Jesus: O Mother dear, didst thou but hear My plaint of desolation, Thy tender heart would burst apart With grief of separation!

I am not stone, yet all alone I hush My soul’s outcrying, -- Alone to tread the wine-press red, To bear the pain of dying.

My lips are dumb, the night has come; Ah! Solace I might borrow Had I but thee to bide with Me In this wild waste of sorrow.

Mary: “Gentle moon and start of midnight, Golden apples born of sunshine, Precious pearls and jewels rare, -- All things glorious, all things shining,” Thus the sorrowing Mother spake; “E’en ye bright, transfigured faces, Mourn with me for Jesus’ sake.

“Sparkle, gleam, and glow no longer: Only moan and mourn for Him. Shine not, shine not, weep forever, Till your thousand eyes are dim; For the mighty One has fallen, And my Beautiful is slain; In the dense wood pierced, my Shepherd, -- Weep ye, weep ye for my pain! O most oppressed of all oppressed, Heart of my heart, my all, my Son! Grief’s keenest sword doth pierce my breast: I die with Thee, my only one! Alas! the pain is all too great, Since, living, still I share Thy fate.

“Yes, mine Thou wert to bear and rear Through life and light, and pain and loss; And now, ten thousand times more dear, I yield Thee to the cruel cross!”

-“Dialogue at the Cross,” Frederick Spee, S. J. (1591-1635) translated from the German by Mary E. Mannix

Today's Reflection

Today I stand at the foot of the Cross with Mary my mother. What pain, sorrow, suffering, trial, and contradiction do I yield to the “cruel cross”? How does Mary give me guidance in this surrender?

Prone in Gethsemene upon His face, His eyelids closed, — lay Christ of all our world, The winds with endless sorrows seemed enswirled; A little fountain murmured of its pain Reflecting the pale sickle of the moon; Then was the hour when the Angel brought From God’s high throne the Cup of bitter horn, While on His hands tears trembling fell like rain.

Before the Christ a cross arose on high; He saw His own young body hanging there Mangled, distorted; knotted ropes half-tear The sinews from their sockets; saw He nigh The jagged nails’ hot rage, the direful Crown Upon His head, and every dripping thorn Red-laden, as in fury of its scorn The thunder battered all kind voices down. He heard the pattering drops, as from the cross A piteous sobbing whispered and grew still. Then Jesus sighed, and every pore did spill A bloody sweat.

-From Gethsemene by Annette Von Droste-Hulshoff (1797-1848)

Today's Reflection

Take this poem into your prayer time meditation as you consider the great gift of our redemption. How is Jesus speaking to me in it?

April 7

"Who can measure the extent of My goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed Myself to be nailed to the Cross; for you I let My Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain."

-Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska

Today's Reflection

What is Jesus saying directly to you through these words? What do you say back to Him? As we enter the season of Easter and Divine Mercy, trust that you will draw from the fountain of the Sacred Heart the very grace you most need.

April 5 Palm Sunday

Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later." Peter said to him, "Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times."

-John 13:36-38

Today's Reflection

Have you ever been filled with so much zeal for the Lord that you would do anything for Him? Even die for Him? And then, only minutes later, when things got a little inconvenient, you changed your mind, or even betrayed Him?

The passage above shows us that even the apostle, Peter, who spent three years walking side-by-side with Him, turned his back on Jesus when the going got tough. As we come to the close of Lent and anticipate the Triduum and Easter, let us renew our fervor to stand with the Lord at any cost.

April 4

"Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, Upon whom I have put my Spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, Not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, Until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spreads out the earth with its crops, Who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness."

-Isiah 42: 1-7

Today's Reflection

Blessed Holy Week to you and your loved ones! The passage above is the first of today's mass readings. Take time to ponder it. As you walk these first steps on the journey into the passion, death and resurrection of Our Lord, how will you enter into the intense silence where God speaks? In what ways will you seek to be more receptive to the grace and gift of our salvation?

Pray that Jesus will give you eyes that are opened, a heart that is unfettered from the confinement of sin, and a mind that is free from the darkness and distraction of the world and fully fixed upon Him.

April 3

"Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring."

– St. Catherine of Siena

Today's Reflection

Does the finish line of Lent seem far off in the distance? Let us hold each up in prayer. Endure!