations of their state.
Marian Seraphic Pathways, Constitutions #25

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate

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Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:00:38 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

Look at His Glorious Cross
Here is the gateway to Heaven
Opened at last for the lost;
See such a price for the sins of mankind,
And His love is paying the cost.
Towering over history
Look at His Glorious Cross

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O Glorious Cross, Remedy for Every Affliction, Antidote for Every Poison, Medicine for Every Weakness!

September 14
The Exaltation of the Glorious Cross

Glory in the Cross

“It is for us to glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in whom is our health, life and Resurrection: through whom we have been saved and set free” (Introit). Celebrating today the mystery of the Cross, we fix our gaze not upon an instrument of torture and of shame but, rather, upon the Tree of Life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations (Rev 22:2). We lift our eyes to the royal throne of the King of glory, the sign of the Son of Man that will appear in the heavens at the end of the age (Mt 24:30). To the eyes of faith, the Cross shines like the sun over the eastern horizon.

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

In Rome, the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme is the scene of a solemn festival today. Pilgrims from all over the world will cross the threshold of the church established by Saint Helena; they will kneel before the wood of the True Cross. Great numbers of them will go to their confession. The relics of the True Cross will be carried in procession and placed upon the altar during Holy Mass.

Everywhere in the monastery and basilica of Santa Croce one sees the insignia of the holy and glorious Cross; it is painted, carved, and even woven into the cloth of the vestments. It is the life-giving and glorious Cross of Christ, studded with precious stones, and glimmering with the splendour of the stars. The arms of the Cross are thrown open wide to embrace the very limits of the cosmos. What did we sing at First Vespers? “Hail, O Cross! Brighter than all the stars! To the eyes of men thou art exceedingly lovely!” (Magnificat Antiphon I). The art in the basilica cries out, over and over again, the essential relationship between altar and Cross. The altar is the bathed in the glory of the Cross.

The Visible Sign of God’s Healing Mercy

Today’s liturgy — in the Divine Office and the Mass — infuses an awe-inspiring awareness of the Cross as the visible sign of God’s healing mercy, the cause of our indefectible and abiding joy. “The Royal Banners forward go; the Cross shines forth in mystic glow” (Vexilla Regis, Vespers). We sing in today’s introit that the Cross of Christ is the source of health (salus), of life, and of Resurrection. The eyes of the Church are filled with the brightness of the Cross. She looks towards the wood of the Cross and is made radiant by the Resurrection. Look to the Cross, and be radiant; let your faces not be abashed (Ps 33:6)!

The Saving Wood

The wood by which Adam fell (Gn 3:12) is today the wood by which Adam is saved. The wood by which Noah, “his sons, his wife, and his son’s wives” (Gn 6:14) were saved from the flood is today the wood by which joy has flooded the world. The wood by which Moses sweetened the bitter waters of Marah (Ex 15:25) is today the wood by which all the world’s bitterness is made sweet.

Health to Sickly Souls Is Given

The First Reading is a dramatic reminder that all of us, without exception, have suffered the venomous bite of the ancient serpent. We cross the wilderness of this life limping, and burning with a fever for which no earthly remedy can be found. Our new Moses, Christ, intercedes with the Father on our behalf and, in response, we are given the mystery of the Cross. “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (Jn 12:32). The Cross is the source of our healing; it is the remedy for every affliction, the antidote for every poison, the medicine for every weakness. One of the antiphons at Matins, rhythmically translated, says: “Cross most gracious / from whose aspect / health to sickly souls is given/ with what praises shall I praise thee / who hast brought us life from heaven?

When We Are Stung by Vipers

Like the children of Israel we have to be brought back again and again. When we are strong and successful, when we “wax fat, grow thick, and become sleek” (Dt 32:15), how easily we forget the works of the Lord! When we experience the gift of salutary failure, when we stumble, fall, and lose our way with darkness all about us, when we are stung by vipers and beset with fever and thirst, then do we turn back, led on by severe and tender mercies to the source of all healing and strength.

The Holy Spirit and the Cross

The Cross is where the weakness of the flesh encounters the power of the Holy Spirit. It was from the Cross that the gift of the Holy Spirit was first poured out upon the Church in the kiss of the Bridegroom’s mouth and in a mystery of water and of blood. “He bowed his head, says Saint John, and gave up his spirit” (Jn 19:30). And again, “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (Jn 19:34). The breath, the blood, and the water are the abiding signs of the Spirit poured out whenever the Church assembles in faith at the foot of the holy and life-giving Cross. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is, at once, an actualization of the mystery of the Cross and an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Secure in the Arms of the Cross

Again, the Cross is where every brokenness, injury, and wound encounters the compassion of the Father. We are called not so much to embrace the Cross as to allow ourselves to be embraced by it, for the arms of the Cross are the strong arms of the Eternal Father’s compassion. When the Holy Spirit begins to work in a soul, that soul is compelled to throw herself into the arms of the Cross because there, and there alone, is she held secure in the embrace of the Father’s unfailing compassion. The Cross of the Son shines with the love of the Father; that compassionate love is the remedy for every misery, shadow, weakness, betrayal, and fear.

Jacob’s Mystic Ladder

We celebrate the glorious Cross as a Trinitarian mystery; the healing compassion of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit await us in the Cross of the Son. By the Cross of Christ, as by the mystic ladder beheld by Jacob in a dream (Gen 28:12) the mercy of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit descend even to us. By the same Cross of Christ, we ascend to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jacob dreamed “that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it” (Gen 28:12). This is the mystery of the Cross revealed in figure and foreshadowing; this is the reality of the mysteries we celebrate here and now.

The Place of Christ’s Priesthood

The Cross is the place of Christ’s glorious priesthood with its descending and ascending mediation. Wheresoever and whensoever the liturgy is enacted, Christ the great High Priest stands in our midst, and his glorious Cross is rendered present. Health and joy descend into the world — and into our hearts — by the wood of the Cross and, by the wood of the Cross, the ladder that spans the chasm separating time from eternity, and this world from the next, we who are estranged and exiled from the beauty of the divine glory ascend into the splendour of the Kingdom.

The Mass: Presence of the Cross

The Cross is present in every Holy Mass, not as the memory of a hill far away, but as a dynamic reality drawing us together into unity and then, upward, to the Father, with the Son, in the Holy Spirit. The Liturgy of the Word is always a preaching and a presence of the Word of the Cross, “folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God” (1 Cor 1:18). The Liturgy of the Eucharist is always a confession and a presence of the mystery of the Cross in the fullness of its Trinitarian dimensions, and in the actualization of its power.

Through the Cross into the Kingdom

If you have heard the Word of God, you have been embraced by the mystery of the Cross. Held fast in its embrace, let us go to the altar. Through the Word of the Cross, the compassion of the Father, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the glory of the Son have descended into our midst today; let us then, ascend, by the mystery of the Cross present in this Eucharist, to the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit to whom be all glory and praise, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen, Alleluia!

By Father Mark (Vultus Christi)

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