Anniversary . ..

Tuesday -  First Anniversary of the Death of 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.

Prayer authored by Pope Francis . . .

The God who is Before Us:

(Artist: Caravaggio)

The God who is Before Us:

Third Sunday of Easter 2026 

April 19, 2026

www.johnpredmoresj.com | predmore.blogspot.com

 

Acts 2:14-33; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35

 

The story about the two who are their way to Emmaus reveal something fundamental about God. God is always before us. God is always in the future leading us forward. The Psalmist echoes it by telling us that God will show us the path to life. It is something that will happen in the future. Even Peter in the first reading speaks about God’s foreknowledge of the events of human cruelty. In the second reading, Peter says, “God was known before the world’s foundation but revealed in the final time for you.”

 The Emmaus walk reminds us that we are on a journey through life, one that is to be shared with others. We learn a great deal when we listen meaningfully and break bread with one another. The Gospel tells us, “their minds were opened,” they experienced a raising of consciousnesses, and it is a model that we are to follow. This disposition of openness is a key to a fulfilling life of meaning and trust.   

We see many instances in Scripture where God is ahead of the people to lead them forward. God leads the Hebrews from slavery into the Promised Land; God leads Israel as a pillar of cloud of fire. Jesus calls people to follow him, and as the Good Shepherd, he always goes before the sheep. Notice that God does not push us forward from the back; God invites us from the front. It does not mean that we know where we are going. We simply take one more step onward.  

What does this mean for our relationship with Christ? Our traditional prayers focus upon the Christ of the past, the Jesus of Nazareth who has been raised. The new focus upon the Christ who is still ahead of us, the Christ who is still becoming, shows that he is growing toward his fulfillment at the end of time. Christ is presently both with us and up ahead of us, beckoning us forward, inviting us to grow in love, as an individual and as a collective Body of Christ. 

 When we break bread with one another, we open ourselves to a grander way of thinking and feeling. As we listen to and share stories, our hearts are converted to the stories of other people, just like the Disciples on the way to Emmaus. We begin to shift our thinking, through the Eucharist, from a restrictive mindset to one that is more open and inclusive. Therefore, our spirituality can no longer be self-focused or self-enclosed. As a community of faith, we develop a collective spiritual life in which we turn outside of ourselves to the needs of others. We begin to see ourselves as new creations and no longer as individuals who want to develop one’s own prayer life. We see that we are part of a greater Body, to a new life connected with the Risen Christ. We pay attention to the divine project that God through Jesus has begun in the Resurrection. As Christ was raised to new life, we were raised with him.

 We now need to learn to act and think in a new way. It is not I who lives but the Christ within me. We need to act as members of Christ, the Christ who is calling us to evolve and to love as one body. The Christ who is to come is calling us toward him. We are invited to walk with him and to work with each other and with Christ to transform the earth. This forward movement to the God who is ahead impels us forward to a greater love, to a world that is still becoming, to a world that is striving to reach its fullest potential. Let’s walk on this journey with the Christ who is to come so we can make possible a transformed future for our world. When we break bread with one another, may we come to this moment in which our eyes are opened and we see the Christ in each of us called forth as one as brother and sister and friend. 

 

 

"Knot in Your Life"

 

"Knot in your life"!

The Knots Prayer

 

O God,
please untie the knots
that are in my mind,
my heart, and my life.

 

Remove the have nots,
the can nots and the do nots
that I have in my mind.

 

Erase the will nots,
may nots, might nots
that find a home in my heart.

 

Release me from the could nots,
would nots, and should nots
that obstruct my life.

 

And most of all, God,
I ask that you remove from my mind
my heart and my life all of the ‘am nots'
that I have allowed to hold me back,
especially the thought
that I am not good enough. Amen.

Author Unknown . . .

To Dare or Not To Dare . . .

 

Dare to declare
who you are. 
It isn’t far from
the shores  of silence
to the boundaries of speech.
The road is not long
but the way is deep.
And you must not
only walk there.
You must be prepared
to leap.

Composer, Mystic: St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098 – 1179) 

Seeing Is Believing!

 

 

Seeing God

We cannot see you
and yet in so many ways we have seen you,

We cannot touch you
but we have experienced and felt you.

You have been in the full moon
and the early morning mist,
the bright blue sky
and the cool night air
after a scorching day.

You are the rock
that anchors us in uncertain times,

You are the hope
that keeps us going on a road with few signposts,

You are the presence
when we feel disoriented and estranged.

