Resurrection: Living as a New Creation
Jesus’ mission has been completed. He offered His life as the new and perfect Sacrificial Lamb as the definitive High Priest; His body became the new Temple. Upon dying, Jesus’ Sacred Heart was pierced by a spear. Blood and water gushed forth as the spring of the sacramental life of the Church. Begin by prayerfully reflecting on the Sacraments. How aware are you of their transforming power? Do you understand that you meet Christ Himself in the Sacraments? How fully do you comprehend the infinite grace that is offered to you through those channels of grace?…
After Jesus died and was laid in the tomb, the Mother of God held vigil in hopeful anticipation of Jesus’ Resurrection. The Blessed Mother had just endured the most profound sorrow imaginable. By the gift of the fullness of grace, she turned her eyes to her divine Son, knowing that His triumph was imminent. Spend some time prayerfully pondering the Blessed Virgin Mary’s mind and Immaculate Heart that Good Friday evening through Holy Saturday…
The Blessed Virgin Mary offers insight into the interior disposition we must all have. We must allow the gift of supernatural faith to produce supernatural hope that we can share in Christ’s Resurrection. God wills it. Our Blessed Mother wills it. All of the angels and saints will it. Do you? Ponder your faith and hope in the Resurrection and the power it can have in your life when you fully die with Jesus. Those who do will necessarily rise with Him here and now…
Mary Magdalene and the disciples lacked the fullness of faith and hope contained within Mary’s Immaculate Heart. We are more like them than we are like our Blessed Mother. Knowing this, Jesus, in His infinite compassion and patience, began to appear to His followers to help them believe in His Resurrection and share in the fruits of that saving act. Reflect upon Jesus’ various interactions with His disciples. To Mary Magdalene, and to us, He says, “Do not hold on to Me…do not cling to Me…for I have not yet ascended to My Father…” Ponder the meaning of those words. At this stage of the spiritual journey, Jesus says to the holy soul, “Let go of all earthly concepts of Me and former sensible sweetness. Turn your eyes to my presence in Heaven, and yearn to know me in a new and more glorious way…
Thomas, who represents us all, doubted when he heard that Jesus had appeared to the others. See yourself in Thomas. Ponder his transition from disbelief to belief. When Jesus revealed Himself to Thomas, Thomas cried out, “My Lord and my God!” Make that your prayer…
Jesus commanded Peter to tend His lambs and His sheep, and to feed them. He invites us all to do so in accord with our vocations and missions in life. We must turn our eyes from ourselves and gaze upon those to whom we are called to love, guide, and spiritually feed. How well do you do this? How is God calling you to improve?…
Ascension: The Soul’s Ascent to Higher Realms
Begin by prayerfully imagining the Apostles standing on the Mount of the Ascension with our Lord. Hear Jesus tell them He is ascending to His Father and that they must wait in hopeful anticipation for the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit…
As Jesus ascends to Heaven, try to imagine the Apostles’ feelings. Ponder their desire that Jesus remain with them. Ponder their sense of loss at His Ascension. Ponder their desire to follow Him so that they can cling to Him in Heaven…
The first step toward sharing in the highest form of union with God is to let go of all former ways in which you knew Him. The Apostles had to let go of Jesus’ time with them during His public ministry. They had to accept His death, Resurrection, and Ascension to Heaven. They had to allow their sense of loss to compel them to follow our Lord. This invitation is also given to you. In what ways is our Lord inviting you to ascend higher? What are you clinging to? Do you cling to ways of prayer that used to feed you but no longer do? Do you cling to desires for miracles or signs from God? Do you cling to good spiritual feelings that have faded and left you feeling dry? Do you cling to an earthly sense of justice that interferes with the profundity of Divine Mercy? Ponder every spiritual attachment you have and willingly let it go, remaining in hopeful anticipation of what is to come…
We are all called to be contemplatives. Though time in prayer every day is a necessary component in forming this new prayer of union, we must also become contemplatives in action. Do you see Christ all around you? Are you able to perceive Him even in the chaos within the world, within your family, work environment, social settings, and everywhere you spend your day? We must gaze toward Heaven and find God’s heavenly presence all around us, loving Him in all that we do and in all whom we encounter…
Pentecost: The Spirit’s Purification by the Holy Spirit
As you ponder your moral life, how much self-control do you exercise? Are you temperate, or do you give into temptation, indulgence, and sin? Call to mind the moral struggles you have with temperance. As you do, take a moment to pray for the gift of Fear of the Lord so that God can transform you with an infusion of divine love that will fill you with a desire to always serve His will, rather than your intemperate desires…
Do you struggle with an unhealthy fear? Do you find yourself weak in the face of difficulties? Do you need perseverance? If so, turn to the spiritual gift of fortitude and pray for the full outpouring of that gift by the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray for courage, patient endurance, and strength as you face your difficulties. Allow the Holy Spirit to transform your natural courage into supernatural fortitude so that you can do all things in Christ Who strengthens you…
Within each of us is a natural desire for something more, something greater, something supernatural. In order for that desire to be fulfilled, we need to allow God’s grace to draw us into a life of devotion and worship. This is assisted by the gift of piety. Ponder your desire for God. As you do, pray for the gift of piety so that your heart is drawn more fully to a life of prayer and devotion…
Every decision we make requires good judgment, and we must strive to choose that which is good and just, in accordance with God’s will. The gift of counsel, one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, assists us in discerning God’s will, especially in moments of uncertainty or difficulty. It perfects our ability to judge rightly, guiding us to make decisions that align with God’s divine plan. Reflect on any decisions you have recently made or those you are uncertain about, and spend time seeking God’s grace so that every decision you make may be in accord with His will…
Faith—Ponder the difference between knowing about God and knowing God Himself. Analogously, imagine a reporter who has spent years studying and writing about someone famous. Then imagine that reporter meeting that famous person, the two of them falling in love, and marrying. While writing about the person, the reporter had knowledge about his subject. After meeting, falling in love, and marrying her, the personal knowledge was transformed to a new depth.
