Thursday, Second Week of Easter

St. John 3. 31-36: "The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath".

"Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary's womb because he is the new Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: 'The first man is of the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven'. From his conception, Christ's humanity is filled with the Holy Spirit, for God 'gives him the Spirit without measure'. From 'his fullness' as the head of redeemed humanity 'we have all received, 'grace upon grace'" (CCC# 504).

Wednesday, Second Week of Easter

St. John 3.16-21: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life".

"By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests that his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part: 'In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he has loved us and has sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins'. God 'Shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (CCC# 604).

Memorial of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

St. John 3.7-15: "The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit".

"No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now Go's Spirit, who reveals God, makes known to us Christ, his Word, his living Utterance, but the Spirit does not speak of himself...When the Father sends the Word, he always sends his Breath. In their joint mission the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, the image of the invisible God, but it is the Spirit who reveals him" (CCC# 687, 689).

"I want to be a Christian, though I should die for it" (Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha).

Monday, Second Week of Easter

St. John 3.1-8: "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit".
"Baptism is called the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one 'can enter the kingdom of God'" (CCC# 1215).

Divine Mercy Sunday (Second Sunday of Easter)

St. John 20.19-31: "He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'"

"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.
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world" (Prayers from the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy).


For info on how to pray the Chaplet visit: http://thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/praythechaplet.php

Good Friday from the Holy Land

Isaiah 52.13-53.12: "He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed".

"It is love "to the end" that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when he offered his life. Now "the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died." No man, not even the holiest, was ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer himself as a sacrifice for all. The existence in Christ of the divine person of the Son, who at once surpasses and embraces all human persons, and constitutes himself as the Head of all mankind, makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all" (CCC# 616).

Holy Thursday from the Holy Land

The First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians: "'This cup is the new covenant in my Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me". For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes'.
"It is Jesus who endured every kind of suffering in all those who foreshadowed him. In Abel he was slain, in Isaac bound, In Jacob exiled, in Joseph sold, in Moses exposed to die. He was sacrificed in the Passover lamb, persecuted in David, dishonoured in the prophets" (St. Melito of Sardis).

I am praying for you on this Holy Land pilgrimage, please pray for me as well.