You are the compassion
that knits us even to strangers,

You are the justice
that tugs at our complacency,

You are the joy
that unexpectedly overwhelms us,

You are the love
that banishes all fear.

We praise you for revealing yourself to us
in all these ways -
and for Christ, your full revelation.

~ Suellen Shay

Thresholds: A Book of Prayers, 2011

New Life; Living Hope:

 

                                                 New Life; Living Hope:

Second Sunday of Easter 2026 

April 12, 2026

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Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 118; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31

 

Overwhelming joy punctuates the first Apostles as they come together in astonishment. Acts writes, “They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people.” Thomas cries out, “My Lord and My God” after receiving the Holy Spirit that ushers in a radical depth of peace. Peter explodes with praise as he writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope.” Wow. A new birth to a living hope. 

 

What does this tell us about Peter? These are words from a man whose life was significantly changed. He is becoming someone new because of the Resurrection. We have to realize that God is not simply making us into better people; God is making us into new people. This is about transformation, new life, not simply that we improve who we are. We can think about salvation as “enjoying the fulness of new life.” Salvation moves us into wholeness, into an inner vitality. Salvation is far more than being saved from sin; Let us put sin in its proper perspective. Salvation is about enjoying the fulness of life. What do you need to embrace this “newness?”

 

Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, speaks about this as the “magis,” the more. Sometimes we feel stuck with our fate or state in life, or we look at our lives as defined by past failures, or we have reached a point of resignation where we simply say, “This is just who I am.” No. There’s more. There’s much more. Through God’s mercy, we are given a living hope. You have been given new life with a living hope. We cannot let ourselves settle when new life is offered to us.

 

This is not an ordinary, passive hope in which we say, “I hope things get better,” or “In the end, all will be well.” This is an active, living hope that has already begun within us. It has already started. We can now strive for our best, hold not the love we had in childhood, and to know of our essential goodness even when life has battered us down. This is a living hope that cannot die – even when we die. This is about a relationship now and in the future, a relationship with the Risen Jesus who is alive right now and reaches out to you with gentle hands. Our hope is not optimism. Our hope is what happens when Christ walks into our fear and does not leave. This is Christ’s mercy to us. Christ enters into the fabric of our life and is pleased to be there. 

 

Some might ask, “How can we have hope when there are overwhelming dark forces in the world, when we feel like we are stuck in the tomb? Sometimes, the tomb can provide us safety from the menacing powers.” We may wonder, “Where are you, O God? How can you permit this darkness?” You are right to ask. Fear has no place in God’s plan. We are called out from the tomb, out of our fears into an unstable world. We are called to live in the resurrection. It was not just something that happened to Jesus, it is something that is happening to us. Humanity will reach a tipping point when there are more people with expanding consciousness and compassion to reshape the world.

 

What does this mean for us? We can make ourselves vulnerable and risk loving generously because that love can never be lost. We can endure suffering with hope because suffering is not the final word. We can let go of lesser concerns because something greater awaits us. God is always standing before us – beckoning us forward, waiting in the future, leading us toward a future that cannot be taken away. It might be time for us to make some radical changes in our thinking. Let us go forward together and raise our consciousness to higher matters. Let us drop everything that holds us back from the fulness to which we are called. Let us live in this love that knows no limitations.

 

Today, we read about Jesus coming back to see Thomas with the Apostles. We saw how he came back for Mary Magdalene, for Peter, and the Others. We also know that the first person he visited was a woman in grief, sitting in her courtyard filled with overwhelming loss. What son have risen from the dead would not first return to his mother? And Jesus has not forgotten you. He will come for you. He will appear to you in many ways before you recognize that you matter, that you matter a great deal to him, that he cares for you, that he wants your friendship, that you are lovable and worthy of his love, that he wants to give you the fullness of life. If you knew how much you are loved, you would do everything in your power to live as God sees you. This is what I want for you too. Within the Resurrection, there is nothing to hold us back. Let us explore the energy of this creative love, this transformative mercy, that transforms lives and grounds us in living hope.

 

Second Sunday of Easter. . .

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5y8vn997DM&t=353s

April 12, 2026

Second Sunday of Easter

Kelly

Sankowski

We were on the way to the hospital for the birth of my second son when we decided what his middle name should be. We decided on Thomas. Given that we met at a church named after St. Thomas Aquinas on the campus of a university founded by Thomas Jefferson, many people probably assumed he was named after one of those men. But he was actually named after the Thomas in today’s gospel, because we believe he has gotten a bad rap.

