Apr 30 Sun
Glory belongs to God alone because he is the Lord of all things.  And on being made man and coming to live among us, he has shown us that we are not on this earth to seek a passing, temporal happiness. We are here to reach eternal happiness, following in his footsteps. And we will only attain this by learning from him.

The world was created for the glory of God. He is the highest good and supreme goodness, and He knows that we can only be happy if we live for him. And the only purpose of created beings, man included, is to give glory to God. We were born to give him glory. “If life did not have as its aim to give glory to God, it would be detestable - even more, loathsome.” St Josemaría.

Thus, our life should be one of continuous praise to God. Because whatever is lovable in us belongs to God. Convinced of this reality, we must not work for our own glory, but to disappear from view; and with our sacrifice, we shall put Christ at the summit of all human activities.

Thus, we shall be, each, an icon of the Good Shepherd. Let us be faithful to our mission, renew every day our "yes" to Christ, and be a worthy sign of his love for every person around us.
Let us tell Him: "Lord, for myself I want nothing. All for your glory and for Love."
Lord, raise up generous souls, ready to be icons of the Good Shepherd and place themselves totally at the service of the Kingdom of God.

Our Lady lived a hidden existence, and yet her whole life was a constant act of praise, a "yes" to God. _Magnificat anima mea Dominum_, my soul glorifies the Lord. Let us ask her to help us rectify our intention many times during the day; and imitating her, let us repeat: _Deo omnis Gloria!_ - all the glory for God.

Apr 29 Sat
3 MONKS AND THE DEVIL
The demon appeared to three monks, and he told them: “If I gave you power to change something from the past, what would you change?”

The first of them, with great apostolic fervor, replied: "I would prevent you from making Adam and Eve fall into sin, so that humanity could not turn away from God."

The second, a man full of mercy, said to him: "I would prevent you from tempting, and you will condemn yourself eternally".

The third of them was the simplest and, instead of responding to the Tempter, he got on his knees, made the sign of the cross, and prayed saying: "Lord, free me from the temptation of what could be, and was not".

The devil, giving a raucous cry and shuddering with pain, vanished.

The other two, surprised, said to him: "Brother, why have you reacted like this?"
He replied: "First: we must NEVER dialogue with the enemy.

Second: NOBODY in the world has the power to change the past.

Third: Satan's INTEREST was not to prove our virtue, but to trap us in the past, so that we neglect the present, the only time in that God gives us His grace and we can cooperate with it to fulfill His will."

Of all the demons, the one that catches the most men and prevents them from being happy is that wishful thinking, that of "What could have been and was not". The past should be left to the mercy of God, and the future to his Providence. Just the present is in our hands. "Love what is lovable, Pray, Live here and now."

Apr 28 Fri
How to make the EXAMINATION  OF CONSCIENCE (every evening)
    Make a brief examination of conscience before going to rest at night. Two or three minutes are enough.
•    Place yourself in the presence of God recognizing his strength and your weakness. Tell him: “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”
•    Ask your guardian angel for light to acknowledge your defects and virtues: What have I done wrong? What have I done right? What could I have done better?
•    Examine your conscience with sincerity:
    Did I often consider that God is my Father? Did I offer him my work? Did I make good use of my time? Did I pray slowly and with attention?
    Did I try to make life pleasant for other people? Did I criticize anyone? Was I forgiving? Did I pray and offer some sacrifices for the Church, the Pope and for all those around me?
    Did I allow myself to be carried away by sensuality? By pride?
•    Sorrow. Make an act of contrition asking our Lord’s pardon.
•    Resolution. Make a specific resolution for tomorrow:
    Staying away from certain temptations.
    Avoiding some specific faults.
    Exerting special effort to practice some virtue.
    Taking advantage of occasions for improvement.
•    Pray three Hail Marys to the Virgin Mary asking for the virtue of purity for yourself and your loved ones.

 Apr 27 Thu
St Josemaría was seriously ill. He, faithful to God's grace, rose to the occasion cultivating an abandonment into the hands of God. “Night would come, and I used to say: ‘Lord, I don't know whether I'll get up tomorrow. I thank you for whatever remaining span of life you may want to give me, and I am happy to die in your arms; I hope in your mercy.’ In the morning, upon awakening, the first thought would be the same.”

Then, on a feast of the Blessed Virgin of Montserrat, our Lord took away a large part of that cross from his shoulders, as if to make known that his most holy Mother had again been an efficacious intercessor.

