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Monday, April 6, 2026
Sunday, April 5, 2026
(575) Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord - 4/5/2026 - YouTube
(575) Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord - 4/5/2026 - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa71nFPLmGc
I have observed all four days of service at St. Cecilia this week.
It has been a wonderful four days. But today, Easter Sunday
please listen to the Homily. It will give you an understanding of
what it means to believe and the need for hope.
Saturday, April 4, 2026
The Lord’s Descent into Hell - The Catholic Thing
The Lord’s Descent into Hell - The Catholic Thing
Listen to this article
4 min
What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.
Truly He goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; He wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, He who is God, and Adam’s son.
The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, His Cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: “My Lord be with you all.” And Christ in reply says to Adam: “And with your spirit. Amen!” And grasping his hand, He raises him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.”
“I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise.”
“I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.”
“For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden.”
The Harrowing of Hell by Fra Angelico, c. 1441-1442 [Museo Nazionale di San Marco, Florence]
“Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image.”
“See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one.”
“I slept on the Cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you.”
“But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of Heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God.”
“The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages.”
A reading from an ancient homily for Holy Saturday
Prayer
Almighty, ever-living God, whose Only-begotten Son descended to the realm of the dead, and rose from there to glory, grant that your faithful people, who were buried with him in baptism, may, by his resurrection, obtain eternal life.
(We make our prayer) through our Lord.
(Through Christ our Lord.)
Prepared by Pontifical University Saint Thomas Aquinas
Friday, April 3, 2026
[Salon] As Syrian Christians reel Israel capitalises on state failures - ArabDigestl.org Guest Post
As Syrian Christians reel Israel capitalises on state failures
Summary: with the Al-Sharaa government tightening its hold Syrian Christians are growing increasingly fearful that an Islamist regime will erode their religious and political rights. It is a fear that Israel is playing on.
We thank Andrew McIntosh for today’s newsletter. Andrew is the Director of Research at the NGO SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights. His specialty fields are media analysis, sectarianism and statelessness in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Syria.
2026 has witnessed another milestone in the Syrian transitional government’s consolidation of power, where it integrated the northeast after a brief military campaign. Despite reunification, however, the fragile post-war consensus in the new Syria is being fractured by sectarian incidents, waves of attacks on minorities and policies enacted without national dialogue, which hostile neighbours like Israel are capitalising upon. Continued missteps by the Syrian government, motivated by ideology, are providing Israel with the means to fragment Syrian society further.
Before assuming formal state authority over Syria, President Ahmed Al-Sharaa oversaw a political order in Idlib that was grounded in Sunni religious legitimacy, the hierarchical inclusion of minorities and a phased consolidation of power. As potential alternatives to the transitional government have been absorbed or dismantled since the fall of the Assad regime, executive authority is being concentrated and religious oversight embedded in lawmaking.
Damascus had gradually applied religiously motivated policies with restrictions on swimwear and gender segregation on buses, both of which it rescinded following public backlash. With international recognition the government has become more emboldened as it has consolidated power. Example include the governor of Latakia banning state employees from wearing makeup in January 2026. On 16 March, the governor of Damascus announced that the sale of alcohol would be restricted to Christian-majority districts. This top-down bifurcation of Damascene society, paired with a lack of consultation with the public, caused protests and public rebuke from Hind Kabawat, the only Christian appointee in the government. Unlike previous instances, however, the Syrian government has only conceded that the sale of alcohol will be permitted in some hotels and restaurants and claimed that it did not mean to insult the Christian community.
The Syrian Interior Ministry implemented intensified measures to secure churches and their surroundings on Palm Sunday.
This failed to mollify Syrian Christians, many of whom view the new government with a mixture of caution and suspicion. The Syrian government’s core leadership originates from the now-dissolved jihadist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham and its predecessor Jabhat Al-Nusra, an Al-Qaeda affiliate. During the civil war, members took part in sectarian war crimes such as the seizure of at least 550 homes and businesses from Christians living in Idlib province.
Minorities currently hold just 5 of 23 cabinet positions in the new government with Christians, Alawites, Druze and Kurds unaffiliated with any political blocs and limited to less influential positions. The three most powerful posts—Defence Minister, Chief of Staff, and Head of Intelligence—are held by former HTS members with close links to Al-Sharaa.
Since taking power, militants loyal to the new Syrian government have attacked the country’s Alawite, Druze and Christian communities. Following the June 2025 suicide attack on Saint Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus by jihadists, killing 25 during Sunday Mass, some Christians accused the government’s response of being disrespectful, citing that spokespeople initially refused to refer to the Christians killed with the typical Arabic honorific of “martyrs” and seeking to blame the entirety of the incident on the Islamic State, even though an HTS splinter group, Suraya Ansar Al-Sunnah, formally took responsibility.
While the alcohol ban presents Islamist thinking as “public decency”, it implicitly singles out Syrian Christians as “indecent”. This is compounded by attacks on liquor stores by unknown assailants throughout 2025. For some, the new policy confirms some of their worst fears since the revolution in December 2024: that Islamist expansion into the public sphere will directly infringe upon their freedom, dignity and safety.
