View from the Ambo

Saturday, March 31, 2018

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.

Second Day of Divine Mercy Novena (Holy Saturday)

Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service, that they may perform worthy works of mercy; and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven. Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard—upon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.

Good Friday '18 - He chose us

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 04:04 PM PDT

Jesus Christ knew what was going to happen, and chose it all the same. Readings are found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/033018.cfm https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2

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Friday, March 30, 2018

First Day of Divine Mercy Novena (Good Friday)

Most Merciful Jesus, whose very nature it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart, and never let us escape from It. We beg this of You by Your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion show us Your mercy, that we may praise the omnipotence of Your mercy for ever and ever. Amen.

Divine Mercy Chaplet

Here's how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy (Prayed on regular Rosary Beads): 1. Make the Sign of the Cross 2. Pray the Opening Prayer: "You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the 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." 3. Pray three times: "O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You!" 4. Pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Creed 5. On the Our Father bead before each decade, pray: "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. Amen." 6. On each of the Hail Mary beads in each decade, pray: "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."Repeat Steps 5 and 6 for each decade. 7.After you have prayed all five decades of the Chaplet, pray three times: "Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world." 8. Pray the following final 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. Amen." 9. End With the Sign of the Cross

Mass of the Lord's Supper '18 - Memory to Service

Posted: 29 Mar 2018 07:17 PM PDT

At the Last Supper, Jesus establishes a new memorial, one that is His very presence and that inspires us to service. Readings are found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032918-lords-supper.cfm https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2

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Thursday, March 29, 2018

Memorial

Twenty years ago, this community was different. The March 29, 1998, tornado that stuck our city destroyed or damaged trees, businesses and public buildings, and homes. It changed the landscape and city. The storm system claimed two lives and changed countless others. Those who were here before and immediately after have a multitude of stories to share. As we mark this anniversary, we will share those stories, some untold for years. This is an effort to remember. It is a human trait.

Memory was important for the Jewish people, and therefore important for the early Christians, too. The Jewish people shared the story of the Exodus – their slavery in Egypt and how God powerfully saved them and lead them into freedom. The Passover meal that they gathered to share was not a quaint ritual or a play-acting. Instead, it was a solemn ‘remembering’ where the events of the past were brought into the present, and the partakers of the present meal were immersed into the events of the past. This type of memory is where the bounds of time and space breakdown. When they remembered, they allowed the actions to be new to them, and they drew strength from the memory.

At His last Passover before offering His life to the Father on the cross for our salvation, Jesus Christ initiated a new covenant and a new memorial, not marked with the blood of a lamb, but with His own blood. He instructed and ordained the Apostles, (and they in turn their successors) to offer the new sacrifice of bread and wine in His memory, and in doing so, He would be present. The act of remembering draws us to Calvary and we stand at the foot of the cross. The act of remembering give us strength and direction to move forward. So important for us as Catholics is that we take Jesus at His word - the bread and wine cease to be, and they are Jesus Christ’s body and blood, changed for our life and nourishment. This memory changes everything.

While certainly not as universal as the Passover or the Crucifixion or their commemorations, we make another kind of memorial as we commemorate the tornado. As we share the stories of before, during, and aftermath, we might in some way be drawn in time to that tragic day when all was changed. The question is whether we going to be bitter, holding on to anger and frustration for what was lost, or that we will be better by challenging ourselves to continue to seek to expand the good things that have occurred because the tornado? In the end, that is the challenge of our lives. We are challenged to do more than hold on to the memories of past events, but to allow them to instruct our future, calling to mind the good that the Lord has done even in our day.