Easter Season

    Blessed Easter Season
    Our Journey Continues

Easter is not just one day; it is a season that began with the Easter Vigil (the evening before Easter Sunday) and ends 50 days later on Pentecost Sunday.  It is a time of uninterrupted joy and feasts where we will celebrate the mysteries of the Resurrection, the Ascension of Jesus 40 days after Easter and finally the decent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost ten days later.

Blessed Easter Season
 Alleluia Allelulia  

Easter Halleluiah - He Has Risen!

Easter

April 8, 2012

 

Blessed Easter Season
From Lynn's Timeless Treasures

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Resurrection - Peter Paul Rubens

The Ascension of the Lord

“Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)

Ascension of the Lord

The Feast of the Ascension commemorates Jesus' ascension into heaven 40 days after his resurrection. Thus Ascension Day falls 40 days after Easter, on the 6th Thursday of Easter. In some areas the solemnity is celebrated on the Sunday after the traditional date.

This feast is mentioned in the writings of St. John Chrystostom, and St. Gregory of Nyssa both from the 4th century, though Saint Augustine states that this feast is of apostolic origin. We acknowledge belief in the Ascension in the Nicene Creed recited at Mass, and in the Apostles’ Creed, when we say “he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”

The Ascension is the final component of the Paschal Mystery which consists of Jesus’ Passion, Crucifixion, Death, Burial, Descent Among the Dead, and Resurrection. Along with the resurrection, the ascension is proof to Jesus’ claim of being the Messiah, this feast not only celebrates Jesus’ ultimate glory returning to His Father in Heaven, but we are celebrating our final goal and destiny as well.

As “Christ ascends into heaven with the humanity he has assumed and which he has resurrected from the dead: that humanity is ours, transfigured, divinized, made eternal. Therefore the ascension reveals the “most high calling” (Gaudium et Spes, n.22) of every human person called to eternal life in the kingdom of God, kingdom of love, light and peace.” (Pope Benedict XVI Regina Caeli Feast of the Ascension May 21, 2006)

 "As followers of Jesus we have a high calling, really high, eternal life on high with God so let's keep our eyes fixed on our goal." Fr. Kubicki, S. J. Apostleship of Prayer

“What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

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Fifth Sunday of Easter – Love One Another

 

 

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and all the prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Today’s gospel brings us back to the upper room on the night of the Last Supper. Jesus would not be much longer with his disciples; it was as if the words he spoke that night were his dying wish. When a person is facing their last moments on earth the words they express usually have profound meaning. Our Lord’s words from today’s gospel were, “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” (John 13:33-34) A love that would remain impossible for humans, if it were not for the grace of God.

This commandment brings love to a whole new level. Jesus loved us so much He gave His life for us, for our salvation. Love truly is sacrifice and that sacrifice brings great joy. When I say, “I love” do I mean what God is asking?

I have so much to learn,

Jesus take my hand on this journey for it is difficult

But thanks be to God

I know with You all things are possible

 

“The less we have, the more we give. Seems absurd, but it’s the logic of love….true love causes pain. Jesus, in order to give us the proof of his love, died on the cross. A mother, in order to give birth to her baby, has to suffer. If you really love one another, you will not be able to avoid making sacrifices….God has created us so we do small things with great love….I believe in that great love..” Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

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Good Shepherd Sunday

Good Shepherd Sunday

Fourth Sunday of Easter

“The Good Shepherd is risen! He who laid down his life for his sheep, who died for his flock, he is risen, alleluia.” Communion Antiphon

The Gospel according John

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.” John 10:27-30

The job of shepherd was deeply woven in to the history of God’s people so it is quite understandable that the term shepherd would be used symbolically in the bible to describe different people – kings and leaders (2 Samuel 5:2; Ezekiel 34:2), the Lord God (Psalm 23; 79:13; 80:1; 95:7; 100:3; Ezekiel 34:10-16), Simon Peter (John 21:15-17), and Jesus, the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-30).

A shepherd existed to meet the needs of his sheep, who were
considered to be not very intelligent, clumsy, and easily confused. It was the shepherd’s job to feed, care for, guide and protect their flock, a difficult and tiring job. Without a shepherd the sheep were “truly lost.”

It was a regular practice for shepherds to bring a number of flocks to a common sheepfold at the end of the day, where the flocks would be guarded by a hired gatekeeper allowing the shepherd a well deserved rest. In the morning each shepherd would return to sheepfold to call their flock, the gatekeeper would open the gate, and the sheep would come out of the pen following the voice of their individual master who would lead them out to pasture.

In John Chapter 10 Jesus is given the title the Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. Jesus gave every one of His sheep free will and He will not force, cajole, or manipulate any of them to follow Him. Instead, as the Good Shepherd He waits patiently for His sheep to recognize His voice and return to His fold.

