THE INTERIOR LIFE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

April 12th: a Traditional Memorial on the Interior LIfe of Mary

Mary was created immaculate, and therefore the grace of God streamed into her soul without check or hindrane. She began her journey along the road to perfection at a height to which other Saints arrived only at the end of a long life of saintliness.  An intimate union with God, a continual and joyful remembrance of His presence, a perfect agreement of will with Him was the beginning of His gifts to Mary.

Introit:

The Lord hath greatly desired Mary's beauty; for He is her Lord; and she shall be the throne of God for ever and ever, the sceptre of uprightness, the sceptre of His kingdom. Alleluia, alleluia.

Ps. 44 : All the glory of the King's Daughter is within; in golden bor­ders, clothed round about with varieties. Glory be to the Fath­er and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost...

Collect:

O GOD,  Who made the Blessed Vlrgm Mary surpass all creatures as perfect partaker and image of Christ's interior virtues, grant we pray, that we may so venerate Mary's interior life as to become through her conformed to Christ and through Him perfectly united to Thee. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ. Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth forever and ever.

Sequence:

All the beauty of the King's daughter,

who is a marvel of fullness of grace, comes to her from within.

More precious than her title of Mother,

than the flower of her virginity, is the charity of her pure heart.

There purity reigns, and peace that nought can trouble,

and light without the slightest cloud.

Seek where you will recall any moment of her life,

nowhere is there any stain. 

Before He is enshrined, in her chaste womb,

God already resides in her loving heart,

and this last the greater grace.  

Already full of grace she is, and yet what abundant gifts

the Son pours out on His Mother!

Vile in her own esteem, humble,  magnanimous,

she is pleasing in the eyes of God. She believes and understands; 

she hopes and immediately reaps the fruits of her unwavering faith.

As she accepts the joyful mes­sage, so she submits completely to the painful sword.

She put away her mortal dwelling and puts on immortality,

for she cannot bear the force of love. 

Now you no longer die of love; you burn with heavenly flames; 

you possess what you so ardently desired. 

You love the more perfectly be­cause above all Saints you are ele­vated to peerless glory.

 O Lord, may the Holy Ghost, Who wounded the heart of Thy Son's Mother and set it on fire with so much love, also per­fecdy possess our:hearts; in order that, as He always acted freely in her, He may crucify our flesh with its vices and concupiscences and thus also operate our sanctifica­tion. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ ...

Communion prayer:

This place is holy and in it the Priest prays for the failings and sins of the people, alleluia.

Postcommunion prayer:

May the Son repose within us, o Lord, and find there His delights; and just as Thou didst make Him ours through the Vir­gin Mary, in whom He dwelt and found His delight, so may we be worthy through her and in Thy Son to be Thine always and every­where. Through the same our Lord. Amen

Man himself can not simply "make" worship: If God does not reveal Himself, man is clutching empty space. Moses says to Pharoah: "We do not know with what we must serve Lord" (Ex 10:26). These words display a fundamental law of all liturgy. When God does not reveal Himself, man can, of course, from the sense of God within him, build altars "to the unknown god" (Acts 17:23). He can reach out toward God in his thinking and try to feel his way toward Him. But real liturgy implies that God responds and reveals how we can worship Him. In any form, liturgy includes some kind fo "institution". It cannot spring from imagination, our own creativity -then it would remain just a cry in the dark or mere self-affirmation. Liturgy implies a real relationship with Another, who reveals Himself to us and gives our exis­tence a new direction.

In the Old Testament there is a series of very im­pressive testimonies to the truth that the liturgy is not a a matter of "what you please".  Nowhere is this more dramatically evident than in the narrative of the golden calf (strictly speaking, "bull calf"). The cult conducted by the high priest Aaron is not meant to serve any of the false gods of the heathen. The apostasy is more  subtle. There is no obvious turning away from God to the false gods. Outwardly, the people remain completely attached to the same God. They want to glorify the God who led Israel out of Egypt and believe that they may very properly represent his mysterious power in the image of a bull calf Everything seems to be in order. Presumably even the ritual is in complete conformity to the rubrics. And yet it is a falling away from. The worship of God to idolatry. This apostasy, which outwardly is scarcely perceptible, has two causes. First, there is a violation of the prohibition of images. The people cannot cope with the invisible, remote, and mysterious God. They want to bring Him down into their own world, into what they can see and understand. Worship is no longer going up to God, but drawing God down into one's own world.

He must be there when He is needed, and He must be the kind of God that is needed. Man is using God, and in reality, even if it is not outwardly discernible, he is placing himself above God. This gives us a clue to the second point. The worship of the golden calf is a self-­generated cult. When Moses stays away for too long, and God Himself becomes inaccessible, the people just fetch Him back. Worship becomes a feast that the community gives itself: a festival of self-affirmtion. Instead of being worship of God, it becomes a circle closed in on itself: eating, drinking, and making merry. The dance around the golden calf is an image of this self-seeking worship. It is a kind of banal self-gratification. The narrative of the golden calf is a warning about any kind of self-initiated ­and self-seeking worship. Ultimately, it is no longer concerned with God but with giving oneself a nice little al­ternative world, manufactured from one's own resources.

Then liturgy really does become pointless, just fooling around. Or still worse it becomes an apostasy from the living God, an apostasy in sacral disguise. All that is left in the end is frustration, a feeling of emptiness. There is no experience of that liberation which always takes place when man encounters the living God.

from Spirit of the Liturgy

This week in the Gospel at daily Mass we read the famous "Bread of Life" discourse from the Gospel of St. John so let us take a moment to meditate on the awesome continuing presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, present in our tabernacles.