On the evening of 27 March, the situation escalated further when communal tensions between Christians and Sunnis in the town of Suqaylabiyah, in northeast Syria, saw Sunni men attacking Christian homes and cars and looting businesses while calling Christians “pigs”. A shrine to the Virgin Mary was also exposed to gunfire. While internal security forces intervened and protected the town from further attacks, the turmoil followed a precedent of massacres against minorities by forces aligned with the government, where the perpetrators experienced limited accountability from the authorities. These actions have eroded trust in law enforcement and in the pro-government media.
The violence has drawn wide condemnation from the Syrian Christian community. The Orthodox Patriarchate has officially condemned the attack, and the Catholics have cancelled all Easter celebrations outside church grounds. While protesting the violence in Damascus and Hama, Christians have refused to give interviews to Syrian media, claiming that state media misrepresents them. The government's deployment of armed guards to churches, meant to show the state is prioritising their safety, also serves as a reminder of how insecure the situation is becoming. To Syrian Christians, the alcohol ban and recent violence are warnings of a changing social and political order that leaves minorities exposed. As one Damascene commented, “We’ve never had it like this. [Christians] feel angry… even when the [Assad] regime was there, they never felt like that or saw this many armed guards around the churches.”
Violence against Syrian Christians has been amplified by pro-Israel and pro-Trump influencers on social media, likely hoping to influence a policy change on Syria in the US. That trend has been followed by Israeli media. Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister, used attacks on Syrian Christians to declare “The new Syrian president must be killed.” Playing on sectarian fears is a useful trope for Israel, having successfully capitalised on sectarian violence to secure the southern Syrian city of Sweida as a bastion of influence, acting as a protector to the majority Druze population who were subjected to massacres by forces affiliated with the Syrian government in July 2025.
Damascus took little to no responsibility for the mass killings and the destruction and vandalism of Druze religious sites, despite evidence that the attack was premeditated and findings from the United Nations claiming that government forces and tribal fighters engaged in executions, torture and gender-based violence. These systematic failures by the Al-Sharaa government have opened space for Israel to increase distrust through media campaigns directed at the Druze, fulfilling its purported goals of balkanising Syria into weak and manageable ethnic enclaves. In this scenario, the IDF can maintain a buffer zone, creating conditions that attract illegal settlements in southern Syria.
Although Israeli media campaigns on the Druze are far more prevalent, if Syrian Christians continue to feel threatened and disillusioned, Israel will likely attempt to highlight their plight to Western policymakers, hoping to advance its geopolitical interests. Syria is now closer to pre-war unification than ever before but in a climate where an uneasy, unequal peace is maintained many minorities fear the future. Every policy from the Syrian government that moves the country further from pluralism plays into the hands of the Israelis. It will see distrust weaponised and with that the risk of returning a shattered country to the brink.
Thursday, April 2, 2026
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
What is "Spy Wednesday" during Holy Week?
What is "Spy Wednesday" during Holy Week?
As the days of Holy Week move forward, specific events occur that directly lead to what will take place on Good Friday. Among these events was the fateful betrayal of Jesus by one of his own disciples.
Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
The 30 pieces of silver recall the betrayal of another biblical figure, Joseph in the Old Testament:
Then Mid′ianite traders passed by; and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ish′maelites for twenty shekels of silver; and they took Joseph to Egypt.
Genesis 37:28
Judas the Spy
This action by Judas earned him the title of "spy" by medieval Christians, in accord with the traditional definition of the English word, "one who keeps secret watch on a person or thing to obtain information."
From Wednesday onward, Judas secretly watched for a chance to turn Jesus over to the chief priests, and so many Christians in the English-speaking world labeled this day as "Spy Wednesday."
In the same vein various cultures reflected the somber mood of this day by calling it "Black Wednesday" or "Wednesday of Shadows," which also corresponds to the liturgical rite of Tenebrae that is celebrated on this day.
It is also called "Silent Wednesday," as the Gospels do not record any activities in the life of Jesus. The only event is the secret meeting of Judas with the chief priests.
Wednesday's events usher in the final days of Jesus' life on earth and directly lead to the sacrifice of Jesus on Good Friday.
Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. How could one of the chosen Twelve turn in the Lord for profit? When Jesus warned Judas “Woe to the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed,” the apostle simply denied the accusation. How could anyone who loved Jesus make such a choice?
Each of us is capable of making bad choices, even while we love Christ. Today’s Gospel invites us to ask these questions: In what ways have we betrayed Our Lord? At what price? Do we deny responsibility for our actions?
Holy Week Rflection: The Judas Within from the Catholic Company Guest Post
Holy Week Reflection:
The Judas Within
It's the Wednesday of Holy Week, colloquially known as Spy Wednesday because on this day just over 2,000 years ago, Judas Iscariot left in secret to betray Jesus.
Matthew and Mark, tell the story similarly. Judas approaches the Sanhedrin and brokers a deal, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” The Gospel of Luke gives us an important new detail. Before approaching the Sanhedrin “…Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot.”
