FRIDAY IN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER
SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ APRIL 5, 2024
DIVINE MERCY NOVENA: Novena in preparation for DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY. Good Friday is the first day of the Divine Mercy Novena. Novena begins on Good Friday, March 29, 2024 and ends, Saturday, April 6, 2024 (Novena Links below)
Greetings, beloved family and Happy Easter Friday!
We continue to celebrate and rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ during this first eight days of the Easter season (Easter octave) which are celebrated as solemnities of the Lord. Each day is another little Easter. The Alleluia verse is repeated throughout the octave: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. Alleluia!” May God’s grace and mercy be with us all during this Easter season and always🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on, April 5, 2024 on EWTN” |
Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 5, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 5, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 5, 2024 |
Pray “Solemn Novena of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy – Day 8 | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | Easter Friday, April 5, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteriels VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |
Today’s Bible Readings: Friday, April 5, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 4:1-12
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 118:1-2, 4, 22-24, 25-27
Gospel, John 21:1-14
NOVENA IN PREPARATION FOR DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY: Novena begins on Good Friday, March 29, 2024 and ends, Saturday, April 6, 2024
DAY 8: Today, Easter Friday is the eighth day of the Divine Mercy Novena | EWTN | Links ~ https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/novena-13366
https://divinemercy.life/the-divine-mercy-novena
How to Recite the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy | The Divine Mercy | https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/pray-the-chaplet
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF APRIL – MONTH OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST: The month of April is traditionally dedicated to devotion to Jesus in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The Catholic Church teaches that the Blessed Sacrament is the real and living presence of Christ—His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—received into our souls with every reception of Holy Communion. Our Eucharistic Lord is the source and summit of our Christian life, the ultimate proof of His infinite love for us.
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL – FOR THE ROLE OF WOMEN: We pray that the dignity and immense value of women be recognized in every culture, and for the end of discrimination that they experience in different parts of the world. 🙏
PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen🙏
During this Easter season, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏
On this special feast day, as we continue to celebrate our risen Lord, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for the Clergy and religious as they serve in the Lord’s Vineyard. We also pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to remember our beloved, we pray for the repose of their gentle souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯
PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏
Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/
SAINTS OF THE DAY: As we continue to rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Vincent Ferrer, Priest. He is the Patron Saint of builders because of his fame for “building up” and strengthening the Church: through his preaching, missionary work, in his teachings, as confessor and adviser. He is also the patron saint of Prisoners, Construction workers, Plumbers, Fishermen and Spanish orphanages. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, Saint Vincent Ferrer and all the Saints, we humbly pray for safety and well-being of all those traveling during this Easter Season and we lift us all before the throne of God. May He watch over our eternal welfare… Amen🙏
St. Vincent encouraged praying the rosary by saying: “Whoever observes this practice is beyond the reach of adversity!”
“Once humility is acquired, charity will come to life; a burning flame devouring the corruption of vice and filling the heart so full that there is no place for vanity.” ~ Quote of St. Vincent Ferrer
PRAYER: God, You raised up St. Vincent Your Priest for a ministry of evangelical preaching. Grant that we may see him reigning in heaven who while on earth proclaimed the future judgment. Amen🙏
SAINT VINCENT FERRER, PRIEST: St. Vincent Ferrer (1357-1419) was an illustrious follower of St. Dominic. As a Dominican preacher and missionary he brought thousands of Europeans into the Catholic Church during a period of political and spiritual crisis in Western Europe. St. Vincent Ferrer was born in Valencia, Spain, on January 23, 1357. The son of a knight. From his parents he learned virtue and generosity to the poor and his parents raised him to care deeply about his religious duties, without neglecting his education or concern for the poor. As a child he fasted every Wednesday and Friday and was tenderly devoted to the Passion of Christ and the Blessed Mother. One of his siblings, Boniface, later joined the Carthusian order and became its superior general. St. Vincent, however, would become a Dominican, and preach the Gospel throughout Europe. He excelled in his studies and joined the Dominican Order at age 18 in 1374 with the support of his parents. As a member of the Dominican Order of Preachers, St. Vincent committed much of the Bible to memory while also studying the Church Fathers and philosophy. He flourished in both austerity and scholarship, and became famous for performing more miracles than any other saint. His miracle-working powers began in the womb with the healing of a blind woman who touched his mother’s pregnant belly. By age 28, he was renowned for his preaching, and also known to have a gift of prophecy. Five years later, a representative of Pope Clement VII chose St. Vincent to accompany him to France, where he preached extensively. While St. Vincent sought to live out his order’s commitment to the preaching of the Gospel, he could not escape becoming involved in the political intrigues of the day. Two rival claimants to the papacy emerged during the late 1300s, one in Rome and another in the French city of Avignon. Each claimed the allegiance of roughly half of Western Europe. Caught between the rival claimants, St. Vincent attempted to persuade the Avignon Pope Benedict XIII to negotiate an end to the schism. Benedict, who was regarded as Pope in both Spain and France, sought to honor St. Vincent by consecrating him as a bishop. But the Dominican friar had no interest in advancing within the Church, and regarded many bishops of his time as negligent leaders distracted by luxury. “I blush and tremble,” he wrote in a letter, “when I consider the terrible judgment impending on ecclesiastical superiors who live at their ease in rich palaces, while so many souls redeemed by the blood of Christ are perishing. I pray without ceasing, to the Lord of the harvest, that he send good workmen into his harvest.”
