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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240323
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240324
DTSTAMP:20260404T024743
CREATED:20240316T223005Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240316T223005Z
UID:11693-1711152000-1711238399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:SUBMISSION TO GOD IN SUFFERING\nFrom the writing of Dom Columba Marmion 7\n◊◊◊\nWhen we thus submit ourselves entirely to Christ Jesus\, when we\nabandon ourselves to Him\, when our soul only responds\, like His own\, with a\nperpetual Amen to all that He asks of us in the name of His Father… then Christ\nJesus establishes His peace in us: His peace\, not that which the world promises\,\nbut the true peace which can only come from Himself… \nDoubtless\, here below\, peace is not always sensible; upon earth we are in\na condition of trial and\, most often\, peace is won by conflict… We may be\nslighted\, opposed\, persecuted\, be unjustly treated\, our intentions and deeds\nmay be misunderstood; temptation may shake us\, suffering may come suddenly\nupon us; but there is an inner sanctuary which none can reach; here is the\nsojourn of our peace\, because in this innermost secret of the soul dwell\nadoration\, submission and abandonment to God. “I love my God\,” said St.\nAugustine\, “no one takes Him from me: no one takes from me what I ought to\ngive Him\, for that is enclosed within my heart… \nDeath cannot trouble the soul that has sought only God. Has it not\nconfided itself to the One Who says: “He that believeth in Me\, although he be\ndead\, shall live”… \nIn one of her “Exercises\,” St. Gertrude allows her assurance\, which the\ninfinite merits of Jesus give her\, to overflow. “Woe\, woe unto me\, if\, when I\ncome before Thee\, I had no advocate to plead my cause!… Come Thou with me\nto judgment… there let us stand together. Judge me\, for the right is Thine; but\nremember Thou are also my Advocate. In order that I be fully acquitted\, Thou\nhas but to recount what Thou didst become for love of me\, the price wherewith\nThou hast purchased me… \nFor souls moved by such sentiments\, death is but a transition; Christ\ncomes Himself to open to them the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem… There will\nbe no more darkness\, trouble\, tears\, or sighs; but peace\, infinite and perfect\npeace. “Peace first becomes ours with the longing and seeking for the Creator;\nit is in the full vision and eternal possession of Him that peace is made perfect. \n7 Marmion\, Dom Columba\, O.S.B. Suffering with Christ: An anthology of the Writings of Dom Columba Cmarmion\, O.S.B.\nCompiled by Dom Raymund Thibaut\, O.S.B. Westminster\, Maryland: The Newman Press\, 1954. 220-221\, 232-233.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-10/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240324
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240325
DTSTAMP:20260404T024743
CREATED:20240323T215511Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240323T215511Z
UID:11726-1711238400-1711324799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema for Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\nHoly Week\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 24 – 30\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n24\nMon\n25\nTue\n26\nWed\n27\nThu\n28\nFri\n29\nSat\n30\n\n\nOffice\nPalm Sunday\nMonday of Holy Week\nTuesday of Holy Week\nWednesday of Holy Week\nHoly Thursday\nGood Friday\nHoly Saturday\n\n\nVigils\nZech 9:9-17\nLam 1:1-16\nLam 2:1-10\nLam 2:18-22\nLam 3:19-54\nLam 4:1-6\nLam 5:1-22\n\n\nLauds\nZeph 3:14-20\nLam 1:17-22\nLam 2:11-17\nLam 3:1-18\nLam 3:55-66\nWis 2:10-22\nIsa 63:1-6\n\n\nMass\n38\n257\n258\n259\n39\n40\n\n\n\n1st\nIsa 50:4-7\nIsa 42:1-7\nIsa 49:1-6\nIsa 50:4-9a\nExod 12:1-8\, 11-14\nIsa 52:13-53:12\n\n\n\n2nd\nPhil 2:6-11\n\n\n\n1 Cor 11:23-26\nHeb 4:14-16; 5:7-9\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 14:1-15:47\nJohn 12:1-11\nJohn 13:21-33\, 36-38\nMatt 26:14-25\nJohn 13:1-15\nJohn 18:1-19:42\n\n\n\nVespers\n1 Tim 6:11-16\nRom 5:6-11\n1 Cor 1:18-25\n1 Pet 2:20-25\n\n\n1 Pet 4:1-8
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-for-holy-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240324
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240325
DTSTAMP:20260404T024743
CREATED:20240323T215924Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240323T215924Z
UID:11728-1711238400-1711324799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Palm Sunday