He has been known through the ages as “doubting Thomas” because he did not believe the apostles’ story about the risen Jesus appearing to them. He demanded to see it with his own eyes.

This has always seemed unfair to me, because he was only asking for what other people – the other apostles – already got. We have made this one moment of doubt his defining characteristic, and I don’t think any of us would like it if this is what happened in our own lives.

So, on this Divine Mercy Sunday, I would like to invite us to consider Thomas through God’s merciful eyes. For when we look at the whole context of his life, we see that it is not doubt that defines him, but rather courage, critical thinking, and a willingness to stand out from the crowd.

Earlier in the gospel of John, we see that Thomas plays an important role in another story – the raising of Lazarus. Jesus and his disciples had left Jerusalem because people had started to threaten to kill Jesus for saying he was the son of God. Then, they receive the message from Mary and Martha telling Jesus that their brother, Lazarus, was ill. When Jesus tells his disciples that he intends to go back to Judea, they challenge him, saying, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” (John 11:8). Thomas is once again a lone voice – this time, urging the others to follow Jesus. He tells them, “Let us also go to die with him” (John 11:16).

In John chapter 14, Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to prepare a place for them in his Father’s house, and that they know the way. Thomas, clearly thinking critically about this, asks, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” (John 14:5).

And finally, the beginning of today’s Gospel passage tells us that Thomas was not with the other apostles when Jesus first appeared to them. Why not? We don’t know, but I wonder if it is because while the others were hiding behind locked doors out of fear, Thomas was once again courageous enough to still be out in the world, continuing the work of Jesus, even if it meant risking his own death.

The same characteristics that led Thomas to need to see the resurrected Jesus with his own eyes are the ones that gave him the strength to follow Jesus at a great risk, and to ask important questions to gain a deeper understanding of Jesus’s message.

When Jesus looks at Thomas in the second half of today’s Gospel, he doesn’t just see “the doubter”. He sees the whole person – the man whose courage and critical thinking have given him the strength to be one of his most ardent followers, but have also made it hard for him to believe in this improbable miracle. Jesus sees it all, and has mercy on Thomas. While he does point out where Thomas could have done better, saying, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed,” Jesus also gives Thomas exactly what he needs: he lets Thomas touch his wounds.

This is also true when God looks at you. God sees the whole picture of your life - not just the weaker moments that others might define you by. God does not just see your impatience with your children, or the way you never can seem to remember to bring reusable grocery bags to the story. God does not just see the ways you fall short, the things that you are afraid of, or the long list of things in your head that you think you are doing wrong. God sees those things, sure, but God also sees the care that you have for your loved ones, God sees the way that you work for justice, even if it is imperfect, God sees the ways you have grown, and the ways you are still trying to do better. And God sees how all of that has brought you to this moment. In God’s infinite mercy, no one moment can ever break God’s love.

It strikes me that Thomas might be exactly the saint we need at this moment. The news cycle of this Lenten season was one of violence and war. When so many of us are either tempted toward greed and power or tempted toward despair at the state of the world, we need someone who is thinking differently. Someone who is courageous enough to challenge the status quo. Someone who doesn’t remain inside the locked doors of paralysis when problems seem too large, but is willing to continue doing the important work of building God’s Kingdom.

As we enter into this joyous Easter season, may the mercy and love of God empower us to be more like Thomas: to use the brain that God gave us to ask difficult questions, and to be courageous in our following of Jesus.

 

Painting by Caravaggio

It's all in the hands. . .

“The Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus” by Diego Valázquez  c.1620

The poet Denise Levertov was inspired by this painting to tell the story of the

Servant Girl at Emmaus.

 She listens, listens, holding her breath.
 Surely that voice
 is his—the one
 who had looked at her, once,
 across the crowd, as no one ever had looked?
 Had seen her?
 Had spoken as if to her?

 Surely those hands were his,
 taking the platter of bread from hers just now?
 Hands he’d laid on the dying and made them well?

 Surely that face—?

The man they’d crucified for sedition and blasphemy.
 The man whose body disappeared from its tomb.
 The man it was rumored now some women had seen this morning,
 alive?

 Those who had brought this stranger home to their table
 don’t recognize yet with whom they sit.
 But she in the kitchen,
 absently touching the wine jug she’s to take in,
 a young Black servant intently listening,

 swings round and sees
 the light around him
 and is sure.

-Denise Levertov

Emmaus -- In the breaking of the bread . . .