The Visit to the Blessed Sacrament.           

Eucharistic piety, says Pope John Paul II, should be centered above all on the celebration of the Lord's Supper, which perpetuates the pouring out of His love on the Cross. But it has a logical prolongation ... in the adoration of Christ in this divine Sacrament, in the visit to the Blessed Sacrament, in prayer beside the Tabernacle, as well as in those other exercises of devotion both personal and collec­tive, private and public, which you have been practicing for centuries. Pope John Paul II writes: Jesus waits for us in this Sacrament of Love. Let us not be mean with our time when it comes to going to meet him in adoration, in contemplation that is filled with faith, and disposed to make reparation for the grave faults and crimes of the world.

Jesus is there in the nearest Tabernacle. Perhaps just a few miles away or even perhaps a few yards ... How could we not go to see him, to love him, to tell him about our affairs, to ask him for things? What a lack of consistency on our part if we were not to do this with faith? How easy it is to understand that centuries-old custom of daily visits to the tabernacle. There the Master has been waiting for us for twenty centuries, and we can be together with him like Mary, the sister of Lazarus - the one who chose the better part in that house in Bethany.

I win tell you, says Blessed Escriva, that for me the tabernacle has always been a Bethany, a quiet and Pleasant place where Christ resides: a place where we can tell him about our worries, our sufferings, our desires, our joys, with the same sort of simplicity and naturalness as Martha, Mary and Lazarus. That is why I rejoice when I stumble upon a church in town or country; it's another tabernacle, another opportunity for the soul to escape and join in intention our Lord in the Sacrament.

Jesus is waiting for us to visi Him. It is, in a way, a return of his visit to us in Holy Communion, and it is a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, an acknowledge­ment of the Lord's presence. It is a continuation of our act of thanksgiving for the previous Communion and a preparation for the next. When we find ourselves before the tabernacle we can indeed say in all truth and accuracy: God is here! And in the presence of this mystery of faith there is no room for any other attitude except that of adoration - Adoro te devote ... 0 hidden God, devoutly I adore You- of respect and astonishment; and, at the same time, of unlimited confidence. Dwelling with Christ Our Lord, the faithful enjoy his intimate friendship and pour out their hearts before him for themselves and their dear ones, and pray for the peace and salvation of the world. They offer their entire lives with Christ to the Father in the Holy Spirit, and receive in this wonderful exchange an increase of faith, hope and charity. Thus they nourish those right dispositions which enable them with all due devotion to celebrate the memorial of the Lord and receive frequently the bread given us by the Father.  

Fruits of this act of piety:

St.Josemaria Escriva wrote to someone: You have started to visit the Blessed Sacrament every day. 1 am not surprised to hear you say, 'I have come to love the Sanctuary light madly'.

The Visit to the Blessed Sacra­ment is an act of piety that only takes a few minutes; nevertheless, what a lot of graces and what fortitude and peace does Our Lord give through it. There we find that our sense of presence of God throughout the day is improved and we gather new strength to take the difficulties of the day in our stride. There our desire to work better is enkindled and we are provided with a good supply of peace and joy to take with us to our family life. Our Lord, who always pays generously, is grateful for the fact that we have gone to visit Him. And as to paying us, he is so careful about this that you need to have no fear he will leave us without our reward if only we raise our eyes to Heaven and remember Him

In the Visit to the Blessed Sacrament we go to keep Jesus company for a few minutes. It could be that on a par­ticular day not many have gone to visit him even though He was expecting them. Therefore He is all the more pleased to see us there. We shall say some of the usual prayers to him as well as making the spiritual Communion. We'll ask him for help - both spiritual and material; we'll tell him what is causing us concern and what we are happy about; we'll tell him that, in spite of our miseries, He can count on us for the re-evangelization of the world and we'll tell him, perhaps, that we want to bring a friend close to him. What shall we do, you sometimes ask, in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament? Love him, praise him, thank him and ask him for things. What does a thirsty person do when he sees a pure clean fountain? When we leave the Church after these moments of prayer, we will have in us greater peace, a determination to help others, an eager longing to receive Holy Communion, because the only way that intimate union with Jesus can be fully realized is in the , Eucharist. It will effectively have helped us to increase our presence of God in the course of our work and our daily tasks. It will be easy for us to keep up a relationship of friendship and confidence with him throughout the day.

The first Christians from the moment they began to have churches and to reserve the Blessed Sacrament had already started to live this pious custom. This is how St John Chrysostom commented on that passage of Scrip­ture: and Jesus entered the Temple. This was proper to a good son: to enter immediately into the house of his Father to render due honor to Him there - just as you, who should imitate Jesus, whenever you enter a city should first of all go to the church.

Once we are in the church, we can easily find out where the tabernacle is - which is the first place we should direct our attention to - because it should be located in a truly prominent place suited to private prayer. And there the presence of the Blessed Eucharist will be indicated by the small lamp which as the sign of honor to Our Lord, will be continuously burning before it. As we finish our prayer we ask our Mother Mary to teach us how to love Jesus really present in the tabernacle as she loved Him all those years of His life in Nazareth.

Fr. Francis Fernandez (In Conversation with God)

Just what does it take to be a ‘person’?

