The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night

 Readings: Gn 1:1-2:2; Resp Ps 104 or Ps 33; Gn 22:1-18; Resp Ps 16; Ex 14:15-15:1; Resp Ps (Ex 15); Is 54:5-14; Resp Ps 30; Is 55:1-11; Resp Ps (Is 12); Ba 3:9-15, 32:4:4; Resp Ps 19; Ezk 36:16-17a, 18-28; Resp Ps 42-43 when Baptism is celebrated, Resp Ps (Is 12) or Ps 51 when 

is not celebrated; Rm 6:3-11; Resp Ps 118; Mk 16:1-7

 THE EASTER VIGIL, THE MOTHER OF ALL VIGILS

CHRIST YESTERDAY AND TODAY

THE BEGINNING AND THE END

THE ALPHA

AND THE OMEGA

ALL TIME BELONGS TO HIM

AND ALL AGES

TO HIM BE GLORY AND POWER

THROUGH EVERY AGE FOR EVER.

AMEN.

God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.

LORD, SEND OUR YOUR SPIRIT, AND RENEW THE FACE OF THE EARTH.

The sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith.

YOU ARE MY INHERITANCE, O LORD.

The Israelites marched on dry land through the midst of the sea.

LET US SING TO THE LORD; HE HAS COVERED HIMSELF IN GLORY.

With enduring love, the Lord your redeemer takes pity on you.

I WILL PRAISE YOU, LORD, FOR YOU HAVE RESCUED ME.

Come to me that you may have life. I will renew you with an everlasting covenant.

YOU WILL DRAW WATER JOYFULLY FROM THE SPRINGS OF SALVATION.

Walk toward the splendor of the Lord.

LORD, YOU HAVE THE WORDS OF EVERLASTING LIFE.

I shall sprinkle clean water upon you and I shall give you a new heart.

CREATE A CLEAN HEART IN ME, O GOD.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO.

Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more.

ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA.

DO NOT BE AMAZED!

YOU SEEK JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE CRUCIFIED.

HE HAS BEEN RAISED!

Saturday of Holy Week (Holy Saturday)

Reading of the day: RB 49 How Lent Should Be Observed in the Monastery

Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

(From an Ancient Homily on Holy Saturday)

WE PRAY:

When I call, answer me, O God of justice;

from anguish you released me;

have mercy and hear me!

How long will your hearts be closed,

will you love what is futile and seek what is false?

It is the Lord who grants favors to those whom he loves;

the Lord hears me whenever I call him.

Fear him; do not sin; ponder on your bed and be still.

Make justice your sacrifice and trust in the Lord.

‘What can bring us happiness?’ many say.

Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord.

You have put into my heart a greater joy

than they have from abundance of corn and new wine.

I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once

for your alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

(Ps 4)

EVER LIVING AND ALL-POWERFUL GOD,

GRANT US THE GRACES WE NEED TO LOOK FORWARD TO HOLY EASTER WITH JOY AND SPIRITUAL LONGING.

AMEN.

Friday of the Passion of the Lord (Good Friday)

Readings of the day: RB 48:22-25

The Celebration of the Passion of the Lord: Is 52:13:53:12; Resp Ps 31; Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9; Jn 18:1-19:42

 

One - For All  Joyce Bell

Look upon Christ crucified: our hope for eternal life is born in Him.

(Pope Francis, Twitter, March 30, 2018)

SO THEY TOOK JESUS, AND, CARRYING THE CROSS HIMSELF, HE WENT OUT TO WHAT IS CALLED THE PLACE OF THE SKULL, IN HEBREW, GOLGATHA. THERE THEY CRUCIFIED HIM AND WITH HIM TWO OTHERS, ONE ON EITHER SIDE, WITH JESUS IN THE MIDDLE.

(Jn 19:16b-18)

Today, please join me reflecting on the ‘seven last words’ spoken by Jesus on the cross. Let us ask ourselves, ‘What is Jesus saying to me?’

‘Father, forgive them, they know not what they do’ (Lk 23:34).

‘Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise’ (Lk 23:43).

‘Woman, behold your son…Behold, your mother’ (Jn 19:26-27).

‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mk 15:34).

‘I thirst’ (Jn 19:38).

‘It is finished’ (Jn 19:30).

‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit’ (Lk 23:46).

AFTER THIS, JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, SECRETLY A DISCIPLE OF JESUS FOR FEAR OF THE JEWS, ASKED PILATE IF HE COULD REMOVE THE BODY OF JESUS. AND PILATE PERMITTED IT. NICODEMUS, THE ONE WHO HAD FIRST COME TO HIM AT NIGHT, ALSO CAME BRINGING A MIXTURE OF MYRRH AND ALOES WEIGHING ABOUT ONE HUNDRED POUNDS.

