Easter Exultet

Happy Easter! Jesus Christ is truly raised, and we are given the hope of eternal life!

Enjoy this piece, the Exultet!

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!

Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!

Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God's people!

My dearest friends,
standing with me in this holy light,
join me in asking God for mercy,

that he may give his unworthy minister
grace to sing his Easter praises.

Deacon: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Deacon: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Deacon: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is truly right
that with full hearts and minds and voices
we should praise the unseen God, the all-powerful Father,
and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.


For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam's sin to our eternal Father!

This is our passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.

This is the night
when first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night
when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin!

This is the night
when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night
when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave.

What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?
Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave you gave away your Son.

O happy fault,
O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

Most blessed of all nights,
chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead!

Of this night scripture says:
"The night will be as clear as day:
it will become my light, my joy."

The power of this holy night dispels all evil,
washes guilt away, restores lost innocence,
brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride.

Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth
and man is reconciled with God!

Therefore, heavenly Father,
in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise,
your Church's solemn offering.

Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.

Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!

May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star,
who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,
your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.

Holy Saturday

From the Office of Readings for Holy Saturday:

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.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: ‘My Lord be with you all.’ Christ answered him: ‘And with your spirit.’ He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.

For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

Prayers for Pope Benedict XVI

I hesitate to say something about the recent scandals that some are using to implicate and tarnish His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. The history that they piece together (or more importantly, the pieces they leave out) is awful, and that it leaves me thinking that no honest person who has a little love for the Pope and the truth can ultimately believe much of it. But the stuff just keeps coming. That's why I will turn your attention to A Response to the New York Times given by Father Raymond J. de Souza in the National Review Online. It is a extremely well-written article, filling in the missing historical pieces.

I think part of what is happening is that those who are attacking the Pope are angry he did not do enough - if that is reason to condemn someone, then we all stand guilty! It has happened in our Church, and it is time that we say STOP - NEVER AGAIN will we allow this crime to occur, especially in our Churches and most especially by our priests. I also think it is being used to attempt to strip the Church of Her moral authority. It is used by some to promote a 'different' view of priesthood - blaming celibacy, blaming an all-male priesthood, etc. It may even be a thinly veiled attack on him as we are at his fifth anniversary as our shepherd - them trying to throw into question the outcome of the conclave, or even the presence of the Holy Spirit! As I said at the end of the Masses this weekend, the Lord promised that Gates of Hell would not conquer the Church.

Let us pray for the conversion of all abusers, and that properly punished (either through forced laicization and incarceration, or through extremely limited contact, while closely supervised, life in a care facility due to age and health issues if there has been true contrition and conversion), may repent of their sins and never commit them again. Let's pray for the conversion of those involved in promoting the scandal, but more importantly, pray for the continued strong leadership of Pope Benedict, especially as he has always been part of the strongest response to the sin of sexual abuse.

Palm Sunday, 2010

As we celebrate Palm Sunday, we call to mind how Christ enters His own people with cries of acclamation, only to have those cries drowned out 4 days later with cries to crucify Him. We have the beautiful Passion given to us. We could spend our lives memorizing the passion, but let it not be a mere academic pursuit - it needs to transform our hearts. As we look upon Christ crucified, may our hearts cry out with praise, know that here is love made real for us as the God who is made man for us pours His life out. Lord, may the rocks cry out if I cannot praise you!

Dissenting Sisters thanked for support of healthcare bill

Catholic News Agency has an article Planned Parenthood head thanks religious sisters for ‘critical support’ of health care bill. It gives a good overview of the level of dissent that one group, erroneously claiming to represent all religious sisters, have done to support the pro-contraceptive, pro-abortion healthcare bill. The Lord will hold us all accountable. One telling sentence:

"This brave and important move, demonstrating that they cared as much about the health care of families in America as they did about church hierarchy, was a critical demonstration of support."

Since they have demonstrated that they do not care much about the church hierarchy, do they equally lack compassion for health care for families???

Fifth Sunday of Lent

A woman caught in a sexual sin of adultery is brought to Jesus as a trap. The Law allowed them to stone such women, but they also knew thought Jesus was 'accepting' of such sins. If He responded stone her, perhaps the leaders thought, the crowd would see the hypocrisy and cease following Him, but if He responded to not stone her, He would have been setting Himself as interpreter of the Law. His answer is more than a clever response, but one that speaks to the heart of sin, judgement, and forgiveness. The one without sin would be allowed to throw the first stone. The leaders go, starting with the oldest. The woman stands before Jesus, the only One there (since only He and the Blessed Mother were sinless) who could have condemned her, but He forgave her. This forgiveness did not give her permission to continue as she had, but called her to reformation. This is not being 'light' on sin, but merciful.

None of us are without sin. Jesus calls us to forgiveness, to repentance. So just as He told the woman, we too are to go and sin no more.

Fourth Sunday of Lent

The lost sons in today's parable demonstrate a principle of sin. The youngest son wandered far from his father, squandered his inheritance, lost his identity, faith, and dignity. He recognizes his distance, and that he does not deserve to be a son, but desires to be a servant of his loving father. The older son, while he did not wander far from his father, had his heart far from the father. He simply did not even recognized his father's love. Both of these sons are in a land of dissimilarity, as St. Augustine would call it. The younger son returns from his life of sin, but the older dutiful son is left with the decision.

Those responding to a vocation need to know the love of the Father, to have their hearts with Him, experiencing His love. Whether we were great sinners who wandered far from the Lord, or dutiful servants, the Father loves us and claims us as sons and daughters.