two simple questions ...

Two questions that everyone has to answer seriously and honestly:

What is the most important and the ultimate goal of my life?

What measures do I take, what I do to achieve this goal?

What are your answers?

interesting coincidence ?

Jesus didn't care about being nice or tolerant

"There is no shortage of heresies these days.... of all the heretical choices, probably the most common — and possibly the most damaging — is what I've come to call the Nice Doctrine."

from the The Matt Walsh Blog

and from Vortex: "Lukewarm Catholics"

HOLY MASS AND RITE OF CANONIZATION OF BLESSEDS JOHN XXIII ANDJOHN PAULII

HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS

St. Peter's Square

Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday), 27 April 2014

Video

At the heart of this Sunday, which concludes the Octave of Easter and which Saint John Paul II wished to dedicate to Divine Mercy, are the glorious wounds of the risen Jesus.

He had already shown those wounds when he first appeared to the Apostles on the very evening of that day following the Sabbath, the day of the resurrection. But, as we have heard, Thomas was not there that evening, and when the others told him that they had seen the Lord, he replied that unless he himself saw and touched those wounds, he would not believe. A week later, Jesus appeared once more to the disciples gathered in the Upper Room. Thomas was also present; Jesus turned to him and told him to touch his wounds. Whereupon that man, so straightforward and accustomed to testing everything personally, knelt before Jesus with the words: “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28).

The wounds of Jesus are a scandal, a stumbling block for faith, yet they are also the test of faith. That is why on the body of the risen Christ the wounds never pass away: they remain, for those wounds are the enduring sign of God’s love for us. They are essential for believing in God. Not for believing that God exists, but for believing that God is love, mercy and faithfulness. Saint Peter, quoting Isaiah, writes to Christians: “by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet 2:24, cf. Is 53:5).

Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II were not afraid to look upon the wounds of Jesus, to touch his torn hands and his pierced side. They were not ashamed of the flesh of Christ, they were not scandalized by him, by his cross; they did not despise the flesh of their brother (cf. Is 58:7), because they saw Jesus in every person who suffers and struggles. These were two men of courage, filled with the parrhesia of the Holy Spirit, and they bore witness before the Church and the world to God’s goodness and mercy.

They were priests, and bishops and popes of the twentieth century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful; faith was more powerful – faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of history; the mercy of God, shown by those five wounds, was more powerful; and more powerful too was the closeness of Mary our Mother.

In these two men, who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore witness to his mercy, there dwelt a living hope and an indescribable and glorious joy (1 Pet 1:3,8). The hope and the joy which the risen Christ bestows on his disciples, the hope and the joy which nothing and no one can take from them. Thehope and joy of Easter, forged in the crucible of self-denial, self-emptying, utter identification with sinners, even to the point of disgust at the bitterness of that chalice. Such were the hope and the joy which these two holy popes had received as a gift from the risen Lord and which they in turn bestowed in abundance upon the People of God, meriting our eternal gratitude.

This hope and this joy were palpable in the earliest community of believers, in Jerusalem, as we have heard in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. 2:42-47). It was a community which lived the heart of the Gospel, love and mercy, in simplicity and fraternity.

This is also the image of the Church which the Second Vatican Council set before us. John XXIII and John Paul II cooperated with the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating the Church in keeping with her pristine features, those features which the saints have given her throughout the centuries. Let us not forget that it is the saints who give direction and growth to the Church. In convening the Council, Saint John XXIII showed an exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit. He let himself be led and he was for the Church a pastor, a servant-leader, guided by the Holy Spirit. This was his great service to the Church; for this reason I like to think of him as the the pope of openness to the Holy Spirit.

In his own service to the People of God, Saint John Paul II was the pope of the family. He himself once said that he wanted to be remembered as the pope of the family. I am particularly happy to point this out as we are in the process of journeying with families towards the Synod on the family. It is surely a journey which, from his place in heaven, he guides and sustains.

