BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/New_York
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20230312T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20231105T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20240310T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20241103T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20250309T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20251102T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240402
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240403
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240330T224024Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240330T224024Z
UID:11751-1712016000-1712102399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Easter Tuesday
DESCRIPTION:THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny3 \n◊◊◊ \nLet us go to see Jesus journeying to the mountain of the heavenly Galilee\, \nwhere he awaits us. On the way our love will increase\, and on our arrival at least\, \nit will be perfected. On the way\, the road\, at first hard and difficult\, will grow \neasier and the strength of the weak will increase. The flesh of Christ is our food \nfor the journey\, his Spirit our means of conveyance. He Himself is the food; he \nhimself is the chariot and charioteer of Israel. When you arrive\, all the goods\, \nnot of Egypt but of heaven\, will be yours. There\, in the best place in the \nkingdom\, at the bidding of your Joseph you will take your rest. He who first sent \nangels\, women and apostles as witnesses and messengers of his resurrection\, \nnow cries from heaven: “Behold\, I whom you have mourned as dead these three \ndays did indeed die for you\, but see\, I live. And all power in heaven and earth \nis given unto me.” \n… \n“I am the resurrection and the life”\, Jesus said. He indeed is the first \nresurrection; he is also the second resurrection. For rising from the dead as the \nfirst fruits of those who sleep Christ both brings about for us the first \nresurrection by the mystery of his own resurrection and by the example of that \nsame resurrection will bring about for us the second. The first is that of souls\, \nwhen he raises them together with himself to newness of life; the second will be \nthat of bodies\, when he forms this humbled body of ours anew\, molding it into \nthe image of his glorified body. Christ does well then to proclaim himself the \nresurrection and the life since it is through him and into him that we rise in \norder to live according to him and with him; now according to him in holiness \nand justice\, afterwards with him in happiness and glory. \nNow the first resurrection of our Head\, the Lord Jesus Christ\, is the cause \nand the proof of the second resurrection which will be that of his whole body. \nSo also for each of us the first resurrection of the soul\, by which it comes to life \nagain from the death of sin\, is the proof and the cause of its second resurrection\, \nby which the body will be freed not only from the corruption of death but also \nfrom every tendency to corruption and death. That the one is proof of the other \nSt Paul shows clearly in the words: “If the Spirit of Christ who raised Jesus from \nthe dead dwells in you\, he will also give life to your perishable bodies on \naccount of his Spirit who dwells in you”. \n  \n3 Guerric of Igny – Liturgical Sermons – vol. II – Cistercain Publications – CF32 – Cistercian Publications – Spencer\, \nMA – 1971.7 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/easter-tuesday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240403
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240404
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240330T224246Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240330T224246Z
UID:11753-1712102400-1712188799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Easter Wednesday
DESCRIPTION:CROSS AND RESURRECTION \nAn excerpt from “On Prayer” by Hans Urs von Balthasar4 \n◊◊◊ \nHeaven…in which we can already participate\, informs our life on earth \nand gives it its meaning; and\, in like manner\, the resurrection determines our \nrelation to the cross\, setting up a second and final “soteriological” tension. We \nare Christians\, because the Lord has risen; if he had not\, our faith would be vain. \nChrist suffered for the sake of glorification and took on himself the cross\, the \nconfession of the cross\, that he might obtain absolution from the Father. We \nare not at first entitled to go with Christ on the way he walked; otherwise there \nwould be no qualitative difference between him and us; he would only be…first \namong equals\, and we could be literally called co-redeemers. But “God \ncommends his charity towards us because when as yet we were \nsinners…Christ died for us…” \n“When we were enemies\, we were reconciled to God by the death of his \nSon“. If we walk with the Son\, it is because we are carried along by the grace of \nthe redemption accomplished by him. The sentence that decided our destiny in \nprinciple was pronounced on Christ as representing all sinners. In him we were \ncrucified and condemned to death; in him justified and accepted as children of \nGod. In him\, without any action on our part\, God’s wrath against us has \nchanged into solicitous love. so then we have to bring to full reality in our \ntemporal life on earth what is already true in Christ and through him in heaven \nwith the Father. \nIn the New Testament what we have to do follows from what we are. We \nare justified\, and must act accordingly. We are dead\, buried and risen with \nChrist\, and have to live our lives in view of this. We are no longer to live to sin; \nwe are henceforth to look on the “old self”\, who is dead as dead in fact\, daily \noppose his resistance to the sentence of death\, make him die daily. \nOne might say that in order to exalt the resurrection St. Paul upsets the \nequilibrium between the old and the new… the old and the new Adam\, cross and \nresurrection\, fear and hope. From now on the first member of each pair of \nantitheses is comprised within the second; the cross\, in the Christian life\, is \nborne in the strength of the resurrection already accomplished. “In all things \nwe suffer tribulations but are not distressed. We are straitened\, but not \ndestitute. We suffer persecution\, but are not forsaken. We are cast down\, but \nwe perish not. Always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus\, \nthat the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies… \n  \n4 “Cross & Resurrection” from the book On Prayer. Hans Uns von Balthasar\, Sheed and Ward 1961\, pp. 233-234.9 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/easter-wednesday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240404
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240405
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240330T224423Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240330T224423Z
UID:11755-1712188800-1712275199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Easter Thursday
DESCRIPTION:THE BEGINNING OF GLORY \nBy Fr Karl Rahner5 \n◊◊◊ \nIf someone had already lit the fuse for a tremendous explosion\, but was \nstill waiting for the explosion which will follow with dreadful certainty\, they \ncertainly would not say that the lighting of the fuse was an event of the past. \nThe beginning of an event which is still in course of development but is moving \ninexorably and irresistibly towards its culmination\, is not past but is a kind of \npresent\, and already contains its future; it is a movement which continues by \ncomprising past and present in a…real unity. These concepts must be clear if \nwe are to attempt to say something meaningful about our Lord’s resurrection. \nEaster is not the celebration of a past event. The alleluia is not for what \nwas; Easter proclaims a beginning which has already decided the remotest \nfuture. The resurrection means that the beginning of glory has already started. \nAnd what began in that way is in process of fulfilment. Does it take long? It \nlasts thousands of years because at least that short space of time is needed for \nan incalculable plenitude of reality and history to force itself through the brief \ndeath-agony of a gigantic transformation (which we call natural history and \nworld history) to its glorious fulfilment. Everything is in movement. Nothing \nhas an abiding place here. \nWe are gradually finding out\, at least in outline\, that nature has its own \norientated history\, that nature is in movement\, that it develops and unfolds in \ntime and by an incomprehensible self-transcendence behind which there stands \nthe creative power of God\, attains every higher level of reality. We are gradually \nrealizing that human history has its purposeful course and is not merely the \neternal return of the identical… that the nations are summoned in a certain \nsequence and have each their definite historical mission; that history in its \ntotality has its pattern and an irreversible direction. \nBut what is the goal of this whole movement in nature\, history and spirit? \nIs everything advancing towards a collapse\, to meaninglessness and \nnothingness? Are we only going to lose our way? Is what happens ultimately \nonly the demonstration of the emptiness and hollowness of all things\, which are \nunmasked in the course of the history of nature and the world? Are all the \ncomedies and tragedies of this history mere play-acting which can only \ndeludedly be taken seriously while they are still going on and are not yet played \nout? \nWe Christians say that this whole history of nature and humankind has a \nmeaning\, a blessed and transfigured\, all-embracing meaning\, no longer mixed \nwith meaninglessness and darkness\, a meaning which is infinite reality and \nunity comprising all possibilities and glory in one. And when we invoke the \nabsolute meaning in this way\, we call it God. God as he is in himself is the goal \nof all history. He himself is at hand. All the streams of change in us flow \ntowards him; they are not lost in the bottomless void of nothingness and \nmeaninglessness. But when we say this\, when we declare infinity to be the \nmeaning of the finite\, eternity the meaning of time and God himself (by grace) \nto be the purport of his creature\, we are not speaking simply of a distant\, not \nyet wholly realized ideal\, which we hope vaguely may be realized one day but \nwhich for the moment and for an incalculable time is still a distant future \nexisting only in thought. No\, we say Easter\, resurrection. That means\, it has \nalready begun\, the definitive future has already started. \n  \n5 Everyday Faith. Karl Rahner. Herder & Herder 1968\, pp. 71-72.11 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/easter-thursday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240405
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240406
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240330T224628Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240330T224628Z
UID:11757-1712275200-1712361599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Easter Friday
