May 2010 - Bible Diary
Printer-friendly version
Send to friend
BIBLE DIARY 2010
Liturgical Readings and Reflections
| May 2010 |
||||||
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thur | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 | |||||
January ♦ February ♦ March ♦ April ♦ May ♦ June ♦ July
August ♦ September ♦ October ♦ November ♦ December
4th Week of Easter
Joseph the Worker
►1st Reading: Gen 1:26—2:3
God said, “Let us make man in our image, to our likeness. Let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over the wild animals, and over all creeping things that crawl along the ground.” So God created man in his image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
God said, “I have given you every seed-bearing plant which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree that bears fruit with seed. It will be for your food. To every wild animal, to every bird of the sky, to everything that creeps along the ground, to everything that has the breath of life, I give every green plant for food.” So it was.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. There was evening and there was morning: the sixth day.
That was the way the sky and earth were created and all their vast array. By the seventh day the work God had done was completed, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had done. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on that day he rested from all the work he had done in his creation.
►Gospel: Mt 13:54–58
Jesus went to his hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, “Where did he get this wisdom and these special powers? Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t Mary his mother and aren’t James, Joseph, Simon and Judas his brothers? Aren’t all his sisters living here? How did he get all this?” And so they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them, “The only place where prophets are not welcome is their hometown and in their own family.” And he did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
REFLECTION
“A prophet is respected everywhere except in his hometown and by his own family.”
Instead of learning to see
the presence of God
in the familiar things of life,
we become blind to the immediate
and miss God at work around us.
But God is here. Right here. Now.
5th Sunday of Easter
►1st Reading: Acts 14:21–27
After proclaiming the gospel in that town and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra and Iconium and on to Antioch. They were strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain firm in the faith, for they said, “We must go through many trials to enter the Kingdom of God.” In each church they appointed elders and, after praying and fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had placed their faith.
Then they traveled through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. They preached the Word in Perga and went down to Attalia. From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had first been commended to God’s grace for the task they had now completed.
On their arrival they gathered the Church together and told them all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the non-Jews.
►2nd Reading: Rev 21:1–5a
I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away and no longer was there any sea. I saw the new Jerusalem, the holy city coming down from God, out of heaven, adorned as a bride prepared for her husband. A loud voice came from the throne, “Here is the dwelling of God among mortals: He will pitch his tent among them and they will be his people; he will be God-with-them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the world that was has passed away.”
The One seated on the throne said, “See, I make all things new.” And then he said to me, “Write these words because they are sure and true.”
►Gospel: Jn 13:31–33a; 34–35
When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. God will glorify him, and he will glorify him very soon.
“My children, I am with you for only a little while; you will look for me, but, as I already told the Jews, so now I tell you: where I am going you cannot come. Now I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
REFLECTION
“After Judas had left, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man’s glory is revealed;
now God’s glory is revealed through him.’”
Everything in life–
both good and bad–
is, in the end,
meant for our growth,
meant for our good,
if only we are willing to see it that way.
5th Week of Easter
Philip and James
►1st Reading:1 Cor 15:1–8
Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm. By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.
In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received: that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; ‑that he appeared to Ce-phas and then to the Twelve. Afterwards he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest. Then he ap-peared to James and after that to all the apostles. And last of all, he appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me.
►Gospel: Jn 14:6–14
Jesus said to Thomas, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me. If you know me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know him and you have seen him.”
Philip asked him, ”Lord, show us the Father and that is enough.” Jesus said to him, “What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever sees me sees the Father; how can you say: ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
“All that I say to you, I do not say of myself. The Father who dwells in me is doing his own work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do.
“Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father. Everything you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And everything you ask in calling upon my Name, I will do.”
REFLECTION
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
Jesus is the face of God on earth.
Jesus shows us the heart of God:
compassionate, forgiving, full of love for us.
By becoming like Jesus
we become what God wants us to be, too:
compassionate, forgiving, full of love for others.
5th Week of Easter
►1st Reading: Acts 14:19–28
Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and turned the people against Paul and Barnabas. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, leaving him for dead. But when his disciples gathered around him, he stood up and returned to the town. And the next day he left for Derbe with Barnabas. After proclaiming the gospel in that town and making many disciples, they returned to Lystra and Iconium and on to Antioch. They were strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain firm in the faith, for they said, “We must go through many trials to enter the Kingdom of God.” In each church they appointed elders and, after praying and fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had placed their faith.
