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April 20, 2009 -  Monday in Second Week of Easter      LITURGICAL/THEME MEDITATION: "You must be born anew" UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENT(S): John Paul's Legacy: 4 Years Later SAINT OF THE DAY St. Anselm  GENERAL MARIOLOGY THE DIVINE HISTORY AND LIFE OF THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD Book Two - Chapter II -  HER FIRST YEARS IN THE TEMPLE  DIVINE MERCY Divine Mercy in My Soul Notebook I  TEACHING/TESTIMONY/CONVICTION: On the Significance of Christ's Resurrection

DAILY LITURGICAL MEDITATION

"You must be born anew" Scripture: John 3:7-15 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, `You must be born anew.' 8 The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit." 9 Nicode'mus said to him, "How can this be?"10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." Meditation: Do you know the power of the cross of Jesus Christ? Jesus spoke to Nicodemus of the power of his cross and a "new birth in the Spirit." The Hebrew word for "spirit" means both "wind" and "breath". Jesus said to Nicodemus: "You can hear, feel, and see the effects of the wind, but you do not know where it comes from. In like manner, you can see the effects of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those the Spirit touches." Jesus explained to Nicodemus the necessity of the crucifixion and resurrection by analogy with Moses and the bronze serpent in the desert. When the people of Israel were afflicted with serpents in the wilderness because of their sin, God instructed Moses: "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live"(Numbers 21:8). The bronze serpent points to the cross of Christ which defeats sin and death and obtains everlasting life for those who believe. The result of Jesus "being lifted up on the cross" and his rising and exaltation to the Father's right hand in heaven, is our "new birth in the Spirit" and adoption as sons and daughters of God. God not only redeems us, but he fills us with his own divine life and power that we might share in his glory. Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit that we may have power to be his witnesses and to spread and defend the gospel by word and action, and to never be ashamed of the Cross of Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us his seven-fold gifts of wisdom and understanding, right judgment and courage, knowledge and reverence for God and his ways, and a holy fear in God's presence (see Isaiah 11) that we may live for God and serve him in the power of his strength.  Do you thirst for new life in the Spirit? "Lord Jesus Christ, your death brought life for us. Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may walk in freedom and joy as a child of God and as an heir with Christ of an eternal inheritance." Psalm 93:1-5 1 The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength.  Yea, the world is established; it shall never be moved; 2 thy throne is established from of old; thou art from everlasting. 3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice, the floods lift up their roaring. 4 Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty! 5 Thy decrees are very sure; holiness befits thy house, O LORD, for evermore.   www.dailyscripture.net   RETURN TO TOP

UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENTS

John Paul's Legacy: 4 Years Later The Question Is Not When He'll Be Beatified   By Carl Anderson NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, APRIL 20, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Lately, rumors of Pope John Paul II's beatification have multiplied. And while there is no official confirmation of a specific date for his beatification, many are hopeful that the cries of "Santo Subito" (sainthood now) heard at his funeral Mass will be realized within a year - or more specifically, on the fifth anniversary of his death. While no one can accurately predict the timing of any beatification, it seems safe to say that John Paul II - the man Pope Benedict put on the fast-track to sainthood, and whose beatification he publicly prayed for this month - will be beatified, and in record time. Beatification would be a great reminder of what John Paul stood for, of the totality of his message. But we need not wait for his beatification to remember the man and what he stood for. Too often, both during his life and after his death, small pieces of his message would be taken up by those who agreed with him on a certain issue. But the totality of his message was often ignored. The reason for this was simple. John Paul was not "consistent" with any political ideology - both sides of the aisle could find things to agree with and disagree with. But he was perfectly consistent with his faith. He cared passionately about the dignity of people - all people. He was a great force in bringing down European Communism, and was outspoken on the faults of Marxism. At the same time, he was also a serious critic of unbridled global capitalism - especially when it victimized workers or kept entire countries in poverty. He was a tireless defender of human life - of the unborn and those nearing the end of their life. He also reminded us that all those in the midst of living life -- the intellectually disabled, immigrants or the elderly -- have a right to dignity too, even if some act as if they did not. He spent much of his life a virtual prisoner in an occupied country, but he traveled the world to proclaim the Gospel. He was a celibate priest, who wrote beautifully on both the consecrated life and on marriage. He left us the lasting legacy of a theology of the body - designed to integrate the whole person, body and soul. He was a mystic, a man who led the Church into the future of the third millennium by apologizing for the mistakes of its past. He was a young bishop at the Second Vatican Council, and the man who gave us its "authoritative rereading," as his successor Benedict XVI put it in his very first homily as Pope. He preached a series of Lenten homilies to Pope Paul VI in 1976 - titled Sign of Contradiction - contrasting man's relationship with God to modern life. As Pope, he was this sign. And consistent in all of this was his defense of the dignity of every human person, born, and unborn, marginalized or lionized. His message was always pro-person and pro-dignity. As a result, he came at political issues from a religious perspective; he did not come at religion politically. And it was for this reason that partisans on both sides found his message had something for them - and something else that made them uncomfortable. As we face divisions even among Catholics on social issues today, we must admit that the reason for these disagreements is that we have not taken to heart John Paul's message of being a people of life and for life and building a culture of life and civilization of love. Those concepts were not mere words to him. They were not rhetoric designed for political gain; they were, in his words, the splendor of truth. We should all pause more often to remember these lessons of his pontificate, his writings and his example. We should begin by remembering the man himself, what he said and how he provided us an example in his living, and in his dying. The lesson from John Paul II's life is that we cannot choose whose human dignity we should affirm, we must choose to affirm all human dignity. Rather than have politics as our guide, we must have faith and reason as our compass. The question we should ask isn't "When will John Paul be beatified?" But rather, "When will we follow his example to build a true culture of life and civilization of love?" * * * Carl Anderson is the supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus and a New York Times bestselling author. His latest book, "Called to Love: Approaching John Paul II's Theology of the Body," was released this month.   RETURN TO TOP

DAILY LITURGICAL SAINT

April 21, 2009 St. Anselm (1033-1109)   Indifferent toward religion as a young man, Anselm became one of the Church's greatest theologians and leaders. He received the title "Father of Scholasticism" for his attempt to analyze and illumine the truths of faith through the aid of reason. At 15, Anselm wanted to enter a monastery, but was refused acceptance because of his father's opposition. Twelve years later, after careless disinterest in religion and years of worldly living, he finally fulfilled his desire to be a monk. He entered the monastery of Bec in Normandy, three years later was elected prior and 15 years later was unanimously chosen abbot. Considered an original and independent thinker, Anselm was admired for his patience, gentleness and teaching skill. Under his leadership, the abbey of Bec became a monastic school, influential in philosophical and theological studies. During these years, at the community's request, Anselm began publishing his theological works, comparable to those of St. Augustine. His best-known work is the book Cur Deus Homo ("Why God Became Man"). At 60, against his will, Anselm was appointed archbishop of Canterbury in 1093. His appointment was opposed at first by England's King William Rufus and later accepted. Rufus persistently refused to cooperate with efforts to reform the Church. Anselm finally went into voluntary exile until Rufus died in 1100. He was then recalled to England by Rufus's brother and successor, Henry I. Disagreeing fearlessly with Henry over the king's insistence on investing England's bishops, Anselm spent another three years in exile in Rome. His care and concern extended to the very poorest people; he opposed the slave trade. Anselm obtained from the national council at Westminster the passage of a resolution prohibiting the sale of human beings. Comment: Anselm, like every true follower of Christ, had to carry his cross, especially in the form of opposition and conflict with those in political control. Though personally a mild and gentle man and a lover of peace, he would not back off from conflict and persecution when principles were at stake. Quote: "No one will have any other desire in heaven than what God wills; and the desire of one will be the desire of all; and the desire of all and of each one will also be the desire of God" (St. Anselm, Opera Omnia, Letter 112). http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay RETURN TO TOP

