Tuesday in the Octave of Easter

We pray Tuesday in the Octave of Easter and sit with Saint Anastasius of Antioch on the mystery of Christ who is truly God and yet truly suffers. We trace how the cross becomes Christ’s glory and how that glorification opens the gift of the Holy Spirit as living water. 
• opening prayers and morning offering through the Immaculate Heart of Mary 
• Christ’s foretold Passion in Jerusalem and the witness of Holy Scripture 
• why the Incarnation lets us speak truthfully about Christ suffering 
• the necessity of the Passion and glory revealed through the cross 
• rivers of living water in John’s Gospel and the Holy Spirit given after Christ’s glorification 
• closing collect for paschal remedies and perfect freedom 
If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to grow in your faith, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our publications now available on Amazon.com. The Cristeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Cristeros can be found at theCristeros.org. 

Transcript

Saint Anastasius On The Passion

Living Water And The Holy Spirit

Paschal Prayer And Dismissal

Invitation To Join The Cristeros

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Tuesday in the octave of Easter. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the remission of my sins, for the intentions of my family and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen. From a discourse by Saint Anastasius of Antioch. Christ, who has shown by his words and actions that he was truly God and Lord of the universe, said to his disciples as he was about to go up to Jerusalem, We are going up to Jerusalem now, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the Gentiles and the chief priests and scribes to be scourged and mocked and crucified. These words bore out the predictions of the prophets, who had foretold the death he was to die in Jerusalem. From the beginning, Holy Scripture had foretold Christ's death, the sufferings that would precede it, and what would happen to his body afterward. Scripture also affirmed that these things were going to happen to one who was immortal and incapable of suffering because he was God. Only by reflecting upon the meaning of the incarnation can we see how it is possible to say with perfect truth both that Christ suffered and that he was incapable of suffering, and why the Word of God, in Himself incapable of suffering, came to suffer. In fact, man could have been saved in no other way, as Christ alone knew and those to whom he revealed it. For he knows all the secrets of the Father, even as the Spirit penetrates the depths of all mysteries. It was necessary for Christ to suffer. His passion was absolutely unavoidable. He said so himself when he called his companions dull and slow to believe, because they failed to recognize that he had to suffer and so enter into his glory, leaving behind him the glory that had been his with the Father before the world was made, he had gone forth to save his people. This salvation, however, could be achieved only by the suffering of the author of our life, as Paul taught when he said that the author of life himself was made perfect through suffering. Because of us he was deprived of his glory for a little while, the glory that was his as the Father's only begotten Son. But through the cross this glory is seen to have been restored to him in a certain way in the body that he had assumed. Explaining what water the Savior referred to when he said, He that has faith in me shall have rivers of living water flowing from within him. John says in his gospel that he was speaking of the Holy Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. The glorification he meant was his death upon the cross, for which the Lord prayed to the Father before undergoing his passion, asking his Father to give him the glory that he had in his presence before the world began. For God and through God all things exist. It was fitting that he should make perfect through suffering Jesus, the source of our salvation, who would bring so many of God's children to glory. To him be glory and dominion forever. Alleluia. It was necessary for Christ to suffer and so enter into his glory. To him be glory and dominion forever. Alleluia. O God, who have bestowed on us paschal remedies, endow your people with heavenly gifts, so that, possessed of perfect freedom, they may rejoice in heaven over what gladdens them now on earth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, fore and ever. Amen. Let us praise the Lord and give him thanks. All that I have and all that I am I give to your hands, Jesus, through the heart of Mary, your blessed mother. Amen. Sacred heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to grow in your faith, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our publications now available on Amazon.com. The Cristeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Cristeros can be found at theCristeros.org.