Then they traveled through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. They preached the Word in Perga and went down to Attalia. From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had first been commended to God’s grace for the task they had now completed. On their arrival they gathered the Church together and told them all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the non-Jews. They spent a fairly long time there with the disciples.
►Gospel: Jn 14:27–31a
Jesus said to his disciples, “Peace be with you; I give you my peace. Not as the world gives peace do I give it to you. Do not be troubled; do not be afraid. You heard me say: ‘I am going away, but I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
“I have told you this now before it takes place, so that when it does happen you may believe. It is very little what I may still tell you, for the ruler of this world is at hand, although there is nothing in me that he can claim. But see, the world must know that I love the Father and that I do what the Father has taught me to do.”
REFLECTION
“Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you.
I do not give it as the world does.”
The “peace” Jesus gives
is the tranquillity that comes with trust.
Knowing that we live in the womb of God,
that God walks with us through life,
makes life both blessing and beautiful–
whatever life holds for us.
5th Week of Easter
►1st Reading: Acts 15:1–6
Some persons who had come from Judea to Antioch were teaching the brothers in this way, “Unless you are circumcised according to the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Because of this there was trouble, and Paul and Barnabas had fierce arguments with them. For Paul told the people to remain as they were when they became believers. Finally those who had come from Jerusalem suggested that Paul and Barnabas and some others go up to Jerusalem to discuss the matter with the apostles and elders. They were sent on their way by the Church. As they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria they reported how the non-Jews had turned to God, and there was great joy among all the brothers and sisters.
On their arrival in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the Church, the apostles and the elders, to whom they told all that God had done through them. Some believers, however, who belonged to the party of the Pharisees, stood up and said that non-Jewish men must be circumcised and instructed to keep the law of Moses. So the apostles and elders met together to consider this matter.
►Gospel: Jn 15:1–8
Jesus said to his disciples, “I am the true vine and my Father is the vinegrower. If any of my branches doesn’t bear fruit, he breaks it off; and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, that it may bear even more fruit. You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you; live in me as I live in you. The branch cannot bear fruit by itself but has to remain part of the vine; so neither can you if you don’t remain in me. I am the vine and you are the branches. As long as you remain in me and I in you, you bear much fruit; but apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not remain in me is thrown away as they do with branches and they wither. Then they are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned.
“If you remain in me and my words in you, you may ask whatever you want and it will be given to you. My Father is glorified when you bear much fruit: it is then that you become my disciples.”
REFLECTION
“I am the vine and you are the branches.”
Like any branch of any tree,
we are meant to live off our roots.
But for that to happen
we must ask ourselves at all times
with what are we really nourishing our daily lives:
the spirit of the world or the spirit of Jesus?
5th Week of Easter
►1st Reading: Acts 15:7–21
As the discussions became heated, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that from the beginning God chose me among you so that non-Jews could hear the Good News from me and believe. God, who can read hearts, put himself on their side by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them and cleansed their hearts through faith. So why do you want to put God to the test? Why do you lay on the disciples a burden that neither our ancestors nor we ourselves were able to carry? We believe, indeed, that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.”
The whole assembly kept silent as they listened to Paul and Barnabas tell of all the miraculous signs and wonders that God had done through them among the non-Jews.
After they had finished, James spoke up, “Listen to me, brothers. Symeon has just explained how God first showed his care by taking a people for himself from non-Jewish nations. And the words of the prophets agree with this, for Scripture says,
After this I will return and re-build the booth of David which has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again. Then the rest of humanity will look for the Lord, and all the nations will be consecrated to my Name. So says the Lord, who does today what he decided from the beginning.
Because of this, I think that we should not make difficulties for those non-Jews who are turning to God. Let us just tell them not to eat food that is unclean from having been offered to idols; to keep themselves from prohibited marriages; and not to eat the flesh of animals that have been strangled, or any blood. For from the earliest times Moses has been taught in every place, and every Sabbath his laws are recalled.”
►Gospel: Jn 15:9–11
Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; remain in my love. You will remain in my love if you keep my commandments, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
“I have told you all this, that my own joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”
REFLECTION
“I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love.”