DESCRIPTION:PRAISE THE LORD \nFrom a sermon by St Augustine6 \n◊◊◊ \nSince it is the will of our Lord that we should see you during the time the \nAlleluia is sung\, we feel that we ought to say a word to you about the Alleluia. I \ntrust I shall not bore you by reminding you of something you already know\, for \nwe delight in singing the alleluia every day. As you know\, Alleluia in our \nlanguage means “praise the Lord.” By this word we encourage one another to \npraise the Lord with one voice and one heart. Only that person can rightfully \npraise Him who is free from all that could displease Him. During this time of \nour earthly pilgrimage we sing the Alleluia for our solace on the journey. Now \nthe Alleluia is our pilgrim’s song on the way to the resting place of our true \ncountry\, where all our striving must be left behind and only the song of Alleluia \nwill endure. \nWhat great happiness the virtue of hope engenders in us! But what will \nthe realization itself be like? We hunger and we thirst and it is necessary that \nwe have our fill. Yet now on the pilgrimage there is famine and only in the \nheavenly home will there be plenty. When\, then\, are we to be satisfied? “I shall \nbe satisfied when your glory shall appear.” But now the glory of our God\, the \nglory of our Christ is hidden\, and along with it our glory\, too\, lies concealed. But \n“when Christ shall appear\, who is your life\, then you also shall appear with \nhim in glory.” Then the Alleluia will be a thing of reality; now it is simply a \nmatter of hope. Now it is hope that sings Alleluia\, and love also\, of course. Then \nit will be love\, too\, that will sing Alleluia\, however a love that will know \nfulfillment\, whereas now it is a love that remains unsatisfied. \nWhat is the Alleluia\, my brothers and sisters? I have already told you that \nit is the praise of God. Now when you hear the word\, you take delight in its very \nsound\, and in this delight you are already rendering homage. If now you love \nthe drop of dew\, how much more will you love the rushing fountain itself? If \nfaith now prompts us to render praise\, how much more will the vision of the \nreality intensify our praise? \nSince in the life to come we shall lack nothing\, for that very reason we \nshall be happy. We shall be fully satisfied – but with God. He will take the place \nof all that we so ardently desired here on earth. Do you now have a craving for \nfood? God will be your food in the life to come. Do you now yearn for fleshly \ncaresses? “But it is good for me to adhere to my God.” Is your heart set on riches \nhere? How will it be possible for you to lack anything when you are going to \npossess Him who is the Creator of everything? To strengthen your assurance\, \nlet me quote the words of the apostle\, who says of the future life: “That God may \nbe all in all. \n  \n6 Selected Easter Sermons of Saint Augustine. Commentary by Philip T. Weller. B. Herder Book Co. St. Louis\, MO. \n1959. p. 127.13 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/easter-friday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240406
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240407
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240330T224747Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240330T224747Z
UID:11759-1712361600-1712447999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Easter Saturday
DESCRIPTION:THE FRATERNAL CITY OF GOD \nBy Maertens & Frisque7 \n◊◊◊ \nFaith in the paschal mystery makes the world appear as an enormous \nedifice under construction! All are called\, in Jesus Christ\, to take their part in \nthe building up of the fraternal city of God. This is a gigantic labour which \ndemands the co-operation of all peoples and all cultures. Christ planted once \nand for all the seed of true salvation-history; this seed was his own life as \nhuman\, lived with perfect fidelity unto death on the cross\, a life whose \nsignificance is eternal because it was that of the Son. Beginning with this unique \nseed\, the process of growth must continue until the Body of Christ has attained \nits perfect stature. This slow growth of the Kingdom here on earth – where the \nKingdom takes shape without manifesting itself as such – progressively \nconcerns humanity and the entire creation. \nTo the degree to which he takes part in the mission\, the Christian will \nnecessarily experience those “tribulations” of which St. Paul often speaks. How \ncan they be avoided? The Kingdom is not constructed without a constant \npassage from death to life\, and this work of love inevitably provokes the fierce \nresistance of the wisdom of this world. But\, like St. Paul\, the Christian “is \noverjoyed amid all afflictions“\, because he knows that through them the final \ncity is being built. \nChristian hope is no longer the hope of Judaic person. For Israel\, the \nKingdom was not a thing to be built; it would appear fully achieved\, so to speak. \nThe Christian lives a hope in the dynamism of a task to be accomplished: the \nmission. The accomplishment will not come until the gospel has been preached \nto all the nations. But what does such a proclamation involve? It is a matter of \nimplanting the mystery of Christ in time and space so that the light of Easter \nmay effectively illumine the spiritual journey of all the peoples and cultures of \nthe earth. This is a very long enterprise\, because no sector of human life \nremains foreign to it. After twenty centuries\, we are only beginning to measure \nthe very close connection that exists between the mission of the Church and the \nhistory of humanity. St. Paul believed that the universal mission was a task he \ncould undertake himself – at least he thought so for a time! Today\, we have not \nfinished discovering its whole amplitude. \n  \n7Guide for the Christian Assembly. T. Maertens & J. Frisque. Biblica\, Belgium\, 1965\, pp. 119-120.15 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/easter-saturday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240407
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240408
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240406T205219Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240406T205219Z
UID:11766-1712448000-1712534399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n2nd Week of Easter\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nApril 7 – 13\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n7\nMon\n8\nTue\n9\nWed\n10\nThu\n11\nFri\n12\nSat\n13\n\n\nOffice\n2nd Sunday of Easter\nAnnunciation of the Lord\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\nSt Stanislaus\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nCol 3:1-17\n1 Chron 17:1-15\nActs 5:17-42\nActs 6:1-15\nActs 7:1-16\nActs 7:17-43\nActs 7:44-8:3\n\n\nLauds\nRev 3:1-6\nWis 9:1-12\nRev 4:6-11\nRev 5:6-10\nRev 6:1-4\nRev 6:9-11\nRev 7:1-8\n\n\nMass\n44\n545\n268\n269\n270\n271\n272\n\n\n1st\nActs 4:32-35\nIsa 7:10-14; 8:10\nActs 4:32-37\nActs 5:17-26\nActs 5:27-33\nActs 5:34-42\nActs 6:1-7\n\n\n2nd\n1 John 5:1-6\nHeb 10:4-10\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 20:19-31\nLuke 1:26-38\nJohn 3:7b-15\nJohn 3:16-21\nJohn 3:31-36\nJohn 6:1-15\nJohn 6:16-21\n\n\nVespers\nRev 3:7-13\nHeb 2:11-18\nRev 5:1-5\nRev 5:11-14\nRev 6:5-8\nRev 6:12-17\nRev 7:9-12
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-66/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240407
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240408
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240406T205409Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240406T205409Z
UID:11768-1712448000-1712534399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 2nd Sunday of Easter
DESCRIPTION:BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN\, \nAND YET BELIEVE \nFrom a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria1 \n◊◊◊ \nThomas’s profession of faith came swiftly when\, eight days after he had \ndeclared his unwillingness to believe\, Christ showed him his side and the nail \nmarks in his hands and removed every possible doubt. \nOur Lord Jesus Christ had miraculously entered the room when the doors \nwere closed. As this would have been impossible for an ordinary earthly body \nhe reassured Thomas\, and through him\, the other disciples\, by letting him see \nhis side and the wounds in his flesh. \nOnly Thomas is reported to have said: Unless my hands touch the marks \nof the nails and I see them\, and unless I put my hand into his side\, I will not \nbelieve\, yet to some extent all the disciples were guilty of disbelief. Doubt \nremained in their minds even after they had told Thomas that they had seen the \nLord. St. Luke’s account says that while they were amazed\, torn between joy \nand disbelief\, Christ said to them\, “Have you anything to eat?” They gave him \na piece of broiled fish and part of a honeycomb\, which he took and ate before \ntheir eyes. This surely proves that it was not only in the mind of blessed Thomas \nthat disbelieving thoughts still lurked\, but in the minds of the other disciples as \nwell. It was their very astonishment that made them slow to believe\, but when \nit became impossible to disbelieve what they could see with their own eyes\, \nblessed Thomas made his profession of faith: My Lord and My God. \nJesus said to him: ‘Because you have seen me\, Thomas\, you have \nbelieved. Blessed are those who have not seen\, and yet believe.” There was a \nwonderful providence behind these words of the Savior\, and they can be of very \ngreat help to us. They show once again how much he cares for our souls\, for he \nis good and as Scripture says: He wants everyone to be saved and to come to \nknowledge of the truth. Even so\, this saying of his may surprise us. \nAs always\, Christ had to be patient with Thomas when he said he would \nnot believe\, and with the other disciples too when they thought they were seeing \na ghost. Because of his desire to convince the whole world\, he most willingly \nshowed them the marks of the nails and the wound in his side\, because he \nwished those who needed such signs as a support for their faith to have no \npossible reason to doubt\, he even took food although he had no need for it. \nBut when anyone accepts what he has not seen\, believing on the word of \nhis teacher\, the faith by which he honors the one his teacher proclaims to him \nis worthy of great praise. Blessed\, therefore\, is everyone who believes the \nmessage of the holy apostles who\, as Luke says\, were eyewitnesses to Christ’s \nactions and ministers of the word. If we desire eternal life and long for a \ndwelling place in heaven\, we must listen to them. \n  \n1 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – NY -1994 – pg. 51.3 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-2nd-sunday-of-easter/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240408
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240409
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240406T205535Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240406T205535Z
UID:11770-1712534400-1712620799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Annunciation of the Lord