GENERAL MARIOLOGY

THE DIVINE HISTORY AND LIFE OF THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD   BOOK TWO  Treats of the Presentation of the Princess of Heaven in the Temple, the Favors She Received at the Hand of God, the Sublime Perfection with which She Observed the Rules of the Temple, the Heavenly Excellence of Her Heroic Virtues and Visions, Her Most Holy Espousal and other Events up to the Incarnation of the Son of God   CHAPTER II.   INSTRUCTION GIVEN BY THE QUEEN CONCERNING RELIGIOUS VOWS. HER FIRST YEARS IN THE TEMPLE. But let us proceed now to a more particular description of her actions. After the vision of the Divinity, described in the second chapter, after She had offered Herself entirely to the Lord and delivered up to her instructress all that She possessed, being thus deprived of all, entirely bound over to obedience, and hiding, beneath the veil of these virtues, treasures of grace and wisdom greater than that of the seraphim, She requested the priest and her teacher to prescribe for Her an order of life and to direct Her in the occupations, which She was to assume. The priest and her instructress, having together considered her petition with the aid of a special enlightenment from on high and desiring to regulate from now on the exercises of this heavenly Child of only three years, called Her to their presence. The Princess of heaven remained kneeling before them during this interview and, although they bade Her rise, She begged most humbly be allowed to remain in this reverent position in the presence of the minister and priest of the Most High and her teacher, on account of their office and dignity. The priest spoke to Her and said: "My Daughter, as a very young Child the Lord has drawn Thee to his house and holy temple; be thankful for this favor and seek to profit by it by striving hard to serve Him in truth and with an upright heart. Acquire all the virtues, in order that thou mayest return from this holy place prepared and fortified against the troubles and the dangers of this world. Obey thy Mistress Anne and commence early to bear the sweet yoke of virtue, in order that thou mayest find it more easy to bear during the rest of thy life" (Thren. 3, 27). The sovereign Child answered: "I thou, my master, who art the minister and priest of God; and holdest his place, and thou my Mistress together with him, command and instruct me in whatever I am to do that I may not commit any fault: this I beg of you, wishing to obey you in all things." The priest and her teacher Anne felt within themselves a great enlightenment and a divine impulse to attend especially to this heavenly Child and to care for Her more than the other maidens. Conferring with themselves about this great esteem, with which they had been inspired, though ignorant of the mystery by which it came to them, they resolved to devote particular attention to her guidance and assistance. But as their care could extend only to the exterior and visible actions, they were far from suspecting the interior acts and inspirations of her heart, for over these the Most High watched with singular protection and favor. Thus the pure heart of the Princess of heaven remained free to advance and grow in interior vision, without losing one instant, in which She did not reach what is highest and most excellent in virtue. The priest also gave Her a rule for her occupations and said: "My Daughter thou wilt assist at the exercises of divine praise and song in honor of the Lord with all reverence and devotion, and always pray to the Most High for the necessities of his holy temple and of his people, and for the coming of the Messias. At eight 0' clock thou wilt retire for sleep and at the beginning of dawn thou wilt arise in order to praise the Lord until the third hour (this hour corresponds to our nine o'clock in the morning). From the third hour until evening thou wilt occupy thyself in some manual works, in order that thou mayest be instructed in all things. At meals, of which thou wilt partake after thy exercise, observe befitting moderation. Then thou wilt go to hear the instructions of thy teacher; the rest of the day thou wilt engage thyself in the reading of holy Scriptures, and in all things be humble, affable, and obedient to the commands of thy instructress,"    RETURN TO TOP

DIVINE MERCY

Divine Mercy In my soul   Notebook I (continued) Once, one of the older Mothers (probably Mother Jane) summoned me, and it was as if fiery bolts from the blue were coming down upon my head, so much so that I could not even discover what it was all about. But after a while I understood that it was about a matter over which I had no control whatsoever. She said to me, "Get it out of your head Sister, that the Lord Jesus might be communing in such an intimate way with such a miserable bundle of imperfections as you! Bear in mind that it is only with holy souls that the Lord Jesus communes this way!" I acknowledged that she was right, because I am indeed a wretched person, but still I trust in God's mercy. When I met the Lord I humbled myself and said, "Jesus, it seems that You do not associate intimately with such a wretched people as I". "Be at peace, My daughter, it is precisely through such misery that I want to show the power of My mercy." I understood that this Mother had merely wanted to subject to a (salutary) humiliation. O my Jesus, You have tested me so many times in this short life of mine! I have come to understand so many things, and even such that now amaze me. Oh, how good it is to abandon oneself totally to God and to give Him full freedom to act in one's soul!   (Note Book 1- to be continued) RETURN TO TOP

