3rd Sunday of Easter

26 April 2020

Acts 2:14, 22-33

Ps 16:1-2,5,7-8,9-10,11

1 Pt 1:17-21  

Lk 24:13-35

“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, 

raised his voice and proclaimed . . . . “

Is this the same man who denied Jesus three times?  Is this the same man whose incomprehension provoked Jesus to say, “Get behind me satan?”  Is this the Peter, who a few days earlier swore he did not know this Jesus of Nazareth and is now proclaiming that He is risen from the dead?  Peter, whose nerve failed him at the first hint of threat, is now professing Jesus as the one  of whom David spoke.  Fearful of being known as one of His disciples while huddled around a fire in the courtyard during Jesus' trial, Peter is now preaching what, to many ears, was blasphemy--a capital offense at the time . He was telling all who could hear that Jesus had risen from the dead.  Talk about a makeover!  

What did Peter look like as he made these bold and dangerous statements?

It is likely he did not resemble the cowering man in the high priest’s courtyard who said, “I do not know Him.”  Something fundamental had changed.  The change was not subtle. Peter was taking an enormous risk when he spoke. Of course this was after Pentecost.  Filled with the Holy Spirit it is obvious that Peter now understood that which he had failed to comprehend earlier.  

Luke’s narrative of the encounter on the road to Emmaus, with its expertly set scene, is ripe for contemplation.  One can sense the despondency of the two men. Their weariness is palpable. There are hints of disbelief and fear as they make their way toward Emmaus.  Are they walking away from Jerusalem because their hopes have been destroyed?  Are they retreating because Jesus was not the Messiah of their dreams?  What were they “conversing and debating” about? Conversing is a neutral word but debating suggests disagreement and attempts by each to change the other’s mind.  Who was winning?   

They stopped talking when Jesus appeared. They were shocked that their unrecognized companion was not aware of the events that had taken place in Jerusalem.  Jesus’ impatience with them is palpable.  It is  approximately seven and one-half miles (or twelve and one-half kilometers) from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  Jesus began with Moses and all the prophets and explained “what referred to him in all the Scriptures." The conversation must have been a long one.  

Like the entire Jewish nation the two disciples had had hopes for the Messiah.  Many of their hopes and the hopes of the entire nation were attached to the politics of the day; driven by Israel's desire to be free of the yoke of Roman domination.  They had desires for the one of whom David spoke to be a military leader, a super-politician, and a social reformer all at once. Today, in addition the skills of a five-star general and a unifying politician, we want the one of whom David spoke to have a sufficiently relaxed moral compass that endorses any action that feels good no matter the fundamental wrongness of the act. 

Jesus fulfilled none of Israel's expectations.  Jesus will fulfill none of those expectations today.  Given that he seemed to be apolitical it is ironic how often Jesus’ message is politicized and twisted to promote a particular agenda on both the left, the right, and the center. "You cannot call yourself a Christian if you do not  . . . . . . (fill in blank with  pet agenda)."  The only thing one can say about this statement is that it is breathtakingly manipulative and  on par with a comment during the last presidential campaign: "You cannot be a democratic candidate if you don't support abortion."  

Jesus was not the Messiah Israel wanted.  He was the Messiah Israel needed. Jesus is not the Christ we want Him to be.  He is not the Messiah we try to force Him to be in our attempts to remake God in our own image.  He is the Christ we need, if we only allow him to be that. 

Jesus’ two companions on the road to Emmaus were consoled after the fact.  “Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”   They immediately began the seven and one-half mile walk back to Jerusalem to share the news.  It must have been a difficult trip in the dark and cold of the desert night. 

When we pray we are on the road to Emmaus.  In prayer we are forced to recognize the One who joins us along the way.  We continually meet Him on the road though we may not recognize Him at first.  We encounter Him in a particular and intimate manner every time we partake of the Eucharistic Feast.  

Recall the dialog just before communion as the Sacred Body and Blood of Our Lord are elevated above the altar. 

"Behold the Lamb of God, 

Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. 

Blessed are those who are called 

to the supper of the Lamb." 

And attend to the response.

"Lord, I am not worthy 

that you should enter under my roof, 

but only say the word 

and my soul shall be healed."

Stay with both those thoughts 

for the rest of today.

He is Risen.  

He is truly Risen.  

Alleluia, Alleluia. 

________________________________

Glorious day in Boston today.  Went over to campus with camera.  Spent about two hours in and around St. Mar's Hall .  