The teaching is clear. We should never lose our joy in the face of illness. Rather, these situations must lead us to increase our trust in our Father God, to abandon ourselves in his hands in the certainty that, come what may in our lives, our Lord wants, or permits, it for our spiritual and eternal good: Omnia in bonum! As St Josemaría wrote: “Christian optimism is not a sugary optimism; nor is it a mere human confidence that everything will turn out all right.”

It is an optimism that sinks its roots in an awareness of our freedom, and in the sure knowledge of the power of grace. It is an optimism which leads us to make demands on ourselves, to struggle to respond at every moment to God's calls.

Ask the Blessed Virgin, Salus infirmorum - Health of the sick and Consolatrix afflictorum - Comfort of the afflicted, for all the persons in our family who are suffering in body or soul, so that she may console them and obtain for them the grace to love those sufferings, which identify us so much with Christ.
Image: Mare de Déu de Montserrat, 12th century.

Apr 26 Wed
The holy evangelist St Mark renounced personal ideas to expound St Peter's teaching faithfully, being, as he was, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. From which it may be seen that he was perfectly united to the visible Head of the Church. He thereby composed one of the four Gospels, something for which he is perennially remembered in the Church.

When we hear about pronouncements and initiatives that damage the unity of the Church, what means should we use to respond to these plans?
Four points to consider:

1. The Mass, with devotion, where we should “feel” and live the unity of the Church.

2. Prayer, Personal Conversion, and Penance
All of us who love Christ, who love the Church, should pray intensely, and constantly walk towards identification with Christ. While we suffer in our hearts, we should unite our sufferings to those of Christ on the Cross for the redemption of the world and for the good of the bride of Christ, which is the Church.

3.- Formation
It is necessary to give and receive formation, to know the right doctrine which is lacking behind each of these situations.

4.- Use fortitude with compassion
Combine fortitude (fortes in fide) with compassion and mercy (Misericordia) with the persons in error.
While teaching the correct doctrine, we should not use contempt, or sarcasm towards anyone.

Jesus liked to meet with his disciples in the house which Mark's mother had in Jerusalem. The Blessed Virgin knew well the young man, and she would have stayed with the first disciples in that house also after Jesus' death as they awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Illustration: Mosaics in the Cathedral of St Mark in Venice, 13th century.

 Apr 25 Tue
Even though we are of the earth, we must allow Jesus to transform us, to raise us up to the level of divine life. Then, we shall have a divine way of thinking: our Faith; and a divine way of loving: our Charity.

Today, as always, the Christian faith finds obstacles along his way. Without personal sacrifice there will be no fruit. “The Cross is present in everything, and it comes when one least expects it. But don't forget that normally, the Cross comes when you start to be effective.

“Far from discouraging us, the difficulties we meet must spur us on to mature as Christians. This fight sanctifies us and gives effectiveness to everything we do ... We must be convinced that to imitate Christ, and be good disciples of his, we must take his advice to heart: If any man has a mind to come my way, let him renounce self, and take up his cross, and follow me. That is why I like to ask Jesus, for myself: Lord, no day without a Cross! Then, through God's grace, our characters will grow strong, and we will become a point of support for our God, over and above our own wretchedness.

“Take a nail for instance. If you meet no resistance when you hammer it into a wall, what can you expect to hang on it? Likewise, if we do not let God toughen us through sacrifice, we will never become our Lord's instruments. On the other hand, if we decide to accept difficulties gladly and make use of them for the love of God, then in the face of what is difficult and unpleasant, when things are hard and uncomfortable, we will be able to exclaim with the Apostles James and John: Possumus! Yes, we can!” St Josemaría

Apr 24 Mon
Interior difficulties should not discourage us. Serenity: This should be our attitude in the face of adversity. Our everyday difficulties, the little pinpricks which our Lord allows, become a pledge of glory, steps along the way to Life, when they are offered up for love of God.

“Don't complain if you suffer. Only a priced stone is polished.
Does it hurt? Allow yourself to be cut, gratefully, because God has taken you in his hands as if you were a diamond. An ordinary pebble is not worked on like that.
No ideal becomes a reality without sacrifice.” St Josemaría.

Even in purely human affairs, nothing worthwhile is ever accomplished easily. What major project is achieved without effort? The root of effectiveness is a capacity for conscious, silent sacrifice.

People who set themselves high goals often must suffer to achieve them, even though they would rather avoid such suffering. But for a Christian whose goal is the love of Christ, leading to eternal happiness, suffering should act as a stimulus.

It is necessary to fight the blindness of the soul and heart in order to illuminate our lives with the light of God's grace and love. We are instruments of Christ's love. "I have come to bring fire into the world". The fire of charity, justice, and peace.

Besides, how fortunate are we, Christians, having a Mother who teaches us practically what it is to accept God's plan without reticence or limitations, what it is to love.