May these two new saints and shepherds of God’s people intercede for the Church, so that during this two-year journey toward the Synod she may be open to the Holy Spirit in pastoral service to the family. May both of them teach us not to be scandalized by the wounds of Christ and to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of divine mercy, which always hopes and always forgives, because it always loves.

 http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140427_omelia-canonizzazioni.html

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© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Divine Mercy Novena - ninth Day

Ninth Day: For the ninth day, Christ asked Saint Faustina to pray for the sake of all the souls who have become lukewarm in their belief. She recorded the following words of Our Lord in her diary: "Today bring to Me the Souls who have become Lukewarm, and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. These souls wound My Heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: 'Father, take this cup away from Me, if it be Your will.' For them, the last hope of salvation is to run to My mercy."

• Most compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion Itself. I bring lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart. In this fire of Your pure love, let these tepid souls who, like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercise the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love, and bestow upon them the gift of holy love, for nothing is beyond Your power.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon lukewarm souls who are nonetheless enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Father of Mercy, I beg You by the bitter Passion of Your Son and by His three-hour agony on the Cross: Let them, too, glorify the abyss of Your mercy. Amen.

Saint John Paul II

Litany to Saint John Paul II

Kyrie eleison, Christ eleison, Kyrie eleison 

Christ, hear us Christ, graciously hear us. 

Father of Heaven, God – have mercy on us. 

Son, Redeemer of the world, God - have mercy on us. 

God, the Holy Spirit - have mercy on us. 

Holy Trinity, One God - have mercy on us. 

Holy Mary – pray for us.

Saint John Paul II – pray for us 

Immersed in the Father rich in mercy…. 

United with Christ, the Redeemer of man… 

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of life… 

Completely devoted to Mary... 

Friend of the saints and blessed… 

Successor of Peter and the servant of servants of God… 

Guardian of the Church, teaching the truths of faith.... 

Father of the Council and Executor of its indications… 

Supporting the unity of Christians and the whole human family... 

Zealous Lover of the Eucharist... 

Tireless Pilgrim of the earth... 

Missionary of all nations... 

Witness of faith, hope, and love... 

Participant persistent in sufferings of Christ... 

Apostle of reconciliation and peace... 

Promoter of the civilization of love... 

Propagator of new evangelization... 

Master, calling us to sail into the deep... 

Teacher showing us holiness as a measure of life... 

Pope of Divine Mercy… 

High Priest gathering the Church for sacrificing... 

Shepherd leading the flock to Heaven... 

Brother and Master of priests... 

Father of consecrated persons... 

Patron of Christian families... 

Strengthening spouses.... 

Defender of the unborn... 

Protector of children orphans and abandoned... 

Friend and Teacher of the youth... 

Good Samaritan for the suffering... 

Support for the elderly and lonely... 

Propagator of the truth about the dignity of man... 

Man of prayer immersed in God... 

Lover of the liturgy sacrificing at the altars of the world... 

The personification of hard work... 

Love in the cross of Christ.... 

Implementing your vocation properly... 

Patient in suffering... 

Example of life and death for the Lord.... 

Reprimanding sinners.... 

Showing the way to the misguided... 

Forgiving wrong-doers... 

Respecting opponents and persecutors... 

Spokesman and Defender of the persecuted... 

Supporting the unemployed... 

Concerned about the homeless... 

Visiting prisoners... 

Supporting the weak... 

Teaching everybody solidarity...

Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world – 

Spare us, Lord. 

Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world – 

Hear us, Lord. 

Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world – 

Have mercy on us. 

Pray for us, blessed John Paul, 

So that we would proclaim to the world with life and words 

Christ the Redeemer of man.

Let us pray: 

Merciful God, accept our thanksgiving 

For the gift of blessed John Paul’s II apostolic life and mission 

And through his intercession, please, help us grow in love for you 

And proclaim boldly the love of Christ to all people. 

Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

The Litany has imprimatur of Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Archbishop of Cracow from 12 April 2011.

Second Sunday of Easter, Cycle A - Divine Mercy Sunday

Readings: - Acts 2: 42-47; - 1 Peter 1: 3-9; - John 20: 19-31

Introduction - Why we don’t like the Feast of Divine Mercy?

The World is in need of Mercy, but it refuses to accept this need because ...  the Mercy of God is remaining us about our sinfulness, about our insufficiency, about the fundamental truth that I am NOT god? And I am not able to save myself!!

Second Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

Homily from Father Clyde A. Bonar, Ph.D.

"God is Love, Mercy is His Deed"

In the Old Testament, each year to cleanse the people of their sins, the priest offered animal sacrifices to God. Christ changed all that. Through the Blood of the Cross, Jesus himself became the sacrifice, the Lamb who was slaughtered.

