Resurrection Day 2022

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From Messiah, oratorio composed by George F. Handel (text):

I Corinthians 15:55, 57 (KJV):

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?...[T]hanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Holy Saturday 2022

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Good Saturday, while our Lord lay in the tomb, should be a day of meditation. We should, most of all, contemplate our need for a Savior.

From George F. Handel's Messiah (Isaiah 53:6, KJV)

 

Isaiah 53:6, KJV:

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Good Friday 2022

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The Lamb of God died for me!

From George F. Handel's Messiah (Isaiah 53:4-5, KJV): 

Related reading: Ed Bonderenka's essay What's so Good about Good Friday?

A Sad Metaphor?

Silverfiddle Rant!

Notre Dame is a warning to Europe: don’t take what you value for granted 

From Gilles Gressani, writing in the Guardian...

The sorrow becomes even deeper when you realise that the catastrophe of Notre Dame represents so perfectly the condition of contemporary Europeans: people condemned to live among wonders, taking them for granted, ignorant of the fact that they may disappear– then suddenly finding themselves in a situation they’d never envisioned.

I can take that sorrow at least three levels deeper than the superficial sorrow caused by a smoldering landmark. Can you?

Today marks the anniversary of Our Lord's last supper. This happened the next day:

27 A large number of people followed Jesus. Some were women whose hearts were filled with sorrow. They cried loudly because of him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them,

“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 The time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the women who can’t have children! Blessed are those who never gave birth or nursed babies!’ 30 It is written, 

“ ‘The people will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
They’ll say to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ (Hosea 10:8) 

31 People do these things when trees are green. So what will happen when trees are dry?”  - Luke 23:27-30

The Gold Cross Remains

The golden cross and the Pietà sculpture of Mary holding the crucified Jesus at the base of the cross survived. A powerful symbol in Holy Week:

And the rose windows are saved:

Related: The hero who saved the Crown of Thorns: Fire brigade chaplain entered flaming Notre Dame to recover holy relic - three years after he bravely helped Bataclan terror victims.