Reflections – our thoughts and prayers
Regina caeli, laetare! Rejoice, Holy Virgin, because He whom you bore in your womb is risen!
Dear brothers and sisters, let us try to relive the joy of the Resurrection with Mary’s heart. Even in the darkness of Good Friday she prepared herself to receive the light of Easter morning. Let us ask her to obtain for us a deep faith in this extraordinary event, which is salvation and hope for the world.
Pope St John Paul II, Easter 1996
If Jesus is risen, then – and only then – has something truly new happened, something that changes the state of humanity and the world. Then he, Jesus, is someone in whom we can put absolute trust; we can put our trust not only in his message but in Jesus himself, for the Risen One does not belong to the past, but is present today, alive. Christ is hope and comfort in a particular way for those Christian communities suffering most for their faith on account of discrimination and persecution. And he is present as a force of hope through his Church, which is close to all human situations of suffering and injustice.
Pope Benedict XVI, Easter 2012
This crisis is affecting us all, rich and poor alike, and putting a spotlight on hypocrisy. I am worried by the hypocrisy of certain political personalities who speak of facing up to the crisis, of the problem of hunger in the world, but who in the meantime manufacture weapons. This is a time to be converted from this kind of functional hypocrisy. It’s a time for integrity. Either we are coherent with our beliefs or we lose everything.
Pope Francis Interview, 2020
We (have) celebrate(d) Holy Week in a truly unusual way; a way which manifests and sums up the message of the Gospel, the message of God’s boundless love. And in the silence of our cities, the Easter Gospel will resound. The Apostle Paul says: “And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him Who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor 5:15). In the risen Jesus, life conquered death. This Paschal faith nourishes our hope. I would like to share it with you (at) this (time). It is the hope of a better time, in which we can be better, finally freed from evil and from this pandemic. It is a hope: hope does not disappoint; it is not an illusion, it is a hope.
Pope Francis, Palm Sunday 2020, Rome
The prayer to St Michael is recommended for use at this time:
Holy Michael, Archangel, defend us in the day of battle;
be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil;
may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust down to hell Satan, and all wicked spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.Amen
Lent is a season of intense prayer, fasting and concern for those in need. It offers all Christians an opportunity to prepare for Easter by serious discernment about their lives, with particular attention to the word of God which enlightens the daily journey of all who believe.
Pope St John Paul II
Worshipping the Lord means giving him the place that he must have; worshipping the Lord means stating, believing (not only by our words) that he alone truly guides our lives; worshipping the Lord means that we are convinced before him that he is the only God, the God of our lives, the God of our history.
Pope Francis, 2013
The Feast of the Baptism of Jesus introduces us into the daily regularity of a personal relationship with him. Indeed, by immersion in the waters of the Jordan, Jesus united himself with us. Baptism is, so to speak, the bridge he built between himself and us, the road on which he makes himself accessible to us. It is the divine rainbow over our lives, the promise of God’s great “yes”, the door of hope and, at the same time, the sign that that indicates to us the path to take actively and joyfully in order to encounter him and feel loved by him.
Pope Benedict XVI, 2009
[‘Gaudete’ means ‘rejoice’. The Third Sunday of Advent is often referred to as Gaudete Sunday because of the opening antiphon of the Mass: Gaudete in Domino semper: Rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4).] Joy, prayer and gratitude are three attitudes that prepare us to live Christmas in an authentic way. In this last part of Advent, we entrust ourselves to the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary. She is “the cause of our joy”, not only because she is the Mother of Jesus, but because she continually leads us to Him.
Pope Francis, Third Sunday of Advent, 2017
With today’s first Sunday of Advent, a new liturgical year begins. The Church takes up her journey again and invites us to reflect more intensely on the mystery of Christ, a mystery that is always new and that time cannot exhaust. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Thanks to him, the history of humanity proceeds as a pilgrimage toward the fulfilment of the Kingdom which he inaugurated with his Incarnation and victory over sin and death.
Pope St John Paul II, First Sunday of Advent, 2001