On Good Friday, we witnessed the three hours Christ spent on the Cross. On Easter Sunday, singing "Alleluia," we rejoiced at the Resurrection of Jesus.

By his death on the Cross Christ demonstrated the mercy of God. Today we celebrate God’s mercy for us sinners. We celebrate that by the Divine Mercy of God, the Blood of the Cross cleanses us of our sins.

In his revelations to Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), Jesus told St. Faustina his "Heart rejoices in this title of Mercy," and that he desires "that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy."1 Today is the Sunday after of Easter. We call it Divine Mercy Sunday.

"The Flower of Love"

St. Faustina wrote in her dairy, "Mercy is the flower of love. God is love, and mercy is His deed."2 Story after story in the Bible tells us of the mercy of God.

Remember the story of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32-34)? After leaving the slavery of the pharaoh, the Hebrew people are traipsing in the desert. Moses goes up to Mt. Sinai to talk to God. And stays on the mountain for 40 days. The people start to worry, ask themselves what happened to Moses, where is God. Aaron tells the people to gather all their gold, their rings and earrings; melts the collected items of gold, and makes a golden calf. Aaron tells the people to worship the golden calf, to offer sacrifices to the golden calf.

That’s the sin of apostasy, the people turning away from God, putting their faith in an idol made of gold. God’s pretty upset, Moses pleads for the people. What’s God do? Shows mercy. God renews his covenant with the Hebrew people, tells them again he loves them and will take care of them. "God is love, mercy is His deed."

In the New Testament we have the well known story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-32). The younger son tells his father to give him his share of the family fortune. The father does and the son sets off to look for a better life. As the story develops, the son commits one deadly sin after another. To begin with, there is failure to honor his parents: the money given to the son is the father’s old age insurance. The son just says, Give me the money; and never worries about how his father will get on in his old age. That’s the sin of pride, the son putting his own selfish wants before the needs of others. And how does the son use his inheritance? He violates the Sixth Commandment, spending his father’s money on high living and "loose women."

What’s the father do, when the prodigal son comes home broke, hungry, and in rags? The father puts the finest robe on his son’s shoulders and gives a party – his son is home. Jesus told the story of the Prodigal Son to illustrate the mercy God has for us. Our Father in Heaven shows us mercy even when we act like a prodigal son. "God is love, mercy is His deed."

Check the Bible. Story after story telling us of the Divine Mercy of God. He renewed his covenant with the Hebrew people after they misbehaved. God forgives our sins. Whatever the sin, God shows mercy to the sinner.

Are we the sinner in need of mercy?

Are we the sinner in need of mercy? You bet! As a person hesitated in confession, the old priest reassured him: "Don’t be afraid to mention your sins. You can’t tell me anything I haven’t heard before." And, it’s true. In the confessional, priests are told every sin you have ever imagined.

One heart rending confession I’ll always remember. I was hearing confessions in the local jail. With tears in his eyes, slowly in a whisper, the man said, "I shot my son." His old girl friend, the mother of his son, was now sleeping with another man. In his anger the inmate went after them, and in the bedroom, in the dark, he started to shot. His bullets killed his own son. The sorrow in his voice pleaded for mercy, for forgiveness of his dreadful sin.

Another time, in the hospital, a lady was scheduled for major surgery. She’d asked to see a priest. She too began to cry as she made her confession. She told of a loving husband, always kind and considerate, but she’d been the one hard to live with. She always criticized her husband, screamed and yelled at him. "I’ve been an awful wife," she told me. She continued, "And my son, I kicked him out of the house." Probably the lady exaggerated. But faced with the uncertainty of her operation, she wanted to hear of the mercy of God, to be forgiven for the times she failed to show love.

All too often penitents confess violating the Third Commandment: they miss Mass. One cheerful young chap told me he was a "good Catholic," that he always came to Mass on Easter and Christmas." His average, two Masses a year. Another penitent did better, she got to Mass about six times a year. I tell them that’s not enough. God forgives, God shows mercy. Then I tell them that God really does expect to see us in church each Sunday and every Sunday.