DESCRIPTION:PROCESSION AND PASSION\nFrom a commentary by Blessed Guerric of Igny 1\n◊◊◊\nWhen Jesus entered Jerusalem like a triumphant conqueror\, many were\nastonished at the majesty of his bearing; but when a short while afterward he\nentered upon his passion\, his appearance was ignoble\, an object of derision. If\ntoday’s procession and passion are considered together\, in the one Jesus\nappears as sublime and glorious\, in the other as lowly and suffering. The\nprocession makes us think of the honor reserved for a king\, whereas the passion\nshows us the punishment due to a thief. \nIn the one Jesus is surrounded by glory and honor\, in the other he has\nneither dignity nor beauty. In the one he is the joy of all and the glory of the\npeople\, in the other the butt of men and the laughing stock of the people. In the\none he receives the acclamation: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he\nwho comes as the king of Israel; in the other there are shouts that he is guilty\nof death and is reviled for having set himself up as king of Israel. \nIn the procession the people meet Jesus with palm branches\, in his\npassion they slap him in the face and strike his head with a rod. In the one they\nextol him with praises\, in the other they heap insults upon him. In the one they\ncompete to lay their clothes in his path\, in the other he is stripped of his own\nclothes. In the one he is welcomed to Jerusalem as a just king and savior\, in the\nother he is thrown out of the city as a criminal\, condemned as an impostor. In\nthe one he is mounted on an ass and accorded every mark of honor; in the other\nhe hangs on the wood of the cross\, torn by whips\, pierced with wounds\, and\nabandoned by his own. If\, then\, we want to follow our leader without stumbling\nthrough prosperity and through adversity\, let us keep our eyes upon him\,\nhonored in the procession\, undergoing ignominy and suffering in the passion\,\nyet unshakably steadfast in all such changes of fortune. \nLord Jesus\, you are the joy and the salvation of the whole world; whether\nwe see you seated on an ass or hanging on the cross\, let each one of us bless and\npraise you\, so that when we see you reigning on high we may praise you for ever\nand ever\, for to you belong praise and honor throughout all ages. \n1 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – NY – 1993 – pg 40.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/palm-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240325
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240326
DTSTAMP:20260404T024743
CREATED:20240323T220414Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240323T220414Z
UID:11730-1711324800-1711411199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Monday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:WHEN ALL WAS TO BE PUT TO THE TEST\nBy Henri Daniel-Rops2\n◊◊◊\nThe day which followed the astonishing Sunday of the triumphal entry\nwas not so striking\, but was nonetheless full of significance. Jesus entered\nJerusalem every day\, went up to the Temple\, and spoke to audiences which\nlistened to him with enthusiasm\, while the chief priests and scribes sought\nmeans to destroying him. To Jesus\, the slightest incident was an occasion for a\nlesson\, which often took the form of a warning. \nSo it was all through the Monday. What precisely was the meaning of the\ncurious episode\, uncharacteristic of Christ’s normally merciful manner\, in\nwhich he condemned a fig tree on which he found no figs to wither? And who\nis the bad son who pretends to be submissive to his father’s will\, but in reality\ndisobeys him? Or the rebellious wine dressers who kill their master’s servants\nin order to seize the harvest? What is the name of the stone rejected by the\nbuilders which will be the cornerstone of the new building? And do we not know\nthese guests invited to the royal feast who refuse to attend? One is almost afraid\nto understand at whom these gestures\, these parables are aimed. At this\nmoment\, Israel’s refusal seems to haunt Jesus’ mind and to fill it with anguish. \nWe are hardly surprised to find that the leaders of the community sent\nemissaries to ask Jesus with what right he was behaving as he was. He avoided\nthe question by himself asking them an embarrassing one concerning what kind\nof a man was John\, and they could not give him any answer. But we can hardly\nbe surprised that their anger grew\, and that they were on the point of laying\nhands on him. Jesus cast a real challenge at his adversaries at this moment\nwhen he knew that all was to be put to the test. \n2 The Life of Our Lord. Daniel-Rops. Hawthorn Books Inc. NY\, 1965\, p. 140.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/monday-of-holy-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240326
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240327
DTSTAMP:20260404T024743
CREATED:20240323T220938Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240323T220938Z
UID:11732-1711411200-1711497599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Tuesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:THE GREAT DISCOVERY\nBy Fr Louis Bouyer 3\n◊◊◊\nThe discovery of grace\, the discovery of love which loves us without\nlooking for any return\, which loves us although we are sinners\, which loves us\nin our sin\, but which alone will lead us\, by obscure ways known to God alone\,\nfrom sin to sanctity\, that is\, in the last analysis\, the great discovery. Then it is\nthat God reveals Himself to us as One who speaks to us\, as One whose Word for\nthe second time draws us out of nothingness to being\, as One whom we have\nnot so much to seek as to discover seeking us. It is He\, the Shepherd who left\nthe ninety-nine sheep in safety to seek and save that which was lost. It is He\, the\nFather of the prodigal who goes along the road to welcome his son when he has\nscarcely started out to meet his father\, and takes him in his arms. \n“To seek God”\, to seek Him as a person\, as the Person par excellence\, and\nnot only as the “Thou” to whom all our love should be addressed\, but as the “I”\nwho has first approached us\, whose word of love\, addressed to the primeval\nchaos\, drew us forth from it in the first place\, and\, spoken to us in our sin\, draws\nus forth from it again: to be a monk is nothing else than this. To be a monk\,\nthen\, is simply to be an integral Christian. And regarded in this light\, the\nChristian is simply the person restored by the Word of the Gospel to the\nvocation which the creative Word destined for each: to respond to the Word of\nAgape by the word of faith\, in order eventually to meet God face to face.