He is Risen ! Blessed Easter

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. ~~ Luke 24 : 1-12 ~~

A man who had recently visited the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem came to me and described the personal feelings he had experienced while he was there. He said that as he stepped out of the darkness of the tomb and into the sunlight, he was overwhelmed as he though of Christ’s resurrection. He wanted me to recreate those feelings in a painting of the Savior stepping out of the tomb and into the early morning sun. He commissioned me to do this painting for him because he wanted Jesus to resemble the Red Robe painting (The Lord Jesus Christ), which was his favorite painting of the Savior.

I wanted this piece to be accurate and to capture the feelings he described to me, so I built a tomb door opening in my living room out of 2x4s to have a model step out of for the painting.

Many people have enjoyed this painting and some have commented to that the placement of his hands is meaningful to them. One hand is behind Him, touching the opening of the tomb, and the other hand reaches forward. It is as if he is putting the tomb and death behind him and reaching ahead into eternity.

A couple years after this painting , I was able to visit the tomb in Jerusalem. I thought about the man whose feelings for that place were so deep that he went to the effort to search me out and find me to paint it for him. I understood those feelings as I visited the tomb and felt what he had described for me. This was a sacred place, where one of the most significant events in all of history took place. I hope the painter have been able to capture that feeling with this painting.

by Delparson Studio

PALM SUNDAY

PASSION SUNDAY (PALM SUNDAY) Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 22:14--23:56

AFTER FIVE WEEKS of preparation we now enter the climax of the Lenten season and what we call Holy Week. In a way, the whole week from today until Easter Sunday should be seen as one unit - the presentation of what we call the Paschal Mystery. This Paschal Mystery includes the sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus into glory and the sending of the Spirit on the disciples of Jesus to continue the work he began. Although it is, for liturgical and catechetical reasons, spread over a period of seven weeks, it should also be seen as an indivisible single experience.

Climax of the Jesus' mission

This week sees the climax of the mission of Jesus Christ in which the deepest meaning of his life is unfolded and in which his teaching becomes incarnated in his own words and actions. Today's celebration (for, strange to say, the terrible happenings we are about to listen to are truly a cause for celebration on our part) is divided into two distinct parts: the procession with palms and the Mass proper. (The particular Mass you attend may not include both parts as many parishes will only do the first part at one of the day's Masses.)

Joy and triumph

In the first part the prevailing atmosphere is one of joy and the vestments in today's liturgy are a triumphal red and not the violet which has prevailed during the other days of Lent. For the reading from the Gospel in this first part recalls the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as King. He gets a rapturous reception from the crowd who acclaim him with words we still use in the "Holy, holy, holy..." of the preface to the Eucharistic Prayer. This scene is important for, in a few days' time, the same triumphant Jesus will be reduced to a battered wreck of humanity, calling forth the words of Pilate: "Look, it is a human being!" (Ecce homo) [The full implications of this will be felt by those who have seen Mel Gibson's film, 'The Passion of Christ.]

by Frank Doyle SJ

2nd Sunday in Advent

The Gospel today according to Matthew ( 3 : 1- 12 )



In due course , John the Baptist appeared ; he preached in the wilderness of Judea and this was his message ;

" Repent , for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand " . This was the man the prophet Isaiah spoke of when he said :


A voice cries in the wilderness ;

Prepare a way for the Lord ,

make his paths straight .


This was John , wore garment made of camel-hair with a leather belt round his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey . Then Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole of Jordan district made their way to him and they were baptised by him in the river Jordan , they confessed their sins . But when he saw a number of Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them , " Brood of vipers , who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming ? But if you are repentant , produce the appropriate fruit and do not presume to tell yourselves , " We have Abraham for our father , ' because , I tell you , God can raise children for Abraham from these stones . Even now the axe is laid to the roots of the trees , so that any tree which fails to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire . I baptise you in water of repentance , but the one who follows me is more powerful than I am , and I am not fit to carry his sandals ; He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire . His winnowing-fan is in his hand ; he will clear his treshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn ; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out " .

First Sunday in Advent 2010 - O Come Divine Messiah

23rd Sunday In Ordinary Time - Luke 14 ; 25-33

Great crowds accompanied Jesus in his way and he turned and spoke to them , " If any man comes to me without hating his father , mother , wife , children , brothers , sisters , yes and his own life too , he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. "
" And indeed , which of you here , intending to build a tower , would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it ? Otherwise , if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work , the onlookers would all start making of him and saying , " Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish . " Or gain , what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand ? If not , then while the other king was still a long way off , he would send envoys to sue for peace . So in the same way , none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions . "

Today's Gospel reading - The Our Father

If you have attended today's mass , the Gospel was from Luke chapter 11 verse 1 to 13 , about the Our Father . Jesus' disciples asked Him " Lord , teach us to pray , just as John taught his disciples."
To summarize , ever wondered where and how could Jesus possibly ' invented ' such a powerful prayer being about the Father in heaven ? Did you ever realise that the Our Father is a community prayer - emphasizing on " give us each our daily bread " instead of saying " give me each day my daily bread " ? Or " as we forgive those " instead of " as I forgive him or her " ?
Let us not just recite or sing the Our Father for the sake of singing but rather , meaningfully and prayerfully praying the very same words that our Lord taught us . Isn't this a beautiful wonder ?