St. Vincent not only prayed, but acted, committing himself to missionary work and resolving to preach in every town between Avignon and his hometown in Spain. In a commanding style, he denounced greed, blasphemy, sexual immorality, and popular disregard for the truths of faith. His sermons often drew crowds of thousands and prompted dramatic conversions. He was followed by a train of priests, nuns, penitents, and pilgrims that numbered in the thousands. Popular acclaim, however, did not distract him from a life of asceticism and poverty. He abstained completely from meat, slept on a straw mat and on the floor and maintained a perpetual fast, consumed only bread and water on Wednesdays and Fridays, and accepted no donations for himself beyond what he needed to survive. Twice a day the “Bell of Miracles” was rung when all the sick and infirm were brought to him for cures; it was not unusual for him to perform one hundred miracles in a day. He also made scores of converts among the Muslims and Jews. For two decades, St. Vincent and his group of friars undertook preaching missions in Spain, Italy, and France. He traveled with five other Dominican friars at all times, and the men would spend hours hearing confessions. When he arrived in a village his retinue would set up camp, and St. Vincent would preach to great crowds on the subjects of sin, death, heaven, and hell. He would also celebrate Mass and hear confessions daily. When he traveled outside these regions, into Germany and other parts of the Mediterranean, those who did not know the languages in which he preached would testify that they had understood every word he said, in the same manner as the apostles experienced at Pentecost. St. Vincent believed that he was a special messenger of penance sent by God to prepare men for the final judgment; at that time the Black Death was ravaging across Europe killing millions, and the Great Schism was rending the Church in two. Through him multitudes were brought to penance and conversion. Although he did not heal the temporary divisions within the Church, St. Vincent succeeded in strengthening large numbers of Europeans in their Catholic faith. He was honorably received in the districts subject to the two claimants to the Papacy. He was even invited to Mohammedan Granada, where he preached the Gospel with much success. He lived to behold the end of the great schism and the election of Pope Martin V. He wrote little, although some of his works have survived, and exist in modern English translations. St. Vincent Ferrer finally died on April 5, 1419 at age 62, in the city of Vannes in the French region of Brittany. He was canonized in 1455, by Pope Callistus III. He has more recently become the namesake of a traditional Catholic community approved by the Holy See, the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer. He is the Patron Saint of builders because of his fame for “building up” and strengthening the Church: through his preaching, missionary work, in his teachings, as confessor and adviser. He is also the patron saint of Prisoners, Construction workers, Builders, Plumbers, Fishermen and Spanish orphanages.
PRAYER: O God, who didst vouchsafe to glorify Thy Church by the merits and preaching of Saint Vincent Ferrer, Thy Confessor: grant us Thy servants that we may be taught by his example, and be delivered by his patronage from all adversities. O Lord, make haste to help me. Thou hast redeemed me, O God of truth…. Amen. Saint Vincent Ferrer ~ Pray for us 🙏
PRAYER INTENTIONS: We thank God for blessing us all with the gift of His precious son, may we be saved by the name of our Savior Jesus Christ! May the Lord grant us His grace as we continue to serve Him in spirit and in truth during this Easter Season. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying. We particularly pray for sick children, those who are sick with convulsive disorder, mental illness, strokes, heart diseases, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. May God restore them to good health and grant them His Divine healing and intervention. May our Mother Mary comfort them, may the Angels and Saints watch over them and may the Holy Spirit guide them in peace and comfort during this challenging time. We pray for the safety and well-being of us all and our families, for peace, love and unity in our families, our marriages and our divided and conflicted world. Every life is a gift. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in peace with our Lord Jesus Christ Amen. For all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy and all those who preach the Gospel. For vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted Christians, for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest, for the conversion of sinners and Christians all over the world. Amen🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS
Bible Readings for today, Friday in the Octave of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ John 21:1–14
“Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish”
“Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead.”