 Apr 23 Sun
The two disciples going to Emmaus had become disheartened after what had happened on the afternoon of Good Friday. Now the Master was dead and buried; they have almost lost all hope. They are beginning to feel that life has no meaning for them.

We must be on guard against the temptation of discouragement. St Josemaría: “God may give us the necessary light to help us know how we are faring at certain moments; but at other times, we may be convinced that we are doing badly, or even getting worse. Often, this is not so. We are wrong: our Lord is simply rewarding our perseverance by giving us more light and greater love. We then begin to see the small things, the defects that weigh us down, as if they were very big things, and they cause us greater sorrow. Be thankful for that light, and struggle without losing your peace.

“How many saints are there on this earth? Not one! We are all capable of committing the worst atrocities imaginable. You've heard me say again and again that holiness consists of struggling, realizing we have defects and trying to overcome them. We'll be like that till we die: on our way to holiness. Otherwise, who could possibly put up with us? We wouldn't be saints at all; we'd be totally unbearable. Holiness consists of having defects and fighting against them, but we'll still have them when we die.

“Stay with us, Lord, because our souls are shrouded in darkness, and you alone are the light. You alone can satisfy this longing that consumes us. For we know full well that among all things fair and honorable the best is to possess God for ever.

“And Jesus stays. Our eyes are opened, as were those of Cleophas and his companion, when Christ breaks the bread; and though he vanishes once more from sight, we too will find strength to start out once more - though night is falling - to tell the others about him, because so much joy cannot be kept in one heart alone.

Let us not forget that our Lady is “the channel of divine grace ... the aqueduct, through which all the graces of heaven come from God our Lord to us on earth. We can receive nothing without her.”

 Apr 22 Sat
There are three "dangerous temptations" that lead to mediocrity:

(a) The temptation of "compromise," whereby one is satisfied with what one has done, or can do, without striving to do the best.
(b) The temptation of "substitutes," whereby one tries to “fill oneself” with something –be it material possession or human achievements- different from our Christian vocation.
(c) The temptation of "discouragement," whereby, dissatisfied, one hardly moves, or moves on out of sheer inertia.

On the contrary, we should apply in our spiritual life the advice of a baseball coach to his players:

(a) Focus on the whole game, don’t go just after immediate results.
(b) Keep sacrificing.
(c) Keep praying, you need God’s help.
(d) Keep forgiving.
(e) Keep reconciling.
(f) Keep giving chances to the poor players.
(g) And when you fall, pick yourself up, and get back in the box.

Apr 21 Fri
After the resurrection, the apostles took up their ordinary work, like any of us. Peter had denied our Lord three times, and then wept. But he had to work, and being a fisherman, he went fishing.

With the first rays of dawn the fishermen returned with an empty boat. The whole night had been spent in vain. But “When morning came, our Lord appeared on the shore. How many times has Christ not only been near us, but within us! And yet we continue to lead such a material existence. We fail to realize that Jesus is here, right next to us. They failed to recognize him. Then Jesus said to them: ‘Children, have you any fish?’ God asks us, his creatures, for something to eat God needs us. How beautiful that is! What a marvel of God's greatness! God needs us. No one is indispensable: I'm the Founder of Opus Dei and I'm not indispensable either. Nevertheless, I can tell you at the same time, that God needs us; he needs you and he needs me.” St Josemaría

The fishermen were exhausted from having worked all night, and with scarcely a glance towards him, they answered: "No." “This was an act of humility. They told the plain truth. Then Jesus says with all his power: ‘Throw your net to the right of the boat and you will find fish.’”

“They threw the net out to the right of the boat. It was a specific task, so that we too may learn. It was no longer a matter of being leaven for the dough of the multitude. Now, it is a matter of being fishermen catching other fishermen. They are fish of a different kind. They are other instruments who, later on, must turn into fishers of men.”
The disciples obeyed in silence, with a quiver in their hearts, and also with the humility born of a whole night's wasted effort. They were docile, humble, and obedient. And immediately they felt their nets weighed down by the catch.
“What do you and I do for the catch of fish to be abundant, so that many pieces of living silver will come into the boat?”

 Apr 20 Thu
He who endures to the end will be saved. What is really important is that we persevere in our Christian vocation to the very end. “That passage of the Second Epistle to Timothy makes me shudder, when the Apostle laments that Demas has fallen in love with the present world and gone to Thessalonica. For a trifle and for fear of persecution, this man, whom St Paul had quoted in other epistles as being among the saints, had betrayed the divine enterprise.”

