April 2010
Monthly Archive
Mass in Honor of Blessed Margaret of Costello – April 13
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 13 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Dominican Saints, Liturgical Feasts
On Tuesday, April 13, the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer will celebrate of a Votive Mass in honor of Blessed Margaret of Costello. Mass will begin at 5:30 PM, and a light reception will follow.
For more on the life of Blessed Margaret, click here.
Theology in the City – April 12
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 10 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Lectures, Parish Events
Easter Saturday
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 10 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
When Jesus had risen from the dead on the morning after the Sabbath,
he appeared first to Mary Madgalene,
from whom he had cast out seven devils, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark
When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week,
he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom he had driven seven demons.
She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping.
When they heard that he was alive
and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
After this he appeared in another form
to two of them walking along on their way to the country.
They returned and told the others;
but they did not believe them either.
But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them
and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart
because they had not believed those
who saw him after he had been raised.
He said to them, “Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
Father of love,
by the outpouring of your grace
you increase the number of those who believe in you.
Watch over your chosen family.
Give undying life to all
who have been born again in baptism.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
“Word to Life” – April 9, 2010
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 09 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Word to Life
Click below to hear this week’s edition of “Word to Life.”
Joining me on today’s show to discuss the readings for the Second Sunday of Easter, now known as Divine Mercy Sunday, were Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P., who serves the University Parish of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village, and Fr. Dan Cambra, M.I.C., the Provincial Superior of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception here in the United States. Fr. Dan will be preaching this Sunday to thousands of pilgrims gathered at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, MA, and during our interview he shared with us some of the points he hopes to emphasize in light of the grace of this weekend’s feast.
“Word to Life” airs live every Friday at 1:00 PM EST on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.
Easter Friday
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 09 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
This was the third time Jesus had shown himself to his disciples
after he had risen from the dead, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
He revealed himself in this way.
Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee,
Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”
They said to him, “We also will come with you.”
So they went out and got into the boat,
but that night they caught nothing.
When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore;
but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”
They answered him, “No.”
So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat
and you will find something.”
So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in
because of the number of fish.
So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord,
he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad,
and jumped into the sea.
The other disciples came in the boat,
for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards,
dragging the net with the fish.
When they climbed out on shore,
they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”
So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore
full of one hundred fifty-three large fish.
Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.”
And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?”
because they realized it was the Lord.
Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them,
and in like manner the fish.
This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples
after being raised from the dead.
Eternal Father,
you gave us the Easter mystery
as our covenant of reconciliation.
May the new birth we celebrate
show its effects in the way we live.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Easter Thursday
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 08 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
Your people praised your great victory, O Lord.
Wisdom opened the mouth that was dumb,
and made the tongues of babies speak, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way,
and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have.”
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.
He said to them,
“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.”
Father,
you gather the nations to praise your name.
May all who are reborn in baptism
be one in faith and love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Pro-Life Symposium – April 9
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 07 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Parish News
From Patrick Langrell, the archdiocesan Director of Young Adult Outreach:
Dear friends,
This Friday, from 9am – 6:30pm, Advocates for Life (a division of Americans United for Life) and Columbia University’s Law Students for Life are presenting a daylong legal symposium which will dissect some of the most dynamic and evolving areas of abortion law to offer an in-depth look on how current controversies fit into pro-life jurisprudence and how their resolution will impact the pro-life movement.
The symposium, “Looking Back, Looking Forward: Pro-life Strategy & Jurisprudence for the 21st Century” is drawing some very impressive speakers, including Clarke Forsythe, William Saunders, Piero Tozzi, Teresa Collet and many, many more.
Entry is free for all students (must bring ID) and is $15 for everyone who receives these CatholicNYC emails (discounted from the normal $35 fee). For advance registration, please visit ovationtix.com.
You can see the full schedule and speaker lineup on the facebook event here.
7pm-10pm: After the Symposium, there will be a Closing Reception, with the keynote address given by special guest, Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President and CEO of Americans United for Life.
You can RSVP by email or by calling Kellie Fiedorek at 202-905-6197.
Your friend in Christ,
Patrick Langrell
Director of Young Adult Outreach
Archdiocese of New York
1011 First Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10022
Easter Wednesday
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 07 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
Come, you whom my Father has blessed:
inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his Body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the Eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
God our Father,
on this solemn feast you give us the joy of recalling
the rising of Christ to new life.
May the Joy of our annual celebration
bring us to the joy of eternal life.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Pope Benedict’s Triduum Homilies
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 06 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Homilies, Liturgical Feasts
Collected below are the homilies and addresses Pope Benedict XVI delivered over the course of this year’s Paschal Triduum.
HOMILY OF POPE BENEDICT XVI
Mass of the Lord’s Supper
April 1, 2010
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In his Gospel, Saint John, more fully than the other three evangelists, reports in his own distinctive way the farewell discourses of Jesus; they appear as his testament and a synthesis of the core of his message. They are introduced by the washing of feet, in which Jesus’ redemptive ministry on behalf of a humanity needing purification is summed up in a gesture of humility. Jesus’ words end as a prayer, his priestly prayer, whose background exegetes have traced to the ritual of the Jewish feast of atonement. The significance of that feast and its rituals – the world’s purification and reconciliation with God – is fulfilled in Jesus’ prayer, a prayer which anticipates his Passion and transforms it into a prayer. The priestly prayer thus makes uniquely evident the perpetual mystery of Holy Thursday: the new priesthood of Jesus Christ and its prolongation in the consecration of the Apostles, in the incorporation of the disciples into the Lord’s priesthood. From this inexhaustibly profound text, I would like to select three sayings of Jesus which can lead us more fully into the mystery of Holy Thursday.
