Apr 7, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Holy Saturday
The silence of Holy Saturday is not the muteness of the Word of God but it is the eloquence of the Word of God. The silence of Holy Saturday is the reality that the incarnate Word of God takes control of your history, our history. He became an integral part of our history. He became the one who changes our history. That is Jesus Christ. The more you know about Jesus Christ, the more you are in love with him. Because He embraces each and everyone. The silence of the Word of God on Good Saturday is an example that God moves forward with His plan irrespective of our plans and He will guide us to the our right destination.
Apr 7, 2023 | NEWS
In Cochem it is a tradition, in the early morning of Maundy Thursday
to bless the “Männerweck”. Männerweck is a small bread or roll, that is a pastry made of yeast dough. Whether the word part “men” can be derived from the heavenly bread “manna” is unclear. Manna comes from the Hebrew meaning “what is it?” It is the surprising thing that God bestowed on the Israelites and that served as food for them on their way through the desert.
The blessing of the “Männerwecken” in Cochem has the following historical origin:
In the past, merchants brought their gifts to the local priest on Holy Thursday. It is important to know that the clergy did not receive a fixed salary, but paid for their upkeep from donations from the community. Bakers, butchers and farmers gave what was dispensable.
The priest pronounced the blessing over the food. Perishable goods or those that were donated in abundance, after the blessing, the priest gave to the needy of his parish.
Even in our modern times, the “Männerwecken” are blessed in the parish church. Because many of our residents come from Cochem, but can no longer go to the parish church – we hold a small devotion in the house and bless the “Männerwecken”. These are then distributed to the residents and staff.
Sister M. Felicitas
Apr 7, 2023 | NEWS
Our community at the Generalate, once again on Good Friday meditated on the Passion of Christ during the Way of the Cross in our garden. We initiated this custom during the pandemonium, when it was impossible to go to church. Preparing and experiencing this common Way of the Cross at the hour of Jesus’ death, moves us a lot and allows us to touch even more deeply the mysteries of our salvation.
Apr 6, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Good Friday
First reading – Isaiah 52:13-53:12
“And yet ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried. But we, we thought of him as someone punished, struck by God, and brought low. Yet he was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins”. These words of Isaiah explain Good Friday. Who died for us? How did he die? And why did he die? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, faced a violent death on the cross, for our sins. In Jesus Christ, the world sees something never told, the world witness something never heard before. Before Jesus Christ kings stand before him. In Him the power of the Lord has been revealed. He faced the violent death, a death after much pain and sufferings. The pain and sufferings due to our sins. He accepted all those sufferings and pain and in Him those sufferings and pain are transformed into forgiveness and reciprocal love. In Him the world changed. The humanity changed. In Cross Jesus carried our sorrows and bore our sufferings. In Him our human nature acquired a totally new potentiality. A potentiality to embrace God as a Father who forgives all our sins by accepting the unique sacrifice of Christ. The whole world received a heart which can be opened totally to the plan of God. The death of Jesus on the cross is the dawn of our hope, even in the darkest nights of our life.
Apr 5, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Maundy Thursday – Evening Mass
First reading – Exodus 12:1-8,11-14
Passover is the feast of the God entering into our life. “I will go through the land of Egypt”. He says, “I will pass over you”. God entering into the history of mankind. And the blood of the sacrifice saves from the destroying plague. The blood of the sacrifice is the blood of Jesus Christ which saves us from the destroying plague of sin. The blood of the unblemished lamb of God. He sacrificed Himself to save us. He shed His blood to protect us. We must mark our life with that precious blood of Jesus Christ. That happens in the sacrament of Eucharist which also is instituted by Jesus Christ. He sacrificed himself and then he instituted the sacrament of Eucharist so that His sacrifice is continuously renewed at the altar, and we are saved by His Blood. It’s not just protection. It is a sharing of His life. It is not just the door marked with the blood. It is becoming part of His body. Eucharist turns the Passover into an eternal cohabitation of Lord with us. Let’s reflect: Do we really understand the meaning of Eucharist?