 

The Road to Emmaus ~ Caravaggio

 EMMAUS JOURNEY (Luke 24: 13-35)

All was chaos when he died.
We fled our separate ways at first,
then gathered again in the upper room
to chatter blue-lipped prayers
around the table where he’d talked
of love and oneness.

On the third day Cleopas and I
left for the home we’d abandoned
in order to follow him.

We wanted no part of the babble
the women had brought from the tomb.
We vowed to get on with our grieving.

On the road we met a Stranger
whose voice grew vaguely familiar
as he spoke of signs and suffering.

By the time we reached our village,
every tree and bush was blazing,
and we pressed him to stay the night.

Yet not till we sat at the table
and watched the bread being broken
did we see the light.

Irene Zimmerman, osf
From: Woman Un-Bent

Let us join in prayer in these next hours . . .

Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)

Let us join in prayer in these next hours as we wait to see what will happen to the threats by the United States of strikes on critical infrastructure in Iran and as our concerns mount for civilian lives and regional stability.

In this moment of uncertainty and anguish, let us pray for an immediate cessation of violence and threats that will bring further harm to that region of the world. May all world leaders receive an outpouring of wisdom, humility, and compassion so that they may work together for justice and the protection of all life.

We entrust all people -- especially those most vulnerable at this time -- into the loving mercy of God. 

An Eastering moment . . .

 

Mary Magdalene's Easter Prayer

I never suspected

            Resurrection

                        and to be so painful

                        to leave me weeping

With Joy

            to have met you, alive and smiling, outside an empty tomb

With Regret

            not because I’ve lost you

            but because I’ve lost you in how I had you –

            in understandable, touchable, kissable, clingable flesh

                        not as fully Lord, but as graspably human.

I want to cling, despite your protest

            cling to your body

            cling to your, and my, clingable humanity

            cling to what we had, our past.

But I know that…if I cling

            you cannot ascend and

            I will be left clinging to your former self

            …unable to receive your present spirit.

Author: Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Faith Unfolds: Easter Sunday 2026

 

April 5, 2026

www.johnpredmoresj.com | predmore.blogspot.com

Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9

 

Today the church sings out in a joyful voice: Alleluia. Alleluia. Jesus of Nazareth has been raised by God from the dead. God has vindicated Him and He is the Anointed One – forevermore to be alive to us and for us. The Resurrection tells us that God knows our human suffering and that death and suffering are not the final words. Life with God is the message. Through the Passion of Jesus, we can see the humanity’s worst actions are never the final statement. Mercy wins. Mercy breaks forth as God transforms human suffering and injustice into life. 

 

In the First Reading, Peter testifies to the events of the Crucifixion and gives evidence of their authority to bear witness. They realize that faith is not an idea, but a testimony. Their faith demands proclamation, and so they are sent forth to speak to the very people who condemned Jesus to death. They testify to God as the giver of life who wants all people to raise their minds and consciousness to the divine project that is unfolding before them. 

 

In the Gospel, on the first Easter morning, we see that faith precedes our full comprehension. Peter and the Beloved Disciple at first do not see anything dramatic, just neatly folded cloths in an empty tomb, but something within them shifts. They come to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. Faith awakens even when they do not yet fully understand. The Beloved Disciple has an “aha” moment, an instance of conversion, an interior shift in his consciousness. Then Peter understands and Mary Magdalene as well. 

 

This should reassure us that our understanding of the Resurrection is still incomplete. Faith never means full knowledge. It means we progress a little bit more along the way. We continue to evolve as we become “People of the Way.” If you have fundamental questions, then great, you are on the way. If you do not believe the whole package, then great, you are on the way. Faith is a journey that unfolds over time, and we need to ask our questions and tell our stories so we can witness the Risen Christ working within us. We can put it this way: The tomb is empty, but faith is not. It begins with questions and doubts. It grows through our searching, and like the first Disciples, it blossoms into belief, and one day we realize that we are standing courageously in front of others saying: We are witnesses to the Resurrection. Jesus lives. Jesus lives within us and is active in our world today – even when humanity does its very worst to each other. God is at work transforming our lives and calling us to be our very best selves. 

