In order to prepare food, we need to know how many is attending. Send therefore a mail to post@albertmagnus.org if you are coming, preferably before Wednesday.

You can sign up for the Catholic Student Group’s mailing by sending an email to post@albertmagnus.org

She writes:

The same Holy Spirit that was given to the apostles and to those women and men who first journeyed with Jesus is given to us. Do we truly know the gift that is ours?

(…)

The Spirit’s gift of patience and endurance can help us in those times when the going is rough, when hurts and wrongs rupture relationships, when misunderstandings seem to rule the day, when life asks more of us than we think we have the ability to manage. God does not leave us on our own; God does not expect us to do it alone.

In this article she wants to help us discover, recognizing and use the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Here are some pictures from the BBQ:

If you decide to use this program with a group or alone, we’d be thrilled – and we’d like to know, so please drop us a line in the comments if you do!

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Father brings in the Sacrament. We kneel and adore Him.

Together: Most Holy Trinity, I adore You! My God, my God, I love You in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.  He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.  Amen.

Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  Amen.

Hail Mary
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.  (three times)

Glory Be
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

Fatima
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.

First Glorious Mystery: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. And the angel answered and said unto the women: “Fear not ye! For I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here. For he is risen, as he said”. (Mat 28,1-6)

The risen Jesus has proved that man, together with Him, can have power over sin and therefore death. Jesus, help raise us, deliver us from sin, from evil, give us Your light, give us Your joy. Rekindle inside us the love, the faith, the hopefulness, and the gift of prayer. Let us ask Mary for the gift of an unshakeable faith. (Source: http://www.theholyrosary.org/glorious.html)

Silence and time for reflection before the prayers begin: one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be, one Fatima

Second Glorious Mystery: The Ascension of Jesus to Heaven
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. Jesus, You have not deserted Your apostles in anguish, but have given them the joy of knowing Jesus “glorified” over 40 days . After Your Ascension, You granted to all those who seek You the gift of receiving You in the Eucharist. Through Mary we trust in you. Mary, give us the gift of hope. (Source: http://www.theholyrosary.org/glorious.html)

Silence and time for reflection before the prayers begin: one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be, one Fatima

Third Glorious Mystery: The Descent of The Holy Ghost
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Act 2,1-4)

Jesus, infuse us with the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, enlighten us with the light of Your Spirit, with His strength enter in the deepest parts of our hearts and heal us. Deliver us, fill up our hearts with Your love. Make us apostles of Yours, dear Lord. Let us ask Mary the gift of true love, the gift of prayer from the heart.
“Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” (Source: http://www.theholyrosary.org/glorious.html)

Silence and time for reflection before the prayers begin: one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be, one Fatima

Fourth Glorious Mystery: The Assumption of Mary
After the apostles have dispersed, the Blessed Mother goes to live with John, the beloved disciple. Mary lives many years on earth after the death of Christ. She is a source of comfort, consolation and strength to the apostles. As she had nourished the infant Jesus, so she nourishes spiritually the infant Church. Mary dies, not of bodily infirmity, but is wholly overcome in a rapture of divine love. Her body as well as her soul is taken up into heaven. After her burial the apostles go to the tomb and find only fragrant lilies. Jesus does not permit the sinless body of His Mother to decay in the grave. Corruption of the body is an effect of original sin from which Mary is totally exempted. The bodies of all mankind, at the last judgment, will be brought back and united again to the soul.

Now that Mary is raised into heaven, She prays for Her sons and daughters, those sons and daughters Jesus left Her when He was on the cross. Mary, pray for us, You know our fears, take us into Your Heart, the Heart of a Mother. Help us now and in the time of our death to be with You in Heaven. We ask of you a devotion to Your Immaculate Heart, where we may take refuge in times of trouble. (Source: http://www.rosary-center.org/glorious.htm)

Silence and time for reflection before the prayers begin: one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be, one Fatima

Fifth Glorious Mystery: The Coronation of Mary in Heaven
As Mary enters heaven, the entire court of heaven greets with joy this masterpiece of God’s creation. Mary is crowned by her divine Son as Queen of heaven and earth. More than we can ever know the Hearts of Jesus and Mary overflow with joy at this reunion. Only in heaven will we know the great majesty of that coronation, and the joy it gave to the angels and saints. Even the angels, who by nature are greater than humans, hail Mary as their Queen. Mary shares so fully in the glory of Christ because she shared so fully in His suffering. Only in heaven will we see how central is the role of Mary in the divine plan of redemption. The angels and saints longed for the coming of her whose heel crushes the head of the serpent. Mary pleads our cause as a most powerful Queen and a most merciful and loving Mother. A great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. (Source: http://www.rosary-center.org/glorious.htm)

Let us trust in Mary, Let us call to Her, let us love Her, let us confide in Her, because She gives Her all to us. We have a Mother in Heaven who is also a Queen; thus we need to turn to Her with full faith and hopefulness. If we ask for something while praying the Holy Rosary, it will be granted to us. Ask Her for the gift of prayer, a prayer of the heart, said only for love, a love for Her and Jesus. Let us also ask for a consistency of prayer, to always be joined to Her Heart, and therefore to the Heart of Jesus. (Source: http://www.theholyrosary.org/glorious.html)

Silence and time for reflection before the prayers begin: one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be, one Fatima

Prayer for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit, divine Consoler, I adore You as my true God, with God the Father and God the Son. I adore You and unite myself to the adoration You receive from the angels and saints.I give You my heart and I offer my ardent thanksgiving for all the grace which You never cease to bestow on me.

