Happy Easter to everyone!

Jesus came with his disciples to a country place called Gethsemani, and he said to them, “Sit down here, while I go over yonder and pray.” Then he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and he began to be saddened and exceedingly troubled. He said to them, “My soul is sad, even unto death. Wait here and watch with me.” He went forward a little, and falling prostrate he prayed, saying, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; yet not as I will, but as you will.” [Mt 26:36-39]

Station I: Jesus Is Condemned to death

Again, the high priest began to ask him and said to him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessèd One?” And Jesus said to him, “I am. And you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” But the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further need have we of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” And they all condemned him as liable to death. [Mk 14:61-64]

Station II: Jesus Carries His Cross

And Pilate said to the Jews, “Behold your king!” But they cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Cæsar.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. And so they took Jesus and led him away, bearing the cross for himself. [Jn 19:14-17]

Station III: Jesus Falls for the First Time

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before you. If you were of the world, the world would love what is its own. Because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember my word that I said to you: No servant is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also. [Jn 15:18-20]

Station IV: Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his home. [Jn 19:25-27]

Station V: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus to Carry His Cross

And after they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him and put his own garments on him: and they led him out to crucify him. And they forced one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and of Rufus, to take up his cross. And they bring him into the place called Golgotha, which being interpreted is, the place of Calvary, the skull. [Mk 15:20-22]

Station VI: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

“For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.” Then shall the just answer him, saying: “Lord, when did we see thee hungry and fed thee: thirsty and gave thee drink? Or when did we see thee a stranger and took thee in? Or naked and covered thee? Or when did we see thee sick or in prison and came to thee?” And the king answering shall say to them: “Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.” [Mt 25:35-40]

Station VII: Jesus Falls the Second Time

Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way: and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth. [Is 53:4-7]

Station VIII: Jesus meets the Women of Jerusalem

And there followed him a great multitude of people and of women, who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them, said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me; but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days shall come, wherein they will say: Blessed are the barren and the wombs that have not borne and the paps that have not given suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us. And to the hills: Cover us. For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry? [Lk 23:27-31]

Station IX: Jesus Falls a Third Time

My soul hath cleaved to the pavement: quicken thou me according to thy word. I have declared my ways, and thou hast heard me: teach me thy justifications. Make me to understand the way of thy justifications: and I shall be exercised in thy wondrous works. My soul hath slumbered through heaviness: strengthen thou me in thy words. [Ps 118:25-28]

Station X: Jesus Is Stripped of His Clothes

And they came to the place that is called Golgotha, which is the place of Calvary. … And after they had crucified him, they divided his garments, casting lots; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: They divided my garments among them; and upon my vesture they cast lots. [Mt 27:33,35]

Station XI: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

Eli!, Eli, lamma sabacthani! My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins. O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, there is no relief for me. … But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people. All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn. … From my mother’s womb thou art my God: Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me. … I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered. My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like clay, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death. For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have pierced my hands and feet. They have numbered all my bones. [Ps 21:1-3,7-8,11-12,15-18]

Station XII: Jesus Dies on the Cross

And it was almost the sixth hour: and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And Jesus crying with a loud voice, said: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And saying this, he gave up the ghost. [Lk 44-46]

Station XIII: The Body of Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross

But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side: and immediately there came out blood and water. … For these things were done that the scripture might be fulfilled: You shall not break a bone of him. And again another scripture saith: They shall look on him whom they pierced. And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea (because he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews), besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave leave. [Jn 19:33-34,36-38]

Station XIV: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb (The Deposition)

They took therefore the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now there was in the place where he was crucified a garden: and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid. [Jn 19:40-41]

And Joseph taking the body … laid it in his own new monument, which he had hewed out in a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument and went his way. [Mt 27:59-60]

Closing Meditation: Resurrection of Jesus
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salmoe, bought spices that they might go and anoint Jesus. Very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had just risen, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll the stone back from the entrance of the tomb for us?,” for it was very large. But looking up they saw that the stone had been rolled back, and upon entering the tomb they were amazed to see a young man sitting at the right side and clothed in a white robe. He said to them, “Do not be terrified. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here. Behold the place where they have laid him.” [Mk 16:1-6]

Scenes from
The Passion of the Christ
Icon Productions / Newmarket Films

Buy the DVD

The Institution of the Eucharist
Joos van Wassenhove (Giusto da Guanto), c. 1474

Maundy (or Holy) Thursday is the memorial of the institution of the Eucharist. Read more here.

March 19th is the usual date for the Feast of St. Joseph. Since Easter and Holy Week comes so early in 2008, the Vatican has moved the Feast of St. Joseph to Saturday, March 15th, the day before Palm Sunday.

