Religious Sentiments

"We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song." - St. Pope John Paul II Today is Easter Sunday. He is risen! As you celebrate the joys of Easter, I would like to invite you to reflect on one biblical figure's encounter with Christ after His Resurrection.  As followers of Christ, there are several things we can learn from Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was the first to encounter Christ after His Resurrection; scripture tells us "When he had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons" (Mark 16:9). At first, she did not recognize the Lord until He revealed Himself to her: "When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus... Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' She turned around and said to him in Hebrew, 'Rabbouni,' which means Teacher" (John 20:14,16). The moment when she recognized and responded to Christ was ...

"The Eucharist is the sacrament of the presence of Christ, who gives Himself to us because He loves us." - Pope St. John Paul II Today is Holy Saturday, and we wait in solemn anticipation of Easter. As Holy Week has progressed, everything seems to have come to a strange halt as we reflect on Christ's death. The tabernacle is open and empty. Eucharistic Adoration is not offered at parishes. Mass is not celebrated until the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening. As someone whose spirituality is predominately centered around the Eucharist, this temporary deprivation of Christ's Eucharistic presence has brought me to have a deeper appreciation of the gift of His presence through the Eucharist. Being temporarily "deprived" of the Eucharist has made me realize that it's so easy to take Jesus's presence for granted. Since we as Catholics are around Him so often, we can fail to appreciate how much of a privilege we have. We can walk into our churches wit...

"Nowhere other than looking at himself in the mirror of the Cross can man better understand how much he is worth." - St. Anthony of Padua Today is Good Friday. It is the day when we remember in a special way Christ's sacrifice for us. Through meditation on Jesus's death, I came to experience the love of God in a personal way. As someone who's struggled with self-hatred, I have come to see that I have worth because of everything Jesus went through for me.  I would like to invite you to reflect on some of the major events which transpired during the Passion. As you think of Christ's sufferings, view His Passion in a personal way by remembering that He suffered and died for you. The Agony in the Garden This scripture passage recounts Jesus's departure to Gethsemane, also known as the Mount of Olives, the night before His death. He took three of his friends (Peter, John, and James) to the garden with him. While he prayed, His friends fell asleep. Dur...

"In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us..." - Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Today is Holy Thursday. While there are many important scriptural events which we remember on this day, one of the most profound events we believe as Catholics is the Institution of the Eucharist which occurred at the Last Supper. Here is one scriptural account of the event: “Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.’” - Luke 22:19-20.  As Catholics, we take Jesus at His word and believe the Eucharist to truly be His body and blood - we do not hold it to be a mere symbol. I invite you to take time today to meditate on the meaning of this great gift Jesus has left us. Instead of leaving us a symbol of His presence in o...