Staying rooted in Jesus
in a world that prefers money and things instead
is not easy.
It takes daily attention–
a lifetime of awareness–
but it is the only thing that brings us
to real fullness of life.
5th Week of Easter
►1st Reading: Acts 15:22–31
Then the apostles and elders together with the whole Church decided to choose representatives from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. These were Judas, known as Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers. They took with them the following letter:
Greetings from the apostles and elders, your brothers, to the believers of non-Jewish birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We have heard that some persons from among us have worried you with their discussions and troubled your peace of mind. They were not appointed by us. But now, it has seemed right to us in an assembly, to choose representatives and to send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. We send you then Judas and Silas who themselves will give you these instructions by word of mouth. We, with the Holy Spirit, have decided not to put any other burden on you except what is necessary: You are to abstain from blood from the meat of strangled animals and from prohibited marriages. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” After saying goodbye, the messengers went to Antioch, where they assembled the community and handed them the letter. When they read the news, all were delighted with the encouragement it gave them.
►Gospel: Jn 15:12–17
Jesus said to his disciples, “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this, to give one’s life for one’s friends; and you are my friends if you do what I command you. I shall not call you servants any more, because servants do not know what their master is about. Instead I have called you friends, since I have made known to you everything I learned from my Father. You did not choose me; it was I who chose you and sent you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. And everything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. “This is my command, that you love one another.”
REFLECTION
“The greatest love you have for your friends is to give your life for them.”
We all give our lives to something–
to getting ahead, to getting things, to getting noticed.
We devote ourselves to ideas, to distractions,
and most of all, to ourselves.
But the real spiritual question is
how much of ourselves, like Jesus,
have we spent for the good of others?
5th Week of Easter
►1st Reading: Acts 16:1–10
Paul traveled on to Derbe and then to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy lived there, whose mother was a believer of Jewish origin but whose father was a Greek. As the believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him, Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him. So he took him and, because of the Jews of that place who all knew that his father was a Greek, he circumcised him.
As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, for the people to obey. Meanwhile, the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number every day.
They traveled through Phrygia and Galatia, because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia. When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to do this. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.
There one night Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and begged him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” When he awoke, he told us of this vision and we understood that the Lord was calling us to give the Good News to the Macedonian people.
►Gospel: Jn 15:18–21
Jesus said to his disciples, “If the world hates you, remember that the world hated me before you. This would not be so if you belonged to the world, because the world loves its own. But you are not of the world since I have chosen you from the world; because of this the world hates you.
“Remember what I told you: the servant is not greater than his master; if they persecuted me, they will persecute you, too. Have they kept my teaching? Will they then keep yours? All this they will do to you for the sake of my name because they do not know the One who sent me.”
REFLECTION
“I chose you from this world and you do not belong to it; that is why
the world hates you.”
As my motives and actions
become more like Jesus,
I will begin to think less like the world around me.
I will begin to know more about the poor and demeaned.
But that also means
that the world will think less of me, too.
Then what will I do?
6th Sunday of Easter
►1st Reading: Acts 15:1–2, 22–29
Some persons who had come from Judea to Antioch were teaching the brothers in this way, “Unless you are circumcised according to the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Because of this there was trouble, and Paul and Barnabas had fierce arguments with them. For Paul told the people to remain as they were when they became believers. Finally those who had come from Jerusalem suggested that Paul and Barnabas and some others go up to Jerusalem to discuss the matter with the apostles and elders.
Then the apostles and elders together with the whole Church decided to choose representatives from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. These were Judas, known as Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers. They took with them the following letter:
“Greetings from the apostles and elders, your brothers, to the believers of non-Jewish birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We have heard that some persons from among us have worried you with their discussions and troubled your peace of mind. They were not appointed by us. But now, it has seemed right to us in an assembly, to choose representatives and to send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. We send you then Judas and Silas who themselves will give you these instructions by word of mouth.
“We, with the Holy Spirit, have decided not to put any other burden on you except what is necessary: You are to abstain from blood from the meat of strangled animals and from prohibited marriages. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
►2nd Reading: Rev 21:10–14, 22–23
The angel took me up in a spiritual vision to a very high mountain and he showed me the holy city of Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shines with the glory of God, like a precious jewel with the color of crystal-clear jasper.