\nCommenting on Canticle of Canticles\, Origen tells us that the Church\, under the\nold dispensation\, only heard the Bridegroom’s voice\, whereas in the new\, she is\noffered the sight of his countenance. And he adds that the development of the\nChristian life is made up solely of this transition. The monk is the one who does\nnot limit him or herself to accepting it in some measure passively\, by yielding\nto grace slothfully and reluctantly. The monk is one who responds with the\nwhole heart to the call which comes from the very heart of God. \nMonks are of the number of the violent who will not allow the divine\nKingdom to fall upon them as it were unawares\, but who take it by storm in\nadvance. For that the monks have staked their all\, they have burned their boats.\nTo the one who believes that life consists in what is possessed\, the monk seems\nto be consenting to\, even to be deliberately seeking\, a fatal renunciation. To the\none who knows that being is of greater value than having\, and that being which\nis of value is not that which passes but that which endures\, the monk will seem\nto be the only true humanist. For the human person is born only as subject to\nthe divine Word and will only be fully that person the day when\, freed from the\nnothingness which holds one prisoner\, fully surrendered to the Word which\ncalls\, the person will at last come to discover the Face which promised us being\nin promising us His own image. \n3 The Life of Our Lord. Daniel-Rops. Hawthorn Books Inc. NY\, 1965\, p. 140.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/tuesday-of-holy-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240327
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240328
DTSTAMP:20260404T024743
CREATED:20240323T221748Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240323T221748Z
UID:11734-1711497600-1711583999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Wednesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:LIFT YOUR HEART TO GOD  \nFrom the writing of Franҫois Fénelon 4 \n◊◊◊ \nThe whole Christian life is only one long and continual aspiration of our heart towards that eternal righteousness for which we long here on earth. Our whole happiness is to be always thirsting for this. Now\, this thirst is a prayer: long unceasingly for this righteousness\, and you will never cease to pray. Do not imagine that you have to utter a long string of words and to have a great struggle before beseeching God. To pray is to ask that God’s will may be done\, is to form some good resolution\, to lift the heart to God\, to long for the good things God promises\, to groan at the sight of our misery. \nThis prayer needs neither knowledge\, method\, nor reasoning; we do not have to bother our head; it only needs a moment of time and a good impulse of the heart. We can pray without any precise thought; we only need to return to our heart for a moment; and this moment can be spent doing something else at the same time; God’s condescension to our feebleness is so great that God lets us share this need of the moment between God and creatures. Yes\, in this moment go on with your work: it is enough if you offer to God the most ordinary things that you are occupied in doing. \nThis is the constant prayer which St. Paul postulates. It is a prayer that many good people imagine to be \, but it is easy to practise for anyone who knows that the best prayer of all is that of acting with purity of intention\, of frequently renewing the desire to do everything in God and for God. \nIs there anything tiresome or burdensome in this law of prayer\, when it reduces everything to the habit of acting freely in an ordinary way in order to attain your salvation and please your sovereign Lord? \nIs it asking too much of ourselves to want to make us ask God often for the things we cannot obtain by ourselves? Is there anything better than never to depart from the state of living our life in dependence on God and of knowing our own feebleness at every moment and our need for God’s help?…It is for this that the Holy Spirit\, who makes saints\, is praying in the saints and for them “with sighs too deep for words”; it is for this that\, possessing as we do the first fruits of the Spirit\, we long for the plenitude of this Spirit and groan as we await the perfect fulfillment of the divine adoption. \n4 Entretien sur la Prière\, première partie. Oeuvres de Fénelon\, tome XVII\, A. Lebel\, Paris 1823\, p.323-325. [Orval\, Fiche U3]..