We all have a list of sins, some sins more serious, some less serious; some sins we do often, others very seldom. Truth is, we always have some sins to confess; some temptations are hard to resist. Yes, we are the sinners, we need God’s mercy.

"Fount of Mercy"

Christ told his disciples, "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them." God the Son instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation. For all those bad things we do, when we confess our sins, the priest is ready and eager to tell us of God’s mercy, that God forgives all our little transgressions and God forgives the worst things we might do. Every sin can be forgiven, God’s mercy is boundless.

Jesus told St. Faustina, "When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting for you there. I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul." Jesus continued, "there is no limit to My generosity." One day when she herself was making her confession, Sister Faustina remembered that when the priest rose to give absolution, "Suddenly his figure became diffused with a great light, and I saw that it was not Father A., but Jesus."3 St. ThérPse of Lisieux says God shows his mercy in the confessional like a mother lovingly clasping a child to her heart.

That’s a prime place to hear of God’s mercy, in the confessional

To remind us of his mercy, on the evening of February 22, 1931, Jesus appeared to St. Faustina "clad in a white garment. One hand [was] raised in the gesture of blessing, the other was touching the garment to his breast. From beneath the garment, slightly aside at the breast, there were emanating two large rays, one red, the other pale." A pale ray for the waters of baptism, a red ray for the Blood of the Cross. Faustina’s soul was in awe, she had great joy. Jesus told her to paint an image just as she saw it, and add the words, "Jesus, I trust in you."

We call the painting the Image of Divine Mercy. Christ promised that souls who venerated this Image would not perish. A reminder that by the mercy of God we will become participants in eternal life.

A way to ask for God’s mercy is to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. The Lord told Sister Faustina, "Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death."6 Jesus said to recite the Chaplet for nine days, on the beads of the rosary. His instructions:

-         First of all, you will say one Our Father and Hail Mary and the I Believe in God [Apostles’ Creed].

-         Then, on the Our Father beads you will say the following words, ‘Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.’

-         On the Hail Mary beads, you will say the following words: ‘For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.’

-         In conclusion, three times you will recite these words: ‘Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world."7

When we pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, God promises to embrace us with his mercy. God promises the same indulgence when we pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for a dying person.

We have three very specific ways to seek and to receive God’s mercy: during the Sacrament of Reconciliation, by venerating the Image of Divine Mercy, and by praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

Conclusion

Jesus told Sister Faustina that he wanted a feast of Divine Mercy, and asked her who knows anything about such a feast. On the occasion of the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska on 30 April 2000, Pope John Paul II decreed that throughout the world the Second Sunday of Easter will receive the name Divine Mercy Sunday.

The promise of Jesus is that God wants "to grant a plenary indulgence [complete pardon] to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My [His] Mercy." Today we celebrate, we rejoice in the Divine Mercy of God.

===================

Canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II

Why the Surprise and Shock?

'Write to the angel of the church in Sardis and say, "Here is the message of the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know about your behaviour: how you are reputed to be alive and yet are dead.

Wake up; put some resolve into what little vigour you have left: it is dying fast. So far I have failed to notice anything in your behaviour that my God could possibly call perfect; remember how you first heard the message. Hold on to that. Repent! If you do not wake up, I shall come to you like a thief, and you will have no idea at what hour I shall come upon you. There are a few in Sardis, it is true, who have kept their robes unstained, and they are fit to come with me, dressed in white.
Anyone who proves victorious will be dressed, like these, in white robes; I shall not blot that name out of the book of life, but acknowledge it in the presence of my Father and his angels.
Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

Anyone who proves victorious I will make into a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, and it will stay there for ever; I will inscribe on it the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which is coming down from my God in heaven, and my own new name as well.
Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

Revelation 3:1-13

interesting blog ...

Mark Mallett -

—SPIRITUAL FOOD FOR THOUGHT—

According to Saint Faustina’s diary, Jesus said of Divine Mercy Sunday:

I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy.  If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity… tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near. —Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary of St. Faustina, n. 965 

to read more ... click below ...

The Last Hope of Salvation

April 27 - Divine Mercy Sunday - canonization of the Pope John Paul II and John XXIII

- Divine Mercy Novena to print
 
or here

THE CHAPLET OF THE DIVINE MERCY

Opening Prayer: 

You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed for souls, and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty yourself out upon us. O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us. I trust in You!

