Wednesday second Week of Easter

 God so Loved the World Jn. 3:16-20

God so loved the world that He sent us His only Son. 

His only Son who Who was scourged and crowned with thorns for us. 

Who died on the cross for us. 

Whose heart was pierced with a sword for us. 

There can be no doubt therefore that God loves us. 

For God has clearly shown His love for us. 

But Do we love God?

We may say we do,

Do our actions show our love for God?

As God’s actions showed His love for us?

Tuesday Second Week of Easter

One mind and heart Acts 4:32-37

The early Christian community was of one heart and mind. 

No one claimed anything of their own. 

And if someone was in need, another would go and sell his property in order to help that person. 

Have we progressed or regressed in our Faith since the early days of the Church?

Are we too of one heart and mind?

Not always. 

What keeps us from being so?

How can the Church of St. Patrick’s Be Of one heart and mind?

How can We be of one heart and mind with the Church in Wenona, or Toluca or Lostant?

Through Love. 

Love others as the Lord has loved us. 

Through forgiveness 

Forgive one another as the Lord has forgiven us. 

Through prayer

Prayer that we all might be one One Body, One Spirit in Christ. 

Just as Jesus has loved us, so we must love one another.  

Monday Second Week of Easter

Born of Water and The Spirit Jn. 3:1-8

Everyone is born of flesh and blood. 

But not everyone is reborn of Water and the Holy Spirit. 

Those born of flesh and blood are of this world. 

Those reborn of Water and the Holy Spirit are of heaven. 

Jesus reminds us that what is born of the flesh is flesh and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

He therefore, places a choice before us. 

Flesh or Spirit. 

This world or the Kingdom of Heaven.

If we want the Kingdom of Heaven, then we must be born again of Water and the Holy Spirit in Baptism. 

Through Baptism the flesh becomes filled and led by the Holy Spirit. 

And the Holy Spirit blows where He wills. 

In other words, those born again leave aside their fleshly desires and allow them selves to be "blown" by the Holy Spirit wherever He wills.

Divine mercy

On us and on the whole world

We begin every Mass by asking God to have mercy on us. 

Like the tax collector in the temple, who would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, asking God to have mercy on him a sinner

So we ask God to have mercy first of all on ourselves.

We acknowledge we are not perfect 

that we have sinned and are in need of God‘s mercy 

and through His mercy we ask God to bring us to everlasting life.

But we do not stop there

Throughout the Mass, we are praying for God’s mercy, 

not only on us, but on the whole world. 

In the Gloria, we ask for Mercy;

In the Eucharistic Prayer we ask God to have Mercy on us all!

After the Our Father we ask for the “help of God’s Mercy to be free from sin.”

And before Communion, we pray 

Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, have Mercy on us.

The Mass is a cry for Mercy;

Mercy on the sinner;

Mercy on the Poor;

Mercy on the sick;

Mercy on the dying;

Every corner of our world is in need of Mercy.

So when we say, “Lord have mercy.”

It is not just a repetition but a plea, a cry to God for help. 

If not for us then for someone else who needs it. 

We come to every Mass, 

To ask for God’s Mercy. 

Not only for us, but for the whole world. 

Saturday of Easter Week

 Doubting the Resurrection Mk. 16:9-15

Why did Mary Magdalene and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus see the Risen Lord,

But when the 11 disciples were told about it, they doubted.  

Because of their unbelief and hardness of heart. 

We nurture our bodies with food,

And so we must nurture our Faith with prayer. 

Otherwise we too will not believe. 

Our hearts become hardened by cynicism 

and for desires other than God,

And we must strive to keep them open to God,

So that they remain on fire with the love of God. 

If we have doubts,

We must check our Faith and our Hearts.

For in them lies the problem and the answer. 

Friday Easter Week

We will catch nothing 

No matter how hard they tried 

And how long they worked through the night;

The disciples had very little to show for all their effort. 

That is how it is in  life. 

Most people spend their lives working morning to night 

And in the end what do they have to show for it?

If only we would listen to Jesus telling us where to cast our nets!

They would be filled to overflowing. 

Overflowing with Love, Peace, Hope, Confidence, Courage and Faith. 

These are riches far beyond silver and gold. 

These are riches that will see us through any crisis or difficulty;

These are riches that bear fruit far beyond what the sweat of our brow and our little intelligence and planning can accomplish. 

And All we have to do before we cast our nets is to ask Jesus,

Where!!!

Thursday of Easter Week

 Touch Me! Lk. 24:35-48

After Jesus had risen from the dead,

His body changed. 

He now had a glorious body. 

A body so glorious that the disciples thought they were seeing a ghost.  

But Jesus assured them that they were not,

By taking a piece of fish and eating before their eyes.  

In the creed we profess that we believe in the resurrection of the body. 

Just as our bodies are united with our souls here on this earth,

So On the Last Day,

Our bodies will be reunited with our souls,

In the resurrection of the dead. 

But with one difference,

Our bodies will be glorified. 

And no longer bound by time and space;

But a body nonetheless. 

Wednesday Easter Week

 Where Are You Going?

Where are you going today?

Work?

Home?

An Errand?

Visiting someone?

A Walk?

Did you see the Risen Lord walking next to you?

The disciples on the road to Emmaus did not see Him either. Lk. 24:15-16

Yet Jesus was walking right beside them but they did not notice it was Him. 

Every where we go, the Risen Christ is walking beside us. 

The Risen Lord is not bound by time and space. 

So He can be right there, beside each one of us.

But do we see Him?

What prevents us from seeing Him?

For the disciples on the road to Emmaus it was their sorrow. 

For others it might be the distractions of life. 

Others might be in too much of a hurry. 

And others might not even be looking for Him. 

Along the road of life, the Risen Lord walks beside us and whispers in our ears. 

We hear His words as the disciples on the road to Emmaus did, and maybe even our hearts burn at times as did theirs, but like them we still do not see Him. Lk. 24:32

It was not until the Breaking Of The Bread that they recognized Him. Lk. 24:30-31

It is in the Eucharist that we receive at Mass;

The Bread that is Broken and given to us in Communion that our eyes are fully opened to see what is burning in our hearts as we walk along the Road of Life. 

For in the Breaking Of The Bread Christ is fully present in His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity and His Words are finally made clear to us. 

If you are lost along the way;

If your heart is burning;

If you cannot see the Risen Lord walking beside you;

Go to the Eucharist!

Go to the celebration of the Breaking of the Bread!

And there you will see Him!

Easter Tuesday

 Empty Tombs Jn. 20:11-18

Mary Magdalene went to the tomb expecting to see a body laying there. 

That is what we expect to see when we go to a cemetery. 

But Jesus was not there. 

He was risen. 

On His way to His Father. 

One day we may go to the cemetery 

Expecting to see our loved ones. 

Laying in their graves. 

But they will not be there. 

For the day will come when those who are in the tombs,

Will hear their Lord’s voice

And come forth. 

To a new and endless life