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Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 04-05-12, Holy Thursday: Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper
USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 04-05-12 | Revised New American Bible

Posted on 04/04/2012 9:45:03 PM PDT by Salvation

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To: All
Vultus Christi

Only those wounded by Me

| fra-angelico-der-gekreuzigte-und-san-domenic-00127.jpg

I who am here before you,
I am the Word.
No book, however beautifully written,
can speak to your heart as do I,
for I am Eternal Wisdom,
and Infinite Love,
and Uncreated Beauty
in dialogue with your soul.
My words are not like the words of men,
My words surpass even the words of My saints,
though I often speak through them
and continue to touch souls through their writings.
My words are like arrows of fire shot into the heart
and wounding it
so as to inflame it,
and heal it with Divine Love.

Make yourself vulnerable to My words.
Allow Me to speak to you in such a way as to wound you
with the piercing of Divine Love.
When you come before Me and wait upon Me in silence,
you are, in effect, waiting upon Me and allowing Me,
when I choose and in the way I choose,
to wound you with an interior word
and to set you on fire with a communication of Divine Love.
Expect Me, then, to speak to you,
to console you, and to enlighten you,
but also to wound you.
Unless I wound you in this way,
you will be incapable of withstanding the attacks of the enemy
and of bearing witness to Me in the midst of darkness and tribulation.

In the spiritual battle that is coming,
only those wounded by Me will emerge victorious.
This is why I call all My priests to seek and to accept the healing wounds of My Love. Those who keep watch before My Eucharistic Face
will be among the first to be so wounded.
I have called you to adoration because I desire to wound you not once,
but again and again, until your whole being is wounded
and so, purified and set ablaze with the fire of My Love.
Were that your soul were wounded
as many times as I was wounded in My Body for love of you
in the combat of My most bitter Passion.
Allow Me, then, to pierce you through and through
until, wounded by Divine Love,
you are wholly sanctified and made fit for My purposes and designs.

This I desire not only for you, but also for all My priests.
I would wound each one again and again with My burning love
so as to purify the whole priestly order in My beloved Church,
and present it to the eyes of the world as a victimal priesthood
made holy in the holocaust of Divine Love.

Until My bishops and My priests allow Me to wound them
with the fiery arrows of My Divine Love,
their own wounds -- wounds of sin -- will continue to fester
and to spread a filthy infection of corruption and of impurity in the Church.
Let each one beg Me to wound him,
for in wounding My beloved priests,
I will heal them, and in healing them,
I will sanctify them, and in sanctifying them,
I will offer glory to My Father
and fill the world with the radiance of My own Face
and the love of My own Heart."

This is, in truth who you are:
a sinner held fast in the embrace of My Divine Friendship.
When I withdraw this grace of conversation with Me for a time,
it is so that you will not mistake it for the product of your own imaginings,
and also, so that you will not grow accustomed to My words
and so, little by little, fail to take them to heart and to treasure them.
I speak to you so that you might share My words
when the occasion arises to do so.
Share My words humbly, with no thought for yourself.
Remain hidden in Me:
I will hide you from the observations of men in the secret of My Face,
I will prepare for you a secret place deep within the sanctuary of My pierced side.
There you can go to remain hidden and silent,
sharing My words freely and without the fear of being noticed or praised.
Ask Me to hide you in My wounds.
There is a place for you in each of My five wounds;
each of them represents a refuge against the temptations that threaten you,
and the traps set by the devil,
who would ensnare you and rejoice to see you fall.

The wound in My right hand
is your refuge from sins of disobedience and self-will.
Take refuge there
when you are tempted to take the path that is easy and broad.

The wound in My left hand
is your refuge from sins of selfishness,
from directing all things to yourself, and grasping the attention of others
by seeking to take to yourself what your right hand has given Me.

The wound in My right foot
is your refuge from sins of inconstancy.
Take refuge there when you are tempted to be inconsistent,
and when you waver in your resolutions
to love Me above all things,
and to place Me first in your affections and in your desires.

The wound in My left foot
is your refuge against sins of sloth and of spiritual lethargy.
Take refuge there when you are tempted to give up the struggle
and to consent to despair and discouragement.