1. Begin with the Sign of the Cross, 

• 1 Our Father,
• 1 Hail Mary
• The Apostles Creed.

2. Then on the Our Father Beads say the following:
     Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

3. On the 10 Hail Mary Beads say the following:
     For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
(Repeat step 2 and 3 for all five decades).

4. Conclude with (three times):
    Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Closing Prayer:
Eternal God, in whom Mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your Holy Will, which is Love and Mercy itself.

Holy Saturday – Easter Vigil

The liturgy of the Easter Vigil today -an extremely rich in symbolism- leads us finally to the truth of the Resurrection and the victory of life over death. Seven readings from the Old Testament and two New Testament reading are like the history of mankind from the moment of creation to that climax, when God makes the New Heaven and the New Earth in Christ. After the creation God saw that everything He had made was very good. Unfortunately, didn’t see it - and probably to this day cannot see – created man. That's why you had the whole history of mankind, that what was once good should finally be restored, so that the whole creation has to be restored to the original goodness. God did this ultimately in Christ by His Passion, Death and Resurrection.

Holy Saturday is the third day of Holy Paschal Triduum, which by night vigil; the Easter Vigil goes into a joyful Easter Sunday. Let's enter for a while in its atmosphere and mood.

First, on this day we have a joyful and solemn silence as if waiting for something extraordinary, something astonishing. Later in the evening, or rather in the night we participate in the solemn celebration of the Easter Vigil, which through signs and symbols of fire, water and light leads us to a profound truth of the victory of good over evil, of death and resurrection, of creation anew of what God has done at the beginning. The liturgy of the Easter Vigil is an extremely rich in symbolism and leads us finally to the truth of the Resurrection and the victory of life over death. Fire and the Paschal sacrifice that opens the Easter Vigil liturgy remind us of Christ, "Who is the light for revelation to the Gentiles," Who came into the world to "enlighten every human being."

Easter Vigil Liturgy of the Word with its magnificent all readings interspersed with the singing of psalms opens up a treasure of Scripture. It is a time of deep and solemn meditation and reflection that begins with consideration of the origins of the world, the dawn of mankind, the fall of man, the first covenant with Abraham, the second covenant with Moses and the Exodus. This reflection leads us through the messianic announcement of the prophet Isaiah, Ezekiel, Baruch and the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans, in which he emphatically compares the Sacrament of Baptism to the Death and Resurrection of Christ.

And at the end of the Gospel announces to us the good news of the Resurrection of the Lord. These meditations lead us through the ages and show the fact that Jesus through his passion, death and resurrection made ​​a new creation. However, to participate in this New Creation we need to put on a new creation.

That's why we have the whole history of mankind, so that what was good at the beginning should finally be restored to the whole creation, to the original goodness. Christ did this just by his Passion Death and Resurrection. . There is only one more tiny detail: it's necessary for me to be "clothed" in this new creation. I have to be mature and I need to recognize, and accept all the efforts of God. Otherwise - for me - all this trouble of the new creation will be useless.

Participating in this solemn and beautiful liturgy, renewing our baptismal promises we should not forget about what Saint Paul says: "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." A small step has to be done only by me. Everything else was done by God. Am I able to do this one, only one, tiny step in the direction of God?

A Saint Among Us: The Man and the People

As part of his 1984 Canadian tour, Pope John Paul II visited Edmonton, Alberta, where he touched the faithful in many ways. This video recalls the man, his teaching, and his effect on the people through the eyes of Most. Rev. Joseph MacNeil, Archbishop Emeritus of Edmonton.

http://vimeo.com/91368797



A Saint Among Us: The Man and the People
from Archdiocese of Edmonton on Vimeo.

Hunger and Thirst ...

Pope Francis about the defence of the unborn ...

Revelation 2: 18-25

'Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira and say, "Here is the message of the Son of God who has eyes like a burning flame and feet like burnished bronze:

I know your activities, your love, your faith, your service and your perseverance, and I know how you are still making progress. Nevertheless, I have a complaint to make: you tolerate the woman Jezebel who claims to be a prophetess, and by her teaching she is luring my servants away to commit the adultery of eating food which has been sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent but she is not willing to repent of her adulterous life. Look, I am consigning her to a bed of pain, and all her partners in adultery to great hardship, unless they repent of their practices; and I will see that her children die, so that all the churches realise that it is I who test motives and thoughts and repay you as your deeds deserve.

