[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: April 13, 2012
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, who gave us the Paschal Mystery in the covenant you established for reconciling the human race, so dispose our minds, we pray, that what we celebrate by professing the faith we may express in deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

• Easter Soup with Leftover Lamb

ACTIVITIES

• Liturgy of Easter Sunday and the Octave of Easter

PRAYERS

• Easter Week Table Blessing
• Prayers for the Easter Season
• Easter Prayers (for the Octave of Easter)
• The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy
• Divine Mercy Novena
• Roman Ritual Blessing Before and After Meals: Easter Week (1st Plan)

Easter: April 13th

  Easter Friday Old Calendar: Easter Friday

"Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!"

Over the charcoal fire, Peter is given the opportunity to tell Jesus he loves Him, three times, repairing for his triple denial of Christ at His Passion.

Outside of Easter Week today is the Optional Memorial of St. Martin I.

Stational Church

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Meditation
Easter reminds us of these fundamental requirements of the Christian life: the practice of piety and patience. Through piety we live detached from human frailties, in purity of mind and body, in union with Christ. Through patience we succeed in strengthening our character and controlling our temper so as to become more pleasing to the Lord and an example and encouragement to others, in the various contingencies of social life.

The Resurrection of the Lord truly represents—and for this reason it is celebrated every year—the renewed resurrection of every one of us to the true Christian life, the perfect Christian life which we must all try to live. "The Resurrection of Christ is the sacrament of new life."

My beloved brothers and children! First of all let us look closely at our pattern, Jesus Christ. You see that everything in His life was in preparation for His resurrection. As St Augustine says: "In Christ everything was working for His resurrection."

Born as a man, He appeared as a man for but a short time. Born of mortal flesh, He experienced all the vicissitudes of mortality. We see Him in His infancy, His boyhood, and His vigorous maturity, in which He died. He could not have risen again if He had not died; He could not have died if He had not been born; He was born and He died so that He might rise again.

This is what St Augustine tells us in simple, sublime words.

Excerpted from Prayers and Devotions from Pope John XXIII, edited by John P. Donnelly © 1967, 1966.

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In Rome, the Station is at the church of St. Mary ad Martyrs. It was the ancient pantheon of Agrippa, and had been dedicated to all the false gods; it was given by the Emperor Phocas to St. Boniface IV, who consecrated it to the Mother of God and all the martyrs.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: John 21:1-14

 “It is the Lord.” (John 21:7)

What a puzzling time this must have been in the disciples’ lives! They’ve followed Jesus on the way to the cross, only to hear reports that he has come alive again. Then he is suddenly in their midst with words of comfort and mission—but then he vanishes as quickly as he appeared. What’s next?

Not surprisingly, some of them go back to their work as fisher­men—something stable. But after a long night, they have caught noth­ing. Then a stranger on the shore calls out, telling them where to cast their nets.

John is the first to put into words the realization that is dawning on all of them: It must be the Lord! His declaration frees Simon Peter—who is not too sure he has been forgiven his terrible betrayal—to jump over­board and hurry to Jesus, where he will receive the assurance he so deeply needs. Imagine how lost Peter might have felt if it weren’t for John’s confident announcement about Jesus!

We are often called to perform for each other the role that John plays in this story. Because we love Jesus, we can recognize him at work. It is often easier to see him working in someone else’s life, and when we do, it is up to us to point it out. A friend may focus only on how exhausted he is, but we can see how the Spirit has been giving him the grace to keep on going. As we declare: “I see the Lord in you,” we are giving strength and encour­agement to our friend.

In the same way, other believ­ers may see Christ in us more clearly than we can. Reluctant to be prideful, we may downplay the goodness other people see in us. But when we do this, we run the risk of denying God’s real work in us. We may end up missing the way Jesus wants to affirm us and encourage us.

So try to hold up a mirror to a friend or loved one today. Help that person see the reflection of Christ in him or her. Be like John today, and announce: “It is the Lord!”

“Jesus, thank you for standing on the shore of my life. Open my eyes to see you, and my heart to share you with others you love.”

Acts 4:1-12 Psalm 118:1-2,4,22-27