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/wednesday-of-holy-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240329
DTSTAMP:20260404T024743
CREATED:20240323T222315Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240323T222315Z
UID:11736-1711584000-1711670399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Holy Thursday
DESCRIPTION:THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE COVENANT \nAND THE EUCHARIST\nBy St Edith Stein 5\n◊◊◊\nWe know from the Gospel narratives that Christ prayed as a Jew who\nbelieved in and was faithful to the Law. When he was a child with his parents\,\nand later with his disciples\, he used to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem at the\nappointed times to take part in the festivals that were celebrated in the temple.\nHe sang joyfully with the pilgrims\, “I was glad when they said unto me: We\nwill go into the house of the Lord”. He recited the ancient prayers of blessing\,\nwhich are still said today\, for bread\, wine\, and the fruits of the earth\, as the\naccounts of the Last Supper bear witness. This was wholly consecrated to the\nfulfillment of one of the holiest religious obligations: the solemn Passover meal\nwhich commemorated the deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Perhaps it is here\nthat we are given the deepest insight into the prayer of Christ\, as it were the key\nwhich gives access to the prayer of the Church. \nNow as they were eating\, Jesus took bread\, and blessed\, and broke \nit\, and gave it to the disciples\, and said\, “Take\, eat; this is my \nbody.” And he took a cup\, when he had given thanks he gave it to \nthem\, saying\, “Drink of it\, all of you; for this is my blood of the \ncovenant\, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of \nsins”. \nThe blessing and giving of the bread and wine have become part of the\nrite of the Passover meal. But at the Last Supper this blessing and giving takes\non a wholly new meaning. For this is the birth of the Church. Doubtless it was\nonly at Pentecost that the Church was born a spiritual and visible community.\nBut here\, at the Supper\, took place that grafting of the shoot in the vine branch\nwhich made the outpouring of the Spirit possible. The ancient prayers of\nblessing became creative words of life on Christ’s lips. The fruits of the earth\nbecame his flesh and blood\, filled with his life. The visible creation into which\nhe was inserted by his incarnation is now bound to him in a new and mysterious\nway. The foods that are indispensable for the growth of the human organism\nare transformed in their nature\, and those partaking of them with faith are\nthemselves transformed too; incorporated into Christ in a living union\, they are\nfilled with his divine life. The quickening power of the Word is fused with the\nsacrifice. The Word becomes flesh to give us that Life which is his own. He\noffered himself\, and has thus offered the creation which he ransomed by this\noffering\, as a sacrifice of praise to the Creator. The passover of the ancient\ncovenant has become the passover of the new covenant\, at the Lord’s Last\nSupper\, at the Sacrifice of the Cross\, and\, between the Resurrection and the\nAscension\, at the joyful agape where the disciples recognized their Lord in the\nbreaking of the bread; and\, in the Sacrifice of the Mass\, at Holy Communion. \n5\n“Liturgy & Eucharist”\, reprinted in “Lectures chrétiennes pour notre temps”: 8 1971\, #2\, E4. Abbaye d’Orval\,\nBelgium.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/holy-thursday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240329
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240330
DTSTAMP:20260404T024743
CREATED:20240323T223008Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240323T223008Z
UID:11740-1711670400-1711756799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Good Friday