Recently in Mesa County, Colorado there has been a case where a child born early due to trauma to the mother and who lived only a short time has been declared not to have been yet a person. And that has got me wondering about this issue especially since we now have another case where a mother is murdered and the child, delivered two weeks before the due date, lived only a short while.  She did live long enough to have a name, Maria, and now is mourned by family members however. Was she a person?

I wonder how long someone must draw breath to be a person?  Perhaps a smart judge will be able to help with this question. An hour? Two hours? A day? Three days? A month? More?  Does one have to draw a breath to be a person?  The kicking and moving unborn child that can be killed even during the process of birth, seems to be denied that designation. 

I think of other examples of ‘non-personhood'.  It has been said that if someone is declared not a person, then they can be killed. The Native Americans in this country were essentially declared non-persons. So war was made on them to exterminate them and take their land.  And the African peoples stolen from their homeland to be worked as slaves were not considered persons but property to done with as an owner decided. So there are indeed other examples of when some segments of our human race can be judged to not be human and their lives of no value. They were considered not to be persons and so could be used or destroyed.

There are cultures in this world presently where a child born can be left to die or can be killed at the will of another.  Some might call that infanticide.  Yet it happens. The world at large is not very good at defending the most defenseless among us. Whole countries will go to war over such things as oil or power or even religion but the war against the defenseless continues with few voices crying to defend them. They are not really persons some will say.  And so more of these defenseless ones die every day than were killed in the tragedy of September 11^th. More unborn Americans die daily than have given their lives in the conflict in Iraq. Is that okay because some deem them ‘non-persons'?  So just what does it take to be considered a person?

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock ...”

(Rev. 3:20)

It is true. I stand at the door of your heart, day and night. Even when you are not listening, even when you doubt it could be Me, I am there. I await even the smallest sign of your response, even the least whispered invitation that will allow Me to enter.

And I want you to know that whenever you invite Me, I do come -always, without fail! Silent and unseen I come, but with infinite power and love and bringing the many gifts of My Spirit. I come with My mercy, with My desire to forgive and heal you, and with a love for you beyond your com­prehension - a love every bit as great as the love I have received from the Father ("As much as the Father has loved me, I have loved you .. " [Jn. 15:10]).

I come -longing to con­sole you and give you strength, to lift you up and bind all your wounds. I bring you My light, to dispel your darkness and all your doubts. I come with My power, that I might carry you and all of your burdens; with My grace, to touch your heart and transform your life; and My peace I give to still your soul.

I know you through and through - I know everything about you. The very hairs of your head I have numbered. Nothing in your life is unimportant to Me. I have followed you through the years, and I have always loved you -even in your wanderings. I know every one of your problems. I know your needs and your worries. And yes, I know all your sins. But I tell you again that I love you - not for what you have or haven't done -I love you for you, for the beauty and dignity My Father gave you by creating you in His own image. It is a dignity you have often forgotten, a beauty you have tarnished by sin. But I love you as you are, and I have shed My Blood to win you back. If you only ask Me with faith, My grace will touch all that needs changing in your life; and I will give you the strength to free yourself from sin and all its destructive power.

I know what is in your heart -I know your loneliness and all your hurts - the rejections, the judgments, the humiliations. I carried it all before you. And I carried it all for you, so you might share My strength and victory. I know especially your need for love - how you are thirsting to be loved and cherished. But how often have you thirsted in vain, by seeking that love selfishly, striving to fill the emptiness inside you with passing pleasures - with the even greater emptiness of sin. Do you thirst for love? "Come to Me all you who thirst..."(Jn.7:37). I will satisfy you and fill you. Do you thirst to be cherished? I cherish you more than you can imagine - to the point of dying on a cross for you.

I THIRST FOR YOU. Yes, that is the only way to even begin to describe My love for you:

I THIRST FOR YOU! I thirst to love you and to be loved by you - that is how precious you are to Me. I THIRST FOR YOU. Come to Me, and I will fill your heart and heal your wounds. I will make you a new creation and give you peace, even in all your trials.

I THIRST FOR YOU. You must never doubt My mercy, My acceptance of you, My desire to forgive, My longing to bless you and live My life in you.

I THIRST FOR YOU. If you feel unimportant in the eyes of the world, that matters not at all. For Me, there is no one any more important in the entire world than you.

I THIRST FOR YOU. Open to Me, come to Me, thirst for Me, give Me your life -and I will prove to you how important you are to My Heart.

Don't you realize that My Father already' has a perfect plan to transform your life, beginning from this moment? Trust in Me. Ask Me every day to enter and take charge of your life - and I will. I promise you before My Father in heaven that I will work miracles in your life. Why would I do this? Because I THIRST FOR YOU.

All I ask of you is that you entrust yourself to Me completely. I will do all the rest. Even now I behold the place My Father has prepared for you in My Kingdom. Remember that you are a pilgrim in this life, on a journey home. Sin can never satisfy you, or bring the peace you seek. All that you have sought outside of Me has only left you more empty, so do not cling to the things of this life. Above all, do not run from Me when you fall. Come to Me without delay. When you give Me your sins you give Me the joy of being your Savior. There is nothing I cannot forgive and heal; so come now, and unburden your soul.

No matter how far you may wander, no matter how often you forget Me, no matter how many crosses you may bear in this life; there is one thing I want you to always remember, one thing that will never change: I THIRST FOR YOU -just as you are. You don't need to change to believe in My love, for it will be your belief in My love that will change you.