Behind the altar at St. Mary's Hall (Jesuit Residence).  The stained glass is magnificent. 

A better depiction of the warm purples and reds.  

The main altar.

Standing at the main altar looking toward the back.

The door from the chapel to the residence.  Love the wrought iron grating between the glass panes.

the organ loft. 

The main entrance.  BC's colors are maroon and gold.  Tulips approximating that are planted annually. 

Reflecting in a window.  

Different settings of the same basic scene. 

Blossoms framing the tulips.

Loved this effect.  So, I posted another. 

+ Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)

Acts 2:42-47

Ps 118:2-3, 13-15, 22-24

1 Pt 1:3-9

Jn 20:19-31

Today, the Second Sunday of Easter, is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday ever since its formal promulgation by Pope John Paul, II of happy memory in 2000.   The juxtaposition of this feast and the readings for the Second Sunday of Easter is fortuitous.  Faith, Love, and Divine Mercy, are all included.  

When preaching on these readings it is tempting to focus solely on the story of Thomas, or Doubting Thomas as he is colloquially known, so as to engage in the popular indoor sport of Apostle Bashing (a very intense competition in theology schools).  But to do that would miss the deeper meaning of these readings and their interrelationship.  Today’s readings are not about doubt.  They are about faith.  Faith is not the polar opposite of doubt.  Mature faith must always contend with a degree of doubt, sometimes more and sometimes not so much, throughout life.  Faith cannot mature without struggling with doubt. 

The first reading describes the earliest coming together of the Church in the first gatherings of the faithful.  “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.”  That is what we do at Mass:  the communal hearing of the Gospel and the recitation of  prayers as we prepare for the Eucharistic Banquet where we receive the True Body and Blood of our Lord.  Note the description of that earliest congregation,  “They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God.”  We are to imitate them in that. 

The second reading shines a bit of light on the Gospel:  “Although you have not seen him you love him.  Even though you do not see him now yet believe in him you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy.”  Peter’s letter describes a joy that is the same as that described in the first reading, a joy that is nourished by participation in this our Eucharistic feast. 

It is reasonable to suspect that in the period between the apostles telling him that Jesus had appeared to them and Jesus' actual appearance detailed in today's gospel, Thomas, despite not having seen him with the rest of the apostles, continued to love the Jesus with whom he had cast his lot so long ago. As is true of the love we maintain for a dead, spouse, parent or friend, Thomas' love for Jesus did not die on the cross. 

Periodically we must ask ourselves, what is faith?  

The definition of faith in the Letter to the Hebrews is unsurpassed, “Now faith is the conviction of things not seen.”  In his Letter to the Romans Paul reminds us that,  “Faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes by the preaching of Jesus Christ.”  That preaching of Jesus Christ does not come to us exclusively in the oral form it did at the Sermon on the Mount or in the many parables.  Jesus’ preaching comes to us in scripture, in the tradition of the Church, and in the reception of the sacraments. The first two readings are important because they tell us what it means to be a Church, what it means to be a people of faith, and what we can expect.  The gospel tells us something a bit different though complementary

A superficial reading of the Gospel's portrayal of Thomas supplies us with a tempting target.  Indeed it is too easy a target as Thomas becomes someone against whom we can compare ourselves in a self-righteous manner.  He can be used to compare and condemn others whose faith we do not feel is adequate.  Calling someone 'a doubting Thomas' is generally not a compliment. This comparison too is generally done from the position of smug self-righteousness. 

At the end of the Gospel Jesus asks a question and gives a blessing, “Have you believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”  It is worth pondering  in relation to ourselves.  

Neither John’s Gospel nor the synoptic gospels were meant to be albums with verbal snapshots of detailed scenes from Jesus' life.  The gospels are not a log book that traces Jesus' daily movements--there is no Captain Kirkian-like "Star Date" affixed to them.  The gospels are not a diary of Jesus’ day-to-day thoughts. The gospels  are not history in the modern understanding of the word. Any attempt to read the gospels through the lens of modern historical convention is doomed to failure and perhaps high comedy.  We can never interpret the gospels in the light of the modern concepts of history, journalism, and science without frustration and faithlessness.  The less said about novels such as The da Vinci Code the better.  

The last sentence of this Gospel passage puts the nature of the Gospels into perspective:  “Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.  But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in His name.” 

The Gospel proclaims one essential truth, that Jesus of Nazareth, of whom it speaks, is the Lord.  Thus, the fullness of Easter joy is contained in Thomas’ faith-filled, startled, and ultimately joyous proclamation:  "My Lord and My God."  It is why we too can gaze upon the True Body and Blood of Christ at the consecration and say with Thomas and all the Church, “My Lord and My God.”  

