Tag Archives: Jesus

What Else is There?

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All that matters,
To be like Christ,
What else is there?
 
Want what the Father wants,
Love, love, love!
Suffer with Jesus,
As He suffers,
Lack of love
In the world,
In people,
In Christians.
 
The world belongs to God,
Creator of Beauty, Holiness, Truth,
All that is.
Creation confesses Jesus,
Gives witness to God.
 
Live like him.
Talk like Him.
Let Him impress on you
His image as on Veronica’s veil,
Offered in compassion.
 
Impressed with the face of Jesus,
Go forward
In newness of life,
A new creation.
 
False images,
Reject them!
Imitate Jesus Christ.
Have Him before your eyes
All the day long.
Have Him on your tongue
All the day long.
 
Live with Him
Through the night,
Through the dark,
Into the smiling Light.
All is grace.
What else is there?
 

© 2014 Joann Nelander

 

 

 

From the Jerusalem Catecheses – Baptism is a symbol of Christ’s passion

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From the Jerusalem Catecheses Baptism is a symbol of Christ’s passion
You were led down to the font of holy baptism just as Christ was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb which is before your eyes. Each of you was asked, “Do you believe in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit?” You made the profession of faith that brings salvation, you were plunged into the water, and three times you rose again. This symbolized the three days Christ spent in the tomb.

As our Savior spent three days and three nights in the depths of the earth, so your first rising from the water represented the first day and your first immersion represented the first night. At night a man cannot see, but in the day he walks in the light. So when you were immersed in the water it was like night for you and you could not see, but when you rose again it was like coming into broad daylight. In the same instant you died and were born again; the saving water was both your tomb and your mother.

Solomon’s phrase in another context is very apposite here. He spoke of a time to give birth, and a time to die. For you, however, it was the reverse: a time to die, and a time to be born, although in fact both events took place at the same time and your birth was simultaneous with your death.

This is something amazing and unheard of! It was not we who actually died, were buried and rose again. We only did these things symbolically, but we have been saved in actual fact. It is Christ who was crucified, who was buried and who rose again, and all this has been attributed to us. We share in his sufferings symbolically and gain salvation in reality. What boundless love for men! Christ’s undefiled hands were pierced by the nails; he suffered the pain. I experience no pain, no anguish, yet by the share that I have in his sufferings he freely grants me salvation.

Let no one imagine that baptism consists only in the forgiveness of sins and in the grace of adoption. Our baptism is not like the baptism of John, which conferred only the forgiveness of sins. We know perfectly well that baptism, besides washing away our sins and bringing us the gift of the Holy Spirit, is a symbol of the sufferings of Christ. This is why Paul exclaims: Do you not know that when we were baptized into Christ Jesus we were, by that very action, sharing in his death? By baptism we went with him into the tomb.

HOLY SATURDAY – The body of Jesus is in the tomb

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Luke23_50_TheBurial_Bloch

Luke23_50_TheBurial_Bloch
HOLY SATURDAY – The body of Jesus is in the tomb but His soul is among the dead to announce the kingdom. The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will Live (John 5:25). Consider what it must have been like for the dead in Limbo ( the “hell” of the Apostles’ Creed) to awaken to the voice of Jesus! Meanwhile The Disciples, heartbroken at the death of Jesus, observed the Jewish Sabbath in sorrow. They had forgotten the promise of Jesus that He would rise. We cannot forget His promise. We cannot forget.

We spend this day in quite reflection, weeping at the tomb of our Lord. Fasting and abstinence are recommended, but are not of obligation.

This night in our parish after sundown, at 8:30 pm, we gather for the Great Easter Vigil where we will experience Jesus rising from the dead. (Our Lord rose from the dead during this most blessed of nights, for the Gospels tell us that the faithful women went to the tomb very early in the morning, while it was still dark, and the tomb was already empty. That is why the Great Mass of Easter takes place at night.) We gather in darkness and light the Easter fire which reminds us that Jesus is light in the darkness. He is the light of the world. We attentively listen to Bible stories describing God’s saving work of the past. Suddenly, the church lights are lit and the Gloria is sung as we celebrate the moment of Christ’s resurrection. He Lives! As a Church we sing Alleluia for the first time in forty days. In the joy of the resurrection we then celebrate the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist for our Catechumens who have prepared many months for this night. Do everything you can to be present on this evening and invite friends and family to join. Our Vigil ushers in an Easter joy that never ends!

Of course the Easter Vigil fulfills the Sunday obligation – it is THE Great Mass of Easter (in fact, until the 5th century, it was the only Mass of Easter.)

Yes, the Easter Vigil is long (in our parish, about two and a half hours), but it is very beautiful. We keep it “moving right along”, and it has beautiful music.
A blessed and joyful celebration of Easter to you all!
Msgr. Douglas A. Raun
Pastor
St. Thomas Aquinas Parish
1502 Sara, Rio Rancho, NM

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Upon the Cross

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Upon the cross,
Your blood flowed
From Crown to Foot,
In streams upon Your Body,
So that there was not one space
That was not touched by Your Blood.

Your Body, the Church,
Covered in Your Blood;
Saved throughout Time
And for all Time
Unto Eternity,
Covered by Your Blood.

©2011  Joann Nelander

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Good Friday – Passion and Death

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John19_28_I_Thirst_Tissot
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 Enhanced by Zemanta

Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper

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HOLY THURSDAY, is a day very dear to those who love the Mass and the most blessed Sacrament, for it is the day that Jesus gave us these great Gifts.

Christ Washing Peter's Feet, Ford Madox Brown

Christ Washing Peter’s Feet, Ford Madox Brown

In the Mass of the Lord’s Supper celebrated in our parish, we remember and make present that Last Supper which Jesus shared with his disciples. We are in the upper room with Jesus and the Apostles and do what they did. Through the ritual of washing the feet (Jn 13:1) of 12 parishioners, we unite in service to one another. Through our celebration of this first Mass (Mt 26:26), we unite ourselves to Jesus and receive his Body and Blood as if for the first time. At this Eucharist, we especially thank God for his gift of the sacred priesthood.

After the Last Supper (which was the first Mass) the apostles and Jesus made a short journey across the Kidron Valley to the Garden where he asks them to pray and he experiences his agony (cf Mt 26:30). We too will process in Church with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to the altar of repose. The liturgy ends in silence. It is an ancient custom to spend an hour before the reposed Blessed Sacrament tonight. We are with Jesus in the Garden and pray as he goes through his agony. Our parish church will remain open until midnight. It was near Midnight that Jesus was betrayed by Judas, was arrested and taken to the house of the High Priest (cf Mt. 26:47).

3rd quarter of 16th century

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

 

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