Apostleship of Prayer

St. Vincent was born in Spain and entered the Dominican Order when he was seventeen. He became a powerful preacher and miracle-worker who traveled throughout Europe. He lived at one of the lowest points in the Church’s history—the Great Western Schism—when there were three different bishops who claimed to be pope. The Council of Constance resolved the issue in 1414 and, through St. Vincent’s tireless work on behalf of Church unity, peace was restored.

On this First Saturday, when we honor the Immaculate Heart of Mary, let us continue to reflect on Pope John Paul’s Angelus Meditation of August 27, 1989, praying that through Mary’s intercession our faith in the resurrection may grow.

Brothers and sisters, no one experienced that the Heart of Jesus is “life and resurrection” as Mary did. From him, the life, Mary received the life of original grace and by listening to his word and attentively observing his salvific actions she was able to preserve and nourish it. From him, the resurrection, she was associated in a singular way to his victory over death. The mystery of her assumption—body and soul—into heaven is the consoling proof that Christ’s victory over sin and death is extended in the members of his Mystical Body, first of all to Mary, the “most eminent member” of the Church (Lumen Gentium #53).Glorified in heaven, with her motherly heart the Virgin is at the service of the redemption effected by Christ. “Mother of life,” she is close to every woman who brings a child into the world, and is near every baptismal font where Christ’s members are born of water and the Spirit (John 3: 5). “Health of the sick,” she is present where life is languishing, stricken by suffering and illness. “Mother of mercy,” she calls those who have fallen under the weight of guilt to return to the fountains of life. “Refuge of sinners,” she shows those who have strayed from it the way that leads to Christ. “Sorrowful Virgin,” near her dying Son (John 19: 25), she is to be found wherever life is drawing to a close. Let us invoke her now with the Church: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.”

Today’s Readings: Acts 6:1-7;  Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19;  John 6:16-21

St. Isidore followed his brother St. Leander as Archbishop of Seville, Spain. During the Middle Ages he was looked upon as “the Master” because of his “Etymologies,” twenty books that brought together all the religious and secular learning of his time. As a result, he has been invoked recently as the patron saint of the Internet and computer programmers.

On this First Friday in the Easter Season, let us ask for the grace to love the Sacred Heart of Jesus more faithfully. Because He has risen, His Heart never ceases to beat with love for us. Knowing this love, may we reveal it to the world by the way we live. Our reflection is from Pope John Paul II’s Angelus Meditation of August 27, 1989.

“Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection, have mercy on us.” This invocation from the Litany of the Sacred Heart, strong and persuasive as an act of faith, contains the entire mystery of Christ the Redeemer in a terse phrase. It recalls the words Jesus addressed to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, shall live” (John 11: 25).

Jesus is the life which springs eternally from the divine wellspring of the Father…. Jesus is also the resurrection. Nothing is so radically opposed to the holiness of Christ, the Holy One of the Lord (Luke 1: 35; Mark 1: 24), as sin. Nothing is so opposed to him, source of life, as death. There is a mysterious bond between sin and death (Wisdom 2: 24; Romans 5: 12, 6: 23); both are realities which are essentially contrary to God’s plan for man, who was not made for death but rather for life. In the face of every expression of death, Christ’s Heart was deeply moved, and for love of the Father and mankind, his brothers and sisters, he made his life a “combat stupendous” (Easter Sequence) against death.

Today’s Readings:  Acts 5:34-42;  Psalm 27:1,4,13-14;  John 6:1-15

As we pray this month that we may never grow tired of proclaiming the Resurrection of Jesus by the way we live our lives, we reflect today on Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa’s commentary for the Gospel of Easter Sunday. Fr. Cantalamessa is a Capuchin Franciscan who has been the Pontifical Household preacher since 1980.

[T]he strongest argument that Christ is risen, is that he is alive! He is alive not because we keep him alive by talking about him, but because he keeps us alive, he communicates the sense of his presence to us, he makes us hope. “He touches Christ who believes in Christ,” St. Augustine said, and the true believers experience the truth in this affirmation.

Those who do not believe in the reality of the resurrection have always advanced hypotheses that it be treated as a phenomenon of autosuggestion; the apostles “believed” to see. But this, if it were true, would constitute, in the end, a miracle no less great than the one that people try to avoid admitting. Suppose that different people, in different situations and places, all had the same hallucination. Imaginary visions usually come to those who intensely expect and desire them, but the apostles, after the events of Good Friday, did not expect anything else.

Christ’s resurrection is, for the spiritual universe, what the initial “Big Bang” was for the physical universe, according to one modern theory: such a massive explosion of energy impressed on the cosmos that expansion of energy that continues even today at a distance of billions of years. Take away from the Church faith in the resurrection and everything stops and shuts down, as when the electrical current goes out in a house.

