1 Apr
Mon 		Easter Monday
Acts 2:14,22-33
Ps. 15:1-2a,5,7-8,9- 10, 11
Mt. 28:8-15
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During this entire week the Church continues to celebrate the great feast of Easter. We celebrate not a moment in history, but the meaning of all history. This week of resurrection should make us think back to the week of creation. God in creating us gave us the gift of freedom. Freedom involves the risk of abuse, but God prefered a free service of love to one that would be imposed. Sin is the result of an abuse of our freedom.

In the moment in which God created us free, He also decreed an antidote for sin, the sending of His own Son. This Son through His death would destroy that death which is the penalty for sin, and by rising He would restore the eternal life forfeited by sin. In other words, the death and the resurrection of Jesus are the central event of all history.

On the morning of the resurrection Jesus greeted the women: "Peace," He said. Then He went on: "Do not be afraid!" That is the great Easter message from the Risen Saviour. We no longer need be afraid as we journey through life. We can have peace in our hearts because we believe that Jesus has overcome the great obstacle of death.


"Dying you destroyed our death. Rising you restored our life. Come, Lord Jesus."

DAILY OFFERING
Eternal Father, I offer You everything I do this day; my thoughts, words, joys and sufferings. Grant that, vivified by the Holy Spirit and united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, my life this day may be of service to You and to others. I also pray that all those preparing for marriage discover in Sacrament the source of Christ's grace for living a fithful and fruitful love. Amen.

PRAYING WITH THE CHURCH
INTENTION
That in the many rapid changes taking place in today's world, the importance of the family may be recognised in its fundamental vocation as cradle of life and school of faith and right values
Elaboration

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P R A Y I N G    W I T H    T H E    C H U R C H    

INTENTION : That in the many rapid changes taking place in today's world, the importance of the family may be recognised in its fundamental vocation as cradle of life and school of faith and right values

The family as a domestic Church and cradle of life is the appropriate setting in which faith can increase. It is here that faith can be nourished through an attitude of appreciation of the treasure which parents are called on to transmit to their children through personal words and testimonies of life. This attitude must then be nourished with a sense of wonder and hope and it must be contemplated as Mary contemplated it in the face of the Word she received and the events of her life.

This deep sense of faith helps parents and their children to fulfil the vocation received from God. Parents, teaching their children and bearing witness to the true sense of suffering and dying, lead the young to be more attentive to all forms of suffering. They, thus develop positive attitudes of assistance and sharing with others, especially with weaker people like the sick and the aged. This life of faith must be continually nourished through individual and family prayer.

On the strength of this foundation the family becomes a place for training in justice, self-control, temperance, respect for the personal dignity of each individual and the service of the poor and needy.



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