Finally, the wound in My side
is your refuge from every false love
and every fleshly deceit promising sweetness,
but giving bitterness and death instead.

Take refuge in My pierced side
when you are tempted to look for love in any creature.
I have created you for My love,
and My love alone can satisfy the desires of your heart.
Enter, then, the wound in My side
and, penetrating even into My Heart,
drink deeply of the springs of love that will refresh and delight your soul,
and wash you in preparation for the wedding of your soul with Me,
for I am the Bridegroom of your soul,
your Saviour from all that would defile you,
and your God who is love and mercy
now and unto the ages of ages.

From In Sinu Iesu, The Journal of a Priest


41 posted on 04/05/2012 7:46:29 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Regnum Christi

Come to Serve and not to Be Served
| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY
Holy Thursday




Father Alex Yeung, LC

John 13:1-15

Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples´ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Master, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well." Jesus said to him, "Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all." For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, "Not all of you are clean." So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, "Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ´teacher´ and ´master,´ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another´s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do."

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I wish to accompany you closely on the road to Calvary.  If I were to contemplate you more often as you hang scourged and bloody upon the cross, I’m certain I would be able to rest in your love and base my actions on that one truth. I know that you have loved me with an eternal love: you have proven it there on the wood of the cross. So I long to respond with gratitude, peace and the firm determination to spread your love to everyone.

Petition: Lord, grant me the grace of final perseverance in the faith.

1. The Proof of His Unwavering Love: “Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father.” Jesus did not suffer crisis of identity. Throughout his entire public ministry he showed an awareness of who he was (the Fathers Anointed One) and what he had come to do (his mission). He knew the trials that were soon to crush his mortal body. They would be a means to prove his worth: his love. “He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.” Love endures anything. Love can draw forth good even from the worst of situations. Love redeems. The very betrayal of his friendship will let him demonstrate the authenticity of his own friendship: “There is no greater love than to lay one’s life down for one’s friends.”

2. Acceptance of Christ’s Love: Jesus has not asked ‘permission’ to be humble and of service. Peter’s question, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” does not come as a request, rather as a resistant acknowledgement of what Jesus is about to do. Do humility and love need our ‘permission’? The question is: who is humble enough to receive someone else’s love? Am I humble enough to receive Jesus’ love for me? Jesus’ humility and charity are purifying in their effect. In fact, precisely the attitude, “You will never wash my feet,” needs to be washed away. Only the poor in spirit, the pure of heart, the childlike enter the Kingdom of heaven: “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” Let Christ bathe me, then, by his graceful example. Anything less, I will lose my part with him. Yet if he has bathed me by his word, then I must only keep my feet clean.

3. The Precious Lesson: If I am a disciple, I must be careful to learn the lesson. Jesus asks, “Do you realize what I have done for you?” If anything, the master could demand that his servant wash his feet, not the other way around. Jesus is Lord and master, he is the Good Teacher. I am his disciple. Nonetheless, he has demonstrated his authority not by exacting obedience through exertion of force, rather by revealing the power of virtue: humility and charity – and their capacity to teach and persuade. “If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another´s feet.” He has given me a model to follow, so that I go and do likewise. Whose feet am I meant to wash?

Conversation with Christ: Lord, continue to bathe me with your word so that I may be found clean. Grant me the humility and charity to imitate your virtues. I wish to learn to wash the feet of others, so give me the grace to let down my defenses and simply reach out to do good, without worrying how others may react to me.

Resolution: Today I will humble myself to serve someone in need, especially anyone toward whom I have negative sentiments.


42 posted on 04/05/2012 8:00:14 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

Wash my feet too Master

Why does the Church, for today’s celebration, choose to focus on
Jesus’ washing his apostle’s feet rather than on the institution of
the Holy Eucharist?

“He loved his own in the world and loved them to the end…He rose from
supper… took off his outer garment… took a towel and tied it around
his waist, poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’
feet.” So that, indeed, he might show how much he loves them. For he
already knew how, later in the evening, he would be betrayed, denied
and abandoned by them. Looking back, they would be overwhelmed by the
horror of what they had done. They would understand the forgiving
compassion of their Master’s love.