But on the rest of you in Thyatira, all of you who have not accepted this teaching or learnt the deep secrets of Satan, as they are called, I am not laying any other burden; but hold on firmly to what you already have until I come.

CROSS

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the cross of Christ my God,
The vain delights that charm me most:
I sacrifice them to his blood.

--- from the Breviary ---

Kneel only in the presence of God. Worship only Him and be reverent because He is God and You are His child ...

Palm – Passion Sunday ...

Everything is upside down …

What a strange liturgy we have today. Almost as if the church cannot decide what to do! So, we just squeeze together everything from Jesus entering Jerusalem with the crowds shouting "Hosanna" through the crucified Christ being laid in a borrowed tomb.

Even the name for this Sunday is "Palm - slash - Passion Sunday." It's neither "Palm Sunday" nor "Passion Sunday." It's not "Palm and Passion Sunday." Its "Palm - slash - Passion Sunday," two different events jammed up against one another.

We begin Holy Week by focusing in on the Passion of the Lord, this year according to St. Matthew. On Thursday we will relate the Passion to Sacramental celebration of the gift of the Lord in the Eucharist, on Friday we will zero in on the suffering and death of the Lord, then on Easter we will celebrate the triumph of Eternal Life over Physical Death.

He suffered for us. And what does he ask in return? He asks that we love his Father. He asks that we believe in Him. He asks that we love each other. He asks that we fight for his Kingdom. He asks that live as moral, decent people. He asks little, this Tremendous Lover who has given so much.

The reading from the Gospel in this first part recalls the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as King.  He gets a rapturous reception from the crowd who acclaim him with words we still use in the "Holy, holy, holy...": “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”.  This scene is important for, in a few days' time, the same triumphant Jesus will be reduced to a battered wreck of humanity, calling forth the words of Pilate: "Look, it is a human being!" (Ecce homo). The same crowd, who on Sunday was acclaiming Him king, will, on Friday, scream violently: “Crucify him!!!”

Hosanna and … crucify HIM!!! - The crying out of these words, we hear side by side in today's liturgy of the word. In fact, less than a week, precisely five days separates them. On Sunday Jesus is called by the crowds a King and on Friday - probably the same crowds - call for His death. Often it is the same in our lives; after days of glory will suddenly come, days of disaster and mortification, days of difficulty and fear.

Do not forget that, after Palm Sunday with its "Hosanna" comes Good Friday with the cry "Crucify Him".

This is our way of the cross; this is our way to salvation. Jesus didn't promise us a luxurious, easy and stress-free life. He said: "If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me."

We must not forget that the symbol of our religion is not the shamrock or horseshoe but the cross scandal for the Jews and stupidity for the pagans.

But we must not forget also that after Good Friday comes Sunday of the Resurrection, with its truth: "I am the Resurrection and the Life, who believes in me, even if he dies will live with me".

Entering the Holy Week of the Passion of Christ let us think about our participation and sharing in His Passion… because without our involvement … the whole Passion of Christ will be useless and ineffective.

Although efforts are now made to make the listening of the Passion less of an endurance test, there really is too much to be fully digested as we stand listening to one or three readers. Perhaps we should set aside a short period later in the day to go through the dramatic telling once more. Or perhaps, even better, we could focus on a particular passage which speaks to us more at this time.

And so we have:

- the last meal of Jesus with his disciples, a bitter-sweet experience for all,

- Jesus' struggle with fear (even terror) and loneliness in the garden, ending in a sense of peace and acceptance,

- Peter's denial of ever having known Jesus, the same Jesus with whom he had just eaten and who had invited him into the garden,

- the kiss of Judas, another disciple, sealing the fate of Jesus, and leading to bitter remorse and suicide,

- the rigged trial before the religious leaders and again before the contemptuous, cynical Pilate, the brief appearance before the superstitious and fearful Herod

This is followed by the implementation of the judgment:

- the torture, humiliation and degradation of Jesus,

- the way of Calvary - the weeping women, the reluctant Simon of Cyrene,

- the crowds, so supportive on Sunday, who now laugh and mock,

- the murderous gangster promised eternal happiness that very day,

- the last words of forgiveness and total surrender (emptying) to the Father. "Father, into your hands I surrender my spirit" - and in so surrendering it, he passed on that Spirit to us.