You forget Me, and yet I am seeking you every moment of the day -standing at the door of your heart, and knocking. Do you find this hard to believe? Then look at the cross, look at My Heart that was pierced for you. Have you not understood My cross? Then listen again to the words I spoke there -for they tell you clearly why I endured all this for you: "I THIRST... " (Jn.19:28). Yes, I thirst for you -as the rest of the psalm-verse I was praying says of Me: "I looked for love and I found none ... "(Ps. 69:20).

All your life I have been looking for your love and I have never stopped seeking to love you and be loved by you. You have tried many other things in your search for happiness; why not try opening your heart to Me. right now, more than you ever have before. Whenever you do open the door of your heart, whenever you come close enough, you will hear Me say to you again and again, not in mere human words but in spirit: "No matter what you have done. I love you for your own sake. Come to Me with your misery and your sins, with your troubles and needs and with all your longing to be loved. I stand at the door of your heart and knock ... Open to Me, for I THIRST FOR YOU ..."

(author unknown)

Sister Faustina heard these words as she prayed for Poland; "I bear a special love for Poland, and if she will be obedient to My will, I will exalt her in might and holiness. From her will come forth the spark that will prepare the world for My final coming."

Diary of St Faustina: Notebook VI 1732

Faustina and John Paul II

The foremost champion of the Divine Mercy message in our day has been Pope John Paul II.

Not only was he instrumental in having the ban on the spread of the message lifted, but he made Divine Mercy the theme of the second encyclical of his pontificate -- "Dives in Misericordia.

During his visit to Faustina's tomb on June 7, 1997, he even stated that Divine Mercy has "formed the image of his pontificate."

Mere months before being named pope, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, Poland, after years of exhaustive work, succeeded in having the ban on Faustina's writings lifted.

Since that time, Pope John Paul II has promoted Divine Mercy and championed the cause of St. Faustina and her writings. He's become known as "The Mercy Pope."

The Great Mercy Pope

Pope John Paul II wrote: "The Message of Divine Mercy has always been near and dear to me... which I took with me to the See of Peter and which it in a sense forms the image of this Pontificate."

In his writings and homilies, he described Divine Mercy as the answer to the world's problems and the message of the third millennium. He beatified and canonized Sr. Maria Faustina Kowalska, the nun associated with the message, and he did it in Rome and not in Poland to underscore that Divine Mercy is for the whole world. When he canonized St. Faustine he also established the Feast of the Divine Mercy, just as Our Lord had asked, on the second Sunday after Easter and he granted to it all the indulgences granted by Our Lord.

It was no coincidence that the Servant of God, John Paul II, died during the Vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday. It was totally apropos.

HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER 

MASS IN ST PETER'S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION 
OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA

Sunday, 30 April 2000

1. "Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius"; "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever" (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of Easter, as if receiving from Christ's lips these words of the Psalm; from the lips of the risen Christ, who bears the great message of divine mercy and entrusts its ministry to the Apostles in the Upper Room:  "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.... Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (Jn 20: 21-23).

Before speaking these words, Jesus shows his hands and his side. He points, that is, to the wounds of the Passion, especially the wound in his heart, the source from which flows the great wave of mercy poured out on humanity. From that heart Sr Faustina Kowalska, the blessed whom from now on we will call a saint, will see two rays of light shining from that heart and illuminating the world:  "The two rays", Jesus himself explained to her one day, "represent blood and water" (Diary, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, p. 132).

2. Blood and water! We immediately think of the testimony given by the Evangelist John, who, when a solider on Calvary pierced Christ's side with his spear, sees blood and water flowing from it (cf. Jn 19: 34). Moreover, if the blood recalls the sacrifice of the Cross and the gift of the Eucharist, the water, in Johannine symbolism, represents not only Baptism but also the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 3: 5; 4: 14; 7: 37-39).

Divine Mercy reaches human beings through the heart of Christ crucified:  "My daughter, say that I am love and mercy personified", Jesus will ask Sr Faustina (Diary, p. 374). Christ pours out this mercy on humanity though the sending of the Spirit who, in the Trinity, is the Person-Love. And is not mercy love's "second name" (cf. Dives in misericordia, n. 7), understood in its deepest and most tender aspect, in its ability to take upon itself the burden of any need and, especially, in its immense capacity for forgiveness?

Today my joy is truly great in presenting the life and witness of Sr Faustina Kowalska to the whole Church as a gift of God for our time. By divine Providence, the life of this humble daughter of Poland was completely linked with the history of the 20th century, the century we have just left behind. In fact, it was between the First and Second World Wars that Christ entrusted his message of mercy to her. Those who remember, who were witnesses and participants in the events of those years and the horrible sufferings they caused for millions of people, know well how necessary was the message of mercy.

Jesus told Sr Faustina:  "Humanity will not find peace until it turns trustfully to divine mercy" (Diary, p. 132). Through the work of the Polish religious, this message has become linked for ever to the 20th century, the last of the second millennium and the bridge to the third. It is not a new message but can be considered a gift of special enlightenment that helps us to relive the Gospel of Easter more intensely, to offer it as a ray of light to the men and women of our time.

3. What will the years ahead bring us? What will man's future on earth be like? We are not given to know. However, it is certain that in addition to new progress there will unfortunately be no lack of painful experiences. But the light of divine mercy, which the Lord in a way wished to return to the world through Sr Faustina's charism, will illumine the way for the men and women of the third millennium.