Jesus knelt to wash his disciples’ feet. Washing the feet was, in
Jewish society, a task for slaves. Abasing himself before them, Jesus
meant to introduce something new into their lives. It meant giving
themselves in services as slaves to one another. “I have given you an
example to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should do
also.”

If we wish to share in the Eucharist in which the loving Lord, the
Sacrificial Lamb is present, we must give ourselves in love,
sacrificially to one another. The Eucharistic Sacrifice relates us in
love to the Lord as it relates us to our brothers and sisters.

May the love of Jesus for his followers, for us, expressed through the
Eucharist fill us with a deep desire to give ourselves in service to
one another. Jesus came for us all, sinners, the sick, the poor, to
wash our feet. Could we do the same in likeness to our Master?


43 posted on 04/05/2012 8:15:49 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

 


<< Thursday, April 5, 2012 >> Holy Thursday
Saint of the Day
 
Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-26

View Readings
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18
John 13:1-15

 

A FREE MEAL

 
"I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid; You have loosed my bonds." —Psalm 116:16
 

When Jesus became a human being, "He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave" (Phil 2:7). Before Jesus died for us, He washed His disciples' feet (Jn 13:5). This was the work of a slave. Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver (Mt 26:15; Zec 11:12), the price of a gored slave (Ex 21:32). Jesus died by crucifixion, the manner of death reserved for slaves. From the beginning to the end of His life on earth, He took on our enslaved human condition so we could share in His free divine nature (2 Pt 1:4). "Before the feast of Passover" (Jn 13:1), Jesus did the work of a slave so that we can celebrate forever the Passover, the feast of freedom from slavery (see Ex 12:31).

If you receive Holy Communion with faith and love at the new Passover, the Mass (see Lk 22:15), you are truly free (see Jn 8:36) from sin, death (Jn 6:54), Satan, hell, damnation, addictions, and self-hatred. On this Holy Thursday, receive Holy Communion and begin or continue a series of daily Communions which will be a perpetual (see Ex 12:14) jubilee year — endless, total, and ultimate freedom (see Lk 4:19).

 
Prayer: Father, may I want to receive Jesus in Holy Communion every day of my life.
Promise: "The Lord Jesus on the night in which He was betrayed took bread, and after He had given thanks, broke it and said, 'This is My body, Which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.' " —1 Cor 11:23-24
Praise: "To You will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the Lord" (Ps 116:17). "O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine."

44 posted on 04/05/2012 8:21:25 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
obamacare,healthcare,politics,satire

45 posted on 04/05/2012 8:25:04 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

Speaking of feet tonight, could you please pray for the speedy recovery of a slight fracture in my right foot. All I did was get up out of a chair and move toward a desk so I could turn some money in at the church office. (Turning my ankle of course!)

I heard a crack and drove straight to the doctor’s office. Will need to go to the fracture clinic tomorrow morning.

I think my biggest pain is not to be at church for the Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter Masses. I have crutches so can get around. Maybe I will make it by Easter!


46 posted on 04/05/2012 8:32:06 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

Get well soon. May the Good Lord’s healing touch revive both your body and soul.


47 posted on 04/05/2012 9:36:03 PM PDT by NEWwoman (God Bless America)
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To: NEWwoman
Thanks for your prayer,

A Christian Pilgrim

COULD YOU NOT WATCH ONE HOUR ?

COULD YOU NOT WATCH ONE HOUR?

[HOLY THURSDAY, 5 APRIL 2012] 

Gospel Reading: Mark 14:32-42 

And they went to a place which was called Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here, while I pray.” And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And He said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch.” And going a little farther, He fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to Thee; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what Thou wilt.” And He came and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. And He came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come; the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise; let us be going; see, My betrayer is at hand.” (Mk 14:32-42 RSV) 

Prayer: My Jesus, here will I kneel beside You, at this rock of Your fear and agony. Out of love will I stay with You, when You lead me through the dark valley. I will stay by You. I will endure to the end with You, prepared to battle  through the darkest night. Until You lead me home to dwell with You, to live in glory and eternal light. Amen. 


48 posted on 04/06/2012 6:11:47 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation
The Eucharist: the Body of Christ?

The Eucharist: the Body of Christ?

