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The Day of the Lord!!
1st Week of
Easter -
Use your white candle!
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Start with the
Basics
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Prayer of the Week
We'll be praying the Divine Mercy novena beginning
March 21, 2008 (Good Friday) and continuing through March 29, 2008 in
preparation for Divine Mercy Sunday. If you'd like to receive our daily
e-mail prayer reminders for this novena, please let us know at
admin@cominghomecatholic.com. |
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Living Our Faith
Just in time for Confirmation!
Easter season is a celebration that lasts 50 days and ends with
the second most important feast of the year, Pentecost. It was at
the first Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles and
poured out His spiritual gifts upon them. We, too, receive these
gifts in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, and choose to
accept (or reject) them the rest of our lives
We'll review the
gifts of the Holy Spirit during the Easter
season.
The first gift is Fear of the Lord
Fear of the Lord gives us reverence for the Lord and His creation.
Every waking moment we are witnesses to the glory of our world,
including every person with whom we come in contact. (Read
more)
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Celebrate All Year Long!
(Click here to learn more) |
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Saints to Celebrate
Use your white candle
all week to celebrate the octave of Easter!
- An octave is a week long celebration. It is the "kickoff" for
all the celebrations between Easter and Pentecost.
A solemnity is a day of greatest
importance. The celebration starts the evening before the actual
solemnity. Easter is our most important solemnity. A feast is
the next most important day. It commemorates Mary, the apostles,
martyrs and other saints, and the events associated with them. Mass
readings often reflect the special feast day. A memorial is a
special day, but often an optional celebration. The scripture
readings for Mass may or may not be specially selected for the
memorial.
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Devotion of the Month
The Divine Mercy Novena involves praying for a different group of
sinners every day from Good Friday through Easter Saturday.
Click here for the
list of prayers for each day of the Novena.
If you'd like to learn more about Divine Mercy Sunday,
click here. |
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Keep Building that Faith!!
(click
here to learn more) |
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Start the Week off Right
(prepare for the Sunday Scriptures)
| 1. Gn 1:1-2:2 |
4. Is 54:5-14 |
7. Ez 36:16-17a, 18-28 |
| 2. Gn 22:1-18 |
5. Is 55:1-11 |
8. Rom 6:3-11 |
| 3. Ex 14:15 - 15:1 |
6. Bar 3:9-15, 32-4:4 |
9. Mt 28:1-10 |
Easter Sunday
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| Acts
10:34a, 37-43 |
Col 3:1-4
or 1 Cor 5:6b-8 |
Jn 20:1-9
or Mt 28:1-10 |
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The Day of the Lord! Those who attend the Easter Vigil will start off in darkness;
soon light will fill the room. It is a powerful start of an amazing
liturgy. We hear our salvation history in up to nine scripture
readings, witness Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism and
Confirmation) then celebrate the sacramental meal instituted by our
Lord, the Eucharist. as our community celebrates God as the source
of all life.
The scripture stories sum up our salvation history: the poetic
account of creation; the story of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice
his beloved son, Isaac, for love of God; the Exodus of the
Israelites from Egypt; the promise of eternal love from the Lord to
His chosen people; the encouragement to live a life worthy of God,
no matter what may come our way. Paul's letter to the Romans ties it
all together - Christ died so we would not have to die. Finally, the
Gospel of Matthew proclaims the Resurrection. It is the beginning of a
new age, the coming of the Kingdom. We are left in awe.
The
Easter Sunday readings reflect the glory of the Easter Vigil. We can
now bask in the Resurrection. The sins of believers will be
forgiven, we can live with our risen Christ. Jesus.
The world will never be the same. |
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Daily Dose of Scripture (our
picks of the week)
Lectionary
readings for the 1st Week (Octave) of Easter:
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First Reading |
Gospel |
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| Monday |
Acts 2:14, 22-32 |
Mt 28:8-15 |
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| Tuesday |
Acts 2:36-41 |
Jn 20:11-18 |
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| Wednesday |
Acts 3:1-10 |
Lk 24:13-35 |
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| Thursday |
Acts 3:11-26 |
Lk 24:35-48 |
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| Friday |
Acts 4:1-12 |
Jn 21:1-14 |
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| Saturday |
Acts 4:13-21 |
Mk 16:9-15 |
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Acts 4:13-21
We'll be reading most of the New Testament book, Acts of the Apostles,
during the seven weeks of the Easter season. The first two weeks
we'll hear of the mission of the Apostles in Jerusalem.
We decided to focus on Saturday's reading. The Holy Spirit has already
descended on the Apostles. Peter and John have cured a crippled
beggar. They are taken to the Sanhedrin for trial, but the authorities
cannot find anything with which to charge them. Peter is no longer the
coward who denies Jesus. He is filled with the Spirit and, when told
to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, responds, "It is impossible not
to speak about what we have seen and heard."
Hopefully we have experienced a sense of conversion this Lenten
season. We can more easily incorporate Catholic ideals in our everyday
lives, not just in the pew on Sunday. We can speak with confidence of
our beliefs; we can live with confidence in our Catholic faith.
If Lent did not go quite as well as hoped, never fear! As witnesses of
the Resurrection we can experience the awe of the transcendent event
nonetheless. Believe it or not, the Lenten season has prepared us for
a new life. Now it is time to live that new life!
- John 20:11-18
Each of the daily Gospels have a similar message - it is no longer
a time of mourning. The Lord is risen, it is a time of joy. Our pick
this week tells of the weeping Mary Magdalene who is distraught
because of the disappearance of the body of Jesus. Jesus appears to
her, but she does not recognize Him until He calls her by name. He
then instructs her to share the news of His Resurrection.
This is a week to celebrate true joy in our Lord. There is no need for
fear, no need for mourning. We can be assured of peace, comfort, and
forgiveness of sins. What else do we need? Okay, maybe we need food!
Jesus did plenty of feasting after the Resurrection. Read about that
in the other Gospels this week! Remember, during His Last Supper He
said He would not share in the bread again until the arrival of the
New Kingdom. That Kingdom is undoubtedly here!
Open that Catechism!
Read about Easter, the greatest day and the greatest
season of our liturgical year in paragraphs #1168-1171 in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church.
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