Thursday in the Octave of Easter

We pray through the Octave of Easter and offer our day to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, united to the Mass across the world. We reflect on an ancient Jerusalem catechesis that calls baptism a real sharing in Christ’s death and Resurrection, not only forgiveness but a new life that changes how we live. 

• opening prayers in the name of the Trinity and a plea for God’s help 
• offering prayers, works, joys, and sufferings in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass 
• baptism as a symbol of Christ’s Passion, burial, and rising 
• three immersions as the sign of Christ’s three days in the tomb 
• night and day imagery for moving from blindness to light 
• “the saving water” as both tomb and mother, death and birth at once 
• baptism as more than forgiveness, including the gift of the Holy Spirit and union with Christ’s sufferings 
• Alleluia images of the newly baptized in white robes before the Lamb 
• prayer for unity among the reborn, faith of the heart and deeds of homage 
• closing devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of Guadalupe 

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

Opening Trinitarian Prayer

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Thursday, within 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 the Jerusalem catechesis, baptism is a symbol of Christ's passion. You were led down to the font of holy baptism, just as Christ was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb which is before your eyes. Each of you was asked, Do you believe in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit? You made the profession of faith that brings salvation. You were plunged into the water, and three times you rose again. This symbolized the three days Christ spent in the tomb. As our Savior spent three days and three nights in the depths of the earth, so your first rising from the water represented the first day, and your first immersion represented the first night. At night a man cannot see, but in the day he walks in the light. So when you were immersed in the water, it was like night for you, and you could not see. But when you rose again it was like coming into broad daylight. In the same instant you died and were born again. The saving water was both your tomb and your mother. Solomon's phrase in another context is very opposite here. He spoke of a time to give birth and a time to die. For you, however, it was the reverse: a time to die and a time to be born, although, in fact, both events took place at the same time, and your birth was simultaneous with your death. This is something amazing and unheard of. It was not we who actually died, were buried and rose again. We only did these things symbolically, but we have been saved in actual fact. It is Christ who was crucified, who was buried and who rose again, and all this has been attributed to us. We share in his sufferings symbolically and gain salvation in reality. What boundless love for men! Christ's undefiled hands were pierced by the nails, he suffered the pain. I experience no pain, no anguish, yet by the share that I have in his sufferings, he freely grants me salvation. Let no one imagine that baptism consists only in the forgiveness of sins and in the grace of adoption. Our baptism is not like the baptism of John, which conferred only the forgiveness of sins. We know perfectly well that baptism, besides washing away our sins and bringing us the gift of the Holy Spirit, is a symbol of the sufferings of Christ. This is why Paul exclaims, Do you not know that when we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were by that very action sharing in his death. By baptism, we went with him into the tomb. These newborn lambs sing Alleluia as their song of praise. They have come to the streams of living water. Now they are filled with radiant beauty. Clothed in white robes and with palms in their hands, they stand in the presence of the Lamb. Now they are filled with radiant beauty. O God, who have united the many nations in confessing your name, grant that those reborn in the font of baptism may be one in the faith of their hearts and the homage of their deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever 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 Christeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Cristeros can be found at theCristeros.org.