However, as the Apostles once did, today too humanity must welcome into the upper room of history the risen Christ, who shows the wounds of his Crucifixion and repeats:  Peace be with you! Humanity must let itself be touched and pervaded by the Spirit given to it by the risen Christ. It is the Spirit who heals the wounds of the heart, pulls down the barriers that separate us from God and divide us from one another, and at the same time, restores the joy of the Father's love and of fraternal unity.

4. It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church will be called "Divine Mercy Sunday". In the various readings, the liturgy seems to indicate the path of mercy which, while re-establishing the relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings. Christ has taught us that "man not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but is also called "to practise mercy' towards others:  "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy' (Mt 5: 7)" (Dives et misericordia, n. 14). He also showed us the many paths of mercy, which not only forgives sins but reaches out to all human needs. Jesus bent over every kind of human poverty, material and spiritual.

His message of mercy continues to reach us through his hands held out to suffering man. This is how Sr Faustina saw him and proclaimed him to people on all the continents when, hidden in her convent at £agiewniki in Kraków, she made her life a hymn to mercy:  Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo.

5. Sr Faustina's canonization has a particular eloquence:  by this act I intend today to pass this message on to the new millennium. I pass it on to all people, so that they will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of their brethren.

In fact, love of God and love of one's brothers and sisters are inseparable, as the First Letter of John has reminded us:  "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments" (5: 2). Here the Apostle reminds us of the truth of love, showing us its measure and criterion in the observance of the commandments.

It is not easy to love with a deep love, which lies in the authentic gift of self. This love can only be learned by penetrating the mystery of God's love. Looking at him, being one with his fatherly heart, we are able to look with new eyes at our brothers and sisters, with an attitude of unselfishness and solidarity, of generosity and forgiveness. All this is mercy!

To the extent that humanity penetrates the mystery of this merciful gaze, it will seem possible to fulfil the ideal we heard in today's first reading:  "The community of believers were of one heart and one mind. None of them ever claimed anything as his own; rather everything was held in common" (Acts 4: 32). Here mercy gave form to human relations and community life; it constituted the basis for the sharing of goods. This led to the spiritual and corporal "works of mercy". Here mercy became a concrete way of being "neighbour" to one's neediest brothers and sisters.

6. Sr Faustina Kowalska wrote in her Diary:  "I feel tremendous pain when I see the sufferings of my neighbours. All my neighbours' sufferings reverberate in my own heart; I carry their anguish in my heart in such a way that it even physically destroys me. I would like all their sorrows to fall upon me, in order to relieve my neighbour" (Diary, p. 365). This is the degree of compassion to which love leads, when it takes the love of God as its measure!

It is this love which must inspire humanity today, if it is to face the crisis of the meaning of life, the challenges of the most diverse needs and, especially, the duty to defend the dignity of every human person. Thus the message of divine mercy is also implicitly a message about the value of every human being. Each person is precious in God's eyes; Christ gave his life for each one; to everyone the Father gives his Spirit and offers intimacy.

7. This consoling message is addressed above all to those who, afflicted by a particularly harsh trial or crushed by the weight of the sins they committed, have lost all confidence in life and are tempted to give in to despair. To them the gentle face of Christ is offered; those rays from his heart touch them and shine upon them, warm them, show them the way and fill them with hope. How many souls have been consoled by the prayer "Jesus, I trust in you", which Providence intimated through Sr Faustina! This simple act of abandonment to Jesus dispels the thickest clouds and lets a ray of light penetrate every life. Jezu, ufam tobie.

8. Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo (Ps 88 [89]: 2). Let us too, the pilgrim Church, join our voice to the voice of Mary most holy, "Mother of Mercy", to the voice of this new saint who sings of mercy with all God's friends in the heavenly Jerusalem.

And you, Faustina, a gift of God to our time, a gift from the land of Poland to the whole Church, obtain for us an awareness of the depth of divine mercy; help us to have a living experience of it and to bear witness to it among our brothers and sisters. May your message of light and hope spread throughout the world, spurring sinners to conversion, calming rivalries and hatred and opening individuals and nations to the practice of brotherhood. Today, fixing our gaze with you on the face of the risen Christ, let us make our own your prayer of trusting abandonment and say with firm hope:  Christ Jesus, I trust in you! Jezu, ufam tobie!   

Divine Mercy Sunday

John Paul II was an apostle of Divine Mercy, says Pope 

Vatican City, Mar 30, 2008 / 10:36 am (CNA).- Speaking from the Apostolic Palace at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict XVI announced today that he will preside over Mass in memory of John Paul II, who died three years ago on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday. The Mass this Wednesday will open the First World Congress on Apostolic Divine Mercy in Rome.

Before praying the Regina Caeli, the Holy Father spoke about the significance of Divine Mercy Sunday.

Pope Benedict recalled that John Paul II designated the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday, and did so at the same time Sister Faustina Kowalska was canonized. The Polish sister, who died in 1938, is known as the messenger of God's Mercy, since it was through her diary that the message of mercy came to be known to the world, even before it was approved by the Holy See.

Speaking to thousands of pilgrims at Castel Gondolfo and in St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict said, "Mercy is in reality the core of the Gospel message; it is the name of God himself, the face with which he reveals himself in the Old Testament and fully in Jesus Christ, the incarnation of creative and redemptive Love."

"This love of mercy also illuminates the face of the Church, and is manifested through the sacraments, in particular that of reconciliation, as well as in works of charity, both of community and individuals," said the Holy Father.