CATHOLIC  TEACHING/CONVICTION/TESTIMONY

On the Significance of Christ's Resurrection "God Reveals Himself and the Power of the Trinitarian Love"   CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, APRIL 19, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave Wednesday at the general audience in the pontifical residence at Castel Gandolfo. * * * Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today the customary Wednesday general audience is pervaded by a spiritual joy, that joy that no suffering or pain can destroy, because it is the joy that flows from the certainty that Christ, with his death and resurrection, has definitively triumphed over evil and death. "Christ is risen! Alleluia!" the Church sings in celebration. And this festive climate, these typical Easter sentiments, are prolonged not only during this week -- the Octave of Easter -- but extend through the 50 days until Pentecost. Indeed, we can say: the Easter mystery embraces the whole arc of our existence. During this liturgical season there are truly many biblical references and stimulations to meditation that are offered to us to delve into the meaning and value of Easter. The "Via Crucis" [Way of the Cross], that in the Holy Triduum we traveled again with Jesus to Calvary reliving the sorrowful passion, becomes the consoling "Via Lucis" [Way of Light] in the solemn Easter Vigil. Seen from the perspective of the resurrection, we can say that this whole way of suffering is the road of light and spiritual rebirth, of interior peace and solid hope. After the weeping, after being lost on Good Friday, followed by the silence of Holy Saturday, charged with expectation, to the dawn of "the first day after the Sabbath" there resounded the proclamation of the life that has defeated death: "Dux vitae mortuus / regnat vivus!" -- "The Lord of life was dead / but now, living, he triumphs!" The unsettling novelty of the resurrection is so important that the Church does not cease to proclaim it, prolonging the recollection especially every Sunday: every Sunday, in fact, is "the Lord's day" and the weekly Easter of the people of God. Our Eastern brothers, highlighting this mystery of salvation that invests our daily Christian life, in the Russian language, call Sunday "Resurrection day" (voskrescénje). Thus it is fundamental to our Christian faith and witness to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as a real historical event testified to by many authoritative witnesses. We strongly affirm this because, even in our times, there is no lack of those who deny its historicity, reducing the Gospel account to a myth, to a "vision" of the Apostles, taking up again and presenting old worn-out theories as new and scientific. Certainly for Jesus the resurrection was not a mere return to the former life. In this case, in fact, it would be a thing of the past: 2,000 years ago someone rose from the dead, returned to his old life, just as Lazarus did, for example. The resurrection is oriented in another direction; it is the passage to a dimension of life that is profoundly new, that also implicates us, that involves the whole of the human family, of history and of the universe. This event that introduced a new dimension of life, an openness of our world to eternal life, changed the existence of the eyewitnesses as the evangelical accounts and the other New Testament writings demonstrate; it is an announcement that entire generations of men and women through the centuries welcomed with faith and often bore witness to at the price of their blood, knowing that precisely in this way they entered into this new dimension of life. This year too, at Easter there resounds unchanged and always new, in every corner of the earth, this good news: Jesus, who has died on the cross and been resurrected, lives in glory because he has defeated the power of death, he has brought human beings into a new communion of life with and in God. This is the victory of Easter, our salvation! And so we can sing with St. Augustine: "Christ's resurrection is our hope," because he leads us into a new future. It is true: Jesus' resurrection founds our certain hope and illuminates the whole of our earthly pilgrimage, including the human enigma of pain and death. The faith in Christ crucified and risen is the heart of the whole evangelical message, the central nucleus of our "credo." Of such an essential "credo" we can find an authoritative expression in a famous passage in St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians (15:3-8), where the Apostle, responding to some of the members of the community at Corinth who paradoxically proclaimed Jesus' resurrection but denied that of the dead -- our hope -- faithfully transmits that which he -- Paul -- had received from the first apostolic community about the death and resurrection of the Lord. He begins with an almost parenthetical remark: "Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain!" (15:1-2). He immediately adds that he has passed on to them what he himself had received. Then the pericope follows that we listened to at the beginning of our meeting. St. Paul first of all presents the death of Jesus and then, in a very simple text, makes two additions to the news that "Christ died." The first addition is: he died "for our sins"; the second is: "according to the Scriptures" (15:3). This expression, "according