Praying the Lauds - Your Daily Christian Morning Prayer

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 19, 2023 | Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." - John 3:16 The extravagant love of God led Him to give His Beloved Son, Jesus, for the life of the world. It is beyond what we can think or imagine, yet He gives i...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 18, 2023 | Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter "The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." - John 3:8 An encounter with Christ turned into a life-changing experience for Nicodemus. He had approached the Lord under cover of...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 17, 2023 | Monday of the Second Week of Easter "Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord." - Ps. 21 God always makes the first move. We just trust and follow his lead. It is God who initiates a relationship with us and it is He who love us first. Whatever we do as disciples, alone or as a community, it is all because of God's grace and not our own e...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 16, 2023 | Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) "I shall sing forever the Lord's mercy" (Ps 89) Today is the Sunday of Divine Mercy, the Octave Day of Easter. From Creation, God has revealed his nature as love itself, in Sacred Scripture and most perfectly in the life, Passion, death and Resurrection of his Son, Jesus. The Divine Mercy Sunday...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 15, 2023 | Saturday within the Octave of Easter "Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News." - Mark 16:15 Despite their wavering faith, the disciples took Jesus' mandate to heart and carried out His message of hope and salvation to the ends of the earth with their very lives. Are you ready to proclaim and transmit your faith in the risen Lord b...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 14, 2023 | Friday within the Octave of Easter "This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it." - Ps 118:24 One of the most amazing things about Jesus is how patient he is with his followers. He doesn't get angry or frustrated when they don't understand his teachings or his actions. He just keeps explaining and showing them the...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 13, 2023 | Thursday within the Octave of Easter "This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it." - Ps 118:24 "Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you!'" The Gospel tells of an appearance of Jesus in the Cenacle on the very day of His resurrection. The newly baptized (neophytes) and all Chr...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 12, 2023 | Wednesday within the Octave of Easter "This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it." - Ps 118:24 The Resurrection changes everything. Little wonder that it took so long for the disciples walking to Emmaus to recognize the Risen One and to grasp what had happened to him, and to them. Amid that struggle to understand, howev...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 11, 2023 | Tuesday within the Octave of Easter "This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it." - Ps 118:24 At the tomb of the risen Savior, Mary was made an apostle: “Go to My brethren [the apostles] and say to them: I ascend to My Father and to your Father.” The liturgy lingers about the tomb today with the penitent Magdalen, to who...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 10, 2023 | Monday within the Octave of Easter "This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it." - Ps 118:24 According to Moses and the prophets, Christ was to suffer all "these things and so to enter into His glory." And what was this "glory" which Christ merited by His sufferings and death? It was His resurrection,...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 9, 2023 | Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord "The Lord has truly risen, alleluia." - antiphon This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Let us not give in to discouragement, hopelessness and despair for Christ our Lord has risen and has conquered both sin and death! A blessed Easter to you and your loved ones! Joi...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 8, 2023 | Holy Saturday "It is accomplished; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit." - John 19:30 On Holy Saturday, the Church waits at the Lord's tomb, in prayer and fasting, meditating on his Passion and Death and on his Descent into Hell and awaiting his Resurrection. Although we are still in mourning, there is much preparation during this day t...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 7, 2023 | Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion "It is accomplished; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit." - John 19:30 Today the whole Church mourns the death of our Savior. This is traditionally a day of sadness, spent in fasting and prayer. We should try to find ways to slow down and have more quiet to contemplate this solemn day. Many people take tim...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 6, 2023 | Holy Thursday of the Sacred Triduum "Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ." - 1 Cor. 10:16 The last three days of Holy Week are referred to as the Easter or Sacred Triduum (Triduum Sacrum), the three-part drama of Christ's redemption: Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Holy Thursday is also known as "Maundy...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 5, 2023 | Wednesday of the Holy Week "The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born." Mt. 26:24 Wednesday of Holy Week is traditionally known as Spy Wednesday, to commemorate the treachery of Judas, who made a bargain with the high pries...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 4, 2023 | Tuesday of the Holy Week "Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." John 13:21 Betrayal is one of the most painful of human experiences. Jesus was delivered to his death by his friend, Judas. Happening during their supposedly last shared meal, the act of...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 3, 2023 | Monday of the Holy Week "Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil." John 12:3 Jesus was aware of his fate and accepted it with courage and trust in God. As He approaches near His death, Jesus receives Mar...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 2, 2023 | Palm Sunday "So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!'" John 12:13 Today is Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion during which we commemorate Christ's entry into Jerusalem for the completion of the Paschal Mystery. Followin...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - April 1, 2023 | Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent "Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit." - Ezekiel 18:31 The Liturgy is already inviting us to live in spirit Christ’s Passion and Death. In the Gospel we hear the death sentence passed onto Jesus by the High Priest and the Counc...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 31, 2023 | Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent "In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice." - Psalm 18:7 It is one week before Good Friday. Today's Mass is a further reminder of how hatred against Christ escalated in those final days before Holy Week. Fridays of Lent have a special penitential quality. —The Vatican II Weekday Missal Joi...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 30, 2023 | Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent "The Lord remembers his covenant for ever." - Psalm 105:8 The weekday Masses towards the end of Lent are like a Passion Play. The Gospels, as one scene after the other, show the mounting hatred and growing tension. This is the “Abraham Mass,” telling of the inheritance received through Abraham. The Opening Pray...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 29, 2023 | Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent "Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free." - John 8:34-36 It is one week before the end of Lent, a week from Spy Wednesday. This Mass reminds us that the...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 28, 2023 | Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM..." - John 8:24 Today we have another ancient beautiful Lenten lesson. The division between Jesus and His enemies becomes more critical, more sharp. There are references in both readings to “being lifted up.” This reminds us of the crucifixion on...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 27, 2023 | Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live." - Ez. 33:11 Today we begin the fifth and final full week of Lent. In previous times the crosses and statues in church were veiled at this time to indicate Passion Time. Now the liturgical readings,...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 26, 2022 | Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year A) "Out of the depths I call to you O Lord: Lord hear my cry." - Ps. 129:1 In this, the fifth Sunday of Lent, the Church invites us to turn our attention to the realities that are perhaps the most ‘scandalous’ in human experience, the death of a loved one. In this Gospel we see all those who are being supportive of Mar...