In this transaction, the Sanhedrin name their price: 30 pieces of silver. Under the law of Moses, the price of a slave was 30 pieces of silver (Exodus 21:32). In this interplay between the Sanhedrin and Judas, the learned rabbis acknowledge they are buying a man worth the value of a slave and see Judas as his master in the transaction. In accepting the money, Judas agrees to the terms. He sees himself as the master of Jesus. How did Judas fall so far?
It’s interesting what can happen when we flirt with sin. The Bible tells us Judas took care of the accounts of the Apostles and was known to scrape some off the top. How long had he been doing this? How small did it start? Just a shekel here for an extra bite to eat. Maybe a couple more shekels for a bit of wine? Before you know it he’s getting mad at poor Mary of Bethany for pouring nard on Jesus' feet and wiping it with her hair. “Don’t waste that! We can give it to the poor!” But, did he really care about the poor? Or did he want to take it and sell it for a few more shekels to feed his growing list of sins.
Poor Judas. All those graces stored up from three years living in the presence of the Almighty God are gone. By the time Satan ruled Judas, Judas started thinking like Satan. He thought he was the Master of Jesus. He thought he was better than him, smarter than him. Poor confused Judas. We see this confusion in his approach on Holy Thursday. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss. He’s so disconnected he thinks this is ok. The wound many mystics say hurt Jesus the most was the one on his cheek. More than whips or nails, rocks ground into the skin or the bones bruised in his back, Jesus felt the total lack of love present in the kiss of Judas to his core.
There are so many lessons for us in this. It’s a textbook case of how we fall and how Satan works. One sin leads to another. When we lose grace, Satan can confuse the mind. He gets us to think up is down and down is up. That we are our masters, not God. It's so important to stay vigilant. We have to learn to recognize the inclinations we all have to embrace the Judas within, to take just a little bit or brush off our small sins as trivial. We all have to go to confession for the little things too. If you don't, the little things grow until we begin to believe the crazy idea that we are the masters.
In the end, Judas felt deep remorse but Jesus was gone. He couldn’t confess. What a blessing we can, and what a blessing Our Lord Jesus stands ready to embrace us and give us the grace we need to sin no more.
May God Bless you this Holy Week,
[All Things Catholic] What the Conversion of the Good Thief Teaches Us - Guest Post by Dr. Edward Sri, All Things Catholic Guest Post
What the Conversion of the Good Thief Teaches Us
The "Good Thief" was actually mocking Jesus earlier on Good Friday, so what changed? Dr. Sri explores his dramatic conversion and what it reveals about human weakness, repentance, and the limitless mercy of God.
The Good Thief Was Initially Mocking Jesus
In Matthew’s account of the crucifixion (Mt 27:44), we learn that both thieves reviled Jesus. This means the “Good Thief” began by joining:
The crowds passing by
The chief priests and scribes
The general chorus of mockery
All of these voices echo a familiar temptation:
“If you are the Son of God…”
This is the very language used by Satan during Jesus’ temptation in the desert (Mt 4). The implication is profound: the mockery at Calvary is not neutral—it echoes the voice of the Enemy, attacking Christ’s divine sonship. The Good Thief, at first, participates in this.
2. Understanding the “Thieves”
The Greek word used (lestai) suggests more than petty criminals. These were likely:
Insurrectionists
Revolutionaries opposing Roman rule
Crucifixion was reserved for such serious offenders. This underscores that the Good Thief was not only a sinner—but one involved in grave wrongdoing.
3. The Turning Point (Luke 23:39–43)
Luke’s Gospel reveals the moment of grace and conversion.
While the other thief continues to mock Jesus, the Good Thief undergoes a profound change of heart. His conversion unfolds in three essential movements:
The Three Steps of Conversion
1. Rebuking False Voices
“He rebuked him…” (Lk 23:40)
The Good Thief publicly rejects the other thief’s mockery. The word “rebuke” is significant—it is the same language used when Jesus rebukes demons.
Spiritually, this shows:
A rejection of lies
A turning away from the voice of Satan
A break from sin and false thinking
Application:
We, too, must learn to recognize and reject interior voices that:
Justify sin
Shift blame
Lead to despair or self-condemnation
2. Humble Admission of Sin
“We are receiving the due reward of our deeds…” (Lk 23:41)
The Good Thief takes full responsibility for his actions. No excuses. No blame. This is the essence of true contrition:
Honest self-knowledge
Acceptance of justice
Freedom from pride
3. Trustful Surrender to Jesus
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Lk 23:42)
Having rejected lies and embraced truth, the Good Thief turns to Jesus in total trust.
Notably:
He addresses Jesus personally (“Jesus”)
He expresses faith in Christ’s kingship
He entrusts himself entirely to divine mercy
The Greek suggests he repeated this plea—revealing urgency, persistence, and heartfelt longing.
This is the prayer of every repentant soul.
Christ’s Response: Immediate Mercy
“Today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk 23:43)
Jesus responds instantly—not with reproach, but with a promise.
This reveals:
The superabundance of divine mercy
The immediacy of forgiveness for the repentant heart
The personal nature of salvation