In today’s Gospel reading, the risen Lord comes to a group of His disciples. All of the disciples in that group had failed Him during the time of His passion, except one, the disciple Jesus loved. In spite of their failure the risen Lord comes to them. At the time of His coming they were failing again, failing to catch fish, even though they were experienced fishermen. Jesus came to them in the night of their failure. His presence had a transforming effect on them. In response to His word of invitation, they caught a huge haul of fish and they would soon become fishers of people, sharers in His missionary work. Jesus went on to speak a second word of invitation to them, ‘Come and have breakfast’. He, thereby, entered into communion with those who had broken communion with Him. Jesus did not reproach His disciples for their failure. He called out to them, spoke inviting words to them, built communion with them. The Lord relates to us as he related to those disciples. In the dark night of our own failures, the Lord stands on the shore of our lives; He comes to us, not to reproach us, but to speak a life-giving word to us, an inviting word, a transforming word. We pray that we would hear that word of the Lord as spoken to each of us this Easter season. Our relationship with the Lord always has a future that is full of hope. Easter is a season when we are invited to recognize the Lord on the shore of our lives calling out to us to follow where he is leading us.
In our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, St. Peter and St. John, two of the Lord’s Twelve Apostles had to face opposition due to their proclamation of the Lord Jesus and His salvation before the assembled people. At that time, based on our earlier readings from the Acts of the Apostles, the two Apostles had just miraculously healed a beggar who had been paralysed since birth, and whom everyone knew and recognised as being crippled. That this miracle had happened right by the gate of the Temple where the beggar usually lingered at, showed us how the chief priests and the members of the Sanhedrin could quickly find out about what had happened. The Sanhedrin, or the Jewish High Council, composed of the most influential members of the Jewish community at that time, had been firm in their opposition against the Lord, as most of its members had refused to listen to the Lord and His teachings, with some of them even branding the Lord as a blasphemous and heretical Man, Who was swaying the people to His side with His teachings and popularity. And that was why they judged and condemned the Lord in the first place, arresting Him and handing Him over to the Romans, that He might be condemned to death and crucified. That was why they were still adamant in their opposition against the Lord even when they heard that the Lord had risen from the dead just as He Himself had predicted and revealed. They spread false news that the disciples had stolen His Body and preached falsehoods in His Name, and expressly ordered that anyone who spoke in the Name of the Lord Jesus or supported His teachings would be arrested and persecuted. That was the obstacle facing the Apostles, who had to endure the opposition from the powerful members of the community, those who refused to believe in the Lord and His truth. But that did not stop the Apostles and the many other disciples from doing their best to proclaim the Good News whenever they could. St. Peter courageously spoke before the whole assembly of the Sanhedrin just as he had done so earlier before the people in Jerusalem. He spoke fearlessly regarding the Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God Who had been rejected by those to whom St. Peter was speaking to, right there and then, the same Sanhedrin and its members also condemned Christ to death and giving Him up to the Romans to be crucified. It was to these people that St. Peter testified again about the Lord, His truth and His resurrection. He proclaimed the truth courageously as he himself had seen and witnessed the Risen Lord as we heard in our Gospel reading today.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded of the trials and challenges that we will often have to face as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord and His Resurrection. We believe in the Risen Lord and like the Apostles, we may have to endure opposition and trials for our faith in His truth. Yet, we must never waver from our faith and from the commitment that we have to show in our daily lives, as those who have been entrusted with the same mission as that of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, in proclaiming His Good News and salvation to all the peoples. Are we willing and able to follow in the footsteps of St. Peter and the many other holy men and women of God, many of whom had suffered trials and persecutions, opposition and oppressions for the sake of their faith in God? Are we willing to contribute our time and effort to glorify the Lord by our lives and by our actions? Each and every one of us should listen to the Lord calling on us to action, and to follow Him wholeheartedly from now on. Let us seek the Lord with a new spirit and commitment from now on. May God in His infinite grace and mercy be with us all and may He grant us His grace and bless us in our every actions and good works, all for the greater glory of His Name. May the blessings of the Risen Christ, our Lord be with us always this Easter season, with our loved ones, always! Amen🙏
Let us pray:
My divine Lord, You are constantly present to me, day and night, and yet I so often fail to perceive You and adore You. Help me to become more aware of Your presence in my life. As I do, help me to enter more deeply into these holy mysteries with love, devotion and awe. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Vincent Ferrer ~ Pray for us🙏
Thanking God for the gift of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and praying for us all as we continue to rejoice in the resurrection of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Have a blessed, safe and grace-filled Easter Friday and weekend🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