Catholic Life Ministries

If you are suffering through any of these horrors or others that are painful and frightening, you might think that Jesus, the Kingdom of God, and Easter are not meant for you. You are living your Garden of Gethsemane, your Good Friday…and resurrected life and spirit-filled existence are a distant dream. But you would be mistaken! Because Easter and Pentecost happened over 2,000 years ago at a time quite similar to ours. Ordinary Jews, women and men of faith and their children, encountered the risen Jesus amid the terrors of Roman rule, the corruption of the religious elite and the wealthy, the ravages of disease and sickness, and the daily grind of work and struggle to make ends meet.

The Risen Jesus did not transform their circumstances, but he did change their hearts, helping them to live with hope in the midst of evil, corruption, sickness, and the demands of daily life. The Risen Jesus empowered them to make a  difference within the circumstances of their lives, to be a power for good! The risen Jesus can do the same for you and me. This month we share with you the Stations of the Resurrection, a spiritual exercise designed to help you meet the risen Jesus as the did disciples. May Jesus reveal to you how deeply you are loved by God, and how you, too, can be a power for good within the circumstances of your life, however difficult those circumstances might be.

Easter JOY!       

Robert & Lori

Stations of the Resurrection

Introduction:  We walk the “Stations of the Resurrection” to remind us that Jesus, the Risen One, who revealed Himself to the disciples over two thousand years ago, is seeking to encounter us now within the ups and downs, joys and sorrows of our lives.  Jesus will show Himself to any heart that will welcome Him, even a heart filled with doubt.

Station 1: Jesus Is Placed in a Tomb

L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

Joseph of Arimathea…went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus…he took him down, wrapped him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses watched where he was laid. Mk 15:43-47

Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

St. Therese, the Little Flower

L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

 The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils. Then they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord   Jesus.       Luke 23:55-24:3

Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

From the Saints:  O living flame of love that tenderly wounds my soul in its deepest center… How gently and lovingly you wake in my heart, where in secret you dwell alone; and in your sweet breathing, filled with good and glory, how tenderly you swell my heart with love. St. John of the Cross

Station 3: Peter and the Empty Tomb

L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles, but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them.  But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.  Luke 23:10-12

Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

From the Saints:  May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be…May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.  May you be content knowing that you are a child of God.  Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of you.             St Teresa of Avila

Station 4: Mary Magdalen and the Gardener

L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping… she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was   Jesus.  Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”  She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.”  Jesus said to her, “Mary!”  She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” …Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord…”  John 20:11-16

Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

From the Saints: For we are so preciously loved by God that we cannot even comprehend it. No created being can ever know how much and how sweetly and tenderly God loves them.  It is only with the help of his grace that we are able to perservere in spiritual contemplation with endless wonder at his high, surpassing, immeasurable love which our Lord in his goodness has for us.   

St. Julian of Norwich

Station 5: The Road to Emmaus

L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

 …two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus…Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you          discussing as you walk along?” …One of them, named Cleopas, said to him…, “Are you the only visitor to  Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?…The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene… how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him…Some women from our group…were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”  Luke 24:13-24

Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

From the Saints:  God commands us to love Him, not as much as He deserves, because He knows our capabilities and therefore He does not ask us to do what we cannot do.  But He asks us to love Him according to our strength, with all our soul, all our mind, and all our heart.    St. Padre Pio

Station 6:  Breaking of the Bread

L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

 [Jesus] said to them, “…Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his   glory?” …As they approached the village to which they were going…they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.  And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.  With that their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.   Luke 24:25-32

 Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

 From the Saints:  Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts, Thou fount of life, thou Light of men [and women], from the best bliss that earth imparts we turn unfilled to Thee again. We taste Thee, O Thou living Bread, and long to feast upon Thee still: We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead, and thirst our souls from Thee to fill. O Jesus, ever with us stay, make all our moments calm and bright; Chase the dark night of sin away, shed o’er the world Thy holy light.  

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

 Station 7: Hearts Burning Within

L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

 Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts  burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”  So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”

Luke 24:32-34

Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

From the Saints:  Jesus is my God.  Jesus is my Spouse.  Jesus is my Life.  Jesus is my only Love.  Jesus is my All in All.  Jesus is my Everything.  Jesus, I love with my whole heart, with my whole being.  I have given Him all, even my sins and He has espoused me to Himself in tenderness and love.  Now and for life I am the Spouse of my Crucified Spouse.       Mother Teresa

Station 8: The Locked Room

L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  [Jesus] said to them again, “Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.”       John 20:19-22

Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

From the Saints:

Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! And transform your entire being into the image of the Godhead Itself through contemplation.  So that you too may feel what His friends feel as they taste the hidden sweetness which God Himself has reserved from the beginning for those who love Him.      St. Clare of Assisi

 Station 9: Doubting Thomas

L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

Thomas, called Didymus,…was not with them when Jesus came…he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”  Now a week later his disciples were again  inside and Thomas was with them.  Jesus came,  although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”  Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”  John 20:24-28

Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

From the Saints:  Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Station 10: The Beloved Disciple

L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

 Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.  When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.  Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.”  So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”    John 21:1-7

Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

From the Saints:  Love transforms one into what one loves…To join two things   together there must be nothing between them or there cannot be a perfect fusion. Now realize that this is how God wants our soul to be, without any selfish love of ourselves or of  others in between, just as God loves us without anything in between.

St. Catherine of Siena

Station 11: Paul Meets Jesus

L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

 …For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it… when [God], who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles…

Gal 1: 11-16

 Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

From the Saints:  My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.   Thomas Merton

 

Station 12:  Peter, do you love me?

 L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” …He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” …He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Station 13:  500 Disciples See Jesus

L – We adore you, O Christ, and we love you.

All – Because by your death and resurrection you have set us free.

 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ…was raised on the third day in   accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.  After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.  For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.      1 Cor 15:3-9

Response:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

/a>From the Saints:  Our Lord very humbly revealed words to me…you will not be overcome…and these words:  “you will not be overcome” were said very insistently and strongly, for certainty and strength against every tribulation which may come.  He did not say: you will not be troubled, you will not be labored, you will not be disquieted; but he said, you will not be overcome.  God wants us to pay attention to these words, and always to be strong in faithful trust, in well-being and in woe, for he loves us and delights in us, and so he wishes us to love him and delight in him and trust greatly in him, and all will be well… God, of your goodness give me   yourself, for you are enough for me.         St. Julian of Norwich

 Closing Prayer

 Antiphon:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Oh, good and loving God, Father of Jesus, give us the gift of faith that we might welcome the risen Jesus into our hearts.

Antiphon:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Jesus, beloved Son, crucified and risen, draw us into the Father’s love.

Antiphon:  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Holy Spirit, living flame of love, empower us to bring the love of God to all we meet especially those who are poor and spiritually abandoned in any way.

All:  We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship.        Dorothy Day

Glory be to the Father…

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