Its wall, large and high, has twelve gates; stationed at them are twelve angels. Over the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. Three gates face the east; three gates face the north; three gates face the south and three face the west. The city wall stands on twelve foundation stones on which are written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
I saw no temple in the city for the Lord God, Master of the universe, and the Lamb are themselves its temple. The city has no need of the light of the sun or the moon, since God’s Glory is its light and the Lamb is its lamp.
►Gospel: Jn 14:23–29
Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him; and we will come to him and make a room in his home. But if anyone does not love me, he will not keep my words, and these words that you hear are not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
“I told you all this while I was still with you. From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have told you.
“Peace be with you; I give you my peace. Not as the world gives peace do I give it to you. Do not be troubled; do not be afraid. You heard me say: ‘I am going away, but I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
I have told you this now before it takes place, so that when it does happen you may believe.”
REFLECTION
“Those who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them and my Father
and I will come to them and live with them.”
To be steeped in the words and heart of Jesus
is to be steeped in the will of God.
After that, I’m not confused anymore
about what to do or how to live.
Then life simply becomes an enterprise
of equally holy parts.
6th Week of Easter
Bl. Damien Joseph de Veuster of Moloka’i
►1st Reading: Acts 16:11–15
So we put out to sea from Troas and sailed straight across to Samothrace Island, and the next day to Neapolis. From there we went inland to Philippi, the leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. We spent some days in that city.
On the sabbath we went outside the city gate to the bank of the river where we thought the Jews would gather to pray. We sat down and began speaking to the women who were gathering there. One of them was a God-fearing woman named Lydia from Thyatira City, a dealer in purple cloth.
As she listened, the Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. After she had been baptized together with her household, she invited us to her house, “If you think I am faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us to accept her invitation.
►Gospel: Jn 15:26—16:4a
Jesus said to his disciples, “From the Father, I will send you the Spirit of truth. When this Helper has come from the Father, he will be my witness, and you, too, will be my witnesses for you have been with me from the beginning.
“I tell you all this to keep you from stumbling and falling away. They will put you out of the Jewish communities. Still more, the hour is coming when anyone who kills you will claim to be serving God; they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. I tell you all these things now so that when the time comes you may remember that I told you.
“I did not tell you about this in the beginning because I was with you.”
REFLECTION
“I am telling you the truth; it is better for you that I go away, because if I do not go,
the Helper will not come to you. But if I do go away, then I will send him to you.”
It is better to have the spirit of God
within us as we go
than it would be to have lived
at the time of the historical Jesus.
Now we are not observers.
Now the Spirit belongs to each of us, too.
6th Week of Easter
►1st Reading: Acts 16:22–34
So they set the crowd against them and the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be flogged. And after inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to guard them safely. Upon receiving these instructions, he threw them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly a severe earthquake shook the place, rocking the prison to its foundations. Immediately all the doors flew open and the chains of all the prisoners fell off. The jailer woke up to see the prison gates wide open. Thinking that the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword to kill himself, but Paul shouted to him, “Do not harm yourself! We are all still here.”
The jailer asked for a light, then rushed in, and fell at the feet of Paul and Silas. After he had secured the other prisoners, he led them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you and your household will be saved.” Then they spoke the word of God to him and to all his household.
Even at that hour of the night, the jailer took care of them and washed their wounds; and he and his whole household were baptized at once. He led them to his house, spread a meal before them and joyfully celebrated with his whole household his newfound faith in God.
►Gospel: Jn 16:5–11
Jesus said to his disciples, “But now I am going to the One who sent me and none of you asks me where I am going; instead you are overcome with grief because of what I have said. Indeed believe me: It is better for you that I go away, because as long as I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go away, it is to send him to you, and when he comes, he will vindicate the truth in face of the world with regard to sin, to the way of righteousness, and to the Judgment.
“What has been the sin? They did not believe in me. What is the way of righteousness? I am on the way to the Father, meanwhile you will not see me. What Judgment? The Ruler of this world has himself been condemned.”
REFLECTION
“And when the Spirit comes, the Spirit will prove to the people of the world
that they are wrong about sin and about what is right and about God’s judgment.”
What we call “sin” is so often just the rules.
What we call ‘right” is so often simply what we prefer.
