Meeting Christ in the Liturgy

  Season of EASTER

Resurrection of the Lord through 5th Sunday after Easter

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Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord

Low Sunday

Second Sunday after Easter

Third Sunday after Easter

Fourth Sunday after Easter

Fifth Sunday after Easter

 

Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord

Epistle: Colossians 3. 1-4; Gospel: St. Luke 24, 13-35

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

We are led to the Easter Christ in the Eucharist by this beautiful and moving account of our Lord's appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, in the gospel according to Saint Luke, chapter twenty-four, verses thirteen to thirty-five. Shattered as they were by His crucifixion and death, news of which had been passed throughout the cities and towns from Jerusalem, the disciples were in need of the greatest gift this side of heaven, to fill them again with hope, to give them undying faith in the Risen Lord. And so the Catechism leads our thoughts to the presence of the risen Lord whom we worship, adore, praise and receive in the Mass, the "Lord's Supper."

The Sacrament of the Eucharist is known by this and other titles, discussed in the Catechism.

The Lord's Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem. (1Cor 11:20; Rev 19:9.)

The Breaking of Bread because Jesus used this rite, part of a Jewish meal, when as master of the table he blessed and distributed the bread, (Mt 14:19; 15:36; Mk 8:6,19) above all at the Last Supper. (Mt 26:26; 1 Cor 11:24) It is by this action that his disciples will recognize him after his Resurrection, (Luke 24:13-35) and it is this expression that the first Christians will use to designate their Eucharistic assemblies; (Acts 2:42, 26; 20:7, 11) by doing so they signified that all who eat the one broken bread, Christ, enter into communion with him and form but one body in him.(1 Cor 10:16-17)

The Eucharistic assembly (synaxis), because the Eucharist is celebrated amid the assembly of the faithful, the visible expression of the Church. (1 Cor 11: 17-34)

The Eucharist is the Easter Sacrament. In the Eucharist we meet, know and possess God incarnate, our Lord Jesus Christ. (CCC 1329)

I look forward to meeting you here again next week, as, together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy" -Father Cusick (Publish with permission.)

(Publish with permission.)www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/

Low Sunday 

Epistle: I John 5: 4-10; Gospel: John 20, 19-31

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Today we hear that the apostles, imprisoned and bound by fear, have locked themselves into the upper room, and that "Jesus came and stood before them...Then he breathed on them and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive men's sins, they are forgiven them; if you hold them bound, they are held bound.' "

In this Easter season, we celebrate the Divine gift of the third person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit, as an outpouring of the Risen Christ. Today the Church shares in the Resurrection and the life of Christ by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. What does this gift mean to the Church? The peace of Christ, always ours with the forgiveness of our sins.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us what the Church has always believed when we say in the Creed: "I believe in the forgiveness of sins," our gift for salvation in the Holy Spirit. The Creed links "the forgiveness of sins" with its profession of faith in the Holy Spirit, for the risen Christ entrusted to the apostles the power to forgive sins when he gave them the Holy Spirit.

Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of the forgiveness of sins: it unites us to Christ, who died and rose, and gives us the Holy Spirit. By Christ's will, the Church possesses the power to forgive the sins of the baptized and exercises it through bishops and priests normally in the sacrament of Penance. "In the forgiveness of sins, both priests and sacraments are instruments which our Lord Jesus Christ, the only author and liberal giver of salvation, wills to use in order to efface our sins and give us the grace of justification." (CCC 984-987)

If you would be preserved "from all anxiety", as we pray in the Mass, regularly practice the Sacrament of Confession. The Holy Spirit will give you the peace of confidence in Christ's saving passion and Resurrection.

I look forward to meeting you here again next week, as, together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy" -Father Cusick

(Publish with permission.) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/

Second Sunday after Easter

Epistle: 1 Peter 2. 21-25; Gospel: St. John 10: 11-16

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, but his goodness is greater than which nothing can be imagined for unlike any other "good" shepherd he is Divinely good, goodness and holiness itself. This divine Shepherd gives the supremely good gift, he "lays down his life for the sheep" (Jn 10:11); having done so he then gives the sheep his own body and blood for divine food. He must thereafter ascend to the Father and so leaves Peter in his place, entrusting him with the task of shepherding the flock. Jesus has commissioned Peter for his role as vicar of Christ on earth saying, "Feed my sheep."

Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: 'I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.' (Mt 16:19) The 'power of the keys' designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: 'Feed my sheep.' (Jn 21:15-17; cf. 10:11) The power to 'bind and loose' connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom. (CCC 553)

The Lord has not left us orphans, as he promised, and has given us a father, a "papa", the pope who will always feed us with divine truth so that we may know the safety and security of living in that sheepfold which leads to life eternal. If we would look to Christ, then we must look to the Holy Father. We humbly seek absolution of our sins through the bishops he sends to us, and the priests who share in the ministry of each bishop, we receive all holy Catholic doctrine from his hands as the pure bread of truth, and we submit to his loving discipline as the correction of one who serves our eternal salvation.

I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy"---Father Cusick

(Publish with permission.) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/

Third Sunday after Easter

Epistle: 1 Peter 2:11-19; Gospel: St. John 16. 16-22

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The Easter mystery is completed in Christ's glorious ascension to the Father's right hand: "a little while and you will not see me." (Jn 16:19) But he will come again to judge the living and the dead: "and again a little while and you will see me."(Jn 16:19) The Christian who lives in expectation of Christ's second coming will experience the hardships of being set apart from the world, of living a life of detachment from the world: "you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will sorrow but your sorrow will turn into joy." (Jn 16: 20) The discipline of the Christian life is not a punishment but a safeguard, that the eternal joys of life with the Triune God may not be lost for the sake of sin and its temporary and deceitful pleasures.

Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. (Cf. Lk 18:8; Mt 24:12) The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth (Cf. Lk 21:12; Jn 15:19-20) will unveil the mystery of iniquity in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh. (Cf. 2 Thess 2:4-12; 1 Thess 5:2-3; 2 Jn 7; 1 Jn 2:18, 22)" (CCC 675)

The world offers false joys and hopes by holding out the Antichrists of sexual pleasure, the cult of the body, the materialistic cults of the new age and worship of creation in place of God. Sometimes those who follow these errors may seem to be joyful while Christians who submit to God's discipline according to the truth may seem sad. How different all will be on the day when the secrets of hearts will be revealed. The authentic Christian submits in custody of the heart to the virtues of faith, hope and love. These gifts of God do not fail us and will surely lead us to behold the Lord face to face forever.

I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy"---Father Cusick

(Publish with permission.) www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/

Fourth Sunday after Easter

Epistle: James 1: 17-21; Gospel: John 16: 5-14

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The resurected Lord departs from earth by ascending to the right of the Father that God's plan for us may reach its completion. "But now I am going to him who sent me...it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go I will send him to you." (Jn 16: 5, 7) The Holy Spirit will be the presence of God in the Church, guiding the Church and giving it life until the end of the world: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you." (Jn 16: 13-14)

When he proclaims and promises the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus calls him the 'Paraclete,' literally, 'he who is called to one's side,' ad-vocatus. (Jn 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7) 'Paraclete' is commonly translated by 'consoler,' and Jesus is the first consoler. (Cf. 1 Jn 2:1) The Lord also called the Holy Spirit 'the Spirit of truth.' (Jn 16:13) (CCC 692)

The Holy Spirit dwells in the Church in many ways. The Catechism enumerates eight principal works of the indwelling Spirit, "the Lord, the giver of life":

"The Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy Spirit:

-in the Scriptures he inspired;

-in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses;

-in the Church's Magisterium, which he assists;

-in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ;

-in prayer, wherein he intercedes for us;

-in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up;

-in the signs of apostolic and missionary life;

-in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation." (CCC 688)

Invoke the Holy Spirit as Lord of your life in prayer, that all your thoughts, words and deeds may be of divine truth and a foretaste everlasting life. "Come, Holy Spirit!"

I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy", Father Cusick

(Publish with permission. ) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/

 Fifth Sunday after Easter

Epistle: James 1:22-27; Gospel: St. John 16:23-30

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In prayer, by the Holy Spirit, we are in communion with the risen and glorified Lord: intimate, real and immediate communion. And we look forward with confidence to that day when our joy will be full because we will share forever in heavenly glory by seeing him in whom we put our trust by faith in the Holy Spirit.

...what the Father gives us when our prayer is united with that of Jesus is 'another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth.' (Jn 14:16-17) This new dimension of prayer and of its circumstances is displayed throughout the farewell discourse. (Cf. Jn 14:23-26; 15:7, 16; 16:13-15; 16:23-27) In the Holy Spirit, Christian prayer is a communion of love with the Father, not only through Christ but also in him: 'Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.' (Jn 16:24) (CCC 2615)

I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy", Father Cusick

(Publish with permission.) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/