St. Paul writes: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the death, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). “The faith of Christians is the resurrection of Christ,” St. Augustine said. Everyone believes that Jesus died, even the pagans, the agnostics believe it. But only Christians believe that he has also risen, and one is not a Christian unless he believes this.

Today’s Reading’s:  Acts 5:27-33; Psalm 34:2,9,17-20; John 3:31-36

At an early age today’s saint followed his namesake and became a Franciscan of great piety. God inspired him to become a hermit and when others joined him he founded the Order of Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi in 1456, later to be known as the Order of Minims (little ones). They lived a strict Lenten fast all year long abstaining from eggs and milk as well as from meat. He was sent by the pope to be the spiritual director for several kings of France.

Today is also the third anniversary of Pope John Paul’s death. Our belief consoles us that this beloved pope is not dead and gone forever. Our hope is that he is with the Lord and that one day we will be with him in heaven. As we pray for Pope Benedict’s intentions, let us reflect on his homily at last year’s Mass on this anniversary.

In Karol Wojtyla’s life, the word “cross” was not merely a word. From his childhood, he was familiar with suffering and death. As priest and Bishop and especially as Supreme Pontiff, he took most seriously the Risen Christ’s last call to Simon Peter on the shore of the Lake of Galilee: “Follow me… Follow me!” (John 21: 19, 22). His whole life, particularly with the slow but implacable advance of the disease which gradually stripped him of everything, became an offering to Christ, a living proclamation of his passion in hope brimming with faith in the resurrection. …Dear brothers and sisters, the Responsorial Psalm has placed words full of trust on our lips. In the Communion of Saints, we seem to hear them spoken aloud by our beloved John Paul II, who, from the Father’s House, we are sure of it, never ceases to accompany the Church on her way: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord!” (Ps 27[26]: 13-14). Yes, let your heart take courage, dear brothers and sisters, and burn with hope! With this invitation in our hearts let us continue the Eucharistic Celebration, already looking at the light of the Resurrection of Christ…. May the Totus tuus of the beloved Pontiff encourage us to follow him on the path of the gift of ourselves to Christ through the intercession of Mary, and may she herself, the Virgin Mary, obtain it for us while we entrust to her motherly hands this father, brother and friend of ours, that he may rest in God and rejoice in peace. Amen.

Today’s Readings: Acts 5:17-26; Psalm 34:2-9; John 3:16-21 

Here are Pope Benedict XVI’s intentions for the upcoming month. For monthly reflections and related Scripture passages, visit our website.

Proclamation of the Resurrection. That Christians may not tire of proclaiming with their lives that Christ’s resurrection is the source of hope and peace.

Future Priests. That the future priests of the young Churches may be formed to evangelize their nations and the whole world.

We enter upon a new month with new intentions and a special reason to support the Holy Father with our prayers: from April 15-20 he will be visiting the United States. As we prepare for his visit let us make an extra effort to lift him up in prayer, to ask God to protect him and keep him safe. Let us also pray that the Church in the U.S., all citizens of the U.S., the delegates at the United Nations, and all people may be receptive to the message he will bring.

In his General Intention this month Pope Benedict has asked us to pray that Christians may not tire of proclaiming with their lives that Christ’s resurrection is the source of hope and peace. It is not enough for us to profess our faith in the resurrection of Jesus when we pray the Creed at Mass or at the beginning of the Rosary. Words are not enough. Our words, our belief must take flesh in the way we lead our lives. Our lives must witness to the world that the hope for peace is not some empty dream. Because Jesus triumphed over sin and death through His resurrection, His power makes peace possible. But we must turn to Him and place all our hopes in Him.

And for his Mission Intention this month the Holy Father asks us to pray with him that the future priests of the “young Churches”, those dioceses in mission lands, may be formed to evangelize their nations and the whole world. May seminarians be filled with great zeal and a desire to share the riches of Christ with all people.

Our prayer is from William G. Storey’s A Prayer Book of Catholic Devotions (Loyola Press):

Lord Jesus Christ, you were fastened with nails to the wood of the cross and raised on high for all to see. As the sun grew dark and the earth quaked, you surrendered your spirit to your Father, descended among the dead, broke open the gates of hell, and freed those bound in darkness. As angel choirs rejoiced, you were raised to life again on the third day, mastering death by your own death, and canceling the power of sin. By these mighty deeds on our behalf, rescue us from our blindness and tepidity, inspire us anew by your Holy Spirit, and lead us into a life of prayer and service worthy of your awesome sacrifice, O Savior of the world, living and reigning, now and forever. Amen.

Todays Readings: Acts 4:32-37; Psalm 93: 1-2, 5; John 3:7b-15