 

We celebrate the Resurrection today, but please know that you may not feel that Easter moment today or within the next week. This quiet joy may come months afterwards. Trust that it will come. As it was with the Beloved Disciple, a moment will come over you when you realize something shifts, you gain an insight, you breathe more easily, you feel settled and centered, you know that everything will be okay. It may be a new energy, a new life, a new love, a moment of reconciliation, a surprising moment of laughter, a time when someone who is estranged takes a tiny step back into your life, a moment of understanding. It might be a moment in which your dreams, creativity, and longings are rekindled. Respect these moments as ones in which God is reaching out to you, personally, offering you the Resurrection. God promises to be with you. God’s project for you is unfinished. God does not want you to stay in the tomb. Step out, see that God’s work for you is still in process. God has not forgotten you. Christ promises to come back for you. He will always hold a place in his heart for you. Happy Easter!

 

 

Disciple . . .

Mary Magdalene by Gheorghe Tattarescu

Poem: “Tell Them” By Edwina Gateley

Breaking through the powers of darkness
bursting from the stifling tomb
he slipped into the graveyard garden
to smell the blossomed air.

Tell them, Mary, Jesus said,
that I have journeyed far
into the darkest deeps I’ve been
in nights without a star.

Tell them, Mary, Jesus said,
that fear will flee my light
that though the ground will tremble
and despair will stalk the earth
I hold them firmly by the hand
through terror to new birth.

Tell them, Mary, Jesus said,
the globe and all that’s made
is clasped to God’s great bosom
they must not be afraid
for though they fall and die, he said,
and the black earth wrap them tight
they will know the warmth
of God’s healing hands
in the early morning light.

Tell them, Mary, Jesus said,
smelling the blossomed air,
tell my people to rise with me
to heal the Earth’s despair.

The Resurrection of the Lord

 

The Resurrection of the Lord Readings: Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 Colossians 3:1-4 John 20:1-9   During the Easter Vigil the Gospel proclaimed is from the Gospel of Matthew. He tells us that everything begins “after the Sabbath, at dawn of the first day.” This is not just a detail about time. It is the beginning of a new creation. Easter is not only about what happened to Jesus; it is about the birth of a new reality. Something has changed, not only for him, but for the whole world. The first people to arrive at the tomb do not come with certainty or understanding. They come with love. The women are not expecting the resurrection. They simply remain faithful. They stay close to Jesus even when everything seems finished. And it is precisely there, in that quiet fidelity, that something new begins. Not certainty, but love opens the way to encounter. Then suddenly, everything is shaken with a great earthquake. This is not accidental. There was already an earthquake at the moment of Jesus’ death. The two belong together. At the cross, the old world is shaken and brought to its end. At the resurrection, a new world begins. This is why the resurrection is not a small or private event. It is cosmic. Creation itself trembles because something fundamental has changed: death no longer has the final word. The angel descends and rolls back the stone. But not to let Jesus out, he is already risen. The stone is moved for us. So that we can see. So that we can understand. The resurrection is already accomplished. The question is whether we are ready to recognize it. And then there is a powerful reversal. The guards, who represent control and the attempt to seal death, are themselves shaken and become like dead men. Those who stand on the side of death are paralyzed by fear, while the crucified one lives. Easter overturns everything. What seemed strong is revealed as fragile; what seemed defeated is revealed as alive. Into this moment comes a encouragement that runs through the Scriptures: “Do not be afraid.” The women experience both fear and great joy. This is not a contradiction. It is what happens when we encounter something greater than ourselves. Faith does not mean the absence of fear, it means that fear is transformed into trust. And immediately, they are sent: “Go quickly and tell…” The resurrection does not leave people where they are. It moves them. It sends them. It opens a path forward. This “earthquake” is not only something that happened long ago. It is also something that must happen within us. There are places in our lives that feel sealed like a tomb; areas marked by fear, resignation, disappointment, or the sense that nothing can change. We all carry stones that seem immovable. Easter is God entering precisely those places. The resurrection shakes what we thought was fixed. It opens what we believed was closed. It tells us that what seems final is not final. The risen Christ is not found by staying at the tomb. The women meet him on the way, as they go, as they trust the word they have received. And again they hear: “Do not be afraid… go and tell my brothers.” This is how fear is overcome: not by explanations, but by encounter. Not by having everything figured out, but by walking forward in trust. The resurrection is like one great earthquake with three dimensions. It is cosmic, because all creation is shaken. It is historical, because a new world begins. And it is personal, because each of us is called to let our own closed places be opened. The stone is already removed. The question is whether we are willing to step into this new life and feel the urgency to go and bring the good news: Christ is Risen, Alleluya! Fr. Enzo Del Brocco, CP https://learn.ctu.edu/the-resurrection-of-the-lord/