"Give thanks to the Lord, 

for he is good, 

his love is everlasting."

Alleluia, alleluia.

________________________________________

Photos taken at the Divine Mercy liturgy at sv. Jože in Ljubljana on the Second Sunday of Easter 2017.  

The archway at the main entrance of sv. Jože.  

Vestments are the ready. 

Sacred vessels for the Mass

Taken about an hour before the liturgy.  The church was packed with long lines for confession.  Took this photo from behind and under the altar, a favorite vantage point.   Jože Plečnik designed the altar.  Looking at much of his work in LJ it is apparent that columns were a signature element.  

 Congregants brought the candles to the image of Divine Mercy and aligned them according to color.  

From the loft.  Prior to Mass there was time for Eucharistic adoration. 

Fr. Tomaž leading the prayers of adoration.  I can't recall if the rosary was said aloud during this interval.  By the time the liturgy was over I'd walked about two-and-a-half miles. 

The entrance procession for the Mass.  The Archbishop a few minutes late.  He lives across the street.  

The Archbishop of Ljubljana.

Entrance procession for the Mass.

Wide angle view of the church.  The commies confiscated it for years and used it as a movie studio.  It was returned to the Society only 25 or so years ago.  It needs work.

Mass.

Fr. Mio Kekić at communion.  Very good man who was helpful while I lived in the community. 

Eucharistic Procession. 

 +Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Homily for Easter Sunday 2020

Acts 10:34a, 37-43

Ps 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23

Col 3:1-4

Jn 20:1-9

“This is the day the Lord has made; 

let us rejoice and be glad.” 

These joyful words from the responsorial psalm have been circling the globe and stirring the universe for hours. First in Australia, then Taiwan and the Churches of Mainland China.  After passing through Asia and Russia they were proclaimed in Poland, Slovenia and England while the East Coast of the United States was barely waking up. 

这是  上主    所    安排   的   一天， 

我们   要   欢欣  鼓舞。

(Zhe shi  shang zhu   suo  an pan  de yi tian,  

wo men yao  huan yin  gu wu.)

By the end of this day, the joyful command from the psalms will have been repeated in: Mandarin, Fujianese, Swahili, Tagalog, Slovenian, Croatian, Portuguese, Latin, English, and every other tongue in the known world, as the news of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is proclaimed yet again. 

"To je dan, ki ga je Gospod, naredil, 

veselimo se ga in se radujmo."

The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles summarizes Jesus’ life, beginning with His baptism and ending with His death on the cross.  We hear the commission to the apostles to preach the message of salvation.  It is the same commission we receive: Preach the message of salvation through Jesus!  That message is the reason we are to rejoice and be glad.  Jesus is the one set apart. Those who believe in him have  forgiveness of sins through His name. 

"Este é o dia que o Senhor fez, 

vamos nos alegrar e ser felizes"

As St. Paul so memorably wrote to the Romans:  “God showed his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”  While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  Jesus, fully Divine and fully human, Son of God and Son of Mary, like us in all things but sin, died for our sins, because of our sins, and to save us from those sins.  We are sinners.  But, we are sinners passionately loved by God.  We are redeemed by Jesus’ passion and death in a redemption made manifest in His resurrection from the dead.  What more can we say than?

"Oto jest dzień, który dał nam Pan. 

Weselmy się w nim i radujmy."

In the proclamation of John’s Gospel we heard of the disciple’s astonishment, confusion, sorrow, and fear upon discovering that the tomb in which Jesus had been placed was empty. The burial cloths were rolled up and lying off to the side.  The last line of this Gospel reading is instructive:  “Remember, as yet they did not understand the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”  They did not yet understand.  Despite the years that they had followed Him the disciples did not really understand who this Jesus was.  But that was going to change at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended.

"Haec dies quam fecit Dominus;

exsultemus et laetemur in ea"

The apostle’s confusion and lack of understanding of Jesus mirrors our situation.  Despite Jesus’ action in our lives, we don’t always understand.  Unlike the apostles who lived the events told here in real time we have scripture and the tradition of the Church to instruct us and help us understand.  Still, we don’t always get it.  We sometimes fail to understand how great a gift Jesus is to us. We sometimes fail to appreciate the gift he gave us.  Thus, it is today, and every day, we are called to pray, to meditate on scripture and to receive the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ so that unlike the apostles, we will understand, we will see, and, through understanding and seeing,  we will believe. 