"Everything that the Church says and does," continued the Pope, "shows that God has mercy for man. When the Church must call attention to an unrecognized truth, or a good betrayed, it is always driven by merciful love that all people might have life and have it abundantly (cf. Jn 10.10). From divine mercy comes hearts that are pacified, and then comes true peace in the world, peace between peoples, cultures and religions."

"Like Sister Faustina, Pope John Paul II was in his time an apostle of Divine Mercy," Benedict XVI noted. "Many noticed the remarkable coincidence that when he closed his eyes to this world on the evening of Saturday, April 2, 2005, it was on the eve of the second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, and also at the same time as the Marian devotion of the first Saturday of the month. In fact, this was at the core of his long and multifaceted pontificate; his entire mission in the service of God and man and peace in the world was summarized in the announcement he made in Krakow in 2002."

Pope Benedict recalled the ceremony in Krakow where John Paul II inaugurated the great Shrine of Divine Mercy and said: "'Outside the mercy of God there is no other source of hope for human beings.' His message, like Saint Faustina's, leads back to the face of Christ, the supreme revelation of God's mercy. Constantly contemplating that face: this is the legacy that he has left us, which we welcome with joy and make our own," the Pope said.

You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us.

The price of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent. In the eternal Word of God we all came to be, and behold, we die. In your brief response we are to be remade in order to be recalled to life.

Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet. It is right in doing so, for on your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race.

Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word.

Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise, and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous. Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary. Open your heart to faith, O blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, she says, be it done to me according to your word.

This excerpt from a homily In Praise of the Virgin Mother by St. Bernard

St. Louis Marie de Montfort's Prayer to Mary :

Hail Mary, beloved Daughter of the Eternal Father. Hail Mary, admirable Mother of the Son. Hail Mary, faithful Spouse of the Holy Ghost. Hail Mary, my Mother, my loving Mistress, my powerful sov­ereign.

Hail, my joy, my glory, my heart and my soul. Thou art all mine by mercy, and I am thine by jus­tice. But I am not yet sufficiently thine, I now give myself wholly to thee without keeping anything back for myself or others. If thou seest anything in me which does not belong to thee, I beseech thee to take it and make thyself the absolute Mistress of all that is mine.

Destroy in me all that may displease God; root it up and bring it to nought. Place and cultivate in me everything that is pleasing to thee. May the light of thy faith dispel the darkness of my mind. May thy profound humility take the place of my pride; may thy sublime contemplation check the distractions of my wandering imagination. May the continuous sight of God fill my memory with His presence; may the burning love of thy heart inflame the luke­warmness of mine. May thy virtues take the place of my sins; may thy merits be my only adornment in the sight of God and make up for all that is wanting in me.

Finally, dearly beloved Mother, grant, if it be possible, that I may have no other spirit but thine to know Jesus, and His Divine Will; that I may have no other soul but thine to praise and glorify God; that I may have no other heart but thine to love God with a love as pure and ardent as thine.

I do not ask thee for visions, revelations, sensi­ble devotions, or spiritual pleasures. It is thy privi­lege to see God clearly, it is thy privilege to enjoy heavenly bliss; it is thy privilege to triumph glori­ously in heaven at the right hand of thy Son and to hold absolute sway over angels, men and demons. It is thy privilege to dispose of all the gifts of God, just as thou willest. Such, 0 heavenly Mary, the 'best part', which the Lord has given thee, and which shall never be taken away from thee - and this thought fills my heart with joy.

As for my part here below; I wish for no other than that which was thine, to believe sincerely without spiritual plea­sures, to suffer joyfully without human consolation, to die continually to myself without respite, and to work zealously and unselfishly for thee until death, as the humblest of thy servants. The only grace I beg thee, for me, is that every moment of the day, and every moment of my life, I may say "Amen, so be it, to all that thou art doing in heaven. Amen, so be it, to all thou didst do while on earth. Amen, so be it, to all thou art doing in my soul," so that thou alone mayest fully glorify Jesus in me for time and eternity. Amen.

His Cross And Victory

In the last analysis, what man seeks is victory in a variety of forms. He seeks victory over disease, ignorance, and a host of other enemies. For a Christian, all other victories are hollow, unless they lead to reigning victoriously with Christ in heaven.

It is strange that the most definitive triumph in man's history should have appeared to those who witnessed it as an utter defeat. Almost everything on Calvary seemed to spell failure for him who had been put to death so ignominiously. The tortured body of Christ was hanging limply from the cross, his head bowed in death. His enemies were taking a last, satisfied look at his lifeless figure, and were congratulating each other on what appeared to be their complete victory. His Apostles, acting like a small band of defeatists, were hiding behind the barred doors of the Cenacle.

The apparent defeat of Jesus looked so final that it kept the dis­ciples plunged in gloom into the third day. Even the first reports of the empty tomb did not help to lift the pall which enshrouded them. After the reception of that news, two of the disciples did not think it worthwhile to remain in Jerusalem to await possibly hope­ful developments. They started to walk to Emmaus, a village about eight miles from Jerusalem. Their depression was so obvious that, when the risen Christ joined them under the guise of a stranger who happened to be going the same way, he asked them what made them so sad.

Failing to recognize the Savior, they expressed surprise that he should be unaware of the great events which had so stirred Jerusalem during the past few days. They then explained that their melancholy was due to the Crucifixion of Jesus, "who was a prophet," they said, "mighty in deed and word before God and all the people" (Luke 24:19). Finally, they laid bare their total sense of defeat by blurting out in desperation: "We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel" (Luke 24:21). Their whole tone and bearing indicated that they were convinced that the Crucifixion had dashed this hope cruelly and completely.