DESCRIPTION:THIS KIND WORD \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny2 \n◊◊◊ \nIt is indeed a kind word\, a reliable word in which you can believe\, this \ngospel of our salvation which the angel sent by God announced to Mary on this \nday. It is a joyful word which day utters unto day\, the angel to the virgin\, \nconcerning the incarnation of the Word. It promises a son to the Virgin\, and at \nthe same time pardon to sinners\, redemption to captives\, release to the \nimprisoned\, life to those in the grave. In foretelling the Son’s kingdom and \nannouncing the glory of the righteous\, it makes hell fearful and gives joy to \nheaven. By the revelation of these mysteries and by the new joys it brings them\, \nit seems to have increased the perfection of the angels. \nIs there an afflicted person who would not be cheered by this kind word\, \nor anyone whose lowliness it would not console? Remember your word to your \nservant by which you gave me hope\, sang David. It was this which consoled \nme when I was brought low. He received only a promise\, a word which did not \nshow any sign of coming true. The delay in the fulfillment of his desire \ndistressed him\, but he took comfort by hoping firmly in the good faith of the \none who had made the promise. If David could sustain his spirit with just the \nhope of the salvation which was being kept for us\, with what joy and delight \nought we not to greet its realization? \nBlessed are the mourners because they will be comforted\, blessed those \nwhose hearts are afflicted by a holy grief because they shall be gladdened by a \nkind word. Clearly the kind word which consoles is your all-powerful Word\, O \nLord\, which came today from the heavenly throne into the womb of a virgin. \nThere\, too\, he made a royal throne\, and from there he consoles those who \nmourn on earth even while he sits as king surrounded by the hosts of angels in \nheaven. \n  \n2 A Word in Season – vol/ IV – Augustinian Press p 1991 – pg 52.5 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-annunciation-of-the-lord-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240409
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240410
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240406T205721Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240406T205721Z
UID:11772-1712620800-1712707199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE REDEMPTION OF OUR BODIES \nFrom a sermon by Ronald Knox3 \n◊◊◊ \nI am content to think of my present body as merely the inadequate symbol \nof that body which will be mine in eternity. A symbol\, yes; but we must remind \nourselves again\, it isn’t merely a kind of book token\, entitling me to the \npossession of a body in eternity; it is rather a kind of cloak-room ticket\, entitling \nme to the possession of my body in eternity. Our Lord’s Resurrection meant \nan empty tomb; our Lord’s Ascension meant\, presumably\, the disappearance \nfrom earth of a certain quantum of matter which had previously been part of \nearth. If it is going to be possible to establish identity between that body of \nyours which will lie in the cemetery\, and that body of yours which will\, we hope\, \nattain the enjoyment of heaven\, aren’t we going to land ourselves in rather \ndifficult physical speculations to account for it? …What is certain is that the \nthing\, whatever it is\, which expresses itself here and now in terms of a mass of \nmatter about six feet high\, will persist\, although it may be expressed in quite \ndifferent terms\, in that order of creation\, whatever it be\, which will succeed \nwhen the material creation itself has passed away. \nThe practical importance of that truth for us is\, I take it\, that as Christians \nwe are bound to think of our bodies as part of ourselves\, as included not only in \nthe scheme of our creation but in the scheme of our redemption\, as having…a \nsupernatural importance\, and as demanding reverence in our treatment of \nthem. We look forward\, as St Paul says\, to the redemption of our bodies; they \nare not encumbrances which we drag about with us\, they are first-fruits of \neternity\, entrusted to our keeping… \nIf you lean towards Eastern spiritualism\, you will find yourself talking\, \nlike the man in that poem of Lyall’s\, about your body as if it were something \nthat didn’t matter; it “is a garment no more fitting\, is a tent that I am quitting\, \nis a snare\, from which at last\, like a hawk\, my soul hath passed“. If you lean \ntowards Western materialism\, you will find yourself talking about your body as \nif it were the only thing that mattered\, like that poem of Housman’s\, “The \nImmortal Part”\, which ends up: “And leave with endless night alone the \nsteadfast and enduring bone“. If you avoid both those excesses\, you will find \nyourself talking like Thomas a’ Kempis: \nAh\, frail body\, earth forsaking\, \nIn what glory wilt thou rise\, \nPassing fair in thy remaking\, \nStrong and whole and swift and wise\, \nFree\, and joy in freedom taking\, \nFramed for life that never dies! \nUp\, and stir thee\, onward spur thee; \nWhat\, though toil be hard to bear\, \nIf God’s grace shall count thee worthy \nThose unguessed rewards to share? \nBrief the pains that shall prefer thee \nTo eternal glory there \n  \n3 University Sermons\, Ronald Knox. Palm Publishers\, 1963. p.299\, 301-2.7 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-175/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240410
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240411
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240406T205845Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240406T210151Z
UID:11774-1712707200-1712793599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE DWELLING-PLACES \nOF OUR FOREFATHERS \nFrom a sermon by St John Henry Newman4 \n◊◊◊ \nThe Churches which we inherit are not the purchase of wealth nor the \ncreation of genius\, they are the fruits of martyrdom. They come of high deeds \nand sufferings\, as long before their very building as we are after it. Their \nfoundations are laid very deep\, even in the preaching of Apostles\, and the \nconfession of Saints\, and the first victories of the Gospel in our land. All that is \nso noble in their architecture\, all that captivates the eye and makes its way to \nthe heart\, is not a human imagination\, but a divine gift\, a moral result\, a \nspiritual work. \nThe Cross is ever planted in hazard and suffering\, and is watered with \ntears and blood. No where does it take root and bear fruit\, except its preaching \nbe with self-denial. It is easy indeed\, for the ruling powers to make a decree\, and \nset religion on high\, and extend its range\, and herald its name; but they cannot \nplant it\, they can but impose it. The Church alone can plant the Church. The \nChurch alone can found her sees\, and enclose herself within walls. None but \nsaintly men\, mortified men\, preachers of righteousness\, and confessors for the \ntruth\, can create a home for the truth in any land. Thus the Temples of God are \nwithal the monuments of his Saints\, and we call them by their names while we \nconsecrate them to his glory. Their simplicity\, grandeur\, solidity\, elevation\, \ngrace\, and exuberance or ornament\, do but bring to remembrance the patience \nand purity\, the courage\, meekness\, and great charity\, the heavenly affections\, \nthe activity in well-doing\, the faith and resignation\, of men and women who \nthemselves did but worship in mountains\, and in deserts\, and in caves and dens \nof the earth. \nThey labored\, but not in vain\, for others entered into their labor; and\, as \nif by natural consequence\, at length their word prospered after them\, and made \nitself a home\, even these sacred palaces in which it has so long dwelt and which \nare still vouchsafed to us\, in token\, as we trust\, that they too are still with us \nwho spoke that word\, and with them\, his presence\, who gave them grace to \nspeak it. \nO happy they\, who\, in a sorrowful time\, avail themselves of this bond of \ncommunion with the Saints of old and with the Universal Church! O wise and \ndutiful\, who\, when the world has robbed them of so much\, set the more account \nupon what remains! We have not lost all\, while we have the dwelling-places of \nour forefathers; while we can repair those which are broken down\, and build \nupon the old foundations\, and propagate them upon new sites! Happy they\, who \nwhen they enter within their holy limits\, enter in heart into the court of heaven! \nAnd most unhappy\, who\, while they have eyes to admire\, admire them only for \ntheir beauty’s sake\, and the skill they exhibit; who regard them as works of art\, \nnot fruits of grace; bow down before their material forms\, instead of \nworshipping “in spirit and in truth;” count their stones\, and measure their \nspaces\, but discern in them no tokens of the invisible\, no canons of truth\, no \nlessons of wisdom\, to guide them forward in the way heavenward \nIn heaven is the substance\, of which here below we are vouchsafe the \nimage; the thither\, if we be worthy\, we shall at length attain. There is the holy \nJerusalem\, whose light is like unto a stone most precious\, even like a jasper \nstone\, clear as crystal; and whose wall is great and high\, with twelve gates\, and \nan Angel at each; whose glory is the Lord God Almighty\, and the Lamb is the \nlight. \n  \n4 Parochial & Plain Sermons\, John H. Newman (Ignatius Press CA\, 1987) pp. 1348-1349.9 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-176/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240411
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240412
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240406T210042Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240406T210042Z
UID:11776-1712793600-1712879999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Stanislaus