We know the difficulties, the enemies from outside and the enemies from within. But we also have the weapons to be victorious. Hence, “if the interior struggle ever becomes harder, it is a good opportunity to show that your Love is true. Once a person has begun to savor his self-giving to some degree, it would be a terrible fraud to give in to defeat. Don't forget that cry of St Paul: 'Who will deliver me from this body of death?' And hear God's answer in your heart: 'My grace is sufficient for you!'

“Fidelity is the perfection of love. Behind any sign of disenchantment in the life of a soul dedicated to God there is always a point of corruption and impurity. Fidelity, when it is whole and entire, is always joyful and unconditional.

“Let me insist, be faithful. This is something deeply embedded in my heart. If you are faithful, your service to souls and to the Holy Church will yield abundant spiritual fruit.” St Josemaría

 Apr 19 Wed
12 Weapons to defeat the devil (summary)

1. Center your Christian life in Jesus, in loving and serving him.
2. Love the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the Mass. Cultivate the visits to the Lord in the tabernacle.
3. Humility; imitate Jesus’ meekness.
4. Prayer (both mental and vocal) becomes a firm rock against the attacks of the enemy.
5. Ask for help from your guardian angel in the moment of temptation.
6. Penance. Heal your sins with sacrifices and the sacrament of confession.
7. Vigilance, guard your internal and external senses. Avoid all occasions of sin.
8. Fight sadness and discouragement. Christ died for you.
9. Foster joy in the struggle with child-like spirit.
10. Apostolate (go out of yourself to give a hand to a friend), practice acts of service with self-giving, and alms.
11. Using the sacramentals with devotion: nothing scares the devil more than holy water, the scapular…
12. Ask for help from Mary, who crushed the head of the serpent, pray also to St Joseph, the terror of the devils.

 

Apr 18 Tue

12 Weapons to defeat the devil

Some asked for weapons to fight the devil. Christian life is not –primarily– a battle against the devil; rather, it is seeking Christ, finding him, loving him, remaining with him.

1. Christian life must be centered in Jesus, in loving and serving him; joining him in the Eucharist frequently. Consequently, we must fight the devil and reject every temptation. Temptation is anything (good or evil in itself) which separates us from fulfilling God’s Will. The provocations of the devil are considerably more intense than those coming from our fallen nature or the blindness of our twisted will. The devil may attack us, but not defeat us. He is like a chained dog; we must not get too close to him. This battle strengthens the soul. Christ will not allow us to be tempted beyond our capabilities.

2. Love the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the Mass. There, it is not an angel but Jesus with all his power who comes to crush the enemy. Cultivate the visits to the Lord in the tabernacle.

3. Humility; imitate Jesus’ meekness. Pride is the mark of the devil.

4. Prayer (both mental and vocal) becomes a firm rock against the attacks of the enemy.

5. Ask for help from your guardian angel in the moment of temptation.

6. Penance. The hardest blow against the devil is when we heal our sins with sacrifices and the sacrament of confession.

7. Vigilance and sobriety, guard your internal and external senses. Avoid all occasions of sin.

8. Fight sadness and discouragement. The remembrance of your price (Christ died for you) is the antidote against despair. The devil wants us to forget all about the price that Jesus paid to make us His friends, and members of His mystical body, the Church. We are unbeatable not because we are without sin, or because we have nothing to be accused of, but because the Blood of Jesus is the endless source of our hope.

9. Foster joy in the struggle with child-like spirit. The devil’s aim is not so much a dramatic about-face in our spiritual life as the more subtle surrender of a defeated soul. Having grown weary of struggle and failure, and convinced that progress is unrealistic, a practical discouragement sets in—the fault most inimical to the childlike spirit. The resilience that leaves a fall behind and runs along is replaced by a disheartened “Why bother?”

10. Apostolate (go out of yourself to give a hand to a friend), practice acts of service with self-giving, and alms.

11. Using the sacramentals with devotion: nothing scares the devil more than holy water, the scapular…

12. As Eve was seduced by the devil, our Mother Mary obeyed God and is ready to help you. “So, your strength is fast failing you? Why don't you say it to your Mother, 'comforter of the afflicted, help of Christians... our hope, queen of apostles’?” St Josemaría.

Together with Mary, who crushed the head of the serpent, pray also to St Joseph, the terror of the devils.

 Apr 17 Mon
10 Ways you might be letting the devil slip in your life

God is the ultimate power, so the devil need not be feared, but the devil should be always avoided for our own spiritual well-being. He likes to work undercover to ensnare people in his traps.
Here are 10 things considered harmless by many that are ways that the devil has slips into a soul.

