26 March 2024

"Down in the River"

As we continue to live this week, I offer this version of "Down in the River":



Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of those who come to our assistance when we are frustrated and unsure how to proceed with what we need to do next.

Br. Clement Greenspan, O.P., on Looking for the Lord during This Holy Week

"Why is this night different from every other night? Every year, I recited this question as the youngest child at our family's Passover Seder. This privileged role was a blessing for me when the Jewish side of the family gathered for the holidays. This question is the first in a short litany of questions that are traditionally chanted or read by the youngest at the seder table. Over the centuries, the number of questions has changed, yet each question seeks in a different way an answer to the childlike wonder of the first. This same wonder can help us enter more deeply into the mysteries of these Christian high holy days."

In a recent commentary, Brother Clement Greenspan, O.P., reflected on what we might look for on the Tuesday of Holy Week.

To access Br. Clement's complete post, please visit:

Dominicana: Enter In Like Children (26 MAR 24)

Reflection Starter from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"The cross is not the suffering tied to natural existence, but the suffering tied to being Christians. The cross is never simply a matter of suffering, but a matter of suffering and rejection for the sake of Jesus Christ, not for the sake of some other arbitrary behavior or confession." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

25 March 2024

Birthday Blessings, Valerie!!!

Birthday greetings to Valerie Baldizon-Gonzalez, wife of nephew Christopher Gonzalez, whose birthday is today!!! May this day, and each day of the upcoming year, be filled with the Lord's choicest blessings!!!

Birthday Blessings, Adam!!!

Birthday greetings to son Adam, whose birthday is today!!! May this day, and each day of the upcoming year, be filled with the Lord's choicest blessings!!!

The Impalas: "My Hero"

It's time for some more doo wop. Here is a presentation of  "My Hero" by The Impalas:


 

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of elevators and escalators.

Bishop Henning on the Way of the Lord

"In the New Testament, the title used by the text for the Christian community was 'the way,' or 'the road.' The term Christian would come later and was first applied to the community as a mocking term by the opponents of the Church. That earliest terminology of 'the way' recalled Old Testament and Jewish language where the analogy of walking is applied to the life of faith and the summons to live in accord with the commandments. In the New Testament, where the Lord's own journey to the cross becomes both the foundation of faith and the model for discipleship, this language of 'the way' reflected the Lord’s own command to 'take up your cross and follow me.'

"The Church's liturgical and devotional traditions for Lent and Holy Week cite this same imagery, seeing our participation as a kind of journey or pilgrimage of faith. . . ."

In a recent commentary, Bishop Richard G. Henning, the bishop of the Diocese of Providence (RI), reflected on opportunities to walk with the Lord during Holy Week.

To access Bishop Henning's complete essay, please visit: 

The State of Hope: The Way of the Lord (21 MAR 24)

Reflection Starter

"The smallest deed is better than the grandest intention. " - Source Unknown

24 March 2024

"All Glory, Laud and Honor"

As our Palm Sunday celebration continues, I offer this version of "All Glory, Laud and Honor":


 


Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Today the Church celebrates Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion. The assigned readings are Isaiah 50:4-7, Philippians 2:6-11, and Mark 14:1-15:47. The Responsorial Psalm is from Psalm 22 (Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24).

For one version of the Responsorial Psalm set to music, please visit:

YouTube: My God My God why have you forsaken me - Responsorial psalm for Palm Sunday

The Gospel reading for the procession with the palms (Mark 11:1-10) is as follows:

When Jesus and his disciples drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately on entering it, you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone should say to you, 'Why are you doing this?' reply, 'The Master has need of it and will send it back here at once.'" So they went off and found a colt tethered at a gate outside on the street, and they untied it. Some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" They answered them just as Jesus had told them to, and they permitted them to do it. So they brought the colt to Jesus and put their cloaks over it. And he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!"

Reflections related to these readings:

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Salesian Sunday Reflections: March 24, 2024 Passion/Palm Sunday

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Sundays Salesian: Palm Sunday Passion of the Lord (March 24, 2024)

Community in Mission: See What the End Shall Be - A Homily for Palm Sunday (23 MAR 24)

Benedictine College: This Sunday, Jesus Reigns, From the Donkey to the Cross to Today (21 MAR 24)

Word on Fire: Put Yourself in the Passion Narrative (Cycle B * Lent * Holy Week)