DESCRIPTION:ST STANISLAUS \nBISHOP AND MARTYR OF CRACOW\, POLAND \nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints5 \n◊◊◊ \nStanislaus was born on July 26\, 1030 in Poland. He came of noble parents \nwho had been childless for many years until this son was granted to them in \nanswer to prayer. They devoted him from birth to the service of God\, and \nencouraged the piety he showed from childhood. He was ordained a priest \nby the Bishop of Cracow\, who gave him a canonry in the cathedral and \nsubsequently appointed him his preacher and archdeacon. The eloquence of \nthe young priest and his saintly example brought about a great reformation \nof morals among his penitents\, clergy as well as laity. Upon the death of the \nBishop\, Stanislaus was appointed Bishop by Pope Alexander II\, and was \nconsecrated Bishop in 1072. \nPoland at that time was ruled by Boleslaus\, a prince whose finer qualities \nwere eclipsed by his unbridled lust and savage cruelty. Stanislaus alone \nventured to confront the tyrant and to remonstrate with him at the scandal \nhis conduct was causing. At first the king tried to vindicate his behavior\, but \nwhen pressed more closely he made some show of repentance. The good \neffects of the admonition\, however\, soon wore off and Boleslaus relapsed \ninto his evil ways. There were acts of injustice which brought him into \nconflict with the Bishop and at length he created an outrage which caused \ngeneral indignation. \nA certain nobleman had a wife who was very beautiful. Boleslaus cast \nlustful eyes upon this lady\, and when she repelled his advances\, he caused \nher to be carried off by force and lodged in his palace. The Polish nobles \ncalled upon the Archbishop of Gnesen and the court prelates to confront the \nmonarch. But fear of offending the king closed their lips. St. Stanislaus\, \nwhen appealed to\, had no such hesitation. He went to Boleslaus and rebuked \nhim for his sin. He threatened the prince that if he persisted in his evil course \nhe would bring upon himself the censure of the Church. \nFinding all remonstrance useless\, Stanislaus launched against the king a \nformal sentence of excommunication. The tyrant professed to disregard the \nsentence\, but when he entered the cathedral of Cracow he found that the \nservices were at once suspended by order of the Bishop. Furious with rage\, \nhe pursued the Bishop to the little chapel of St. Michael outside the city\, \nwhere he was celebrating Mass\, and ordered some of his guards to enter and \nslay him. The men however returned saying they could not kill the saint as \nhe was surrounded by a heavenly light. Upbraiding them for cowardice\, the \nking himself entered the chapel and dispatched the Bishop with his own \nhand. The guards then cut the body into pieces and scattered them abroad \nto be devoured by the beasts of prey. However the sacred relics were rescued \nthree days later by the cathedral canons and privately buried at the door of \nthe chapel where Stanislaus had been slain. \nIt is not true that the action of Boleslaus led to an immediate uprising of \nthe people which drove him from Poland; but it certainly hastened his fall \nfrom power. Pope Gregory VII laid the country under an interdict\, and \nnearly two centuries later\, in 1253\, St Stanislaus was canonized by Pope \nInnocent IV. \n  \n5 Butler’s Lives of the Saints – Revised edition – edited by Michael Walsh – Harper – San \nFrancisco – 1991 – pg 109.12 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-stanislaus/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240412
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240413
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240406T210308Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240406T210308Z
UID:11779-1712880000-1712966399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:TO BE RISEN WITH CHRIST \nBy Thomas Merton6 \n◊◊◊ \nThe risen life is not easy; it is also a dying life. The presence of the \nResurrection in our lives means the presence of the Cross\, for we do not rise \nwith Christ unless we also first die with him. It is by the Cross that we enter the \ndynamism of creative transformation\, the dynamism of resurrection and \nrenewal\, the dynamism of love. The teaching of St. Paul is centered entirely on \nthe Resurrection. How many Christians really understand what St. Paul is \ntalking about when he tells us that we have “died to the Law” in order to rise \nwith Christ? How many Christians dare to believe that whoever is risen with \nChrist enjoys the liberty of the sons and daughters of God and is not bound by \nthe restrictions and taboos of human prejudice? \nTo be risen with Christ means not only that one has a choice and that one \nmay live by a higher law – the law of grace and love – but that one must do so. \nThe first obligation of the Christian is to maintain their freedom from all \nsuperstitions\, all blind taboos and religious formalities\, indeed from all empty \nforms of legalism. Read the Epistle to the Galatians again… Read it in the light \nof the Church’s summons to complete renewal. \nThe Christian must have the courage to follow Christ. The Christian who \nis risen in Christ must dare to be like Christ: one must dare to follow conscience \neven in unpopular causes. One must\, if necessary\, be able to disagree with the \nmajority and make decisions one knows to be according to the Gospel and \nteaching of Christ\, even when others do not understand why the person is acting \nthis way. \n“The followers of Christ are called by God not according to their \naccomplishments\, but according to God’s own purpose and grace.”… Too many \nChristians are not free because they submit to the domination of other people’s \nideas. They submit passively to the opinions of the crowd. For self-protection \nthey hide in the crowd\, and run along with the crowd – even when it turns into \na lynch mob. They are afraid of the aloneness\, the moral nakedness\, which they \nfeel apart from the crowd. \nBut the Christian in whom Christ is risen dares to think and act differently \nfrom the crowd. He has ideas of his own\, not because he is arrogant\, but because \nhe has the humility to stand alone and pay attention to the purpose and the \ngrace of God\, which are often quite contrary to the purposes and the plans of an \nestablished human power structure. If we have risen with Christ then we must \ndare to stand by him in the loneliness of his Passion\, when the entire \nestablishment\, both religious and civil\, turned against him as a modern state \nwould turn against a dangerous radical. In fact\, there were “dangerous radicals” \namong the Apostles. If we study the trial and execution of Jesus we find that he \nwas condemned on the charge that he was a revolutionary\, a subversive radical\, \nfighting for the overthrow of legitimate government. This was not true in the \npolitical sense. Jesus stood entirely outside of all Jewish politics\, because his \nKingdom was not of this world. And yet he was a “freedom fighter” in a different \nway. His death and resurrection were the culminating battle in his fight to \nliberate us from all forms of tyranny\, all forms of domination by anything or \nanyone except the Spirit\, the Law of Love\, the “purpose and grace” of God. \n  \n6 He is Risen. Thomas Merton. Argus Communications. 1975. p.18.14 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-177/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240413
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240414
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240406T210405Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240406T210405Z
UID:11781-1712966400-1713052799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:LET US OFFER HIM OURSELVES \nFrom a sermon by St John Chrysostom7 \n◊◊◊ \nYesterday I was crucified with Christ; today I am glorified with him. \nYesterday I died with him; today I am given life with him. Yesterday I was buried \nwith him; today I rise again with him. Today let us offer him\, not gold or silver \nor precious things\, – rather\, let us offer him ourselves\, which to God is the most \nprecious and becoming of gifts. Let us offer to His image what is made in the \nimage and likeness of the Image. And let us recognize our own dignity. Let us \ngive honor to Him in whose likeness we were made. Let us dwell upon the \nwonder of this mystery\, that we may understand for what Christ has died. \nLet us become like Christ\, since Christ became like us. Let us become \nGods because of Him\, since He for us became man. He took upon Himself a low \ndegree that He might give us a higher one. He became poor\, that through His \npoverty we might become rich. He took upon Himself the form of a servant that \nwe might be delivered from slavery. He came down that we might rise up. He \nwas tempted that we might learn to overcome. He was despised that we might \nbe given honor. He died that He might save us from death. He ascended to \nheaven that we who lie prone in sin may be lifted up to Him. \nLet each one of you give all to Him. Offer all to Him Who gave Himself in \nexchange for us\, as the price of our redemption. But should <we> come to \nunderstand this mystery in Christ\, and that what He did He has done for <us>\, \n<we> shall give nothing unless <we> give <our> own selves. For all that is His \nHe has given you. \n  \n7 The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers – vol. 2 – Henry Regnery Co – Chicago – 1958 – pg \n220.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-178/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240414
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240415
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240413T200128Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240413T200128Z
UID:11799-1713052800-1713139199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n3rd Week of Easter\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nApril 14 – 20\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n14\nMon\n15\nTue\n16\nWed\n17\nThu\n18\nFri\n19\nSat\n20\n\n\nOffice\n3rd Sunday of Easter\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nActs 8:4-25\nActs 8:26-40\nActs 9:1-22\nActs 9:23-43\nActs 10:1-33\nActs 10:34-11:4\, 18\nActs 11:19-30\n\n\nLauds\nRev 7:13-17\nRev 10:8-11\nRev 12:1-6\nRev 12:13-18\nRev 14:6-13\nRev 15:2-4\nRev 19:5-10\n\n\nMass\n47\n273\n274\n275\n276\n277\n278\n\n\n1st\nActs 3:13-15\, 17-19\nActs 6:8-15\nActs 7:51-8:1a\nActs 8:1b-8\nActs 8:26-40\nActs 9:1-20\nActs 9:31-42\n\n\n2nd\n1 John 2:1-5a\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 24:35-48\nJohn 6:22-29\nJohn 6:30-35\nJohn 6:35-40\nJohn 6:44-51\nJohn 6:52-59\nJohn 6:60-69\n\n\nVespers\nRev 8:1-5\nRev 11:15-19\nRev 12:7-12\nRev 14:1-5\nRev 14:14-16\nRev 19:1-4\nRev 19:11-16
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-67/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240414
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240415
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240413T200236Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240413T201431Z
UID:11801-1713052800-1713139199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 3rd Sunday of Easter
DESCRIPTION:THE MYSTERY OF EASTER \nAn excerpt from “The Eternal Year” by Fr Karl Rahner1 \n◊◊◊ \nTo do justice to the mystery of Easter joy with the stale words of human \nspeech is rather difficult. This is so not only because every mystery of the Gospel \npenetrates only with difficulty into the narrow confines of human life – thereby \nmaking it even harder for our words to grasp and contain and express these \nmysteries – but because the Easter message is the most human tidings of \nChristianity. That is why we find it the most difficult message to understand. \nFor what is most true\, most obvious\, and most easy\, is the most difficult to be\, \nto do\, and to believe. That is to say\, we modern people base our life on the \nunexpressed\, and therefore all the more self-evident\, prejudice that anything \n“religious” is merely an affair of the most interior heart and of the loftiest spirit \n– something that we must bring about by ourselves\, something\, therefore\, that \ninvolves the difficulties and unreality of the heart’s thoughts and moods. \nBut Easter tells us that God has done something. God himself. And his \naction has not merely gently touched the heart of one here and there\, so that \nthey tremble slightly from an ineffable and nameless someone. God has raised \nhis Son from the dead. God has quickened the flesh. God has conquered death. \nHe has done this – he has conquered – not merely in the realm of inwardness\, in \nthe realm of thought\, but in the realm where we\, the glory of the human mind \nnotwithstanding\, are most really ourselves: in the actuality of this world\, far \nfrom all “mere” thoughts and “mere” sentiments. He has conquered in the realm \nwhere we experience practically what we are in essence: children of the earth\, \nwho die. \n1 The Eternal Year\, Karl Rahner\, Baltimore: Helicon Press 1964. pp.87f.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/3rd-sunday-of-easter/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240415