1. Horoscopes, which claim power to know the future that is not from God.

2. Mediums. Some claim to speak with the dead. Psychics, fortune tellers, mediums and the like, are either scammers or draw their power from the devil. The Old Testament in Deut. 18:10-11 and Isaiah 19:3 condemns conjuring up the dead. That is not the same as not praying to saints asking for their intercessory prayers.
 
3. Paranormal tourism. Visiting haunted houses, now so popular. Real haunted houses are cases of either souls in purgatory in need of prayer or evil spirits.

4. Wishing for someone to burn in hell.

5. “Knock on wood” and other superstitions. Rabbit’s feet, good luck charms, and any sort of superstition may seem harmless, but they seek to use powers not of God. Instead of knocking on wood or making a wish, pray instead.

6. Fortune tellers, palm readers, Tarot card readers and the like.

7. Consumer products that offer powers. Crystals and essential oils — perfectly good and natural materials — are sometimes used and sold by companies claiming they have supernatural powers. For real power, talk to the Creator of the Universe and receive supernatural graces through the sacraments.

8. Unforgiveness. When you remain unforgiving intentionally, you allow the devil to influence you against God’s will.

9. Pornography. It enslaves people and destroys relationships — just as the devil wants.

10. Following apparitions condemned by the Church. Sometimes, the devil uses false apparitions to lure people against the Church.

 Apr 16 Sun
Ours is a God who doesn’t give up on us easily. This Sunday of Divine Mercy, among other things, shows us that Jesus is the Lord of do-overs.
Doubting Thomas’s quick turnabout serves as a lesson to anyone who dares to doubt, or disbelieve in matters of faith. It says: the impossible is possible. The faithless can become faithful. Even the unbelieving can believe.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, is a child of God. Indeed, faith helps us recognize that Christ is God; it shows us that he is our Savior; it brings us to identify ourselves with him and to act as he acted.

Without faith, there is no hope; still less is there charity, because no one can love what they do not know. Without faith, there is no true and profound humility, which is the foundation for all the other virtues. Without faith, life will be worldly and choked by the worries of the earth. Faith is so necessary that without it, it is impossible to please God.

“Humbly ask God to increase your faith. Then, with new lights, you will see clearly the difference between the world's paths and your way as an apostle.
Let us take another look at the Master. You too may find yourself now hearing his gentle reproach to Thomas: ‘Let me have your finger: see, here are my hands. Let me have your hand; put it into my side. Cease your doubting, and believe’; and, with the Apostle, a sincere cry of contrition will rise from your soul: 'My Lord, and my God!' I acknowledge you once and for all as the Master. From now on, with your help, I shall always treasure your teachings and I shall strive to follow them loyally."

Illustration: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Caravaggio, c.1601

 Apr 15 Sat
“When we were baptized in Christ Jesus, we were baptized in his death; in other words, when we were baptized, we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death, therefore, as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too might live a new life.”

I am like a little child who is in the arms of his Father God, facing his mother, the Blessed Virgin. Thus, Christ calls me –every day– to a new life in the glory of the Father, and then he shows up there, to make it happen. I should not delude myself into imagining that I am the protagonist of my own Christian life — for better or worse — but I am not.

He is the protagonist of history, and the protagonist of my salvation. My job is to realize that his grace is operating in me; my duty is to cooperate, to receive, and to respond — not to stand in his way.

I should ask him to remind me, each time, when and where he is showing up in my life, and to praise him for that presence. My wish is to seek him constantly, to find him, to open the door for him, to let him in, to sit down with him, to talk to him, to be always accompanying him.

 Apr 14 Fri
Our Lord remains with us in the tabernacle, and is solemnly exposed also, to be adored. I had never noticed Exodus 16:31-32:
“Now the house of Israel called its name manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. And Moses said, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded: “Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

Manna is a forerunner to the Eucharist. It gave life in the desert as a gift from God to be eaten and save the people from starvation. Notice, however, that not all of it was meant, at least immediately, for eating. For the good of the people, manna was also meant to be displayed. The people would see and remember with gratitude how God had provided for them.

I looked further into the Old Testament antecedents to the Eucharist. That is when I discovered the Showbread, which was special bread that God commanded the priests to prepare each week and place on an altar in the Holy of Holies. On the great festival days in Jerusalem, the priests would lift the bread up and show it to the people, announcing to the gathered faithful, “Behold how precious you are to God.” The Showbread was also called the Bread of the Presence, meaning it was a display of the miraculous face of God to His people. The people did not eat the bread. They looked at it.

God was teaching His people to gaze upon His presence, to linger with Him. He was establishing a communion with them through a beautiful, aesthetic display. He revealed His majesty, even if in a veiled manner, and in doing so, created a connection between Himself and His children.