As the paschal candle was lit in those places where Mass was possible the  priest's words, said while inscribing the paschal candle, explain everything. 

“Christ yesterday and today

the beginning and the end. 

Alpha and Omega; 

all time belongs to him, 

and all the ages; 

to him be glory and power, 

through every age for ever.” 

“This is the day the Lord has made, 

let us rejoice and be glad.” 

Alleluia

Alleluia

Alleluia. 

_______________________________

Photos of flowers, mostly, and nature.  No commentary necessary.  Have a Blessed Easter. 

 +Fr Jack, SJ, MD

Homily for Good Friday 2020

Jn 19:25-27

. . . But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother,  and his mother's sister, 

Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."  Then he said to the disciple, "Behold your mother."  And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home." 

The Gospel of the Lord.

_____________________________________________

Stabat Mater dolorosa

Iuxta Crucem lacrimosa

Dum pendebat filius

At the cross her station keeping

Stood the mournful mother weeping

Close to Jesus to the last. 

The 13^th century  Stabat Mater Dolorosa is one of the greatest of all Latin hymns.  It has been set to music by composers from Palestrina in the 16^th century through Rossini in the 19^th to Poulenc and Szymanowski in the 20^th.  The hymn meditates on the sorrows of Mary, Mother of Jesus.  It recalls the sorrows prophesied at Jesus' presentation in the Temple as recounted in Luke's Gospel: "Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, 'Behold this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against and a sword will pierce through your own soul also."

Each verse recounts another dimension of the pathos as Mary stood at the foot of her Son's cross--that "sign that is spoken against"--that she heard of in Simeon's prophecy many years earlier.  

"Cuius animam gementem, 

Contristatam et colentem, 

Pertransivit gladius."

"Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, 

All His bitter anguish bearing, 

Now at length the sword had passed."

Place yourself in the scene.  Go to Calvary in your mind's eye and watch the scene described by John.  Jesus, hanging on the cross as life ebbs from his body. Mary, His Mother watching, the words of Simeon ringing in her ears. The beloved disciple.  Helpless and hopeless at the loss of all he had found in Jesus.  How does Jesus' voice sound? Is it strong?  Or does he struggle to speak in a hoarse whisper?  Is Mary standing straight and stoic? Or is she collapsing under the unique grief of a mother watching her child die?  What of John? Does he remain standing in the same in place?  Or does he move closer to the woman who is now his mother?

Note that Jesus said "Behold your mother."  He did not say "my mother" but "your mother."  In this charge and in his words to Mary,  "Woman behold your son" Jesus confirmed Mary's role as the new Eve, mother to us all, a mother whose obedience reversed Eve's sin, a reversal that began when she replied to the angel, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; may it be done unto me according to your word." 

"Pro peccatis suae gentis

Vidit Iesum in tormentis, 

Et flagellis subditum."

"For His people's sins rejected,

Saw her Jesus unprotected, 

All with bloody scourges rent."

Remain there contemplating the scene.  Gaze up at Jesus suspended between heaven and earth.  He is close to death.  Exhausted by the struggle.  Haggard.  Dehydrated.  Pale from blood loss. 

During his two long retreats praying the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a Jesuit is instructed by Ignatius to place himself at the foot of the cross and then: "Imagine Christ our Lord on the cross.  Ask yourself how, from Creator, Jesus is come to make Himself man, and so to die for my sins.  Likewise, looking at myself ask: What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ?  What ought I to do for Christ? 

However, on this Good Friday, as we commemorate Christ's passion and death, there is another triple colloquy we must make: 

What has Christ done for me?

What is Christ doing for me?

What will Christ do for me?  

While we could probably come to some sort of agreement on an answer for the first question, what has Christ done for me, the answers to, what is Christ doing for me and what will Christ do for me will be unique to each of us.  Perhaps they will never be raised to a level of answers we can articulate.  They may have to remain answers that we can only experience in silent prayer.  

"Fac, ut ardeat cor meum, 

In amando Christum Deum, 

Ut sibi complaceam."

"Unto Christ with pure emotion, 

Raise my contrite heart's devotion, 

To read love in every wound."

We are sinners.  But, we are sinners loved by God.  Loved passionately and completely by God.  We are loved by God who sent His only Son, born of Mary, who now stands at the foot of the cross.  We are loved by God who sent His only Son to die for our sins and the sins of all humankind. 