to the Scriptures," puts the event of the Lord's death in relation to the history of the Old Testament covenant of God with his people, and he makes us understand that the death of the Son of God belongs to the fabric of the history of salvation, and indeed makes us understand that this history receives its logic and meaning from this death. Until that moment Christ's death remained almost an enigma, whose outcome was still uncertain. In the Pascal mystery the words of Scripture are fulfilled, that is, this death realized "according to the Scriptures" is an event that carries a "logos" in itself, a logic: Christ's death testifies that the Word of God became human "flesh," human "history," without reserve. How and why this happened, we understand from the other addition Paul makes: Christ died "for our sins." With these words the Pauline text takes up the prophecy of Isaiah contained in the fourth song of the Servant of God (cf. Isaiah 53:12). The Servant of God -- the song says -- "surrendered himself to death," bore "the sins of the world," and interceding for the "guilty" was able to bring the gift of reconciliation among men and between men and God: his is a death therefore that puts an end to death; the way of the cross leads to the resurrection. In the verses that follow, the Apostle pauses over the Lord's resurrection. He says that Christ "rose on the third day according to the Scriptures." Again: "according to the Scriptures!" Not a few exegetes see in the expression "[he] rose on the third day according to the Scriptures" a significant reference to Psalm 16, where the Psalmist proclaims: "You will not abandon me in the netherworld, nor let his faithful one undergo corruption" (16:10). This is one of the texts of the Old Testament that was cited by early Christians to prove Jesus' messianic character. Since, according to the understanding of Judaism, corruption began after the third day, the word of Scripture is fulfilled in Jesus who rises on the third day, that is, before corruption set in. St. Paul, faithfully transmitting the doctrine of the Apostles, stresses that the victory of Christ over death happens through the creative power of God's Word. This divine power brings hope and joy: this is the definitive liberating content of the Easter revelation. God reveals himself and the power of the trinitarian love that annihilates the destructive forces of evil and death in the events of Easter. Dear brothers and sisters, let us allow ourselves to be enlightened by the splendor of the risen Lord. Let us welcome him with faith and adhere generously to his Gospel, as did the first privileged witnesses of the resurrection; as St. Paul did, some years later, encountering the divine Master in an extraordinary way on the road to Damascus. We cannot just hold onto the proclamation of this truth -- which changes the life of everyone -- only for ourselves. And with humble confidence let us pray: "Jesus, who, rising from the dead, anticipated our resurrection, we believe in you!" I would like to conclude with an exclamation that Silvanus of Mount Athos loved to repeat: "Rejoice, my soul. It is always Easter, because the risen Christ is our resurrection!" May the Virgin Mary help us cultivate in ourselves, and around us, this climate of Easter joy, so that we may be witnesses of divine love in every situation of our existence. Once again, a happy Easter to all of you! [Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic] [The Holy Father greeted the pilgrims in various languages. In English, he said:] Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today's general audience takes place at the beginning of the liturgical season of Easter, the joyful celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The Easter sequence sings the victory of the Lord of life who, after a heroic struggle with death, now lives triumphant. After the Via Crucis of Good Friday, our solemn Easter Vigil sets us on a Via Lucis marked by consolation, peace and hope. It is fundamental for our faith and our Christian witness that we proclaim the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as a real, historical event. His resurrection was not a simple return to existence, but an entrance into a new dimension of life meant to transform every human being, all history and the whole cosmos. Saint Paul, writing to the Corinthians, reminded them of what was transmitted from the beginning, namely that Christ died and rose from the dead in accordance with the Scriptures. As the Suffering Servant of God, Jesus purified us from our guilt by carrying our sins and interceding for us. By dying he put an end to death, and by rising he brought new life to the world. May the joy of the resurrection of Christ give us courage to live his Gospel faithfully and bear witness to it generously! I offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims present at today's audience. I extend particular greetings to the groups from England, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Malta, Australia, Indonesia, Canada and the United States of America. May your pilgrimage to the Eternal City strengthen your faith and renew your love for the Lord, the Giver of Life. I wish all of you a happy Easter! © Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana     RETURN TO TOP

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