Our faith is not meant to be limited to what is functional.

Yes, of course, the primary purpose of the Eucharist is to be eaten. This is what Christ desires, that we consume Him and become more like Him in both His death and His life. But there’s a reason the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a mysterious, overlapping set of beautiful symbols. The Eucharist is the mystery of our faith, a precious jewel, and it won’t do to narrow the Blessed Sacrament down to the functional act of eating.
Perhaps we could say that there are two ways to eat —with the mouth and with the eyes. Equally important is that in the Eucharist, Christ is looking back at you.

 Apr 13 Thu
The Lord is risen! We have died and risen with Christ; we have been born to the life of grace, to the life of God's children. Our strength rests on our awareness that we really are children of God. Being so, God makes up for the strength we lack.

“Thus, our own failures do not drag us down. Rather they are an invitation to begin again, And even if they were grave sins, the sacrament of penance, received with true sorrow, enables us to recover our peace with God and to become again a good witness of his mercy.

“Struggle vigorously against difficulties, in a sporting spirit, joyful in hope, in the knowledge that, helped by God's grace, you will always win your struggle because God does not lose battles.
“To overcome all obstacles that may arise, we must always take divine grace into account, before everything else. We are not engaged in a human enterprise, nor are we doing our own will. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” St Josemaria

 Apr 12 Wed
Mary Magdalene was asked by the angels why was she crying; we should recognize the presence of our Guardian Angels by our side, helping us to find Christ.

Jesus Christ continues to live among us; He is the same one whom Mary Magdalene mistook for the local gardener; Christ is alive.

This is the transcendental question that Jesus is directing to each of us: “Whom do you seek?”

As with Mary Magdalene, Jesus calls us by our name, in his unmistakable tone of voice. He is very close to each one of us. May external circumstances –sorrow, failure, pain, or discouragement– never prevent us from finding Him.

Mary was prevented by her tears from seeing the Risen Lord, even though He was so close, just beside her. May we not fail to find Jesus beside us.

Later, Jesus appeared to the apostles and breathed the Holy Spirit upon them. Lord, pour out on us the Spirit who creates and renews.

You promised to be with your disciples to the end of time; stay with us throughout this day and remain with us for ever.

– Lord, grant us the blessings of your resurrection.

 Apr 11 Tue
Let us pray to our Redeemer, who suffered for us, was buried, and rose from the dead.
– Risen Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, our Lord, you suffered seeing your Mother standing by the Cross;
  may we participate in your saving passion in our time of suffering.

Christ, our Savior, you died like a grain of wheat falling into the ground;
  gather us to yourself in the harvest of redemption and give us the Bread of Life.

Christ, our Shepherd, lying in the tomb you were hidden from men;
  teach us to love our ordinary life, which is hidden with you in God.

Christ, the new Adam, you went down into the world of the dead to free the just;
  may those who are dead in sin hear your voice, rise up, and live.

Christ, Son of the living God, we were buried with you in baptism;
  let us rise with you, alive with you for ever.

Christ, King of glory, we look forward to the day of your coming,
  then we shall see your face, and share in your splendor.

Christ, Son of Mary, have mercy on us.
Maran Atha! Come to help us, Lord, our God.

 April 10 Mon
When I met you, Lord, for the first time…, I trembled with love and with horror. And now, I shiver, and I burn. I shiver because of the infinite distance between You and me, I burn because of the closeness and resemblance, because You love me.

When a child has to go in a dark night through a forest, he feels fear, even if he is shown a hundred times that there is nothing dangerous in it. Only a human voice could console him, only the loving hand of his father could drive away that anguish that assails him like a nightmare.

On Good Friday, I saw the suffering image of the pierced One; it reminded me of the crucifixes of the ancient Church: the cross surrounded by luminous rays, which is a sign of both death and resurrection.

Thus, Christ has hidden himself, but through this impenetrable darkness, on Sunday, he has risen and becomes my light, my salvation.

“Earthly things are only as important as we make them be. If we are immersed in God, nothing will disturb our interior peace. When, out of weakness, we make a big deal out of these insignificant events and let them get us down, it is because we want to. If we stay close to our Lord, however, we feel secure. If we unite ourselves to Christ's Cross and his glorious Resurrection, there is no obstacle we cannot overcome.” St Josemaría

Lord, you are all goodness and beauty, and I….so insignificant. And yet, You come to me in the Eucharist and talk to me in prayer.

 Apr 9 Sun
Tell us, Mary, say, what thou didst see on the way? I saw Christ's glory as he rose. Christ, my hope has risen!

