Wednesday in the Sixth Week of Easter

We pray through the sixth week of Easter and listen to Saint Leo the Great describe how the days after the Resurrection form the apostles into joyful witnesses. We hold the Emmaus story, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the Ascension together as one promise that Christ raises human nature and prepares a place for us. 
• opening prayers that set a daily rhythm of praise and help 
• Morning Offering through the Immaculate Heart of Mary 
• Saint Leo on the Resurrection and the defeat of death’s fear 
• the Holy Spirit given to the apostles and Peter entrusted with the keys 
• Emmaus as a pattern for faith through Scripture and the breaking of bread 
• the Ascension as joy and the uplifting of humanity 
• a closing collect asking to rejoice with all the saints 

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 Invocation And Doxology

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Wednesday in the sixth week 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 sermon by Saint Leo the Great, Pope. Beloved, the days which passed between the Lord's resurrection and his ascension were by no means uneventful. During them great sacramental mysteries were confirmed, great truths revealed. In those days the fear of death with all its horrors were taken away, and the immortality of both body and soul affirmed. It was then that the Lord breathed on all his apostles and filled them with the Holy Spirit, and after giving the keys of the kingdom to blessed Peter, whom he had chosen and set above all the others, he entrusted him with the care of his flock. During these days the Lord joined two of his disciples as their companion on the road, and by chiding them for their timidity and hesitant fears, he swept away all the clouds of our uncertainty. Their lukewarm hearts were fired by the light of faith, and began to burn within them as the Lord opened up the scriptures, and as they shared their meal with him, their eyes were opened in the breaking of the bread, opened far more happily to the sight of their own glorified humanity than were the eyes of our first parents to the shame of their sin. Throughout the whole period between the resurrection and ascension, God's providence was at work to instill this one lesson into the hearts of the disciples, to set this one truth before their eyes, that our Lord Jesus Christ, who was truly born, truly suffered, and truly died, should be recognized as truly risen from the dead. The Blessed Apostles, together with all the others, had been intimidated by the catastrophe on the cross, and their faith in the resurrection had been uncertain. But now they were so strengthened by the evident truth that when their Lord ascended into heaven, far from feeling any sadness, they were filled with great joy. Indeed, that blessed company had a great and inexpressible cause for joy when it was man's nature rising above the dignity of the whole heavenly creation, above the ranks of angels, above the exalted status of archangels, nor would there be any limit to its upward course until humanity was admitted to a seat at the right hand of the Eternal Father, to be enthroned at last in the glory of him to whose nature it was wedded in the person of the Son. I go now to prepare a place for you, but I shall return to take you with me, so that where I am you may also be. Grant we pray, O Lord, that as we celebrate in mystery the solemnities of your Son's resurrection, so too we may be worthy to rejoice at his coming with all the saints, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever 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 Christuros and purchasing our publications now available on Amazon.com. The Cristaros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Christaros can be found at theCristeros.org.