What we call “God’s judgment” is too often
what we do not approve.
But it is coming to see sin and rightness and judgment
as Jesus sees them
that is really the essence of the spiritual life.
6th Week of Easter
Nereus and Achilleus / Pancras
►1st Reading: Acts 17:15, 22–18:1*(completed)
Paul was taken as far as Athens by his escort, who then returned to Beroea with instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible.
Then Paul stood up in the Areopagus hall and said, “Athenian citizens, I note that in every way you are very religious. As I walked around looking at your shrines, I even discovered an altar with this inscription: To an unknown God. Now, what you worship as unknown, I intend to make known to you.
God, who made the world and all that is in it, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, being as he is Lord of heaven and earth. Nor does his worship depend on anything made by human hands, as if he were in need. Rather it is he who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone. From one stock he created the whole human race to live throughout all the earth, and he fixed the time and the boundaries of each nation. He wanted them to seek him by themselves, even if it were only by groping for him, succeed in finding him.
Yet he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being, as some of your poets have said: for we too are his offspring. If we are indeed God’s offspring, we ought not to think of divinity as something like a statue of gold or silver or stone, a product of human art and imagination.
But now God prefers to overlook this time of ignorance and he calls on all people to change their ways. He has already set a day on which he will judge the world with justice through a man he has appointed. And, so that all may believe it, he has just given a sign by raising this man from the dead.”
When they heard Paul speak of a resurrection from death, some made fun of him, while others said, “We must hear you on this topic some other time.” At that point Paul left. But a few did join him, and believed. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus court, a woman named Damaris, and some others.
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
►Gospel: John 16:12–15
Jesus said to his disciples, “I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. When he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into the whole truth.
“He has nothing to say of himself but he will speak of what he hears, and he will tell you of the things to come. He will take what is mine and make it known to you; in doing this, he will glorify me. All that the Father has is mine; because of this I have just told you, that the Spirit will take what is mine and make it known to you.”
REFLECTION
“I have much more to tell you, but now it would be too much for you to bear.”
Jesus turns upside down
all our old ideas about life and sin.
That’s why following Jesus
is really so difficult.
It demands that we begin
to see and think and live differently
than the world around us.
6th Week of Easter
Our Lady of Fatima
►1st Reading: Acts 18:1–8
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, following a decree of the Emperor Claudius which ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them and then stayed and worked with them because they shared the same trade of tentmaking. Every Sabbath he held discussions in the synagogue, trying to convince both Jews and Greeks.
When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was able to give himself wholly to preaching and proving to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. One day when they opposed him and insulted him, he shook the dust from his clothes in protest, saying, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. I am not to blame if from now on I go to the non-Jews.” So Paul left there and went to the house of a God-fearing man named Titus Justus who lived next door to the synagogue. A leading man of the synagogue, Crispus, along with his whole household, believed in the Lord. On hearing Paul, many more Corinthians believed and were baptized.
►Gospel: Jn 16:16–20
Jesus said to his disciples, “A little while and you will see me no more; and then a little while, and you will see me.”
Some of the disciples wondered, “What does he mean by: ‘A little while and you will not see me, and then a little while and you will see me’? And why did he say: ‘I go to the Father’?” And they said to one another, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.”
Jesus knew that they wanted to question him; so he said to them, “You are puzzled because I told you that in a little while you will see me no more, and then a little while later you will see me. Truly, I say to you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.”
REFLECTION
“What does this ‘a little while’ mean?”
God’s time is not our time.
We want everything explained
and resolved and repaired now.
But there are things to be learned
by waiting.
Patience and insight and growth
all come slowly.
6th Week of Easter
Matthias, Apostle
►1st Reading: Acts 1:15–17, 20–26*(completed)
It was during this time that Peter stood up in the midst of the community—about one hundred and twenty in all – and he said, “Brothers, it was necessary that the Scriptures referring to Judas be fulfilled. The Holy Spirit had spoken through David about the one who would lead the crowd coming to arrest Jesus. He was one of our number and had been called to share our common ministry.
In the book of Psalms it is written: Let his house become deserted and may no one live in it. But it is also written: May another take his office. Therefore we must choose someone from among those who were with us during all the time that the Lord Jesus moved about with us, beginning with John’s baptism until the day when Jesus was taken away from us. One of these has to become, with us, a witness to his resurrection.”