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240416
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240413T200333Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240413T200333Z
UID:11803-1713139200-1713225599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:ON LOVING CHRIST \nBy St Augustine2 \n◊◊◊ \nAppearing to his disciples after the Resurrection\, Our Lord put a question \nto the Apostle Peter\, prompting him who had denied him three times out of fear \nto make a threefold profession of his love. Christ rose bodily from the dead\, \nPeter was raised spiritually. Christ our Lord rose from the dead\, and by his love \nraised Peter. What advantage was it to Christ to be loved by Peter? When Christ \nloves you\, you are the gainer\, not Christ. And when you love Christ\, again you \nstand to gain\, not Christ. \nWishing to teach all peoples how they can prove their love for him\, Christ \nour Lord made it plain that this is best proved by their concern for his sheep. \n“Do you love me” Lord\, you know that I love you. Feed my sheep.” This \nhappened not once\, but a second and third time. Our Lord asked only\, “Do you \nlove me?” He received no other answer than\, “You know that I love you.” He \ngave no other charge to Peter than “Feed my sheep”. If we love one another then \nwe also love Christ. For Christ\, God from all eternity\, was born of a human in \nthe course of time… As God in the form of human He worked many miracles. \nAs human He suffered many wrongs at the hands of humans. As God in the form \nof human He arose from the dead. As human among humans He tarried on \nearth forty days. As God in the form of human He ascended into heaven before \ntheir eyes\, and now is seated at the right hand of the Father. All this we fully \nbelieve\, although we do not see it. \n2 Selected Easter Sermons of Saint Augustine. Commentary by Philip T. Weller. B. Herder Book Co. St. Louis\, MO. \n1959. p. 169.4 \nNeither do we see Christ whom we are commanded to love\, and yet each \none of us cries out avowal: I love Christ! “If you do not love your brother or sister \nwhom you see\, how can you love God whom you do not see?” In loving the sheep \nwe prove that we love the Shepherd\, for the sheep are in truth the very members \nof the Shepherd. In order that the sheep might be his members\, He deigned to \nbecome the Lamb of God. In order that the sheep might be his members\, “He \nwas led as a sheep to the slaughter.” In order that the sheep might be his \nmembers\, it was said of him\, “Behold the Lamb of God. Behold him who takes \naway the sins of the world.” But what tremendous strength there is in this Lamb. \nWould you like to know when strength was made manifest in this Lamb? Well\, \nthe Lamb was crucified and the lion was overcome. Consider and reflect with \nwhat power the world is ruled by Christ our Lord who vanquished the devil by \nhis death. \nLet us\, then\, give him our love\, and let nothing be dearer to us than He. \nOr do you think that our Lord is not questioning us? Do you imagine that Peter \nalone deserved to be questioned\, and not ourselves? Whenever this lesson is \nread\, the heart of each and every Christian is being scrutinized. Therefore\, \nwhenever you hear the Lord saying\, “Peter\, do you love me?” visualize a mirror \nand examine your own reflection. For what else was Peter but a symbol of the \nChurch? Hence when the Lord questioned Peter\, He was questioning us.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-179/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240416
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240417
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240413T200527Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240413T200527Z
UID:11805-1713225600-1713311999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:REVEALING CHRIST’S LOVE \nBy Caryll Houselander3 \n◊◊◊ \nChrist never forced his love on anyone. Though he is perfection\, he never \nallowed himself to dominate the will and mind of another with his own. He \ndesired love that would be communion\, closer than human marriage\, closer \nthan the life of a mother to her unborn child\, an unimaginable communion of \nlove\, but all were to come to it through their own experience\, in their own way; \neven\, by a positive miracle of mercy\, through their own sorrow for their sins. \nThe impulse was to begin for each one in their own heart. It was never a \nviolation of the individual soul; instead\, a gentle\, almost imperceptible\, \nmovement of inward life. It could be likened to the quickening of the seed in \nthe earth\, when the warmth and light of the sun which is burning in heaven \ncomes down through the darkness and enters into it\, and the tender green shoot \npushes up towards the light\, compelled by the very sun that is so far away\, and \nyet is within it. \nMost people who want to know God and who are outside the Church have \njust one thing that is precious to them\, though to us with our clear-cut \ndefinitions\, our discipline\, and our sacraments\, it may seem so vague that it is \nhard for us to realize how much it means to them. This is their personal \napproach to God. Very often it seems to be hardly that at all\, so vague is it\, so \nclosely does it lean to sentimentality. It may be simply a memory of childhood\, \nor a stirring of the heart to God on seeing the first wild spray of blossoms that \nproclaim the spring\, or the stirring of the spirit when a certain familiar hymn is \nheard. But it is surely an indication of that individual’s approach to God and of \nhis approach to them\, and it is as sweet to them as it would be to a blind man if\, \nreaching out in darkness\, he touched the garment hem of Christ. \nChrist’s example shows us so clearly and simply how to practice his \nobjective love\, how to learn what is in the hearts of others. First we must realize \neveryone separately and approach each one differently. There are those who \ncome to him through their minds\, through study\, and through considering the \nproblems of today\, suffering above all. \nSometimes the revelation is secret\, and is made through reparation\, \nthrough gladly bearing the wounds of sin\, our own and the world’s\, inwardly\, \nand offering our suffering and sorrow in Christ’s to redeem the world and bring \npeace and the forgiveness of sins. By this means it is that Christ in us still passes \nthrough the locked doors of other lives\, of closed minds\, and frightened hearts. \n  \n3 The Risen Christ. Caryll Houselander\, Sheed & Ward\, New York\, 1958\, pp. 38-49.6 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-180/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240417
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240418
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240413T200652Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240413T200652Z
UID:11807-1713312000-1713398399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE \nBy St John Henry Newman4 \n◊◊◊ \nJesus Christ says\, “As the Father has life in Himself\, so has He given also \nto the Son to have life in Himself;” and afterwards He says\, “Because I live\, you \nalso shall live.” It would seem then\, that as Adam is the author of death to the \nwhole human race\, so is Christ the origin of immortality. When Adam ate the \nforbidden fruit\, it was as a poison spreading through his whole nature\, soul and \nbody\, and from there through every one of his descendants. We are told \nexpressly “in Adam all die.” We are born heirs to that infection of nature which \nfollowed upon his fall. \nBut we are also told\, “As in Adam all die\, even so in Christ shall all be \nmade alive;” and the same law of God’s providence is maintained in both cases. \nAdam spreads poison; Christ diffuses life eternal. Christ communicates life to \nus\, one by one\, by means of that holy and incorrupt nature which He assumed \nfor our redemption. Therefore St. Paul says that “the last Adam was made” not \nmerely “a living soul\,” but “a quickening” or life-giving “Spirit”\, as being “the \nLord from heaven.” Let us not doubt\, though we do not sensibly approach Him\, \nthat He can still give us the virtue of His purity and incorruption\, as He has \npromised\, and in a more heavenly and spiritual manner than “in the days of His \nflesh;” in a way which does not remove merely the ailments of the body\, but \nsows the seed of eternal life in body and soul. \nLet us not deny Him the glory of His life-giving holiness\, that quickening \ngrace which is the renovation of our whole race\, a spirit quick and powerful and \npiercing\, so as to leaven the whole mass of human corruption and make it live. \nHe is the first-fruits of the Resurrection: we follow Him each in our own order\, \nas we are hallowed by His inward presence. And in this sense\, among others\, \nChrist\, in the Scripture phrase\, is “formed in us;” that is\, communication is \nmade to us of His new nature\, which sanctifies the soul\, and makes the body \nimmortal. \nSuch then is our risen Savior in Himself and towards us: — conceived by \nthe Holy Spirit; holy from the womb; dying\, but abhorring corruption; rising \nagain the third day by His own inherent life; exalted as the Son of God and Son \nof man\, to raise us after Him; and filling us incomprehensibly with His \nimmortal nature\, till we become like Him; filling us with a spiritual life which \nmay expel the poison of the tree of knowledge and restore us to God. How \nwonderful a work of grace! Strange it was that Adam should be our death\, but \nstranger still and very gracious\, that God Himself should be our life\, by means \nof that human tabernacle which He has taken on Himself. \n  \n4 Parochial and Plain Sermons. John Henry Newman. Ignatius Press. San Francisco. 1987. p.316.8 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-181/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240418
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240419
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240413T200902Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240413T200902Z
