Easter Blessings!

For our sake Christ was obedient, accepting even death, death on a cross. Therefore God raised Him on high and gave Him the name above all other names. ~ Philippians 2:8

O Christians, to the Paschal Victim bring praise!
Jesus Who was crucified has risen!
O God, Who on this day, through Your Only-begotten Son, overcame death, and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: as, by Your anticipating Grace, You breathe good desires into our hearts, so also, by Your gracious help, bring them to good effect. Amen.
(Prayer from Saint Joseph Daily Missal)

Joy to the World!
He Has Risen!
Alleluia!

Christ Is Passover

And He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." ~ Luke 22:15


I've been reading a lot about Passover and the traditions associated with this Holy Day, and I wish that our Church still celebrated it. I know the explanation of the Old Testament being fulfilled, but I still wish this tradition had been carried over. I know that the Sacrifice of the Mass is more important than any tradition. And I know that we also remember Christ Passion and His Great Sacrifice on Good Friday, and I love that Christ Is our Passover, but I think it would be nice to celebrate the traditions of Passover with all that in mind.

Passover sacrifice is offered at the Command of God. The sacrificial animal was always male, and without blemish. Each family or society offered one victim together. It was really a house or family sacrifice, something intimate, yet shared as a religious society as a whole.
I also read that the paschal sacrifice indicates the community between God and man.

I wish our Christian Faith had held onto some of the traditions of our Jewish roots and still celebrated them in much the same way that Jesus celebrated them.

Passover Prayer

Long ago, at this season, on such a night as this, a people - our people - set out on a journey.
All but crushed by their enslavement, they yet recalled the far-off memory of a happier past.
And heard the voice of their ancestral God, bidding them summon up the courage to be free.
Boldly, they went forth from Egypt, crossed the Sea, and headed through the desert for the Promised Land.
What they experienced, they remembered, and told their children, and they to theirs.
From generation to generation, the story was retold, and we are here to tell it yet again.
We too give thanks for Israel's liberation; we too remember what it means to be a slave.
And so we pray for all who are still fettered, still denied their human rights. Let all God's children sit at His table, drink the wine of deliverance, and eat the bread of freedom:

Freedom from bondage
And freedom from oppression,

Freedom from hunger
And freedom from want,

Freedom from hatred
And freedom from fear,

Freedom to think
And freedom to speak,

Freedom to learn
And freedom to love,

Freedom to hope
And freedom to rejoice;

Soon in our days,

Amen.



"Constantly remember the pains of our Crucified Love." ~ St. Paul of the Cross

God's Unfailing Love

There aren't many things we can rely on in life, but there is one certainty ~ God's Unfailing Love.


I trust in Your unfailing love. I will rejoice because You have rescued me. ~ Psalm 13:5



"At the very heart and foundation of all God's dealings with us...we must dare to believe in and assert the infinite, unmerited, and unchanging Love of God." ~ L.B. Cowman


"Look deep within yourself and recognize what brings life and grace into your heart. It is this that can be shared with those around you. You are Loved By God and this is an inspiration to love." ~ Christopher De Vinck

He's An On-Time God

There's a song by Dottie Peoples titled "He's An On Time God" and one of the lines in this song is:

He may not Be there when you want Him,
but He'll Be there right on time.


This is something I've been contemplating a lot lately, how I've often thought God should be at my beck and call, and how I've often thought He should be answering my every prayer in just the way I want it answered.
I'm trying to become much more at peace with trusting that He will provide my needs according to His plan, and He will be there at just the right time according to His plan.
I still take all my needs to Him in prayer, it's just that I'm trying not to be so anxious anymore about the answer, or about when that answer will arrive.
Patience really is a virtue, and patience is what I've been praying for lately.


Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; Trust also in Me. ~ John 14:1


"If the Lord be with us, we have no cause of fear. His Eye is upon us, His Arm over us, His Ear open to our prayer - His Grace sufficient, His Promise unchangeable." ~ John Newton

Blessed Assurance

Lent is a time to reflect on the fulfillment of God's Promise to the world. For me Christmas was just the beginning, and it is Christ's Passion that brings us to the realization of God's Promise and His great love and desire for us.


Christmas is such a happy time, but Lent, for me, is a much more emotional time, it's humbling, it's awe-inspiring, it's sorrowful, and it's joyful all at the same time. But mostly it is overwhelming to think we are loved that much. Jesus Suffered and Died for us, and God Loved us enough to allow that to happen. It is what my Faith is based on.

Take up the shield of Faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ~ Ephesians 6:16


"Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's Grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times." ~ Martin Luther

Ash Wednesday

There is a prayer in my old St. Joseph Daily Missal that sums up for me this day:

O God, You desire not the death, but the repentance of sinners; look down most graciously upon our frail human nature; and in Your goodness deign to Bless us as we put this token of our lowliness which we purpose upon our heads, so that we who know we are but ashes and are to return to dust, may turn to You to obtain Your mercy and pardon.


Remember, man, that thou are dust, and unto dust thou shall return. ~ Genesis 3:19


"Every breath we draw is a Gift of His Love." ~ Thomas Merton

God's Way

The fourth Anniversary of my Mom's passing is coming up in a few days. I'm not in a good place about it. I go through good spells and bad spells, there are times when I am very accepting, times when it all feels so right. But these past few weeks nothing feels right about it for me.

So I try reminding myself that my will for my Mom did not mesh with God's Will for my Mom. And I remind myself that God's Wisdom is Perfect.

Some days these beliefs are what carry me through.

"For My Thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My Ways", declares the Lord.

"As the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are My Ways higher than your ways, and My Thoughts than your thoughts." ~ Isaiah 55:8-9


"For death begins with life's first breath. And life begins at touch of death." ~ John Oxenham