Then they proposed two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, also known as Justus, and Matthias. They prayed: “You know, Lord, what is in the hearts of all. Show us, therefore, which of the two you have chosen to replace Judas in this apostolic ministry which he deserted to go to the place he deserved.”
Then they drew lots between the two and the choice fell on Matthias who was added to the eleven apostles.
►Gospel: Jn 15:9–17
Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; remain in my love. You will remain in my love if you keep my commandments, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
“I have told you all this, that my own joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this, to give one’s life for one’s friends; and you are my friends if you do what I command you.
“I shall not call you servants any more, because servants do not know what their master is about. Instead I have called you friends, since I have made known to you everything I learned from my Father. You did not choose me; it was I who chose you and sent you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. And everything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. This is my command, that you love one another.”
REFLECTION
“You did not choose me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit,
the kind of fruit that endures.”
To be alive is to be responsible
for the co-creation of the world.
We are not here simply to get up
and breathe every morning.
We are here to finish what God began.
We are here to bear the fruit that endures.
6th Week of Easter
Isidore the Farmer
►1st Reading: Acts 18:23–28
After spending some time there, he left and traveled from place to place through Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening the disciples.
A certain Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived at Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and an authority on the Scriptures, and he had some knowledge of the way of the Lord. With great enthusiasm he preached and taught correctly about Jesus, although he knew only of John’s baptism. As he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, Priscilla and Aquila heard him; so they took him home with them and explained to him the way more accurately. As Apollos wished to go to Achaia, the believers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly strengthened those who, by God’s grace, had become believers, for he vigorously refuted the Jews, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.
►Gospel: Jn 16:23b–28
Jesus said to his disciples, “When that day comes you will not ask me anything. Truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my Name, he will give you. So far you have not asked in my Name; ask and receive that your joy may be full.
I taught you all this in veiled language, but the time is coming when I shall no longer speak in veiled language, but will tell you plainly of the Father.
When that day comes, you will ask in my Name and it will not be for me to ask the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and you believe that I came from the Father. As I came from the Father and have come into the world, so I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
REFLECTION
“When that day comes, you will ask him in my name;
and I do not say that I will ask him on your behalf,
for the Father himself loves you.”
To come to know and follow Jesus–
to develop a relationship with Jesus–
is to grow into a relationship
with the God of Jesus.
It is to come to full spiritual stature ourselves,
to grow into a spiritual adulthood that is of God.
Our Lord’s Ascension
►1st Reading: Acts 1:1–11
In the first part of my work, Theophilus, I wrote of all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he ascended to heaven.
But first he had instructed through the Holy Spirit the apostles he had chosen. After his passion, he presented himself to them, giving many signs that he was alive; over a period of forty days he appeared to them and taught them concerning the kingdom of God. Once when he had been eating with them, he told them, “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the fulfillment of the Father’s promise about which I have spoken to you: John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit within a few days.”
When they had come together, they asked him, “Is it now that you will restore the Kingdom of Israel?” And he answered, “It is not for you to know the time and the steps that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the earth.”
After Jesus said this, he was taken up before their eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight. While they were still looking up to heaven where he went, suddenly, two men dressed in white stood beside them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will return in the same way as you have seen him go there.”
►2nd Reading: Heb 9:24–28; 10:19–23
Christ did not enter some sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself. He is now in the presence of God on our behalf. He had not to offer himself many times, as the High Priest does: he who may return every year, because the blood is not his own. Otherwise he would have suffered many times from the creation of the world. But no; he manifested himself only now at the end of the ages, to take away sin by sac-rifice, and, as humans die only once and afterwards are judged, in the same way Christ sacrificed himself once to take away the sins of the multitude. There will be no further question of sin when he comes again to save those waiting for him.
So, my friends, we are as-sured of entering the Sanctuary by the blood of Jesus who opened for us this new and living way passing through the curtain, that is, his body. Because we have a high priest in charge of the House of God, let us approach with a sincere heart, with full faith, interiorly cleansed from a bad conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast to our hope with-out wavering, because he who promised is faithful.