(Jn 19:38-39)

Thursday of Holy Week (Holy Thursday)

 Readings of the day: RB 48:10-21

Chrism Mass: Is 61:1-3a, 6a, 8b-9; Resp Ps 89; Rev 1:5-8; Lk 4:16-21

Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; Resp Ps 116; 1 Co 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15

We are about to enter the most sacred days of the liturgical year: ‘The Paschal Triduum of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord begins with the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, has its center in the Easter Vigil, and closes with Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the Sunday of the Resurrection’ (Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year, 19). The Word speaks to us these days in myriad ways. Try to remove yourself from your normal daily activities and take time for silence and prayer. Ponder how the Word is speaking to you. May we grow in faith and be renewed in hope.

Jesus poured water into a basin and began to wash

the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.

I focus on two sentences spoken by Jesus in this evening’s Gospel: “If I, 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’ (Jn 13:14-15). What does it mean to ‘wash another’s feet’? How will you wash another’s feet during these holy days?

If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.

I GIVE YOU A NEW COMMANDMENT, SAYS THE LORD:

LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.

(Verse Before the Gospel, Mass)

Wednesday of Holy Week

Readings of the day: RB 48:1-9 Daily Manual Labor

Mass: Is 50:4-9a; Resp Ps 69; Mt 26:14-25

‘AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, ONE OF YOU WILL BETRAY ME.’

 

Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel

What comes to mind today are St Paul’s words: ‘What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate’ (Rm 7:15). Darkness gets a grip on us, like it did Judas, and we do the unthinkable, what we hate, what we said we would never do. Like Judas, we betray. ‘Judas, oh Judas—betrayal hurts more when the one who betrays has received much from the one he betrays. Betrayal hurts, it hurts very much’ (B. Hume). Living and true God, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

‘SURELY IT IS NOT I, RABBI?’

JESUS ANSWERED, ‘YOU HAVE SAID SO.’

When we run well in the way, let us beware that the serpent may not lie hid anywhere in the path and undermine the footstep of the horse—that is, of our body—and suddenly throw the sleeping rider. For if we are vigilant, we ought to be on our guard in some measure and shun the bites of the serpent.

(St Ambrose)

ANYONE WHO TURNS AWAY FROM THE CROSS,

TURNS AWAY FROM THE RESURRECTION.

(Pope Francis, Twitter, March 28, 2018)

Tuesday of Holy Week

Readings of the day: RB 47 Signaling the Times for the Work of God

Mass: Is 49:1-6; Resp Ps 71; Jn 13:21-33, 36-38

Jesus was deeply troubled.

One of you will betray me.

What you are going to do, do quickly.

It was night.

GOD DID NOT SPARE HIS OWN SON,

BUT HANDED HIM OVER FOR US ALL.

Jesus changes our sins into forgiveness and our fears into trust.

In His Cross our hope is reborn again and again.

(Pope Francis, Twitter, March 27, 2018)

Monday of Holy Week

Readings of the day: RB 46 Faults Committed Elsewhere

Mass: Is 42:1-7; Resp Ps 27; Jn 12:1-11

 

1st century alabaster jar

Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine

aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair.

There is only one anointing that is strong enough to meet death and that is the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the love of God. There is, then, something that is both exemplary and lasting in Mary’s anointing of Jesus at Bethany. It was above all a concern to keep Christ alive in this world and to oppose the powers that aimed to silence and kill him. It was an act of faith and love. Every such act can have the same effect.

(Pope Benedict XVI)

THE HOUSE WAS FILLED WITH THE FRAGRANCE OF THE OIL.

PALM SUNDAY OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD

Readings of the day: RB Readings of the day: RB 45 Mistakes in the Oratory

The Commemoration of the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem: Mk 11:1-10 or Jn 12:12-16

Mass: Is 50:4-7; Resp Ps 22; Ph 2:6-11; Mk 14:1-15:47

Caravaggio

Rembrandt

Even though all should have their faith shaken, mine will not be.

(Mk 14:29)

I have before me two pictures; one a picture postcard, the other in a book. Both depict Peter’s betrayal of Jesus: a Rembrandt and a Caravaggio. The former hangs at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; the latter in New York at the Shickman Gallery. I’ve had the privilege of seeing both in person at special exhibits in other cities.