As the Good Shepherd, Jesus wants His sheep not just to survive but to thrive, He “came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) He does not ration out nourishment to His sheep but brings them to “green pastures..safe waters… right path…[His] rod and staff give courage…[their] cup overflows with goodness and love….all the days of [their] life.” (Psalm 23) Jesus is the Good Shepherd and no one can “take them out of [His] hand.” (John 10:29)

Jesus the Good Shepherd comes to us and walks with us wherever we are on our journey. He carries us on His shoulders during our trials and seeks us when we have lost our way. He knows us better than we know ourselves, as He “formed [our] inmost being; knit [us] in [our] mother’s womb,” (Psalm 139:13) and in spite of ourselves and our stubbornness He always loves us unconditionally.

In today’s Gospel Jesus is making a promise to his followers of eternal life, an offering of an abiding relationship with the living God and membership in His flock. Today may Jesus the Good Shepherd guide us into the pastures of peace and joy, for by following the risen Lord we are assured that goodness and kindness will follow us all the days of our life.

Jesus the Good Shepherd,

Help me hear and know your voice.

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Divine Mercy Sunday - First Sunday After Easter

Divine Mercy Sunday
First Sunday After Easter

Sacrament of Confession
Plenary Indulgence
The Connection

What is Divine Mercy Sunday?

Divine Mercy is God’s desire to forgive our sins and to reconcile us with the Father and with one another. God’s unconditional love and divine mercy was communicated by Jesus Himself to a Polish nun, Sr. Faustina Kawalska. In one message to Sr. Faustina Jesus said, “I desire that there be a feast of mercy I want this on the first Sunday after Easter, that Sunday is to be the Feast of Mercy.”

Our Lord made several revelations to St. Faustina during the thirteen years she lived in the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. In one our Lord asked for special prayer and meditation on His Passion each afternoon at the three o’clock hour, the hour that recalls His death on the cross. This was the hour of His greatest mercy. St. Faustina kept a record of Our Lord’s words in her Diary.

On February 22, 1931 St. Faustina saw Jesus “clothed in a white garment. One hand [was] raised in the gesture of a blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From beneath the garment….there were emanating two large rays, one red, the other pale……Jesus said to me, ‘Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, ...throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory…..I desire that there be a Feast of Mercy….on the first Sunday after Easter….I desire that priests proclaim this great mercy of Mine towards souls of sinners. Let the sinner not be afraid to approach Me.’” (St. Faustina Diary, 47, 48, 49)


Jesus spoke again to St. Faustina on September 24, 1936 saying, “Tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. …The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.” (St. Faustina Diary, 699)

Sr. Faustina was canonized a saint by Pope John Paul II, the second Sunday of Easter April 30, 2000, becoming the first person canonized in the 3rd millennium. During his homily, John Paul II declared: “It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church, will be called ‘Divine Mercy Sunday.’”

By “the whole message,” Pope John Paul II was referring to the connection between the suffering, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and the unconditional divine mercy of God, or in other words the connection between the Easter Mystery of the Redemption and the Feast of Divine Mercy on the Octave Day of Easter.

There are two decrees issued by the Holy See regarding the Feast of Divine Mercy. The first states that the normal readings for that Sunday are always to be used. The readings already used on that Sunday were perfect, reflecting mercy, trust and the forgiveness of sin.

In Pope John Paul II homily that first Divine Mercy Sunday he quoted from the Responsorial Psalm and Gospel read that day, "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love [unconditional love or mercy] endures forever" (Ps 118:1). So the Church sings on the Octave of Easter, as if receiving from Christ's lips these words of the Psalm; from the lips of the risen Christ, who bears the great message of divine mercy and entrusts its ministry to the Apostles in the Upper Room[institution of the Sacrament of Confession]: "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.... Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (Jn 20:21-23).

The second decree issued August 3, 2002 by Apostolic Penitentiary is for the plenary indulgence for Divine Mercy Sunday, and it is the duty of priests to inform parishioners of this plenary indulgence and hear confessions.

“A plenary indulgence, granted under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff) to the faithful who, on the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, in any church or chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honor of Divine Mercy, or who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus.”

“For those who cannot go to church (soldiers, seriously ill, or those who care for them)….may obtain a plenary indulgence on Divine Mercy Sunday, if totally detesting any sin and with the intention of fulfilling as soon as possible the three usual conditions, will recite the Our Father and the Creed before a devout image of Our Merciful Lord Jesus.” (Apostolic Penitentiary August 3, 2002)

Lord You meet me in my pain and suffering

You heal my wounds

You cover my sins

You release me from my bondage

and You flood me with your love

Thank You for Your incredible gift of Mercy
Jesus I Trust in You

Divine Mercy Sunday a Momboisse Family tradition since 2008

Divine Mercy Sunday Part 2: Why Confess to a Priest?
Divine Mercy Sunday Part 3: Indulgences
Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet

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He Is Risen - Easter

He Is Risen