A little over three months ago--under very different circumstances than today--we were able to gather in churches throughout the world to celebrate Jesus' birth.  We heard Luke's narrative of that event--the Christmas Story as it is commonly called.  BUT . . . It is a story that is incomplete, and indeed, absurd if forced to stand alone.  Were we not contemplating this gospel today, the Christmas story would make no sense.   It would nothing more than a pretty story without meaning.  We can only understand the Christmas story in today's context, it can only exist because of Jesus' passion, death, and resurrection. 

Some of the greatest theological statements in history have been made not by academics, learned and professional theologians who write in jargon and agonize over Greek vowels, or who debate whether Jesus is just a metaphor or a symbol.  The greatest theological statements have been made by men and women who didn’t just talk the talk.  They walked the walk. They did the heavy lifting.  One of them was the late Dag Hammarskjold, third Secretary General of the U.N. who died in a mysterious plane crash while negotiating peace in the Congo in 1961.   

Hammarskjold captured the entire history of our salvation—the reason we are here today—in a haiku; a short poem of twelve simple words, a mere seventeen syllables: 

On Christmas Eve, Good Friday

Was foretold them

In a trumpet fanfare

We know what Christ has done for us. 

Now we are called to figure out,

What have I done for Christ?

What am I doing for Christ?

What ought I to do for Christ? 

__________________________

One of the great graces my first year as a priest was Rev. Anita Ambrose's phone call to my mom in early 2008.  Anita was long-time pastor of the Welsh Baptist Church on Shawnee Ave.  I'd known her for years.  She called to ask mom if I would be interested in preaching at the Ecumenical Good Friday service. Mom, ever practical replied, "Call him.  Here is his number." (She never gave my number to anyone with whom I didn't share a few genes.  Anita was special.)  It took ten seconds to agree with one stipulation; I had to be done by 2:15 as I was the celebrant for the Good Friday liturgy that began at 3 PM at St. Mary's, four blocks away. 

I am grateful to Anita for having me back for several years until distance took its toll, This is one of the homilies.  It is much longer than I would ever give at the very long Good Friday liturgy.  I also feel strongly that a priest should not preach at any kind of length after the reading of the entire Passion.  The Passion can--and must be allowed to--stand on its own. 

Took the photo in the choir loft in the Jesuit church on the grounds of Sevenhill Winery, in the Clare Valley, South Australia.  

+Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Homily for Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday  

April 2020

We are now beginning the longest liturgy of the year under extraordinary circumstances, indeed under circumstances that are unprecedented in our lifetimes and, one hopes, never to recur.  Mass began in the usual way with the sign of the cross.  That sign of our salvation will not be made in a liturgical setting again until the conclusion of the Easter Vigil Mass some fifty hours from now, a vigil that will also be celebrated under constrained circumstances. However, despite the ability of most of us to attend Mass and the other liturgies in person, the next three days will comprise one uninterrupted liturgy of prayer and contemplation even as we go about our usual daily tasks in quarantine.   

The first reading described the Passover meal that marked the beginning of the Exodus.  Last evening, April 8, Jews throughout the world began their recollection and reenactment of this event at their seder tables.  Part of the seder ritual includes the plaintive question, "Why is this night different from all other nights?"  We can ask the same question.  "Why is this night different from all other nights?" 

Tonight is different from all other nights because we commemorate the institution of the great gift of the Eucharist, the True Body and Blood of Christ, present to us in the sacrament of the altar, present to us who choose and wish to partake. 

Tonight is different from all other nights because it is a night of confused wonder that began with the joy of the Gloria but will end in silence as the altar is stripped.  This three-day liturgy that recalls our redemption from sin and death calls us to prayer and to contemplation of the great truths that mark our faith.  Over the next fifty hours we will hear the proclamation of the Passion on Good Friday and the detailed recounting of our history as a people and as Church in the readings of the vigil Mass.  More critically, however, and indeed, something that we can do in quarantine or out, over the next hours we are called to listen to the silence and to enter into that silence. 

On this night, a night unlike any other in history, not the history of the transient world on which we live but the universe created by God, consider the words of Robert Cardinal Sarah from his book, The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise.

We "encounter God in truth only in silence and solitude" a silence and solitude that is  both interior and exterior.  That silence and solitude is found in the monastic cell or in our own rooms, it is the silence and solitude of the grandparent contemplating a sleeping grandchild or the recently widowed visiting the grave.  It is the silence of Eucharistic adoration and the silence of sitting in a chair looking out the window.  It is a silence that is less dependent on place and setting than it is on our internal dispositions.  

