Monthly Archives: April 2017

The Resurrection and faith

Easter Sunday is a celebration of Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead.

Christ is risen is part of the Easter message. His prophecy is fulfilled.

 

The Resurrection of Christ on that first Easter Sunday saw the disciples at first doubting and then, when Christ appeared to them, believing. It shows us that faith is indeed a gift. In this meditation we use passages of Scripture to consider:

 

  • The great importance of the virtue of faith
  • How faith is a gift that many have, some have never had and others have lost
  • That we should thank God for the gift of faith
  • That we should do everything possible to strengthen our faith and help it grow, especially by praying with faith and receiving the sacraments regularly

Holy Week close to Christ

Holy week starts with Palm Sunday.

    Jesus enters Jerusalem and is well received, a feast we celebrate on Palm Sunday–the start of Holy Week.

 

In Holy Week we follow Christ from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, through his institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood on Holy Thursday, to his passion and death on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. If we follow him closely throughout our life we will not abandon him as did the apostles and we will rise to eternal life with him when we die. In this meditation we consider how we should:

  • acknowledge our weakness and our possibility of denying Our Lord as did Peter
  • attend Mass often and receive Holy Communion well in order to strengthen our love for Jesus
  • stay awake in our prayer in order to draw ever closer to Christ
  • follow Christ closely, not at a distance, avoiding lukewarmness
  • avoid attachment to creature comforts and things in order to have our heart free to love God
  • take up our cross daily and follow our Lord in his passion
  • follow Christ closely throughout our life in order to rise with him to eternal life

 

Love one another

Christ washing the feet of his disciples

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, washing the feet of his disciples, the night before he suffered and died on the cross.

 

Before beginning his Passion, Christ washed the feet of his disciples and gave us the new commandment to love one another as he has loved us. In this meditation, using texts from Scripture and St Josemaria we consider how:

  • Christ poured himself out in love for others, loving them to the end by his death on the Cross
  • God has loved us first and so the more we love him the easier it will be to love others
  • Love begins in the family, with those closest to us
  • We should learn to spend time, to listen, to be kind, to forgive
  • Mother Teresa of Calcutta teaches us how to love
  • We should love even our enemies
  • We can change our world for the better by building a civilization of love