DESCRIPTION:TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE\nA commentary by St John Chrysostom 6\n◊◊◊\nToday the cross has opened Paradise which had been closed to us for\nthousands of years. For today God has brought a robber there. Thus he effects\ntwo marvels: he opens Paradise\, and he brings in a thief. Today God has given\nus our ancient fatherland\, today he has brought us to the paternal city\, today he\nhas opened his house to the whole of humanity. ‘Today\,’ he said\, ‘you will be\nwith me in Paradise’. \nWhat did you say\, Lord? You are crucified\, nailed there\, and you\npromise Paradise? \nYes\, so that you may learn how great is my power on the cross. \nIt is indeed a cruel sight. And to deflect your attention from this aspect\nof the cross and make you realize the power of the Crucified\, Jesus works this\nmiracle from the cross\, the miracle which more than any other bears witness to\nhis power. For it was not when raising the dead\, commanding the wind and the\nwaves\, expelling demons\, but when crucified\, fixed with nails\, covered with\ninsults\, spittle\, mockery and abuse\, that he had power to change the evil state\nof the thief; and in this you can see two aspects of his power. He shook the\nwhole of creation\, he split the rocks\, and he drew the soul of the thief\, which\nwas harder than rock; for the thief believed in him and Jesus said in return\,\n‘Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Doubtless the cherubim guarded\nparadise\, but he was master of the cherubim. A flaming sword twirled at the\nentrance\, but he had all power over fire and sword\, over life and death. \nTruly\, no king ever allowed a thief or any other subject to sit with him\nwhile he made an entrance into a town. But Christ has done this: when he\nentered into his fatherland he brought a thief with him. In doing this he did not\nslight Paradise\, did not dishonor it by the thief’s presence there; on the contrary\,\nhe honored Paradise\, because it is glorious for Paradise to have a master who\ncan make a thief worthy of the joys to be found there. Likewise when he brings\npublicans and prostitutes into the kingdom of heaven he is not insulting the\nkingdom but honoring it\, for he shows that the master of the kingdom of heaven\nis strong enough to make prostitutes and publicans worthy enough to receive\nsuch an honor and such a gift. \n6\n“Today you will be with me in Paradise”\, St John Chrysostom\, from Christian Readings for Today\, #2\, F 2\, Abbaye\nd’Orval\, Belgium.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/good-friday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240330
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240331
DTSTAMP:20260404T024743
CREATED:20240323T223424Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240323T223424Z
UID:11742-1711756800-1711843199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Holy Saturday
DESCRIPTION:GOD’S SURPASSING LOVE  \nA homily by St Augustine 7 \n◊◊◊ \nToday\, my dearest friends\, there is every reason for heaven to rejoice and earth to be glad. It is a day on which more light shines forth from the tomb than rays from the sun. When our Lord and Savior was born as one of us he brought light into the world; so also today\, being dead in the body\, he has illumined the underworld with the powerful presence of his divinity as well as of his human soul. Today at the Lord’s visitation there is leaping and dancing in the nether regions over the fulfillment of the prophecy: The people that sat in darkness(that is to say the whole human race enveloped in the gloom of Sheol) has seen a great light. He who created Adam has this day sought him out in the underworld\, and by his own power has set him free. \nWonderful beyond words is the loving kindness of our God! Death had indeed invaded Paradise\, but life has now conquered the abyss\, and by assuming our mortality the Son of God has trodden underfoot the law that all must die. Thus he has made good the prophet’s assertion: O death\, I will be your death! Those whom you have caused to die through sin I will gather up from that place of eternal ruin\, and by dying myself I will deliver them from everlasting death. \nLook now at the author of our undoing! With what snares he is entangled and fettered! As he deceived us\, so he is himself deceived; in the very act of killing he is destroyed. \nWhen the Lord’s body was laid in the tomb\, he himself descended into the lowest and most hidden abode of the infernal regions. There\, where he was presumed to be held captive\, he bound death fast\, and so broke the chains of all who had died. And from that place whence none had ever returned before\, not even alone\, he carried off an immense with which he penetrated the heavens. \nSee what tremendous things God’s surpassing love has accomplished for our healing and restoration! For our sake he was led like a sheep to the slaughter\, having taken upon himself the evils of this present life in order to bestow upon us the good things of eternity. \n7 Sermo Mai 146: PLS 2\, 1242-1243( CL I p 168-169).