I brought out the pictures while reflecting on Peter and what it must have been like for him to walk with Jesus for so long yet still manage to deny him, not once, but three times. This is Peter who made his profession of faith: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God’ (Mt 16:13-20; Mk 8:27-30; Lk 9:18-21). This is Peter to whom Jesus entrusted the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Both works have Peter, the maid, and a Roman soldier. What attracts me in Rembrandt’s portrayal is the background—there in the shadows is Jesus, hands bound behind his back, body facing away from Peter, with head turned to watch Peter—Jesus stands silently and calmly seeing it all. In the foreground, the maid, in Peter’s face: ‘You too were with the Nazarene, Jesus.’ Peter, with a regal appearance and creased brow, looks at ease to reply, ‘I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.’ In Caravaggio’s work, the maid and the soldier point fingers at a scruffy Peter. The maid tells the solder, ‘This man is one of them.’ Peter looks troubled and guilty, pointing at himself while denying Jesus a second time. Both artists combine elements of darkness and light to enhance the scene.

For further insight, J. Gribowich compares Caravaggio and Peter, speaking to all of us in the brokenness we share with Peter: ‘An innovative and daring painter, Caravaggio was a darling of both aristocracy and the clergy who ultimately could not get a handle on his passion. Peter, a man also filled with passion and zeal, stumbled when that passion meant persecution and possible death. Both men belonged to the truth because they each knew their particular vocation; however, their weaknesses prove that human frailty can only be overcome by uniting one’s self to the Passion of Jesus Christ’ (Magnificat, Holy Week 2018, p. vi).

Sometimes we are so sure about something, remarking, ‘I will never…’ Fitting is the saying, ‘never say never.’ We can be the Peter in both pictures. We find ourselves in a bind, threatened, guilty, afraid. It may easy to say how we would act in this situation—we know the story. On the other hand, I’m not so sure I would be on the up and up. It is too easy to forget how weak we can be. What do you think you would have done if in Peter’s situation? What is your response when facing similar situations today? In our brokenness and fragility, with humility and strength, let us unite ourselves to the Passion of Jesus Christ.

PETER REMEMBERED THE WORDS THAT JESUS SAID TO HIM,

‘BEFORE THE COCK CROWS TWICE YOU WILL DENY ME THREE TIMES.’

PETER BROKE DOWN AND WEPT.

(Mk 14:72)

‘At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’

(Ph 2:10-11)

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Readings of the day: RB 44 The Reconciliation of Those Excommunicated

Mass: Ezk 37:21-28; Resp Ps (Jr 31); Jn 11:45-56

‘Lazarus, come out!’

(Jn 11:43)

Before we get today’s Gospel scene we find Jesus visiting his friends Martha and Mary in Bethany (Jn 11:1-44). There, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, causing further division amongst the Jews. Many of the Jews came to believe after seeing what Jesus did at Bethany. Others went to the Pharisees to report the latest. What would you make of it? Jesus continues to perform signs and wonders among the people. The Pharisees, chief priests, and Caiaphas dispute: ‘What are we going to do?’ The decision: ‘From that day on they planned to kill him.’ Seeking silence and solitude, Jesus enters the scene this way: He removes himself from the public eye and goes near the desert to remain with his disciples. Jesus doesn’t speak with words; he speaks with action. Jesus takes a contemplative stance to prepare for what comes next. Let us join Jesus and take time for silence and prayer to prepare for the passion.

In Christianity we contemplate Jesus Christ as the Word make flesh, but also as the Silence of God. The Gospels show us a Jesus who, as he goes toward the passion, increasingly refrains from speaking and enters in silence, like a mute lamb. One who knows the truth and the inexpressible ground of reality neither wants nor is able to betray the ineffable in speech, but protects it with his silence. Jesus, who ‘does not open his mouth’ (Is 53:7), reveals that silence is what is truly strong. He makes his silence an action, and by doing so he is able to make his death an act, the gesture of a living person. In this context it should be clear that behind both words and silence, what truly saves is the love that gives life to both.

(E. Bianchi, Echoes of the Word, p. 114)

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo (1538-1606)

Readings of the day: RB 43:13-19

Mass: Jr 20:10-13; Resp Ps 18; Jn 10:31-42

 

Prophet Jeremiah, Michelangelo

The Lord is with me like a mighty champion.

(Jr 20:11)

In the New American Bible, today’s first reading is in a section entitled: ‘Jeremiah’s Interior Crisis.’ On the prophet’s lips are the words, ‘O Lord of hosts, you who test the just, who probe mind and heart’ (Jr 20:12). How are you interiorly this day? What is the state of your mind and heart? With Jeremiah, we ‘Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord’ (Jr 20:13), remembering the words of the psalmist:

IN MY DISTRESS I CALLED UPON THE LORD, AND HE HEARD MY VOICE.