How deep is your faith in God? Are you more like someone who knows a lot about God? Or is God your most intimate Friend, your Beloved? Do you know and understand God by your intimate participation in His life? Do you see His divine will alive within you, directing you, and consuming you?
Is your faith so deep that you believe in ways that are beyond words? Are you able to articulate the reason for your faith? Is it deeper than you could ever express?
Ponder your faith and pray for more. Pray for understanding beyond words and knowledge of what God wants of you, so that, empowered by the authority of the Holy Spirit and illumined by the Thrones, you can make a definitive act of faith with an expression that is beyond words…
Hope—Profound faith leads to profound hope. Does hope drive you? Or do you struggle with discouragement or even despair? Like perfect faith, perfect hope is beyond words. Are you driven by such hope? Is your love of God so strong that you are gifted with a holy fear of offending your God, your Beloved, and your most intimate divine Friend? Are you supernaturally driven to please God in everything you do? Do you desire and expect God’s promises to be fulfilled in your life?
When faith becomes perfected and hope follows, the soul is cultivated and divine Wisdom grows. It is through trusting in God in faith and believing in His promises with hope that we learn to see reality from God’s perspective, which is the essence of wisdom. The Cherubim contemplate and illuminate this Wisdom. Do you see your life and all of reality from the divine perspective?
Charity—Having the Wisdom of the divine perspective on all things results in a profound depth of charity. This form of charity is beyond description and rational explanation. It becomes purely selfless, self-giving, and sacrificial. God is loved because He is God, and all people are loved in and through God. Spend time reflecting upon Saint Stephen who loved God and the Jews so much that he was willing to endure every suffering and even death. His only desire was the glory of God, the proclamation of the full Truth of the Gospel, and the salvation of souls…
Reflect, also, upon Peter and the way he was driven to proclaim Christ Jesus. With profound faith, hope, and charity, he performed miracles that gave glory to God and manifested God’s almighty power. He did so knowing that some would reject him and persecute him. He was undeterred because his charity was so strong…
How deep is your charity? Do you tend to look out for yourself, become self-absorbed or self-concerned? Charity must transform our lives into a pure gift, given away. Ponder the Wisdom that is the basis for such holy love…
Assumption: Attaining the Beatific Vision
Ponder that which you desire most in life. We often have varying desires because we believe that attaining what we desire will produce happiness. As you reflect upon the desires within your heart, ponder whether each desire is clearly placed there by God and whether the fulfillment of that desire will produce eternal happiness…
If you discover various desires that are passing, illicit, immoral, and not from God, prayerfully seek to eradicate them from your life…
The most important desire we must have within ourselves is the desire for Heaven. Heaven must be the end to which every other desire is directed. How deep is your desire for Heaven? Is it the single most important desire of your soul? Ponder the eternal fulfillment that the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the angels and saints now enjoy. Place your hope in their lives, seeking to follow where they have gone. Ponder Heaven and let your longing for it grow…
Coronation: Thy Kingdom Come!
Ponder Jesus returning to judge the living and the dead. Ponder every human body being raised up and reunited with its soul. Those who died in mortal sin will be excluded from the City of God forever, for they have rejected it of their own free wills. Those who died in God’s grace will be welcomed into that City where peace and joy will be eternal…
The Book of Revelation depicts this New Heaven and new Earth, where God will be King and His Mother, Queen. Prayerfully reflect on this Scripture passage from Revelation 21:1–6, RSV-CE:
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment.’”
Next: Appendix
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