UID:11809-1713398400-1713484799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:OUR CORRUPTIBLE AND MORTAL BODY \nby Pope St Leo the Great5 \n◊◊◊ \nThough we once knew Christ according to the flesh\, we now do so no \nlonger. The resurrection of the Lord did not mean the end of his flesh\, but its \ntransformation\, and his bodily substance was not consumed by its increase in \npower. The quality changed\, but the nature did not pass away. What could die \nbecame immortal\, what could be harmed became incorruptible. And so he says \ncorrectly that he no longer knows the body of Christ in its former state\, because \nthere remains nothing in it subject to suffering or to weakness. It remains \nessentially human\, but surpasses itself through the glory of the resurrection. It \nis not surprising that Paul says this of the body of Christ\, when he says about \nChristians who live according to the Spirit\, From now on\, we know no one \naccording to the flesh. From now on\, he says\, resurrection in Christ has begun \nin us; from Christ who died for all comes the shape of all our hope. We do not \nhold back through diffidence\, nor are we held in suspense through uncertainty: \nwe have received the beginnings of what we are promised\, and see already with \nthe eyes of faith the things that will be ours. Rejoicing in the lifting up of our \nnature\, we possess already all that we believe. \nTherefore\, let us not be taken up by the appearances of things that pass\, \nnor let things which are merely of this earth turn our thoughts from the things \nof heaven. Let us take as passing those things which have even now scarcely \nany reality; and with our minds intent on those that endure\, let us fix our desire \nthere where what is offered is eternal. For though we are saved only in hope\, \nand carry with us still our corruptible and mortal body\, yet we rightly claim to \nbe no longer in the flesh if carnal passions do not rule us: rightly do we disclaim \nallegiance to something which no longer holds us in its power. And so when the \nApostle says: “Make no provision for the flesh\, to follow its desires\, we \nunderstand that he has not forbidden those things consistent with our bodily \nhealth\, or those demanded by human weakness. But in that we are not to cater \nto all our desires\, or fulfill all that the flesh covets\, we recognize that he has \nwarned us to observe a certain measure of temperance\, that the flesh\, which is \ncreated subject to the soul\, is not given too much\, nor is denied what is \nnecessary. \n  \n5 Sermo de Resurrectione Domini I. –nn 4-5; SC\, Vol 74\, pp 125-126.10 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-182/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240419
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240420
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240413T201117Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240413T201117Z
UID:11811-1713484800-1713571199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE CRUCIAL CHALLENGE \nOF OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH \nBy Thomas Merton \n◊◊◊ \nThe season of Lent summoned us to change our hearts\, to effect in \nourselves the Christian metanoia. But at the same time Lent has reminded us \nperhaps all too clearly of our own powerlessness to change our lives in any way. \nLent in the liturgical year plays the role of the Law\, the pedagogue\, who \nconvinces us of sin and inflicts upon us the crushing evidence of our own \nnothingness. Hence it disquiets and sobers us\, awakening in us perhaps some \nsense of that existential “dread” of the creature whose freedom suspends him \nover an abyss which may be an infinite meaninglessness\, and unbounded \ndespair. This is the fruit of that Law which judges our freedom together with its \npowerlessness to impose full meaning on our lives merely by conforming to a \nmoral code. Is there nothing more than this? \nBut now the power of Easter has burst upon us with the resurrection of \nChrist. Now we find in ourselves a strength which is not our own\, and which is \nfreely given to us whenever we need it\, raising us above the Law\, giving us a new \nlaw which is hidden in Christ: the law of his merciful love for us. Now we no \nlonger strive to be good because we have to\, because it is a duty\, but because our \njoy is to please him who has given all his love to us! Now our life is full of \nmeaning. \nEaster is the hour of our own deliverance–from what? Precisely from \nLent and from its hard Law which accuses and judges our infirmity. We are no \nlonger under the Law. We are delivered from the harsh judgment! Here is all \nthe greatness and all the unimaginable splendor of the Easter mystery. Here is \nthe “grace” of Easter which we fail to lay hands on because we are afraid to \nunderstand its full meaning. To understand Easter and live it\, we must \nrenounce our dread of newness and of freedom! \nDeath exercises a twofold power in our lives: it holds us by sin\, and it \nholds us by the Law. To die to death and live a new life in Christ we must die \nnot only to sin but also to the Law. \nEvery Christian knows that he must die to sin. But the great truth that St \nPaul exhausted himself to preach in season and out is a truth that we Christians \nhave barely grasped\, a truth that has got away from us\, that constantly eludes \nus and has continued to do so for twenty centuries. We cannot get it into our \nheads what it means to be no longer slaves of the Law. And the reason is that \nwe do not have the courage to face this truth which contains in itself the crucial \nchallenge of our Christian faith\, the great reality that makes Christianity \ndifferent from every other religion. \n  \n6 New York: Farrar\, Straus & Giroux\, 1965\, pp. 145-146.12 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-183/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240420
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240421
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240413T201333Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240413T201333Z
UID:11813-1713571200-1713657599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE REALITY OF THE RESURRECTION \nBy Bruce Vawter \n◊◊◊ \nIn biblical faith the resurrection is something; something did occur to \naccount for the appearances of Jesus after his death. It is not to retreat into \nobscurity or equivocation to confess that we have no better way of defining that \nsomething than to call it resurrection. We cannot define what is indefinable in \nterms of human experience; we can only describe it in some fashion by the use \nof the pictures we call analogies. The picture we use following the New \nTestament precedent to describe both what God effected in Christ and\, with it \nas the proleptic example\, what its faith promises to all who share in God’s \nkingdom\, is mythical to the extent that\, taken in all literalness\, it might equally \nwell serve to describe the resuscitation of a corpse\, which the New Testament \ndoes not intend to do… \nPaul…for all his insistence on the resurrection as a reality\, did not think \nof it as a resurrection of dead flesh: “Perhaps someone will say\, ‘How are the \ndead to be raised up? What kind of body will they have?’ A nonsensical question! \nThe seed you sow does not germinate unless it dies. When you sow\, you do not \nsow the full-blown plant but a kernel of wheat or some other grain. God gives \nbody to it as he pleases — to each seed its own fruition… So is it with the \nresurrection of the dead. \nPaul admittedly tells us more about what\, in his view\, the resurrection is \nnot than what it is\, but at the same time he tells us enough to dissuade us from \ndismissing lightly the testimony of his senses\, which he joined to the witness of \nhis tradition. Here was a man quite conscious of the validity of what are \nsometimes thought to be modern and scientific objections to the idea of \nresurrection; a man convinced that something had occurred that he could only \ncall resurrection while regretting the inadequacy of the concept. Paul was as \nprepared as anyone today for demythologizing\, but he was not prepared to \ndisallow any fact out of his inability to explain it. Rather than deny the fact\, he \npreferred to retain the myth with all its attendant ambiguities. \n  \n7 This Man Jesus\, Bruce Vawter. Doubleday & Co. 1973. p.48-9.14. \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-184/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240421
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240422
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240421T003851Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240421T003851Z
UID:11817-1713657600-1713743999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema: Fourth Week in Easter
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n4th Week of Easter\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nApril 21 – 27\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n21\nMon\n22\nTue\n23\nWed\n24\nThu\n25\nFri\n26\nSat\n27\n\n\nOffice\n4th Sunday of Easter\nBl Maria Gabriella\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\nSt Mark\nEaster Weekday\nSt Rafael Arnaiz Baron\n\n\nVigils\nActs 12:1-23\nActs 12:24-13:14a\nActs 13:14b-43\nActs13:44-14:7\n1 Thess 2:1-13\nActs 15:5-35\nActs 15:36-16:15\n\n\nLauds\nRev 19:19-21\nRev 20:11-15\nRev 21:5-8\nRev 21:15-21\nSir 51:13-22\nRev 22:14-21\nEph 1:11-14\n\n\nMass\n50\n279\n280\n281\n555\n283\n284\n\n\n1st\nActs 4:8-12\nActs 11:1-18\nActs 11:19-26\nActs 12:24-13:5a\n1 Pet 5:5b-14\nActs 13:26-33\nActs 13:44-52\n\n\n2nd\n1 John 3:1-2\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 10:11-18\nJohn 10:1-10\nJohn 10:22-30\nJohn 12:44-50\nMark 16:15-20\nJohn 14:1-6\nJohn 14:7-14\n\n\nVespers\nRev 20:4-6\nRev 21:1-4\nRev 21:9-14\nRev 21:22-27\n2 Tim 4:1-11\nEph 1:1-10\nEph 1:15-23
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-fourth-week-in-easter/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240421
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240422
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240421T004555Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240421T004555Z
UID:11819-1713657600-1713743999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:4th Sunday in Easter
DESCRIPTION:THE SHEPHERD OF OUR SOULS\nFrom a sermon by St John Henry Newman1\n◊◊◊\nOur Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been\nforetold by the Prophets. “David My servant shall be king over them” says\nAlmighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: “and they all shall have one Shepherd.”\nAnd in the book of Zechariah\, “Awake\, O sword\, against My shepherd\, and\nagainst the man that is My fellow\, says the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd\,\nand the sheep shall be scattered.” And in like manner St. Peter speaks of our\nreturning “to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.” \n“The good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” In those countries of\nthe East where our Lord appeared\, the office of a shepherd is not only a lowly\nand simple office\, and an office of trust\, as it is with us\, but\, moreover\, an office\nof great hardship and of peril. Our flocks are exposed to no enemies\, such as\nour fidelity to the sheep by encounters with fierce beasts of prey. The hireling\nshepherd is not tried. But where our Lord dwelt in the days of His flesh it was\notherwise. There it was true that the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep\n– “but he that is a hireling\, and whose own the sheep are not\, sees the wolf\ncoming\, and leaves the sheep\, and flees\, and the wolf catches them and scatters\nthe sheep. The hireling flees\, because he is a hireling\, and cares not for the\nsheep.” \nOur Lord found the sheep scattered; or\, as He had said shortly before\, “All\nthat ever came before Me are thieves and robbers;” and in consequence the\nsheep had no guide. “When Christ came and saw the multitudes He was moved\nwith compassion on them because they fainted\, and were scattered abroad as\nsheep having no shepherd.” \nSo was it all over the world when Christ came in His infinite mercy “to\ngather in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.” And though for\na moment\, when in the conflict with the enemy the good Shepherd had to lay\ndown His life for the sheep\, they were left without a guide\, yet He soon rose\nfrom death to live for ever\, and said\, “He that scattered Israel will gather him\,\nas a shepherd does his flock.” And as He says Himself in the parable before us\,\n“He called His own sheep and they follow Him for they know His voice.” So\,\non His resurrection\, while Mary wept\, He did call her by her name\, and she\nturned herself and knew Him by the ear whom she had not known by the eye.\nSo\, too\, He said\, “Simon\, son of Jonas\, do you love me?” And He added\, “Follow\nMe.” And so again He and His Angel told the women\, “Behold He goes before\nyou into Galilee… go tell My brethren\, that they go into Galilee\, and there shall\nthey see me.” \n1 Plain and Parochial Sermons. John Cardinal Henry Newman\, Ignatius Press\, 1987\, 00. 1686-87.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/4th-sunday-in-easter/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240422
