Daily Readings for: April 01, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, who give constant increase to your Church by new offspring, grant that your servants may hold fast in their lives to the Sacrament they have received in faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

Easter Soup with Leftover Lamb

ACTIVITIES

PRAYERS

Easter: April 1st

Easter Monday

Old Calendar: Easter Monday

The Lord has risen from the dead, as he foretold. Let there be happiness and rejoicing for he is our King forever, alleluia. According to Moses and the prophets Christ was to suffer all "these things and so to enter into His glory". And what was this "glory" which Christ merited by His sufferings and death? It was His resurrection, His ascension into heaven, His sitting at the right hand of the Father, the homage of all the nations. It was especially the glorification of His body which only a few days ago hung mangled and lifeless on the cross.

Stational Church

Meditation
"In those days: Peter standing up in the midst of the people, said: You know the word that hath been published through all Judea: for it began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached, Jesus of Nazareth: how God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost, and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things that He did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed hanging Him upon a tree. Him God raised up the third day, and gave Him to be made manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses preordained by God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after He rose again from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was appointed by God to be judge of the living and of the dead. To Him all the prophets give testimony, that through His name all receive remission of sins who believe in Him." — Acts 10

St. Peter spoke these words to Cornelius, the centurion, and to the household and friends of this gentile, who had called them together to receive the Apostle whom God had sent to him. He had come to prepare them for Baptism, and thus make them the first-fruits of the gentile world, for up to this time the Gospel had been preached only to the Jews. Let us take notice how it is St. Peter, and not any other of the Apostles, who throws open to us gentiles the door of the Church, which Christ has built upon him as upon the impregnable rock.

This passage from the Acts of the Apostles is an appropriate Lesson for this day, whose Station is in the basilica of St Peter: it is read near the confession of the great Apostle. Let us observe, too, the method used by the Apostle in the conversion of Cornelius and the other gentiles. He begins by speaking to them concerning Jesus. He tells them of the miracles He wrought; then, having related how He died the ignominious death of the Cross, He insists on the fact of the Resurrection as the sure guarantee of His being truly God. He then instructs them on the mission of the Apostles, whose testimony must be received—a testimony which carries persuasion with it, seeing it was most disinterested, and availed them nothing save persecution. He, therefore, that believes in the Son of God made Flesh, who went about doing good, working all kinds of miracles; who died upon the Cross, rose again from the dead, and entrusted to certain men, chosen by Himself, the mission of continuing on earth the ministry he had begun—he that confesses all this, is worthy to receive, by holy Baptism, the remission of his sins. Such is the happy lot of Cornelius and his companions.

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.

At Rome, the Station for today is at the basilica of St. Peter. On Saturday, the catechumens received the Sacrament of regeneration in the Lateran basilica of our Savior; yesterday, they celebrated the Resurrection in the magnificent church of St. Mary; it is just that they should come, on this third day, to pay their grateful devotions to Peter, on whom Christ has built his whole Church.

22 posted on 04/01/2013 4:44:38 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. (Acts 2:32)

In a legal sense, a witness is a spectator, someone who actually sees a crime taking place. And what that witness sees is considered evidence. This is the sense in which Peter and the other disciples were witnesses to the risen Jesus. So if we look at it this way, there are not a whole lot of witnesses to the resurrection—and they’re all long dead!

But there’s another sense for the word witness: any other piece of evidence that testifies to something. One such witness to Jesus is the Scriptures. The words of the prophets and the stories of the Gospels tell us about Jesus and the life he has won for us.

There is also world history. Jesus’ disciples spread their testimony far and wide, transforming all of the Roman Empire. From the day of Pentecost to the present, Jesus’ teachings have affected more people than any other religious leader. He even affected how we measure history, as we divide time itself between BC and AD.

There’s also a long line of individuals stretching back two thousand years whose lives have been powerfully changed and publicly displayed. These are the saints and heroes of our faith. They too testify that Jesus is still alive and active in the world.

And yes, there’s you. If you have felt Jesus’ presence in your life, you are a witness. If you have been healed by Jesus, either physically or spiritually, you are a witness. If he has helped you find joy or peace in your life, or if he has helped you overcome a destructive habit or restored a broken relationship, you are a witness. Your very life is hard evidence. Your faith, your commitment, and your desire to do what is right and to honor the Lord is proof to the whole world that Jesus is risen from the dead.

You—yes, you—are a vital piece of evidence. So get out there, and show the world that Jesus is alive!

“Lord, I rejoice in your resurrection. Let my light shine in this world!”

Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11; Matthew 28:8-15

23 posted on 04/01/2013 4:59:41 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

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