Christ, still concealing his identity, chided them for their failure to understand what the Scriptures had foretold of his Passion. He took them back through the Old Testament, pointing out the numerous prophecies concerning the great sufferings of the long ­awaited Messiah. When he had finished, he challenged their atti­tude toward the cross with the question: "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" (Luke 24:26) .

In speechless wonder, they finally recognized him "in the breaking of the bread." And when he had disappeared, they spoke of how their hearts had burned within them as he had interpreted the prophecies regarding his Passion. Never have two men risen so suddenly from dejection to exultation. They now saw that what they had considered cause for discouragement was really cause for elation. The cross, they now understood with divine clarity, instead of being a defeat was the greatest victory..

The transformation of the Apostles from timid, fearful men into men of absolute confidence was completed with the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Once they had received the Spirit, they left the Cenacle with the air of men who could not have been more convinced that victory was on their side. St. Peter, preaching in the name of all, disclosed the source of their confidence by recounting the events of Good Friday.

Naturally, St. Peter spoke of the Resurrection of Christ, but he emphasized that Christ's rising from the dead was a victorious result of his having given himself over to the death of the cross. "Therefore," he told his thousands of listeners, "let all the house of Israel know most assuredly that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." The first Vicar of Christ was losing no time in raising the cross as the victorious standard of the Church.

Jesus had told the Apostles that when the Holy Spirit came, he would recall to their minds everything that he himself had said to them. Now the Spirit made them understand why, during his pub­lic ministry, our Lord had made so many references to his Crucifixion and death. Now they saw why he had spoken of his death as a baptism, and why he had said that he was distressed until this baptism should be accomplished. Now it was clear to them that he had been awaiting his Crucifixion as an athlete who is con­fident of winning eagerly awaits the contest which will be the occasion of his triumph.

They also understood that strange conversation which Christ had held with Moses and Elijah during his Transfiguration, the one occasion before his Passion when he had allowed his divinity to shine resplendently. These two great figures of the Old Testament had talked with Jesus about his approaching death, a seemingly somber subject to discuss in such a triumphant setting. Now it was evident that nothing could have been more appropriate, for his death was not only to be a triumph, but a triumph of stupendous proportions.

The dimensions of the victory which Christ won through his cross are seen when we consider that the cross sundered, the Godhack­les with which sin had fettered mankind. The cross closed the gates of hell, and swung open the gates of heaven, for all who will to share in Christ's victory by accepting the redemption which he holds out to them. The cross caused the human nature which Christ had assumed to be raised to the right hand of the throne of God.

Victory is defined as the overcoming of an enemy, or of any dif­ficulty. Victory follows combat. The victory of Christ can be shared only if men war against any disbelief or ignorance in their minds, and any moral evil in their wills. The arms that must be used to achieve victory in the battle of life are revealed with stark simplic­ity by St. Paul when he says that the Church preaches "a crucified Christ ... the power of God and the wisdom of God." The impli­cation in these words is that men will win in the warfare of earth­ly life if the wisdom which Christ taught from the cross saturates their minds, and if the power which he won through his cross invigorates their wills.

St. Paul was concerned "lest the cross of Christ be made void," if he were so foolish as to teach "with the wisdom of words." He is speaking here ironically of human wisdom when it is unguided by the wisdom of the cross. He became so convinced of the tow­ering futility of any so-called wisdom that contradicted or obscured the wisdom of the cross that he wrote with impressive finality that "I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ and Him Crucified." The great Apostle could not have made it clearer that man's mind will be victorious over its darkness only if it is flooded with the light that streams from the cross.

The spiritual victory of the Church has always been propor­tionate to her application of the wisdom of the cross. Whenever her members have depended on worldly wisdom, they have failed

spiritually. When they have acted on the wisdom of the cross, they have marked up one victory after another. This is vividly illustrat­ed in the saints, who have chosen poverty rather than riches, humiliation rather than honor, self-denial rather than pleasure, death rather than a life characterized by betrayal of God and his truth. None but unbelievers would question the victory that the saints have achieved through their application of the wisdom of the cross. Their triumph is decisive and eternal.

So insistent is the Church on exalting the mystery of the Crucifixion of the Son of God that at times she specifies that not just the cross, but the crucifix, be presented to the view of the faithful. She commands that there be the crucifix, and not merely the plain cross, over the altar during the reenactment of the mys­tery of the cross in the Mass. It is the crucifix, rather than-the bare cross, that she presses to the lips of the dying. It is the crucifix, and not just the cross, that she attaches to our rosaries. In this way, she shows that, in exalting the cross, what is being glorified is not so much the symbol as the reality. Even when it comes to the cruci­fix, the Church is concerned lest it be presented in such a way that the full meaning of it will be blunted. Thus, in the encyclical Mediator Dei, Pope Pius XII said that "one would be straying from the straight path ... were he to order the crucifix so designed that the divine Redeemer's body shows no trace of his cruel sufferings."

A columnist posed the question why Catholics, who make the sign of the cross at meals in their homes, omit it when dining pub­licly. The reason appears to be that most would regard crossing themselves publicly as flaunting their religion. If Catholics gener­ally were to take up the practice, it would be regarded ultimately as a matter of course. Surely it would be unfortunate if any Catholic were to fail to sign himself through shame. He would thus be placing himself apart from the Church, for she is ever alert to find new opportunities to exalt the cross.