O Giver of all supernatural gifts, who filled the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with such immense favors, I beg You to visit me with Your grace and Your love and to grant me the gift of holy fear, so that it may act on me as a check to prevent me from falling back into my past sins, for which I beg pardon.

Grant me the gift of piety, so that I may serve You for the future with increased fervor, follow with more promptness Your holy inspirations, and observe your divine precepts with greater fidelity.

Grant me the gift of knowledge, so that I may know the things of God and, enlightened by Your holy teaching, may walk, without deviation, in the path of eternal salvation.

Grant me the gift of fortitude, so that I may overcome courageously all the assaults of the devil, and all the dangers of this world which threaten the salvation of my soul.

Grant me the gift of counsel, so that I may choose what is more conducive to my spiritual advancement and may discover the wiles and snares of the tempter.

Grant me the gift of understanding, so that I may apprehend the divine mysteries and by contemplation of heavenly things detach my thoughts and affections from the vain things of this miserable world.

Grant me the gift of wisdom, so that I may rightly direct all my actions, referring them to God as my last end; so that, having loved Him and served Him in this life, I may have the happiness of possessing Him eternally in the next.

Amen.

Let us pray for our Pontiff, Pope Benedict.
ALL:  May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and bless him upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.

Our Father.  Hail Mary.

ALL:  O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant Benedict, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for priests by Therese of Lisieux
O Jesus
I pray for your faithful and fervent priests
for your unfaithful and tepid priests
for your priests labouring at home
or abroad in distant mission fields
for your tempted priests
for your lonely and desolate priests
for your young priests
for your dying priests
for the souls of your priests in purgatory

But above all, I recommend to you
the priest dearest to me
the priest who baptized me
the priest who absolved me from my sins
the priests at whose Masses I assisted
and who gave me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion
the priests who taught and instructed me
All the priests I am indebted in any other way

O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart
and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity, Amen.

Closing rite: Tantum Ergo Sacramentum (Adoremus number 246, verse 5 and 6)

P.Al started with  a short prayer to the Holy Spirit. Remembering the passage from Matt 18,20:  (…) For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” The fact that He is in our midst is the presupposition and basis for the Bible meditation. We read a part of John 20 and shared with each other witch words or phrases that caught our eyes, heart and thoughts.

On coming Wednesday (5th of May) we’ll continue our Bible journey. This time we’ll read from the Acts of the Apostles, more precisely Paul’s speech on Areopagus (Acts 17,22-31) We’ll focus on Acts 17,22-28.

Picture of Areopagus with the Acropolis of Athens in the background from Wikimedia

Afterwards we will continue our Bible study. For this Bible Study you should read one of the chapters about the resurrection; You can choose to focus on one or you can read about it in all the Gospels (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20-21).

Here you can find some of the text from previous Bible Studies.  This is recommended reading.

Here is the summary from P.Al about the Bible Study the 7th of April:

The Jews refer to their [Hebrew/Old testament] scriptures as the “TaNaK” which stands for the Torah [Law], the Nevi’im [Prophets] and Kethubim [Writings]. The whole Scriptures is often called simply as “the >LAW AND THE PROPHETS” (Mat. 7:12) Luke is more explicit when he adds the Psalms, which stands for the other books in the Kethubim as well.

On the Road to Emmaus and later in the Cenacle in Jerusalem, Jesus explains that what happend in the last three days – His Passion, death and Resurrection – had been written in Scriptures.

For Luke, the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms are enlighthened by what God has done to Jesus. JESUS IS THE FULFILMENT OF THE SCRIPTURES. This is the conviction of the Evangelists. Luke presents the Scriptures as POINTING TO JESUS – but the believer must open his mind and heart to this understanding.

The HOLY SPIRIT makes this possible and creates this reality as the believers are enlighthened.

Whatever might have been the Historical EMMAUS, Luke’s message is clear. Three Themes easily emerge:

• First: JESUS INTERPRETS THE SCRIPTURES- THE SCRIPTURES SPEAK ABOUT HIM AND FIND FULFILMENT IN HIM.
• Second: THE MEAL HAS THE OVERTONES OF THE EUCHARIST- WE RECOGNIZE THE RISEN JESUS IN THE “BREAKING OF THE BREAD”
• Third: AFTER ENCOUNTERING AND RECOGNIZING JESUS IN SCRIPTURES AND IN THE EUCHARIST, THE DISCIPLES WENT BACK AND SHARE THEIR FAITH EXPERIENCE WITH THE COMMUNITY OF DISCIPLES.

This in a Nutshell is Bible study, reflection and mission