Announcements
Sunday, April 21st - 3rd Sunday after Easter - St Anselm, BCD
Monday, April 22nd - Ss Soter & Caius, PpMm
Tuesday, April 23th - St George, M
Wednesday, April 24th - St Fidelis of Sigmaringen, M
Thursday, April 25th - St Mark, Ev - Greater Litanies
Friday, April 26th - Our Lady of Good Counsel - Ss Cletus & Marcellinus, PpMm
Saturday, April 27th - St Peter Canisius, CD
Sunday, April 28th - 4th Sunday after Easter - St Louis Marie de Montfort, C - St Paul of the Cross, C
- Sisters' Breakfast: Join us after the 9:30 Mass in the St Joseph Hall! Please donate $5 per breakfast to help support the convent and school.
- Catechism Class: Class for all students after both Masses.
- Choir Practice: In the upstairs classroom at 8:45 a.m. for the 9:30 a.m. Mass
Meditation on the 3rd Sunday after Easter
From The Year Made Holy by Msgr Matthias Premm
Today at the Introit of the Mass, the risen Savior stands before us as vanquisher of death and hell, and as our Redeemer. We, the redeemed all over the wide earth, summon the whole world to sing Him a song of praise: "Shout with joy to God, all the earth, sing ye a psalm to his name, Alleluia! Give glory in his praise. Alleluia!... How terrible are thy works, O Lord [thy redemption and resurrection], and how great is thy strength, that thy enemies lie down before thee!" At the resurrection, the guards of the tomb fell as if dead to the ground.
And so today also, as on the previous Sundays after Easter, our spirit is at first carried away by the glorious vision of the Redeemer and the wonderful work of our redemption. But now comes a change. The liturgy of the Easter season moves on and turns our gaze toward the future, and an undertone of woe creeps into our Easter rejoicing. For the Savior Himself announces to us in the Gospel that He will not be with us much longer - "because," He says, "I go to the Father." The ascension is drawing near, when Jesus is to leave us behind, alone in the world. Hence the somber thoughts that we find in the remaining texts of today's Mass. But our Easter happiness, our joy over Jesus and our resurrection are nevertheless maintained. In the midst of our earthly suffering, we are filled with the gladness of Easter. That is the dominant thought today in the liturgy of the Mass.
In the Epistle, Peter brings us a very apt comparison: "Ye [Christians] are pilgrims and strangers" in this world. That is indeed a fact: whoever leads a truly Christian life is bound to feel himself a stranger on this earth. He knows that "we have not here a lasting city." We carry in our hearts a deep longing for higher things, for the eternal, conscious at all times that we are traveling toward our everlasting home in heaven. And the older we become, the more do we long "to be released, and be with Christ," our risen Savior. Let us then, not allow ourselves to be held back by the allurements of this world. Let us rather obey the injunction of the Apostle: "Refrain yourselves from carnal desires... having your conversation good among the gentiles; that... they may... behold your good works." Be subject to your superiors and to public authority. "Honor all men; love the brotherhood."
Clearly, in order to be able to lead such a life, we require help from above. Hence we lift up our eyes to heaven, to our eternal home. There we hear the voices of the angels and saints coming down to us in the Easter Alleluia: "Alleluia! The Lord sent redemption to his people [to you]. It behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead; and so to enter into his glory, Alleluia!" The joys of the everlasting Easter in heaven will be ours too, after our days of suffering here below are ended.
Recessional Hymn
O God of loveliness, O Lord of Heaven above,
How worthy to possess My heart's devoted love!
So sweet Thy Countenance, So gracious to behold,
That one, one only glance To me were bliss untold.
Thou art blest Three in One, Yet undivided still;
Thou art that One alone Whose love my heart can fill.
The heavens and earth below, Were fashioned by Thy Word;
How amiable art Thou, My ever dearest Lord!