First, there are the words: “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (Jn 17:3). Everyone wants to have life. We long for a life which is authentic, complete, worthwhile, full of joy. This yearning for life coexists with a resistance to death, which nonetheless remains unescapable. When Jesus speaks about eternal life, he is referring to real and true life, a life worthy of being lived. He is not simply speaking about life after death. He is talking about authentic life, a life fully alive and thus not subject to death, yet one which can already, and indeed must, begin in this world. Only if we learn even now how to live authentically, if we learn how to live the life which death cannot take away, does the promise of eternity become meaningful. But how does this happen? What is this true and eternal life which death cannot touch? We have heard Jesus’ answer: this is eternal life, that they may know you – God – and the one whom you have sent, Jesus Christ. Much to our surprise, we are told that life is knowledge. This means first of all that life is relationship. No one has life from himself and only for himself. We have it from others and in a relationship with others. If it is a relationship in truth and love, a giving and receiving, it gives fullness to life and makes it beautiful. But for that very reason, the destruction of that relationship by death can be especially painful, it can put life itself in question. Only a relationship with the One who is himself Life can preserve my life beyond the floodwaters of death, can bring me through them alive. Already in Greek philosophy we encounter the idea that man can find eternal life if he clings to what is indestructible – to truth, which is eternal. He needs, as it were, to be full of truth in order to bear within himself the stuff of eternity. But only if truth is a Person, can it lead me through the night of death. We cling to God – to Jesus Christ the Risen One. And thus we are led by the One who is himself Life. In this relationship we too live by passing through death, since we are not forsaken by the One who is himself Life.
But let us return to Jesus’s words – this is eternal life: that they know you and the One whom you have sent. Knowledge of God becomes eternal life. Clearly “knowledge” here means something more than mere factual knowledge, as, for example, when we know that a famous person has died or a discovery was made. Knowing, in the language of sacred Scripture, is an interior becoming one with the other. Knowing God, knowing Christ, always means loving him, becoming, in a sense, one with him by virtue of that knowledge and love. Our life becomes authentic and true life, and thus eternal life, when we know the One who is the source of all being and all life. And so Jesus’ words become a summons: let us become friends of Jesus, let us try to know him all the more! Let us live in dialogue with him! Let us learn from him how to live aright, let us be his witnesses! Then we become people who love and then we act aright. Then we are truly alive.
Easter Tuesday
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 06 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
If men desire wisdom, she will give them the water of knowledge to drink.
They will never waver from truth; they will stand firm forever, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “They have taken my Lord,
and I don’t know where they laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
“Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,”
which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
‘I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.’”
Mary went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord,”
and then reported what he had told her.
Father,
by this Easter mystery you touch our lives
with the healing power of your love.
You have given us the freedom of the sons of God.
May we who now celebrate your gift
find joy in it for ever in heaven.
Grant this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Homilies for Easter Sunday
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 06 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Homilies, Liturgical Feasts
Easter Triduum Homilies
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 06 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Homilies, Liturgical Feasts
Easter Monday
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 05 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
The Lord has risen from the dead, as he foretold.
Let there be happiness and rejoicing for he is our King forever, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce the news to his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.
Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee,
and there they will see me.”
While they were going, some of the guard went into the city
and told the chief priests all that had happened.
The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel;
then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
telling them, “You are to say,
‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’
And if this gets to the ears of the governor,
we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.
And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.
Father,
you give your Church constant growth
by adding new members to your family.
Help us to put into action in our lives
the baptism we have received with faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Chrism Mass
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 01 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
One of the Church’s sacred rites during Holy Week is the annual Chrism Mass, during which two important priestly actions take place. First, the priests of a diocese join their bishop to offer Mass together and renew their priestly promises. This renewal takes place after the homily. Also, just after the renewal of promises, the bishop blesses the three oils used throughout his diocese for use in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick. These three oils are the Oil of Catechumens (Baptism), the Oil of the Sick (Anoining), and Sacred Chrism (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, and also the consecration of churches and altars). After Mass, the priests collect these three oils and bring them to their parishes.
It is fitting that this “priestly” Mass takes place on Holy Thursday morning. It complements the evening commemoration of the Last Supper, that sacred meal during which Christ instituted the Eucharist and the priesthood. Allowance is given, however, for the Chrism Mass to be celebrated earlier in Holy Week. The Chrism Mass for the Archdiocese of New York was held on Tuesday evening.
Of course, the faithful are encouraged to attend the Chrism Mass to pray with and for their priests. All baptized and confirmed Christians share in the anointing of Christ as the Messiah, the priest and king who takes away the sins of the world. To attend the Mass during which the instruments of Christian anointing are blessed can offer all the faithful an opportunity to deepen their baptismal promises with a view to uniting themselves more closely to Christ and his Church. In these holy days when we seek to follow Christ all the way to Calvary, the graces of the Chrism Mass can supply us special strength and consolation.