In the middle of my daily work, when I am trying to overcome my selfishness, when I am enjoying the cheerful friendship of other people, there, I should rediscover God. Through Christ and in the Holy Spirit, I have access to the intimacy of God the Father, and I should spend my life looking for the Kingdom which is not of this world. I must seek Christ in the word and in the bread, in the Eucharist and in prayer. And I want to treat him as a friend, as the real, living person he is – for he has risen.

“After the hosannas of his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the time came when Christ was left alone, nailed to a piece of wood to die.
“Our Lord is all alone, and his disciples fled. And who stays by his side? Mary, with a small group of faithful women and one young man: all the others have turned coward.
"Right now, let us tell our Lord fervently that we will be faithful, that we are ready to make any sacrifice, let us tell him: Lord, with your grace; Mary, my Mother, I need your help. I am so weak, I make so many mistakes, I commit so many little errors that if you leave me alone, I feel I would be capable of committing great mistakes.

“But despite everything we dare to say to God our Lord: I am ready for anything; I want to become what you called me to be, when you gave me this Christian vocation; not just another Christ, but Christ himself. Nevertheless, I am so weak, so prone to error that unless you help me, I'll just waste my life.

“This is the great day which the Lord has made, this is the day of his victory. Where are those who crucified Jesus? Today, it is Christ's enemies who are fleeing, for he never loses battles.” St Josemaria
Border: Mosaic from Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (6th century).

 Apr 8 Sat
On that first Holy Saturday, the Apostles were weak in their faith and were on the point of losing the spirit they needed to continue along the way. In their time of trial, they turned to Mary, and with her, how easy it is!

Our life must also be a life of faith, especially when there are difficulties and moments of darkness. If the winds of temptation arise and you come up against the reefs of tribulation, look up at the star and call upon Mary. God chose her to be our advocate, to be our Mother and our sure path.
You will not lose the way if you follow her. You will not lose hope if you implore her aid. You will not be lost if you think of her.

Take a look now at the Cross. Jesus has died, and there is yet no sign of his glorious triumph. It is a good time to examine how much we really want to live as Christians, to be holy... We can trust in God and resolve to put love into the things we do each day.

The experience of sin should lead us to sorrow. We should make a more mature and deeper decision to be faithful and truly identify ourselves with Christ, persevering no matter what it costs, in the priestly mission that he has given every single one of his disciples. That mission should spur us on to be the salt and light of the world.

 Apr 7 Fri
Pontius Pilate, a pagan, did not believe the Truth. The Pharisees, a minority among the People of God, hated the Truth. This situation has been often repeated throughout the history of salvation.
What did Jesus do? He continued straightaway fulfilling his mission.

“God is my Father, even though he may send me suffering. He loves me tenderly, even while wounding me. Jesus suffers, to fulfill the Will of the Father... And I, who also wish to fulfill the most holy Will of God, following in the footsteps of the Master, can I complain if I too meet suffering as my traveling companion? It will be a sure sign of my sonship, because God is treating me as he treated his own Divine Son.

“But don't drag the Cross. Carry it squarely on your shoulder, because your Cross, if you carry it like that, will not be just any Cross... It will be the Holy Cross. Don't carry your Cross with resignation: resignation is not a generous word. Love the Cross. When you really love it, your Cross will be... a Cross without a Cross.
“And surely you will find Mary on the way, just as Jesus did.

“Very likely, there will be times, when alone in front of a crucifix, you find tears coming to your eyes. Don't try to hold them back... But try to ensure that those tears give rise to a resolution.

“We must give our life for others. That is the only way to live the life of Jesus Christ and to become one and the same thing with him.” St Josemaría

 Apr 6 Thu
Today we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist and of the “Ministerial Priesthood.” The Lord shares his gifts, his sacrifice and his priesthood, with us.
He is the priest through whom we have been reconciled with God,
He is the sacrifice by which we have been reconciled,
He is the Temple in which we have been reconciled,
He is God with whom we have been reconciled.
He alone is priest, sacrifice and temple because he is all these things as God in the form of a servant; but he is not alone as God, for he is this with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of God.

I am glad to share with you my small composition “Acts of Thanksgiving after Communion”, they are seven, one for each day of the week. I hope this helps you to establish a real dialog with Our Lord after the Mass. You can download it in pdb (for ISilo) and in pdf.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eso7w59MImfP_wax95dvgVxKcnm16H6U?usp=sharing

 Apr 4 Tue
They were hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, Jesus went to see if he could find anything on it.
“Jesus was very tired. It moves me so much to see Christ as a Man. He, Jesus Christ, was hungry! The maker of the universe, the Lord of all things, the Almighty, is hungry!
“He is hungry and goes towards that fig tree, still far in the distance, which has plenty of lush foliage. But on approaching it, he finds nothing but leaves.

“Jesus is hungry and thirsty. From the Cross he cried out: I thirst! And he is thirsty for you – for you! – for your love, your soul, for all souls, whom it is your duty to raise up to him. He comes close to you because he is thirsty and hungry; and he finds on you no more than leaves, if you have given yourself to him only in a formal and dry way, with a faith that has no vibrancy; if in you there is no humility, or sacrifice, or works, if you are no more than a facade.

“Finding no food, Jesus said to the fig tree: May no fruit ever come from you again. And the fig tree withered at once. Our Father goes on to say: Don't these words make you think how your faith must be, with your life conforming to that faith, so that Christ always has fruit which consoles him: in your work, in your apostolic zeal, crowned with good works?

“Do you see? Our Lord sets this condition: that we have faith, because then we will be able to move mountains. And there are many things to be moved... We must open up in the world this way of ours, which is so old and yet new. And if there are mountains, obstacles, misunderstandings, deceits, which Satan wants and which God permits, we have to have faith, faith with deeds, faith with sacrifice, faith with humility.” St Josemaría
And God gives faith to anyone who asks for it with humility.

 April 3 Mon
After anointing the feet of Jesus and wiping his feet with her hair, Mary kept quiet. She did not care about the comments and criticisms her behavior produced; it was enough for her to see Jesus happy.

Mary's attitude has forever remained as a gentle invitation to be generously faithful to the Lord, giving him absolutely everything. Whatever we do, will always be very little to repay his love, since he gave himself up to death, and death on the Cross, for the sake of each one of us, for me.

Her house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment, and the world is also filled with her good name, because a good name is like a pleasant fragrance. For this reason, those who call themselves Christians, but who live badly, insult Christ.

Lord, help me, so that my actions are consistent with my love for you, effective and right; so that they give off the “bonus odor Christi,” the good fragrance of Christ, evoking, for all to see, Jesus’ way of doing things.

 Apr 2 Sun
Christ has truly risen. This is the central mystery of our faith. Christ is alive even now. His Resurrection is the principle of my own resurrection; if I die with him, I will resurrect with him. This joy should transform my daily life and spread to those around me.
The Risen Christ conquers sin and death; he lives forever and intercedes for me before the Father. If he is with me, who will be against me?

I am not fighting alone. The Holy Spirit is poured out abundantly on the Church on the day of Pentecost; he is here, inside me, constantly, if I am in the state of grace.
But I should correspond to the “motions” of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit to act in my soul, I need to be listening with docility. With trust in his help, I should set high goals, resolutions, in my Christian life, and be daring in the apostolate.

The life Our Lady, Holy Mary, Mother of God was a constant following of her Son, right to the sublime moment of the Passion.
I am a child of Mary; on the Cross, Jesus entrusted each of us to his Mother. If I want to be a good Christian, our Lady has to become part of my life.
Like a good mother, she teaches me how to become like Christ. Our Lady is the model of all the virtues, and in special way, our Lady is the model of holiness in ordinary life.
Do I seek out, frequently, her motherly intercession? Do I stay close to her throughout the day with aspirations and practices of Marian piety?
Our Lady will also help me to begin again whenever I need to: “To Jesus we always go and we ‘return’ through Mary.”

 Apr 1 Sat
God established a Covenant of salvation with his People, which was renewed with the sacrifice of a lamb. In the Last Supper, Our Lord establishes the definitive Covenant; he is the Lamb in the ultimate Sacrifice. He “advances” the sacrifice of the Cross, and “prolongs” its presence sacramentally, every time, in the Eucharist, as the sign of his immeasurable love.
How do I “live” the Mass?

The Holy Mass builds up the Church. It is the center and root of a Christian’s interior life. Jesus remains present in the Tabernacle. Do I visit him? Do I receive communion frequently? Do I participate in the liturgy with reverence?

We cost him very much. Contemplating our Lord’s Passion, meditating on his sufferings, helps us understand the depth of his love for each one of us, sinners.
If he did this for me, what should do for him? I must discover and love the daily cross so that I can follow Jesus. That is how I should accomplish the Will of God. Sacrifice leads me to have the peace and joy of the blessed. Christian joy has its “roots” in the shape of a cross.

I wish to die to sin and rise with Christ to the new life of grace. I want to have my heart free to give myself to God and to the others.
Lord, help me to fight idle curiosity, in the use of technology, in controlling my reactions and moods, in making life more pleasant for others, cheerfulness, order, etc.