Friday in the Fourth Week of Easter

We pray through Easter Friday with a Morning Offering, Scripture-soaked praise, and a clear call to live as one body in Christ. We hear Saint Clement describe Christ as our high priest and learn how humility, gratitude, and service protect unity in the Church. 
• opening invocation and surrender of the day to God 
• Morning Offering through the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the Mass and the Holy Father’s intentions 
• Saint Clement on Christ as salvation and high priest who strengthens our weakness 
• unity as harmony in the body of Christ where every role matters 
• strength serving weakness and wealth assisting poverty as practical charity 
• humility shown in good works and gratitude for God’s gifts 
• baptismal life raised with Christ who is head of the Church 
If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to grow in your faith, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our publications now available on Amazon.com. 
The Cristeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. 
More information on the Cristeros can be found at theCristeros.org. 

Transcript

Opening Invocation And Glory Be

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Friday, in the fourth week of Easter. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. 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. O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the remission of my sins, for the intentions of my family and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen. From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, Pope. Beloved, Jesus Christ is our salvation. He is the high priest, through whom we present our offerings, and the helper who supports us in our weakness. Through him, our gaze penetrates the heights of heaven, and we see as in a mirror the most holy face of God. Through Christ, the eyes of our hearts are opened, and our weak and clouded understanding reaches up toward the light. Through him the Lord God willed that we should taste eternal knowledge, for Christ is the radiance of God's glory, and as much greater than the angels, as the name God has given him is superior to theirs. So then, my brothers, let us do battle with all our might under his unerring command. Think of the men serving under our military commanders, how well disciplined they are, how readily and submissively they carry out orders. Not everyone can be a prefect, a tribune, a centurion, or a captain of fifty, but each man in his own rank executes the orders of the emperor and the officers in command. The great cannot exist without those of humble condition, nor can those of humble condition exist without the great. Always it is the harmonious working together of its various parts that ensures the well-being of the whole. Take our own body as an example. The head is helpless without the feet, and the feet can do nothing without the heart. Even our least important members are useful and necessary to the whole body, and all work together for its well-being in harmonious subordination. Let us then preserve the unity of the body that we form in Christ Jesus, and let everyone give his neighbor the deference to which his particular gifts entitle him. Let the strong care for the weak, and the weak respect the strong. Let the wealthy assist the poor, and the poor man thank God for giving him someone to supply his needs. The wise man should show his wisdom not by his eloquence, but by good works. The humble man should not proclaim his own humility, but leave others to do so. Nor must the man who preserves his chastity ever boast of it, but recognize that the ability to control his desires has been given him by another. Think, my brothers, of how we first came into being, of what we were at the first moment of our existence. Think of the dark tomb out of which our Creator brought us into his world, where he had his gifts prepared for us even before we were born. All this we owe to him, and for everything we must give thanks. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. Christ is the head of the body, the church, and the first to be born from the dead. In him you were raised to life by faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. In Christ, the fullness of divinity dwells in bodily form, and in him you find your own fulfillment. You were buried with him in baptism. In him you were raised to life by faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. O God, author of our freedom and our salvation, listen to the voice of our pleading, and grant that those you have redeemed by the shedding of your Son's blood may have life through you, and under your protection rejoice forever unharmed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen. Let us praise the Lord and give him thanks. All that I have and all that I am, I give to your hands, Jesus, through the heart of Mary, your blessed mother. Amen. Sacred heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to grow in your faith, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our publications now available on Amazon.com. The Cristeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Cristeros can be found at theCristeros.org.