Cardinal Sarah elaborates, "Silence is not an absence.  On the contrary, it is the manifestation of a presence, the most intense of all presences."

Remain with and in that presence over these next three days.

______________________________________________________

Will post homilies for each day from Thursday to Easter Sunday. The photo is from Mass in a monastery where I was asked to photograph the liturgy.

+Fr Jack, SJ, MD

Blessing baskets for święconka

A little earlier today I received an email request from an unknown viewer of this blog asking for permission to distribute the prayers for the blessing of the baskets as it will not be done publicly this year.  The custom of blessing the baskets for święconka or the 'holy breakfast' is something with which I grew up and was later able to perform as a priest.  I've included the prayers in English and translated by Google translate (hilariously, it was a bit of work to get the prayers into usable form) and the Polish prayers that were sent by a Polish friend.  

Lord Jesus Christ, on the day before your Passion and Death, you ordered the disciples to prepare the passover supper.  On the day of your Resurrection you accepted the invitation to join the two disciples you met on the road to Emmaus at table. That evening you went to the apostles and ate with them.  We ask that you grant us the grace to recognize your presence among us during the holy breakfast that we eat on the day you conquered death. May we rejoice in your resurrection and the promise of eternal life forever and ever.  

Amen.

Christ, The Living Bread, you came down from heaven and

gave the gift of the Eucharist to the world. 

Bless the bread + that recalls the manna with which the Father fed the Israelites

as they wandered in the desert, and the bread with which you miraculously fed

those who followed you in the wilderness.

Lamb of God, you who conquered death

and redeemed us from our sins,

bless + the meats, sausages, and all the foods 

that we consume in memory of the Paschal Lamb,

who shared the Passover meal with His Apostles at the last Supper.

Bless the salt + and, as salt preserves food from spoiling,

save and protect us from the corruption of sin. 

Christ, our life and our hope,  bless + the eggs, a symbol of new life,

that we will share with family, friends and guests

and thus, share with them the joy of your presence among us. 

Guide us to your eternal feast, the heavenly banquet, 

where You live and reign forever and ever. 

______________________________________________________

Przewodniczący mówi: (The Celebrant says:)

Prośmy Chrystusa Pana, zawsze obecnego wśród tych, którzy Go miłują, aby pobłogosławił te pokarmy na stół wielkanocny.

Wszyscy modlą się przez chwilę w ciszy. (Prayer in silence)

Panie Jezu Chryste, Ty w dzień przed męką i śmiercią kazałeś uczniom przygotować paschalną wieczerzę, w dzień Zmartwychwstania przyjąłeś zaproszenie dwóch uczniów i zasiadłeś z nimi do stołu, a późnym wieczorem przyszedłeś do Apostołów, aby spożyć wraz z nimi posiłek; prosimy Cię, daj nam z wiarą przeżywać Twoją obecność między nami podczas świątecznego posiłku w dzień Twojego zwycięstwa, abyśmy mogli się radować z udziału w Twoim życiu i zmartwychwstaniu.

Chlebie żywy, który zstąpiłeś z nieba i w Komunii świętej dajesz życie światu, pobłogosław † ten chleb i wszelkie świąteczne pieczywo na pamiątkę chleba, którym nakarmiłeś lud słuchający Ciebie wytrwale na pustkowiu, i który po swym zmartwychwstaniu przygotowałeś nad jeziorem dla swoich uczniów.

Baranku Boży, który zwyciężyłeś zło i obmyłeś świat z grzechów, pobłogosław † to mięso, wędliny i wszelkie pokarmy, które będziemy jedli na pamiątkę Baranka paschalnego i świątecznych potraw, które Ty spożyłeś z Apostołami na Ostatniej Wieczerzy. Pobłogosław także † naszą sól, aby chroniła nas od zepsucia.

Chryste, życie i zmartwychwstanie nasze, pobłogosław † te jajka, znak nowego życia, abyśmy dzieląc się nimi w gronie rodziny, bliskich i gości, mogli się także dzielić wzajemnie radością z tego, że jesteś z nami. Daj nam wszystkim dojść do wiecznej uczty Twojej tam, gdzie Ty żyjesz i królujesz na wieki wieków.

Wszyscy odpowiadają: (All respond)

______________________________________

Wouldn't be official without a photo.  Took this a few hours ago just outside the backdoor of the satellite community in which I live.  

+Fr. Jack