One who thinks and feels with the Church is forever seeking means for glorifying the cross. It can be worn on one's lapel. It can be placed on our doorposts, as Jews place on theirs the mezuzah, the scroll containing the Books of Moses. It can be displayed in automobiles. It can be floodlighted on church steeples. It can be placed in wayside or garden shrines. These are some of the almost countless ways of giving expression to the sentiment of the Good Friday liturgy: "We adore thee, O Christ and we praise Thee, because by thy Holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world".

EPILOGUE:

There is always danger, when we consider intensively one mys­tery of the faith, that we will not keep it in context with the other mysteries of the Christian religion. If any member of the Church were to concentrate his gaze on the cross and Passion of our Lord, and hardly ever think of his triumphant rising from the dead, there would be a lack of balance in his very devotion to the sacred Passion.

We can be authentic members of the Mystical Body of Christ only if we "think with the Church." The mind and spirit of the Church are made clear in the liturgy. In the liturgy, the Church constantly associates t he sufferings and death of Christ with His Resurrection.

That some members of the Church do not keep the Passion and the Resurrection in context is evident from their attitude toward Lent and the Easter season. We cannot but rejoice that a multitude of Catholics enter wholeheartedly into the spirit of Lent, attend­ing Mass daily and performing acts of penance and charity. This is truly what the Church desires and urges us to do during Lent. She is, however, far from wanting us to make Good Friday the climax of this outpouring of devotion. The Easter liturgy, which begins with the EasterVigil on Holy Saturday night and continues for the eight weeks following Easter, is the true c1imax of the Lenten liturgy. It should not escape our attention that Eastertide, the season of joy and fulfillment, is longer than Lent, the season of sorrow and penance.

In the preface of the Mass of Easter, which is the preface that is said during the forty days until the solemnity of our Lord's Ascension, the Church links the death of Christ with his Resurrection. The preface reminds us that "He is the true Lamb who took away the sins of the world. By dying he destroyed our death; by rising he restored our life." In the Creed recited during Mass, we have no sooner finished saying that "he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried," than we are pro­claiming that "on the third day he rose again."

If we do not keep our Lord's Resurrection in view, we are not going to keep the whole mystery of Christ in focus. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that they would be saved if they held fast to the Gospel, "as I preached it to you".   He then went on to summarize it, as he had preached it to them: "For I delivered to you first of all, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and after that to the Eleven. Then he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at one time... And last of all ... he was seen by me." The Apostle could not have made it clearer that those to whom he had preached could not be saved unless they understood and accepted Christ as crucified, and as risen from the dead.

The Passion of Christ, without his Resurrection, would have availed us nothing. St. Paul makes this evident when he says: "And if Christ is not risen, vain is your faith." Nothing could show better than these words how important for our understanding of the faith, and our spiritual progress, is the association in our thinking of our Lord's death and resurrection.

All this is paramount for our growth in the virtue of hope, a virtue which, along with faith and love, is necessary for salvation. The foundation of our hope is expressed in the words of the Creed: "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come." But our resurrection flows from that of our Lord, as St. Paul indicates when he says: "But as it is, Christ has risen from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." He elaborates on this in writing to the Romans: "But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also bring to life your mor­tal bodies because of his Spirit who dwells in you."

If our hope is not broad enough to encompass our rising from the dead at the Second Coming of Christ, it is a stunted hope, which means it is not hope at all. "If with this life only in view," says St. Paul, "we have had hope in Christ, we are of all men the most to be pitied." While we gratefully repeat through the year the words which the Church places on our lips on Good Friday: "We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee, because by thy holy cross thou hast redeemed the world",let us also remember the words of the Mass and Office of Easter:"This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Ps. 118:24).

This attitude toward the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord is not only necessary for the proper development of the virtue of hope, it is also necessary if we are to grow in that joy which is one of the fruits of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our souls. We do not love the cross for its own sake. We embrace it because of the joy that follows our ready acceptance of it. In this we are only imi­tating our divine Master, "who for the joy set before him, endured the cross." The psalmist was inspired to sing: "They who sow in tears, shall reap in joy:' No matter how the thought is expressed, in these words of the psalmist, or as we express it, "Through the cross to the crown, let us bear in mind that Easter could not have been much closer to Good Friday, and that, if we share the cross with him, we will reign with him in eternal peace and glory.

Fr. Bertrand Weaver C.P.

At the Lamb's high feast we sing
praise to our victorious King,
who hath washed us in the tide
flowing from his pierced side;
praise we him, whose love divine
gives his sacred Blood for wine,
gives his Body for the feast,
Christ the victim, Christ the priest.

Where the Paschal blood is poured,
death's dark angel sheathes his sword;
Israel's hosts triumphant go
through the wave that drowns the foe.
Praise we Christ, whose blood was shed,
Paschal victim, Paschal bread;
with sincerity and love
eat we manna from above.

Mighty victim from on high,
hell's fierce powers beneath thee lie;
thou hast conquered in the fight,
thou hast brought us life and light:
now no more can death appall,
now no more the grave entrall;
thou hast opened paradise,
and in thee thy saints shall rise.

Easter triumph, Easter joy,
sin alone can this destroy;
from sin's power do thou set free
souls newborn, O Lord, in thee.
Hymns of glory and of praise,
Risen Lord, to thee we raise;
Holy Father, praise to thee,
with the Spirit, ever be.

THE DOORS BEING CLOSED