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/holy-saturday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240331
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240401
DTSTAMP:20260404T024743
CREATED:20240330T223358Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240330T223358Z
UID:11745-1711843200-1711929599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\nEaster Octave\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 31 – April 1\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n31\nMon\n1\nTue\n2\nWed\n3\nThu\n4\nFri\n5\nSat\n6\n\n\nOffice\nEaster Sunday\nEaster Monday\nEaster Tuesday\nEaster Wednesday\nEaster Thursday\nEaster Friday\nEaster Saturday\n\n\nVigils\n* Easter Vigil\nActs 1:1-26\nActs 2:1-21\nActs 2:22-41\nActs 2:42-3:11\nActs 3:12-26;4:1-4\nActs 4:5-31\n\n\nLauds\nActs 13:28-33\n1 Cor 15:1-11\n1 Cor 15:12-19\n1 Cor 15:20-28\n1 Cor 15:35-41\n1 Cor 15:42-49\n1 Cor 15:50-58\n\n\nMass\n42\n261\n262\n263\n264\n265\n266\n\n\n1st\nActs 10:34a\, 37-43\nActs 2:14\, 22-33\nActs 2:36-41\nActs 3:1-10\nActs 3:11-26\nActs 4:1-12\nActs 4:13-21\n\n\n2nd\nCol 3:1-4\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 20:1-9\nMatt 28:8-15\nJohn 20:11-18\nLuke 24:13-35\nLuke 24:35-48\nJohn 21:1-14\nMark 16:9-15\n\n\nVespers\nRev 1:12-18\nRev 1:1-8\nRev 1:9-11\nRev 2:1-7\nRev 2:8-11\nRev 2:12-17\nRev 2:18-29\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEaster Vigil Readings* 1st) Gen 1:1-2:2 2nd) Gen 22:1-18 3rd) Exod 14:15-15:1 4th) Isa 54:5-14 5th) Isa 55:1-11 6th) Bar 3:9-15\,32-4:4 7th) Ezek 36:16-17a\,18-28 Epistle) Rom 6:3-11 Gospel) B: Mk 16:1-8
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-65/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11747-1711843200-1711929599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Easter Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A NEW DIMENSION OF BEING \nFrom a homily by Pope Benedict XVI1 \n◊◊◊ \n“You seek Jesus of Nazareth\, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not \nhere.” With these words\, God’s messenger\, robed in light\, spoke to the women \nwho were looking for the body of Jesus in the tomb. But the evangelist says the \nsame thing to us: Jesus is not a character of the past. He lives and He walks \nbefore us as one who is alive; he calls us to follow him\, the Living One\, and in \nthis way to discover for ourselves the path of life. At Easter we rejoice because \nChrist did not remain in the tomb\, his body did not see corruption; he belongs \nto the world of the living\, not to the world of the dead; we rejoice because he is \nthe Alpha and also the Omega\, as we proclaim in the Rite of the Paschal candle; \nhe lives not only yesterday\, but today and for eternity. \nBut somehow the Resurrection is situated so far beyond our horizon\, so \nfar outside all our experience that\, returning to ourselves\, we find ourselves \ncontinuing the argument of the disciples: Of what exactly does this “rising” \nconsist? What does it mean for us\, for the whole world\, and the whole of history? \nA theologian once said that the miracle of a corpse returning to life would be \nultimately irrelevant precisely because it would not concern us. In fact if it were \nsimply that someone was once brought back to life\, and no more than that\, in \nwhat way would that concern us? But the point is that Christ’s Resurrection is \nsomething more\, something different. If we may borrow the language of \nevolution\, it is the greatest “mutation”\, absolutely the most crucial leap into a \ntotally new dimension that there has ever been in the long history of life and its \ndevelopment: a leap into a completely new order which does concern us\, and \nconcerns the whole of history. \nThe crucial point is that this man Jesus was not alone\, he was not an “I” \nclosed in upon itself. He was one single reality with the living God\, so closely \nunited with him as to form one Person with him. He found himself\, so to speak\, \nin an embrace with him who is life itself\, an embrace not just on the emotional \nlevel\, but one which included and permeated his being. His own life was not just \nhis own\, it was an existential and essential communion with God\, a “being taken \nup” into God\, and hence\, it could not in reality be taken away from him. \nOut of love\, he could allow himself to be killed\, but precisely by doing so \nhe broke the definitiveness of death\, because in him the definitiveness of life \nwas present. He was one single reality with indestructible