On Holy Thursday, the night before he died, the Lord Jesus made some startling changes in the ritual of the Passover meal.  Instead of being content with the traditional Jewish table blessing over the bread, Jesus proclaimed “take and eat for this is my body.”  Over the third cup of wine, known as the cup of blessing, he said “take and drink for this is my blood.”  Then he commanded the disciples “do this in memory of me.”

Obedient to the wishes of the savior, we remember and reenact this solemn moment in a special way each Holy Thursday, but more frequently in every Mass.  Indeed the Catholic Church teaches that in the Eucharist, the communion wafer and the altar wine are transformed and really become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.  Have you ever met anyone who has found this Catholic doctrine to be a bit hard to take?

If so, you shouldn’t be surprised.  When Jesus spoke about eating his flesh and drinking his blood in John 6, his words met with less than an enthusiastic reception.  “How can this man give us his flesh to eat? (V 52).  “This is a hard saying who can listen to it?” (V60).  In fact so many of his disciples abandoned him over this that Jesus had to ask the twelve if they also planned to quit.  It is interesting that Jesus did not run after his disciples saying, “Don’t go – I was just speaking metaphorically!”

How did the early Church interpret these challenging words of Jesus?  Here’s an interesting fact.  One charge the pagan Romans lodged against the Christians was cannibalism.  Why?  You guessed it.  They heard that this sect regularly met to eat and drink human blood.  Did the early Christians say: “wait a minute, it’s only a symbol!”?  Not at all.  When trying to explain the Eucharist to the Roman Emperor around 155AD, St. Justin did not mince his words: “For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God’s word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the word of prayer which comes from him . . . is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus.”

Not many Christians questioned the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in the Eucharist till the Middle Ages.  In trying to explain how bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ, several theologians went astray and needed to be corrected by Church authority.  Then St. Thomas Aquinas came along and offered an explanation that became classic.  In all change that we observe in this life, he teaches, appearances change, but deep down, the essence of a thing stays the same.  Example: if, in a fit of mid-life crisis, I traded my mini-van for a Ferrari, abandoned my wife and 5 kids to be beach bum, got tanned, bleached my hair blonde, spiked it, buffed up at the gym, and took a trip to the plastic surgeon, I’d look a lot different on the surface.  But for all my trouble, deep down I’d still substantially be the same ole guy as when I started.

St. Thomas said the Eucharist is the one instance of change we encounter in this world that is exactly the opposite.  The appearances of bread and wine stay the same, but the very essence or substance of these realities, which can’t be viewed by a microscope, is totally transformed.  What was once bread and wine are now Christ’s body and blood.   A handy word was coined to describe this unique change.  Transformation of the “sub-stance”, what “stands-under” the surface, came to be called “transubstantiation.”

What makes this happen?  The power of God’s Spirit and Word.  After praying for the Spirit to come (epiklesis), the priest, who stands in the place of Christ, repeats the words of the God-man: “This is my Body, This is my Blood.”   Sounds to me like Genesis 1: the mighty wind (read “Spirit”) whips over the surface of the water and God’s Word resounds. “Let there be light” and there was light.  It is no harder to believe in the Eucharist than to believe in Creation.

But why did Jesus arrange for this transformation of bread and wine?  Because he intended another kind of transformation.  The bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ which are, in turn, meant to transform us.  Ever hear the phrase: “you are what you eat?”  The Lord desires us to be transformed from a motley crew of imperfect individuals into the Body of Christ, come to full stature.

Our evangelical brethren speak often of an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus.  But I ask you, how much more personal and intimate can you get?  We receive the Lord’s body into our physical body that we may become him whom we receive!

It is this astounding gift that we remember and celebrate every Holy Thursday.

Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio writes from Texas.  For info on his resources or his pilgrimages to Rome the Holy Land, call 800.803.0118 or visit www.crossroadsinitiative.com



49 posted on 04/07/2012 8:41:56 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

http://resources.sainteds.com/showmedia.asp?media=../sermons/homily/2012-04-05-Homily%20Fr%20Gary.mp3&ExtraInfo=0&BaseDir=../sermons/homily


50 posted on 04/08/2012 9:05:30 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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