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240423
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240421T005041Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240421T005041Z
UID:11821-1713744000-1713830399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Bl Maria Gabriella
DESCRIPTION:MY ONLY DESIRE IS TO LOVE\nFrom the final letter of Blessed Maria Gabriella to her mother 2\n◊◊◊\nI do not want you to get ideas and begin to pray for my recovery. Pray\ninstead that the Lord will do with me whatever is to his greater glory… I am\nalways content to do the will of God\, whatever it might be\, for that is my joy\, my\nhappiness\, my peace… Remain firm in your dispositions of abandonment to the\nwill of God and bless him always for whatever he chooses to do with me. Forget\nthat I am sick and think only about the Lord: thank him and bless him for the\ngraces and the gifts he has given me. \nI feel that I love my Spouse with all my heart\, but I would like to love him\neven more. I would like to love him for those who do not love him\, for those who\nscorn him\, for those who offend him. In short\, my only desire is to love. \nMy happiness is great and no one can take it from me. It is greater than\nthat enjoyed by rich people in their mansions who\, while they enjoy themselves\,\nperhaps have death in their hearts. There is no happiness greater than being\nable to suffer something for Jesus and for the salvation of souls… You must be\nhappy as well\, mother\, and thank the Lord for this grace which he has given to\nyou and to me… I want you all to be as happy as I am… Resign yourselves and\nrejoice\, all of you\, in the Lord. \nDo not think that I am not well cared for—on the contrary\, I am taken\ncare of hand and foot. The Reverend Mother is so good that she does not spare\nherself anything in order to give me every possible assistance… No mother’s\nheart could outdo her in the love and attention she demonstrates towards me.\nI thank the Lord\, and will thank and bless him always for all he has done for me\nand for you\, but I feel that I will never be able to thank him enough. \n2\nfrom Martha Driscoll\, OCSO\, The Silent Herald of Unity\, Kalamazoo\, MI: Cistercian Publications\, 1990\, pp. 99-\n100.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/bl-maria-gabriella/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240423
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240424
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240421T005311Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240421T005311Z
UID:11823-1713830400-1713916799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Easter Weekday
DESCRIPTION:JESUS IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST\nFrom the Spiritual Autobiography of St Charles de Foucauld 3\n◊◊◊\nLord Jesus\, you are in the Holy Eucharist. You are there\, a yard away in the\ntabernacle. Your body\, your soul\, your human nature\, your divinity\, your whole\nbeing is there\, in its twofold nature. How close you are\, my God\, my Saviour\, my\nJesus\, my Brother\, my Spouse\, my Beloved! \nYou were not nearer to the Blessed Virgin during the nine months she\ncarried you in her womb than you are to me when you rest on my tongue at Holy\nCommunion. You were no closer to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph in the caves\nat Bethlehem or the house at Nazareth or during the flight into Egypt\, or at any\nmoment of that divine family life than you are to me at this moment – and so many\nothers – in the tabernacle. St. Mary Magdalene was no closer to you when she sat\nat your feet at Bethany than I am here at the foot of this altar. You were no nearer\nto your apostles when you were sitting in the midst of them than you are to me\nnow\, my God. How blessed I am! \nIt is wonderful\, my Lord\, to be alone in my cell and converse there with you\nin the silence of the night – and you are there as God\, and by your grace. But to\nstay in my cell when I could be before the Blessed Sacrament – why\, it would be as\nthough St. Mary Magdalene had left you on your own when you were at Bethany\nto go and think about you alone in her room! It is a precious and devout thing\, O\nGod\, to go and kiss the places you made holy during your life on earth – the stones\nof Gethsemane and Calvary\, the ground along the Way of Sorrows\, the waves of\nthe sea of Galilee – but to prefer it to your tabernacle would be to desert the Jesus\nliving beside me\, to leave him alone\, going away alone to venerate the dead stones\nin places where he is no longer. It would be to leave… the Jesus living at my side\nto go into another room to greet his portrait… \nWherever the sacred Host is to be found\, there is the living God\, there is your\nSaviour\, as really as when he was living and talking in Galilee and Judea\, as really\nas he now is in heaven. Never deliberately miss Holy Communion. Communion is\nmore than life\, more than all the good things of this world\, more than the whole\nuniverse: it is God himself… \n3 St Charles de Foucauld. Spiritual Autobiography of Charles de Foucauld. Ed. JeanFranҫois Six. Trans. J. Holland Smith. New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons\, 1964. 98-99.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/easter-weekday-6/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240424
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240425
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240421T005841Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240421T005841Z
UID:11825-1713916800-1714003199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Easter Weekday
DESCRIPTION:THE NEW AGE OF THE RESURRECTION\nBy Thomas Merton 4\n◊◊◊\nThe “new life\,” the life of the Spirit\, life “in Christ\,” is communicated to\nthe human spirit by the invisible Mission of the Holy Spirit — a direct\nconsequence of the Resurrection of Jesus. Therefore the “new creation”\ninstituted by the second Adam is in fact a prolongation of his Resurrection.\nThe new world which is called the Kingdom of God\, the world in which God\nreigns in us by his divine Spirit\, the world of the Second Adam is\, in fact\, the\nEon of the Resurrection — the new age that begins to dawn with the rising of\nChrist from the dead\, which reaches out to touch\, with the pure spiritual light\nof that dawning\, each soul newly incorporated into the Risen Christ\, until all\nthe elect are gathered together in him and the Kingdom is openly and\ndefinitively established without question and without opposition in the\ngeneral resurrection of all the dead.\n“If\,” says St Paul\, “by reason of the one man’s offense death reigned\nthrough the one man\, much more will they who receive the abundance of\ngrace …reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.” That is exactly the Pauline\nconcept of the Kingdom of God — a Kingdom of superabundant spiritual life\,\nin which the saints “reign in life through the one Christ.” \nTo reign in life is to have domination and autonomy by union with God\nas the source of life. It is to have and enjoy the sublime liberty of the children\nof God\, the freedom of the Spirit by which Christ has come to make us free.\nThe early Church was entirely penetrated with this doctrine of liberation\,\nplenitude and life. Wherever the authentic Christian spirit has prevailed\, it\nhas always been marked by this same perfect liberty and vitality in the Spirit.\nFor always and everywhere the Spirit of Christ teaches this message to those\nwho are his own: “For whoever are led by the Spirit of God\, they are the\nchildren of God. Now you have not received a spirit of bondage so as to be\nagain in fear\, but you have received a spirit of adoption\, by virtue of which\nwe cry\, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself gives testimony to our spirit that\nwe are the children of God.” \nIn this view of Christ’s role as second Adam\, establishing the final\nvictory of life over death\, we are still confronted with the ideas of death and\nlife together. The liberation from sin and death is effected by the death of\nChrist. The communication of life to our souls is effected by the resurrection\nof Christ. “Jesus… was delivered up for our sins\, and rose again for our\njustification.” We shall see that in order to enter fully into communion with\nthe life brought to us by Christ we must in some sense — sacramentally\,\nascetically\, mystically — die with Christ and rise with him from the dead. The\nwhole life of the Kingdom of God consists then in the gradual extension of\nthe spiritual effects of the death and resurrection of Jesus to one soul after\nanother until Christ lives perfectly in all whom he has called to himself. \n4  THE NEW MAN\, Thomas Merton (Farrar\, Straus & Cudahy\, NY 1961) pp. 152-154.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/easter-weekday-7/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240425
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240426
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240421T010348Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240421T010348Z
UID:11827-1714003200-1714089599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:St. Mark