life\, in such a way that \nit burst forth anew through death… His death was an act of love\, of self-giving. \nAt the Last Supper he anticipated death and transformed it into self-giving. His \nexistential communion with God was concretely an existential communion with \nGod’s love\, and this love is the real power against death\, it is stronger than \ndeath. \nThe Resurrection was like an explosion of light\, an explosion of love which \ndissolved the hitherto indissoluble <interpenetration> of “dying and \nbecoming”. It ushered in a new dimension of being. A new dimension of life in \nwhich\, in a transformed way\, matter too was integrated and through which a \nnew world emerges. \n  \n1 L’Osservatore Romano English edition – April 19\, 2006 – pg 5.3 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/easter-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11749-1711929600-1712015999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Easter Monday
DESCRIPTION:THE LORD’S RESURRECTION \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux2 \n◊◊◊ \nThis wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign\, and no sign will be \ngiven it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Do you ask for the sign of his \ncoming down? I will not give you that\, but the sign of his resurrection instead. \nThere you were\, saying\, “Let him come down from the cross and we will believe \nin him”\, and here he is\, having done greater things than this\, much greater \nthings. Is it not greater to leave a sealed tomb than to come down from the \ncross? \nBut perhaps you ask how I know that he came forth from a closed tomb. \nYesterday you heard that as the holy women were coming to the tomb an \nearthquake occurred\, an angel came down from heaven and rolled back the \nstone about which they were complaining and sat upon it\, saying that he whom \nthey sought was not there but had already risen. Obviously then\, the great \nstone… had not yet been rolled back when the Savior came forth. Certainly this \nwas a greater miracle than if he had come down from the cross. He did a much \nmore marvelous thing when he rose from the dead. \nTrue\, other resurrections had taken place earlier\, but they were \npreambles to this one\, and they were surpassed by this one in two respects. \nFirst\, they rose to die again\, but Christ being raised now dies no more. Hence \nChrist is the first fruits of those who arise\, because he was the first to rise after \ndying… Christ died once for all and rose once for all. \nThe Lord’s resurrection surpasses all the others in another way. Some had \nbeen restored to life by others\, but none before Christ had been able to restore \nthemselves to life. Elisha\, who had restored the dead to life\, has long lain dead \nand has not risen. Christ alone has been able to restore himself to life\, he who \nalone was first among the dead. What will he be able to do\, he who is living \neternally and saying to the Father\, “I have risen\, and I am still with you”\, he \nwho alone with respect to all the dead was so powerful? \nIt was absolutely fitting for him to rise on the third day because of the text \n“after two days he will revive us\, and on the third day he will raise us up”. \nThus should it happen to us as to our Head before us. The first day he was on \nthe cross\, the second in the tomb\, and on the third day he was glorified by the \ntriumph of the resurrection. So we also\, if we are his members and if we choose \nto follow our Head\, on the first day – that is\, while we are in this mortal flesh – \nwe will persevere on the cross of our penitence\, concerning which he himself \nsaid\, “if any want to come after me\, let them take up their cross and follow \nme”. We will not come down\, as Christ did not come down. \nRighteous men took him down when he was already dead; may the holy \nangels take us down! Thus with the day successfully finished\, the second\, which \nis after death\, we will spend in the tomb\, sleeping in peace and resting from all \nlabor. “Henceforth now\, says the Spirit\, they may rest from their labors”. \nOn the third day we will rise again to be forever in glory and eternal life. \n  \n2 Bernard of Clairvaux – Sermons for Lent and Easter – Cistercian Fathersd Series #52 –Liturgical Press – \nCollegeville\, MN – 2013 – pg 153.5 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/easter-monday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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