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From Gloria to Crucify Him

Jesus' life can be summarized in few very meaningful words:

First we have Gloria at His birth

Than we have "this is my beloved Son" at His baptism and transfiguration,

Next we have "Hosanna" in today's first Gospel

And "crucify Him" in today's second Gospel.

But we have not to forget that the last word summarizing His life the "ALLELUIA" on the Easter Sunday.

In our life we did have our Gloria, we did have our "this is my beloved child", we do certainly have our Hosanna and crucify him, but we cannot forget that the end of our life is Alleluia at the day of our resurrection.

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When Jesus dies on the Cross, a pagan, a Roman centurion makes the announcement: "Surely this is the Son of God." To understand who Jesus is, we have to stand under the Cross.  To recognize how much God loves us, we have to realize the extent of his suffering for us.  To realize that we are his followers, we have to join Him on the Cross. Love gives joy, but this joy can result in pain. Love means giving, but this gift can result in suffering as we say no to our own desires for the sake of the one whom we love. Love gives life. The Lord loves us so much that we receive His life.  As we begin this Holy Week we pray that we might have the courage to follow Christ in embracing our own crosses.  May we make real the cross of Christ in the world by giving ourselves to others in love, not sentimental and emotional but in real "love in the truth", as Pope Benedict XVI writes in his encyclical letter "Cartatis in Veritate".

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Climax of the Mission of Christ

This week sees the climax of the mission of Jesus Christ in which the deepest meaning of his life is unfolded and in which his teaching becomes incarnated in his own words and actions.

Today's celebration is divided into two distinct parts: the procession with palms and the Mass proper.

In the first part the prevailing atmosphere is one of joy and the vestments in today's liturgy are a triumphal red and not the violet which has prevailed during the other days of Lent.

The reading from the Gospel in this first part recalls the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as King.  He gets a rapturous reception from the crowd who acclaim him with words we still use in the "Holy, holy, holy...": “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”.  This scene is important for, in a few days' time, the same triumphant Jesus will be reduced to a battered wreck of humanity, calling forth the words of Pilate: "Look, it is a human being!" (Ecce homo). The same crowd, who on Sunday was acclaiming Him king, will, on Friday, scream violently: “Crucify him!!!”

Although efforts are now made to make the listening of the Passion less of an endurance test, there really is too much to be fully digested as we stand listening to one or three readers. Perhaps we should set aside a short period later in the day to go through the dramatic narration once more.  Or perhaps, even better, we could focus on a particular passage which speaks to us more at this time.

And so we have:

- the last meal of Jesus with his disciples, a bitter-sweet experience for all,

- Jesus' struggle with fear (even terror) and loneliness in the garden, ending in a sense of peace and acceptance,

- Peter's denial of ever having known Jesus, the same Jesus with whom he had just eaten and who had invited him into the garden,

- the kiss of Judas, another disciple, sealing the fate of Jesus, and leading to bitter remorse and suicide,

- the rigged trial before the religious leaders and again before the contemptuous, cynical Pilate, the brief appearance before the superstitious and fearful Herod

This is followed by the implementation of the judgment:

- the torture, humiliation and degradation of Jesus,

- the way of Calvary - the weeping women, the reluctant Simon of Cyrene,

- the crowds, so supportive on Sunday, who now laugh and mock,

- the murderous gangster promised eternal happiness that very day,

- the last words of forgiveness and total surrender (emptying) to the Father. "Father, into your hands I surrender my spirit" - and in so surrendering it, he passed on that Spirit to us.

The drama is truly overpowering and needs really to be absorbed, one incident at a time.

It would be worth reflecting in which of these scenes I can see myself, with which characters I can identify as reacting in the way I probably would.

Through it all there is Jesus, the young 33 years old man (God-Man) who changed the history of the whole Universe. So, as we go through this day and this week, let us look very carefully at Jesus our Savior. We watch, not just to admire, but also to learn. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human being to walk on the moon. The American President of that time said:  “This was the most important event of the whole history of humanity”. I don’t think so. I think that by entering into this Holy Week we are participating in the most important events of the whole history of humanity.

And we should learn … a lot.