Good Friday – Passion and Death

April 18, 2014 by Be Holy

GOOD FRIDAY is the most solemn day of the year, when faithful Christians morn the suffering and death of our dear Lord, and thank God for the salvation we have received through His Passion,

All through the night Jesus has been locked in the dungeon of the high priest’s house. Early this morning he was bought before a Pilate who transferred his case to Herod. Herod sent him back to Pilate who, sometime in the mid-morning, bowed to the pressure of the Temple leadership and the crowds, and condemned Jesus to a horrible death by crucifixion. In the late morning Jesus was taken by the soldiers through the city and up the hillside of Golgotha. By noon he is nailed to the cross where he hangs in agony for some three hours. He dies around three in the afternoon. He is taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb hastily before sundown.

Today is a day of prayer, fasting and abstinence. Whenever possible, Christians are urged to keep today free of work, of social engagements, of entertainment, and to devote themselves to communal prayer and worship.

At noon, the hour He was crucified, we gather quietly in our parish Church to celebrate the Liturgy of the Passion, the most important service on this day. In this Liturgy we first reflect on Jesus’ death on the cross by listening to the singing of the Passion according to St. John. We then pray for the needs of the world. To personally show our love for Jesus Crucified, we one by one come forward to venerate the crucifix with a kiss. Our hunger from this day of fasting is satisfied with Holy Communion distributed at the end of this liturgy.

Consider too how the apostles gathered that night together in fear and prayer reflecting on all that happened. In the same spirit we gather at 7:00 pm for Stations of the Cross and other prayers and meditations on the Passion.Our teens will dramatize the Stations as we pray. They do a wonderful job, and it is very moving. This service is not only for those who could not be at the Liturgy of the Passion at noon, but also for those who wish to wish to add another time of devotion as we in spirit weep at the tomb of our Savior.

I often reflect on how people morn the death of their loved ones, and take care to attend the funerals of every acquaintance. But on the Day that their Savior died for them, how many Christians act as if it were “just another day”, and make no effort to come to Church to attend His funeral – He who is their Friend, their Savior, and their God! How pathetically sad. Let it not be so with us. Comfort your Savior in His suffering by keeping this day with prayer, reflection, and penance, and make every effort, if at all possible, to gather with God’s family in church to worship God the Son who died for you!

Msgr. Douglas A. Raun
Pastor
St. Thomas Aquinas Parish
1502 Sara, Rio Rancho, NM

The Art of Growing Up – My Lent

March 6, 2014 by Be Holy

“If you spot it, you got it!”

It’s common for folks to notice the faults of others, perhaps missing these very attributes in themselves. Psychology calls it “projection” .

It may be the person I can’t abide simply reminds me of me. Perhaps in praying for him, a passing angel will polish away my flaws, a two for one in the realm of abundant grace.

The Breech

March 5, 2014 by Be Holy

How great is the distance between us?

Some would say
The span from East to West,
Or measure in miles the chasm
Stretching from Heaven to Hell.
Others count the centuries
Since Your earthly Presence
In hallowed flesh.

There is no numbering
Eternity or Divinity.
You are closer than my breath.
Your Heart beats within my breast.
Day by day,
Nay, moment by moment,
I pick up Your rhythm.

Traversing the breech,
You make me Your own.
Small, but beloved,
I repose in willful abandonment.
Grace-filled faith,
A movement,
Not a measure,
Soars to the heavens,
In flights of trust in You.

Set the World Aright

March 1, 2014 by Be Holy

The world, in turmoil, convulses.
Peoples flee.
Those who know You,
Run to You.
Those, who are rushing
To the pit in despair,
Flee from You,
As from Leviathan.

Show forth Your Truth and Beauty.
Stop sinners in their flight.
Smile, as the Sun from heaven,
That all men may truly see,
And all men know You, O Truth.

You are a scourge
To the proud,
But to the man,
Who clearly sees himself,
For what he is, and faints.
Then, coming to his senses,
Lies prostrate in repentance;
To that man You are Hope
And help, and healing.

Your Mercy covers a multitude of sin.
Your blood, sprinkled on us,
Cries out “Sanctuary!”
O Altar, O Victim, O Priest.

Christ Jesus,
You know my heart,
And yet embrace it.
Your priestly garment
Covers my nakedness.
Your Kingly Mantle identifies me,
As Child of the Great King.
My name is written on Your Thigh.
Like a mother,
You brought me forth at Your Knees,
To claim me eternally.

The waters well up,
I am washed,
And carried in the current,
To ride the waves of Your Mercy
And come to rest on Your shore
For all eternity.

Celebrate the Mass
Of our Redemption,
Once for all,
And for all time.
The thunder is silent.
The quaking ceases.
The clouds of darkness part.
The Sun of Justice rises,
And the course of the world
Obeys the Will of Your Father.

O Christ, O Holy One,
Guide the course
Of this wayward planet.
Set the earth aright,
And welcome its people
Into Your Heart.

© 2011 Joann Nelander

All rights reserved.

Anointing of the Sick assures nearness of Christ, says Pope :: EWTN News

February 27, 2014 by Be Holy

Anointing of the Sick assures nearness of Christ, says Pope :: EWTN News.

In his Wednesday general audience Pope Francis gave a brief catechesis on the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, noting that its purpose is to bring Christ close to the recipient.

“Every time we celebrate this sacrament, the Lord Jesus, in the person of the priest, comes close to those who suffer and are gravely ill or elderly,” explained the Pope on Feb. 26.

“The special grace of this sacrament” should not cause us to fall into an “obsessive search for a miracle” or “the presumption that it can always obtain healing,” cautioned the Pontiff. Rather, “it is the certainty of the closeness of Jesus to the sick, the elderly.”

Pope Francis then went on to explain to the crowd of nearly 50,000 in St. Peter’s Square that the practice of this sacrament comes from Christ himself who “taught his disciples to have the same predilection for the sick and the suffering, and handed down to them the ability and the responsibility to continue to offer (it) in his name after his own heart of comfort and peace.”

The the biblical image that shows the Anointing of the Sick “in all its depth (and) the mystery that shines through” it is the parable of the Good Samaritan, noted the Pontiff.