I love you, O Lord, my strength,

O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.

My God, my rock of refuge,

my shield, the horn of salvation, my stronghold!

Praised be the Lord, I exclaim,

and I am safe from my enemies.

The breakers of death surged about me,

the destroying floods overwhelmed me;

The cords of the nether world enmeshed me,

the snares of death overtook me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord

and cried out to my God;

From his temple he heard my voice,

my cry to him reached his ears.

(Resp Ps 18)

THEN THEY TRIED TO ARREST JESUS;

BUT HE ESCAPED FROM THEIR POWER.

(Jn 10:39)

WORLD WATER DAY

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Readings of the day: RB 43:1-12 Latecomers for the Work of God or in the Refectory

Mass: Gn 17:3-9; Resp Ps 105; Jn 8:51-59

Thompson Creek

Access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right, since it is essential to human survival and, as such, is a condition for the exercise of other human rights.

(Encyclical Letter Laudato Si, 30)

It’s pouring rain here on World Water Day. I share scattered ‘musings on water’. As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, I am familiar with the phrase: ‘A Peace Corps Volunteer doesn’t look at a glass as half empty or half full. She looks at it and says, “Hey, I could bathe in that!”’ I gained a great appreciation for water while serving in the Republic of South Africa. While living with a gogo (grandmother) in a dusty, hot, and dry village, there was a time when we went for one week with no water coming from the taps. At other times, the water supply was limited. We had to be sure our buckets were full at all times not knowing when the water supply would be shut off. Thankfully, my wise gogo had an emergency supply of water in the shed in the backyard. One day, to build character I think, she sent me along to the river to collect a bucket of water and carry it home on my head. I was not quite as adept at the task as my companions from the village. I saw small children pushing rickety wheel barrows from one side of a village to another to collect containers of water from a water tank. This task they did every morning before school. There I was coming from a culture that can take water for granted. For most of us, we go to the tap and fresh, clean, potable water comes out. If we are not satisfied with that, we go and buy bottled water. Many carry water bottles everywhere they go so as to remain hydrated. Not that we are going to stop doing these things today, but it can’t do much harm to reflect upon how blessed we are.

To defend the earth and to safeguard water is to protect life.

(Pope Francis, Twitter, March 22, 2018)

WHOEVER DRINKS THE WATER I SHALL GIVE WILL NEVER THIRST;

THE WATER I SHALL GIVE WILL BECOME IN HIM A SPRING OF WATER WELLING UP TO ETERNAL LIFE.

(Jn 4:14)

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Readings of the day: RB 42 The Great Silence After Compline

Mass: Da 3:14-20, 91-91, 95; Resp Ps (Da 3); Jn 8:31-42

There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter.

If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue that you set up.

(Da 3:16-18)

      

In front of me today I have one of my favorite picture postcards—from what I think is the best of the catacombs in Rome, namely, the Catacomb of Priscilla on the Via Salaria. The picture is of a fresco with the scene from today’s reading from the Book of the Prophet Daniel—one of my favorite stories in the Bible: ‘The Fiery Furnace.’ What a joy to proclaim the reading at Mass with the names and unfolding drama. Nebuchadnezzar’s command with musical instruments of various kinds; his face livid with utter rage; the furnace heated seven times more than usual and some of the strongest men in the army binding the three young men whose names roll off the tongue—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. None of the king’s commands or power are a match for the faith-filled men and their God. Looking to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the white-hot furnace singing, glorifying and blessing God, a question comes to mind: Do I have such complete confidence and trust in the Lord? 

Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

(Da 3:95)

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Readings of the day: RB 41 The Times for Community Meals

Mass: Nb 21:4-9; Resp Ps 102; Jn 8:21-30

Whenever anyone who had been bitten

by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

(Nb 21:9)

Pondering the Word today, why not spend some time praying with your favorite crucifix. Mine is here—it belonged to a friend who died just over three years ago. It is a figure of Christ—the original is of bronze, from Central France, 12^th century. The figure of Christ has neither hands nor feet. With the psalmist we pray: ‘O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you. Hide not your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; in the day when I call, answer me speedily’ (Ps 102).

Behind every crucifix, hidden, for we cannot see him, stands our Risen Lord.

Hidden in every suffering and pain is closer union with him.

His is the victory. He invites us to share it.
(B. Hume, The Mystery of Love, p. 69)

WHEN I AM LIFTED UP FROM THE EARTH,

I WILL DRAW ALL TO MYSELF,

SAYS THE LORD.

(Communion Antiphon, Mass)