Pope Leo XII composed a prayer to St. Joseph, traditionally recommended to follow the Rosary during the month of October:

To you, O Blessed Joseph, we come in our trials, and having asked the help of your most holy spouse, we confidently ask your patronage also. Through that sacred bond of charity which united you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the fatherly love with which you embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg you to look graciously upon the beloved inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by his blood, and to aid us in our necessities with your power and strength.

O most provident guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ. Most beloved father, dispel the evil of falsehood and sin. Our most mighty protector, graciously assist us from heaven in our struggle with the powers of darkness. And just as you once saved the Child Jesus from mortal danger, so now defend God’s Holy Church from the snares of her enemies and from all adversity. Shield each one of us by your constant protection, so that, supported by your example and your help, we may be able to live a virtuous life, to die a holy death, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.

This Sunday begins the first Sunday of Passiontide. As Fr. Gabriel writes in Divine Intimacy,

Today Passiontide begins, a time especially consecrated to the remembrance and loving contemplation of the sorrows of Jesus. The veiled crucifix and statues, the absence of the Gloria in the Mass and the Gloria Patri responsories of the Divine Office, the suppression of the psalm Judica me at the beginning of Mass — are all signs of mourning by which the Church commemorates Our Lord’s Passion. Pope St. Leo exhorts us to participate “in the Cross of Christ, in order that we also may do something which will unite us to what He has done for us, for as the Apostle says, ‘if we suffer with Him, we shall be glorified with Him.’” Therefore, we must not only meditate on Jesus’ sufferings, but also take part in them; only by bearing His Passion in our heart and in our body (cf. 2 Cor 4,10) shall we be able to share in its fruits. So it is that in the liturgy of this season the Church repeats more insistently than ever: “If you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.” The voice of the Lord makes itself hear these days, not by words, but by the eloquent testimony of deeds, by the great events of the Passion — a mystery which gives us the most convincing proof of His infinite love for us. Let us, therefore, open our heart to the sublime lessons of the Passion: let us see how much Jesus has loved us and how much we ought to love Him in return; let us learn that, if we wish to follow Him, we, too, must suffer and bear the Cross with Him and after Him. At the same time, let us open our heart to a lively hope; for our salvation is in the Passion of Jesus. In today’s Epistle (Heb 9,11-15) St. Paul presents to us the majestic figure of Christ, the Eternal High Priest, who “by His Blood, entered once into the holies, [that is, heaven] having obtained eternal redemption.” The Passion of Jesus has redeemed us; it has opened once again our Father’s house to us; it is then the motive for our hope.

See also:

• Lenten meditations from Divine Intimacy
• Lent & Passiontide
• Lenten preparation
• Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) with scenes from The Passion of the Christ

ast November, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) released their ethics opinion, entitled “The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine,” in which they demand that all ob/gyns make abortion available to patients, whether by offering the procedure themselves or referring the patient to another doctor who does.

This Opinion came as a surprise to many U.S. ob/gyns, since no consultation or vote was taken, nor was there a period of notice and comment. Many Catholic doctors, and others who conscientiously believe that abortion involves the killing of an unborn child, were left stunned and angry, arguing that the new guidelines were unfair and outrageous.

The Catholic Medical Association (CMA), the nation’s largest professional organization of Catholic physicians, recently issued its formal response to the ACOG’s Committee on Ethics Opinion. The letter, written by CMA president, Kathleen M. Raviele, M.D., FACOG, argues that the ethics opinion “suffered from substantial flaws in ethical analysis,” “created guidelines that were too vague and contentious to be effective,” and “proposed solutions that were unjust, unworkable, and harmful to the profession of medicine.”

Dr. Raviele said,

The committee that wrote this opinion shows no respect for the beliefs of others. They have moved from believing that abortion should be legal to defining it as ‘standard care’ under reproductive services. If physicians refuse to go along with these demands they risk having an ethics complaint filed against them, and this could cause them to lose their certification through the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The CMA’s Executive Director, John F. Brehany, Ph.D., added the following:

The opinion actually discourages physicians from exercising ethical judgment in daily practice; it tells them that this is a job for professional organizations. … Moreover, the opinion suggests that physicians need ’scripting’ to explain issues to patients. It says that doctors must employ ‘professionally accepted characterizations of reproductive services’.

It is still important for ACOG to hear the protests of physicians and the general public regarding their condescending and unreasonable Opinion. Hurry, because the Committee on Ethics is going to meet in mid-March and will review (and hopefully reconsider) its Opinion. You can write to the ACOG president,

Kenneth L. Noller, M.D.
Board President
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
409 12th St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20090-6920

The CMA is accessible at www.cathmed.org.

For those who have not chosen a source for Lenten meditations, here are selections from Divine Intimacy, made accessible online by the courtesy of Catholic-Pages.com and TAN publishers:

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