DESCRIPTION:ST MARK’S GOSPEL\nBy Dom Damasus Winzen 5\n◊◊◊\nIn contrast to St Matthew\, who starts his gospel with the human\ngenealogy of Christ\, “the son of David\, the son of Abraham\,” and to Luke\, who\nexplains in his short preface that he intends to “write in order” the facts which\nhe has most diligently obtained\, St Mark’s gospel keeps most faithfully the\noriginal character of the glad tidings of Christ as the Son of God and the\nMessiah. He writes not as a historian but as a preacher\, recording faithfully\nwhat he had heard from St Peter. In fact\, St Peter’s address to the Roman\ncolonel Cornelius contains the outlines of St Mark’s gospel. This begins with\n“the baptism which John preached” and how “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth\nwith the Holy Spirit\, and with power”; The first main section describes Christ’s\nministry in Galilee\, the “word which began in Galilee\, about Jesus of Nazareth\,\nwho went about doing good\, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil\,\nfor God was with him”. A brief survey deals with “the things that he did in the\nland of the Jews (Judea) and in Jerusalem”\, and leads up to the second main\nsection of the gospel which tells us how “they killed him\, hanging him upon a\ntree\,” and how “God raised him up on the third day\, and gave him to be made\nmanifest”. \nThe fact that St Mark’s narrative of the Lord’s passion and resurrection is\non a scale out of all proportion with the rest of the book indicates clearly that in\nthe intention of the evangelist the person of the suffering and glorified Lord is\nthe core and center of the glad tidings. Here is the key to the “mystery of the\nKingdom of God” which his gospel proclaims. One has only to read the first\nchapter of St Mark’s gospel to realize that the mystery of the kingdom is the \ncross of the king. This first chapter contains the “beginnings” of the entire\ngospel. The activity of the precursor is the “beginning” of Christ’s work of\nsalvation. As Christ reveals the mystery of the kingdom in his word and in his\nwork\, so does John preach repentance and administer baptism. Because the\nkingdom of God will not come in power and glory but in the self-sacrificing\ncharity of the Son of God\, only those can enter into it who “repent” or\, better\,\n“change their hearts” from the selfishness of the flesh to the selflessness of the\nSpirit. \nThe rite of baptism\, through which the whole person is immersed in water\nand then rises\, as it were\, to a new life\, foreshadows the work of salvation of the\nMessiah Jesus who will be swallowed up in the waters of death to rise in the\nfullness of the Spirit. Rightly\, therefore\, does Christ begin his public life as\nMessiah by having himself baptized by John. He who never knew sin and did\nnot need repentance has himself made into sin for us\, so that in him we might\nbe turned into the holiness of God. His death is like another flood which drowns\nall that is earthly in us. \nWhen he “comes up out of the water” foreshadowing his resurrection\, he\nis like another Noah\, the favorite son of God. Like Noah he receives the dove\,\nthe likeness of the Holy Spirit who descends upon this new Son of David\, to\ndrive him like a captive into the desert. There he is “with the wild beasts.”\nExposed to the attack of the enemy\, he remains victorious so that after forty\ndays and forty nights\, which are symbolic of the “old age\,” the angels come and\nminister to him as the Lord of the new age. Through humiliation to exaltation\,\nthat is the way of the Messiah Jesus\, who in his life repeats and fulfills the march\nof the chosen people from Egypt\, through the Red Sea into the desert\, and\nultimately to the promised land. \n5 Damasus Winzen\, Pathways in Scripture\, Ann Arbor\, MI: Word of Life\, 1976\, pp. 243-245.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/st-mark/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240426
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240427
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240421T010808Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240421T010808Z
UID:11829-1714089600-1714175999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Easter Weekday
DESCRIPTION:GOD CAME TO TEACH HUMILITY\nFrom a sermon by St Augustine 6\n◊◊◊\nPride is the source of all diseases\, because pride is the source of all sins.\nWhen a physician removes a disorder from the body\, if he merely cures the\nmalady produced by some particular cause but not the cause itself\, he seems to\nheal the patient for a time; but while the cause remains\, the disease will repeat\nitself.\nFor example\, to speak of this more expressly\, some humor in the body\nproduces sores; a high fever follows and considerable pain. Certain remedies\nare prescribed to repress the sores; the remedies are applied and they work. You\nsee the one who was full of sores now healed; but because that humor was not\nexpelled\, it returns again to ulcers. Perceiving this\, the physician purges away\nthe humor and removes the cause\, and there will be no more sores.\nWhat is the source of iniquity? From pride. Cure pride and there will be\nno more iniquity. Hence\, to cure the cause of all diseases\, namely pride\, the Son\nof God came down and humbled himself. Why are you proud\, O mortal\, when\nGod humbled Himself for you? You might perhaps be ashamed to imitate a\nhumble mortal\, but in any case imitate the humble God. \nThe Son of God came in the nature of humans and humbled himself. You\nare commanded to become humble; you are not commanded to go from a\nhuman to a brute. He\, who was God\, became human; you who are human\nrecognize that you are such; all your humility consists in knowing what you are\nyourself. Therefore\, because God teaches humility he said: “It is not to do my\nown will that I have come down from heaven\, but to do the will of Him who\nsent me.” For this is the commendation of humility. Pride does its own will\, but\nhumility does the will of God. Therefore\, “No one who comes to me will I ever\nreject.” Why? “Because it is not to do my own will that I have come down from\nheaven\, but to do the will of him who sent me.” \nI came humble\, I came to teach humility. I came as a master of humility.\nWhoever comes to me is made one body with me; whoever adheres to me will\nbe humble\, because they do not their own will but the will of God. Therefore\nthey will not be cast out\, for when they were proud\, they were cast out…\nThus the Teacher of humility came not to do his own will but the will of\nthe One who sent him. Let us come to him\, enter into him\, be engrafted onto\nhim\, that we may not be doing our own will but the will of God. And he will not\ncast us out\, because we are his members\, because he willed to be our head by\nteaching us humility. \n6 Christian Readings. Vol. IV. Catholic Publishing Company. New York\, 1970. p. 39.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/easter-weekday-8/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240427
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240428
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240421T011330Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240421T011330Z
UID:11831-1714176000-1714262399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Bl Raphael Arnaiz Baron
DESCRIPTION:SIMPLICITY OF HEART\nFrom the writings of St Rafael Arnaiz Baron 7\n◊◊◊\nI see\, Brother\, that the path you follow is the simple life. God does not\nrequire more of us than simplicity without and love within. The truth is that the\nreal pathways of God are very easy and very simple when we walk along them\nfull of the spirit of trust and with free hearts fixed on God. Happy\, indeed\, is\nthe Trappist who is not merely a Trappist externally\, but whose interior life is\nmarked by the simplicity that makes the real Trappist. People of the world could\nthink us somewhat complicated. I do not know how to explain myself\, but I\nhave come to realize what Jesus means when he says: “Unless you become as\nlittle children…” \nThe ways of the Lord are simplicity; his yoke is easy and his burden is\nlight. We die to the world in order to be born to God. The self-denial of a life of\nsilence and solitude blossoms into the exuberant joy of a heart which counts its\nblessings in terms of simplicity and integrity. Those who follow Christ\, do so\nalong the way of the Cross. I think that when we love the Cross all is gained. \nGod always lets his light shine on anyone who loves and seeks him in\nsimplicity. We have to find our way along many winding paths before we arrive\nat the simple straight one. What causes us more distress than complicating\nthings! How we human beings love to complicate everything for ourselves!\nUnless we keep ourselves under control by the practice of virtue\, repeatedly\,\nwith our complicated way of existing we drive far from us everything that is\nsimple. \nTime and again\, we fail to grasp the greatness hidden deep down in an\nact of simplicity. We want to seek greatness in complexity and think that only\nwhen things are difficult have they anything worthwhile to offer… Virtue\, God\,\nInterior Life – difficult values to live out! It is not that I have attained virtue\,\nnor that my knowledge of God and my life in the spirit are totally clear\, but that \nI have seen that to achieve something in these matters I need to be free from\ncomplexity and contortion\, from clever speculation and technicalities.\nI have seen that we reach God by just the opposite. True knowledge of\nHim comes through simplicity of heart and integrity. An act of love is not\ndifficult at all. What is really hard is the effort to attain knowledge of God by\npenetrating his mysteries. The act of love brings us to God; the other way leads\nus nowhere… Because we are not simple; because we complicate our objectives\,\nbecause the weakness of our will makes everything we desire seem difficult. We\npander to this weakness when we let our will satisfy itself with what is pleasant\,\nconsoling\, distracting and\, oftentimes\, plain passion… \nWith Jesus at my side nothing seems difficult to me\, and the path to\nholiness seems simpler every time I look at it. Better it seems to consist in going\nforward and leaving things behind rather than in acquiring anything new\,\nstripping back to simplicity rather than adding things on. In so far as we go\nforward turning our back on so much inordinate love of creatures and of\nourselves\, it seems to me that we are drawing closer to that one real love\, that\nsole desire\, that unique aspiration of this life: the true holiness which is God. \n7 Liturgical text\, Generalizia Cistercensi S.O.\, Rome\, 1993.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/bl-raphael-arnaiz-baron/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240428
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240429
DTSTAMP:20260404T024708
CREATED:20240427T190447Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240427T190447Z
UID:11849-1714262400-1714348799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema - 5th Wk of Easter
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n5th Week of Easter\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nApril 28 – May 4\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n28\nMon\n29\nTue\n30\nWed\n1\nThu\n2\nFri\n3\nSat\n4\n\n\nOffice\n5th Sunday of Easter\nSt Catherine of Siena\nEaster Weekday\nSt Joseph the Worker\nSt Athanasius\nSS Philip & James\nEaster Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nActs 16:16-40\nActs 17:1-18\nActs 17:19-34\nActs 18:1-28\nActs 19:1-20\n1 Cor 12:1-13\nActs 20:1-16\n\n\nLauds\nEph 2:1-10\nEph 2:19-22\nEph 3:7-13\nEph 4:1-6\nEph 4:25-32\nProv 4:10-19\nEph 6:10-17\n\n\nMass\n53\n285\n286\n287\, 559\n288\n561\n290\n\n\n1st\nActs 9:26-31\nActs 14:5-18\nActs 14:19-28\nActs 15:1-6\nActs 15:7-21\n1 Cor 15:1-8\nActs 16:1-10\n\n\n2nd\n1 John 3:18-24\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 15:1-8\nJohn 14:21-26\nJohn 14:27-31a\nMatt 13:54-58\nJohn 15:9-11\nJohn 14:6-14\nJohn 15:18-21\n\n\nVespers\nEph 2:11-18\nEph 3:1-6\nEph 3:14-21\nEph 4:17-24\nEph 5:1-5\n2 Cor 4:1-6\nCol 1:1-8
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-5th-wk-of-easter/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR