.
TODAY’S WORD…
.
Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His Name;
make known among the nations what He has done.
Sing to Him, sing praise to Him;
tell of all His wonderful acts.
Glory in His Holy Name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
.
Look to the Lord and His strength;
seek His Face always.
.
– Psalm 105:1-4 (NIV)
.
.
.
REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…
.
Your Face, O Lord, I shall seek with all my heart.
My soul thirsts for You, O God of my salvation!
.
.
TODAY’S WORD…
.
You have been raised to life with Christ,
so set your hearts on the things that are in heaven,
where Christ sits on His throne at the right side of God.
Keep your minds fixed on things there,
not on things here on earth.
.
– Colossians 3:1-2 (GNT)
.
.
.
REFLECTION…
.
We need to seek the "things that are in heaven",
that is, the things of God.
.
In our pilgrimage to the Heavenly City
we Christians are to seek and relish the things that are from above.
This involves not a lesser, but a greater commitment to working with all men
to build a world that is more human
– a world that needs to sometimes stop and acknowledge God as its Creator,
and strive to always act charitably and dutifully, and in accordance with His will.
.
If we are looking for true joy and happiness,
then we should not set our affections upon the things of this world
– we should live above this, setting our sights on God,
remembering what Jesus tells us
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
.
.
.
QUOTE…
.
"The true Christian, who acts according to this faith,
always has his sights set on God.
His outlook is supernatural.
He works in this world of ours, which he loves passionately;
he is involved in all its challenges,
but all the while his eyes are fixed on Heaven"
.
– St. Josemaria Escriva
.
.
.
REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…
.
O Lord, my God, You are my Treasure and my Delight!
.
.
TODAY’S WORD…
.
“Do not be afraid.
I am the First and the Last.
I am the Living One;
I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!”
.
– Revelation 1:17b-18a (NIV)
.
.
.
REFLECTION…
.
Christ’s first words
to those who upon earnestly searching for Him, find Him
are words of peace, encouragement and assurance.
.
.
.
QUOTE…
.
"Christ is alive.
This is the great truth which fills our faith with meaning.
Jesus, who died on the cross, has risen.
He has triumphed over death;
He has overcome sorrow, anguish and the power of darkness."
.
– St. Josemaria Escriva
.
.
.
REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…
.
Jesus, You are alive!
Jesus, You are welcome in my heart…forever!
Thank You, Lord; forgive me Lord; I love You, Lord. Amen, Alleluia!
.
Hallelujah, He is Risen!
We wish you all a Blessed and Joyful Easter!
.
TODAY’S WORD…
.
The women hurried away from the [empty] tomb,
afraid yet filled with joy,
and ran to tell His disciples.
.
Suddenly Jesus met them.
“Greetings,” He said.
.
They came to Him, clasped His feet and worshipped Him.
Then Jesus said to them,
“Do not be afraid.
Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee;
there they will see me.”
.
– Matthew 28:8-10 (NIV)
.
.
.
QUOTE…from Pope Francis’ Homily at the Easter Vigil, 19 April 2014…
.
“To return to Galilee means
to re-read everything on the basis of the cross and its victory.
To re-read everything – Jesus’ preaching, His miracles, the new community,
the excitement and the defections, even the betrayal –
to re-read everything starting from the end, which is a new beginning,
from this supreme act of love.
.
For each of us, too, there is a "Galilee" at the origin of our journey with Jesus.
"To go to Galilee" means something beautiful,
it means rediscovering our baptism as a living fountainhead,
drawing new energy from the sources of our faith and our Christian experience.
.
To return to Galilee means above all
to return to that blazing light with which God’s grace touched me at the start of the journey.
From that flame I can light a fire for today and every day,
and bring heat and light to my brothers and sisters.
That flame ignites a humble joy,
a joy which sorrow and distress cannot dismay,
a good, gentle joy.
.
In the life of every Christian, after baptism there is also a more existential "Galilee":
the experience of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ
who called me to follow Him and to share in His mission.
.
In this sense, returning to Galilee means treasuring in my heart the living memory of that call,
when Jesus passed my way, gazed at me with mercy and asked me to follow Him.
It means reviving the memory of that moment when His eyes met mine,
the moment when He made me realise that He loved me.
.
Today, tonight, each of us can ask:
What is my Galilee? Where is my Galilee?
Do I remember it? Have I forgotten it?
Have I gone off on roads and paths which made me forget it?
.
Lord, help me: tell me what my Galilee is;
for You know that I want to return there to encounter You
and to let myself be embraced by Your mercy.
.
The Gospel of Easter is very clear:
we need to go back there, to see Jesus risen,
and to become witnesses of His resurrection.
.
This is not to go back in time; it is not a kind of nostalgia.
It is returning to our first love,
in order to receive the fire which Jesus has kindled in the world
and to bring that fire to all people,
to the very ends of the earth.”
.
.
.
REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…
.
Lord, thank You for Your Glorious Resurrection!
Lord, help me: tell me what my Galilee is;
for You know that I want to return there to encounter You
and to let myself be embraced by your mercy. Amen.
.
.
TODAY’S WORD…
.
The next day, on the Sabbath,
the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate.
They told him,
"Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while He was still alive:
‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’
So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day […]”
.
Pilate replied, "Take guards and secure it the best you can."
.
So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.
.
– Matthew 27:62-66 (NLT)
.
.
.
REFLECTION…ON HOLY SATURDAY…
.
Today a great silence reigns on earth,
a great silence and a great stillness.
A great silence because the King is asleep.
.
The earth trembled and is still
because God has fallen asleep in the flesh
and He has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began.
.
He has gone to search for Adam, our first father,
as for a lost sheep.
Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death,
He has gone to free from sorrow Adam in his bonds and Eve, captive with him
– He who is both their God and the son of Eve…
.
[from an Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday]
.
.
.
REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…
.
Lord Jesus, without You I am nothing; without You I am lost.
.
.
.
TODAY’S WORD…
.
Like a sapling He grew up in front of us,
like a root in arid ground.
Without beauty, without majesty (we saw Him),
no looks to attract our eyes;
a thing despised and rejected by men,
a Man of sorrows and familiar with suffering,
a Man to make people screen their faces;
He was despised and we took no account of Him.
.
– Isaiah 53:2-3 (JB)
.
.
And yet ours were the sufferings He bore,
ours the sorrows He carried.
But we, we thought of Him as someone punished,
struck by God, and brought low.
Yet He was pierced through for our faults,
crushed for our sins.
On Him lies a punishment that brings us peace,
and through His wounds we are healed.
.
– Isaiah 53:4-5 (JB)
.
.
We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way,
and the Lord burdened Him with the sins of all of us.
Harshly dealt with, He bore it humbly,
He never opened His mouth,
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter-house,
like a sheep that is dumb before its shearers never opening its mouth.
.
– Isaiah 53:6-7 (JB)
.
.
.
A SONG…TO REFLECT FURTHER…
on Christ’s great love for you.
Please click here >>> 
.
.
.
REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…
.
Jesus, thank You for Your great love for me.
Thank You, Lord God.
Forgive me, Lord God.
.
.
TODAY’S WORD…
.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord,
“who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
.
– Revelation 1:8 (NKJV)
.
.
.
REFLECTION…
.
The Lord God Almighty is the beginning and end of all things,
of the world and of history;
He is present at all times – times past, present and future.
He is Lord!
.
.
.
REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…
.
Lord, You are the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the End,
who is and who was and who is to come,
the Almighty.
AMEN!.
.
.
TODAY’S WORD…
.
Be under obligation to no one
– the only obligation you have is to love one another.
Whoever does this has obeyed the Law.
.
– Romans 13:8 (GNT)
.
.
.
REFLECTION…
.
When we love God and neighbour
we are keeping the Lord’s Commandments
and giving Him glory.
.
Furthermore, Christ’s death on the Cross is the perfect example
of pure, selfless, unconditional, sacrificial love.
So, when it is pure unselfish love that motivates us,
we are imitating the Lord,
obeying His commands,
and also readily giving what is due – and more besides –
to Him whom we love.
.
.
.
QUOTE…
.
“Our motive in everything we do should be the Love of God,
which makes it easier for us to love our neighbour
and which purifies and raises all earthly loves on to a higher level […].
.
Charity, which is like a generous overflowing of justice,
demands first of all the fulfilment of one’s duty.
The way to start is to be just;
the next step is to do what is most equitable…;
but in order to love, great refinement is required,
and much thoughtfulness, and respect, and kindliness.”
.
– St. Josemaria Escriva
.
.
.
REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…
.
O Lord, my God, You are Love.
I want to love like You love – in the way You love me.
.
.
.
TODAY’S WORD…
.
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For it is written:
.
‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’
.
– 1 Corinthians 1:18-19 (NIV)
.
.
.
REFLECTION…
.
Human wisdom ought to be in line with the wisdom of God.
But it has gone off course and become "wisdom of the world",
relying only on logic or on miracles.
.
It is only grace that can make a person truly wise,
therefore, no Christian can boast of obtaining wisdom by his or her own efforts,
but we all must rely only on the wisdom of the Cross.
.
Divine wisdom, to which mankind is called to have a share in,
is the plan of salvation revealed by God
and taught by the Holy Spirit.
.
And it is the cross of Christ
that leads the way to true wisdom and prudence
– no one may remain indifferent to it.
.
Some people see “the message of the Cross” as irrational
– they view it with contempt and, most often, do everything to ignore it.
Here, the seed of Truth has fallen by the wayside and been downtrodden.
Such people have forgotten their heavenly origin
and have become solely attached to this world…a world that passes away.
.
Others – those who are on the road to salvation –
are discovering that the Cross is "the power of God":
a saving and empowering Cross that has conquered evil and sin.
The Cross changes everything in their lives.
The Cross makes them realise that their treasure is in heaven.
.
.
.
REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…
.
By Your Holy Cross, O Jesus,
make me strong and able to take up the cross I must bear.
.
.
.
TODAY’S WORD…
.
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
.
– Psalm 27:1 (NRSV)
.
.
.
REFLECTION…
.
Darkness symbolises distress, trouble, loss of direction, and sorrow.
Light is the opposite.
.
“The Lord is my light”
– He is to me the source of light that guides and leads me.
.
God’s light has a calming yet uplifting effect,
it eases our tension, combats our anxieties,
and it brightens and fills our way with joyful expectation.
.
“The Lord is…my salvation”
The Lord finds me in the dark, but He does not leave me there
– He saves me,
He revives me, teaches me and shows me the way
…and He sets me free.
.
“Whom shall I fear?”
When, in my freedom, I choose to walk with the Lord,
when I put all my trust in Him,
He protects me,
He defends me
and I can rely on Him…fully.
.
What better security is there
than the conviction that God is my friend
– right here by my side, day and night!
.
.
.
REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…
.
Lord, with You always by my side, I have nothing to fear.
.
.
A LAMP TO MY FEET. A LIGHT FOR MY PATH. 