►Gospel: Lk 24:46–53
Jesus said to the eleven, “You see what was written: the Messiah had to suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. Then repentance and forgiveness in his name would be proclaimed to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Now you shall be witnesses to this. And this is why I will send you what my Father promised. So remain in the city until you are invested with power from above.”
Jesus led them almost as far as Bethany; then he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And as he blessed them, he withdrew (and was taken to heaven. They worshiped him). They returned to Jerusalem full of joy and were continually in the Temple praising God.
REFLECTION
“The message of repentance and forgiveness of sins
must be preached to all nations,
beginning in Jerusalem.”
Jesus wants us to know
that it is not perfection that we must be about.
What is really important are our efforts to do better,
always better,
that claims God’s love and forgiveness.
7th Week of Easter
►1st Reading: Acts 19:1–8
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples whom he asked, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They answered, “We have not even heard that anyone may receive the Holy Spirit.” Paul then asked, “What kind of baptism have you received?” And they answered, “The baptism of John.”
Paul then explained, “John’s baptism was for conversion, but he himself said they should believe in the one who was to come, and that one is Jesus.” Upon hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Paul laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came down upon them; and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. There were about twelve of them in all.
Paul went into the synagogue and for three months he preached and discussed there boldly, trying to convince them about the Kingdom of God.
►Gospel: Jn 16:29–33
The disciples said to Jesus, “Now you are speaking plainly and not in veiled language! Now we see that you know all things, even before we question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.”
Jesus answered them, “You say that you believe! The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.
“I have told you all this, so that in me you may have peace. You will have trouble in the world; but, courage! I have overcome the world.”
REFLECTION
“....I will be left alone. But I am not really alone because the Father is with me.”
Jesus gives us the great lesson of life here:
God is with us
through everything–
and at all times.
To know God is never to be alone
however lonely life seems on the surface.
7th Week of Easter
John 1
►1st Reading: Acts 20:17–27*(completed)
From Miletus Paul sent word to Ephesus, summoning the elders of the Church. When they came to him, he addressed them, “You know how I lived among you from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia, how I served the Lord in humility through the sorrows and trials that the Jews caused me. You know that I never held back from doing anything that could be useful for you; I spoke publicly and in your homes and I urged Jews and non-Jews alike to turn to God and believe in our Lord Jesus.
But now I am going to Jerusalem, chained by the Spirit, without knowing what will happen to me there. Yet in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and troubles await me. Indeed I put no value on my life, if only I can finish my race and complete the service to which I have been assigned by the Lord Jesus, to announce the good news of God’s grace.
I now feel sure that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom of God will ever see me again. Therefore I declare to you this day that my conscience is clear with regard to all of you. For I have spared no effort in fully declaring to you God’s will.
►Gospel: Jn 17:1–11a
Jesus said, “Father, the hour has come; give glory to your Son, that the Son may give glory to you. You have given him power over all mortals, and you want him to bring eternal life to all you have entrusted to him. For this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the One you sent, Jesus Christ. I have glorified you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to do. Now, Father, give me in your presence the same Glory I had with you before the world began.
“I have made your name known to those you gave me from the world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they kept your word. And now they know that all you have given me comes indeed from you. I have given them the teaching I received from you, and they received it and know in truth that I came from you; and they believe that you have sent me. I pray for them; I do not pray for the world but for those who belong to you and whom you have given to me—indeed all I have is yours and all you have is mine—and now they are my glory. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world whereas I am going to you. Holy Father, keep them in your Name (that you have given me,) so that they may be one, just as we are.”
REFLECTION
“I have shown your glory on earth. I have finished the work you gave me to do.”
Each of us, too,
has really only one goal on earth:
to show God’s glory on earth
rather than to be consumed with our own
and to finish the work
God gave us to do.
7th Week of Easter
►1st Reading: Acts 20:28–38*(completed)
“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock the Holy Spirit has placed into your care. Shepherd the Church of the Lord that he has won at the price of his own blood. I know that after I leave, ruthless wolves will come among you and not spare the flock. And from among you, some will arise corrupting the truth and inducing the disciples to follow them.
“Be on the watch, therefore, remembering that for three years, night and day, I did not cease to warn every-one even with tears. Now I commend you to God and to his grace-filled word, which is able to make you grow and gain the inheritance that you shall share with all the saints.
“I have not looked for anyone’s silver, gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided for both my needs and the needs of those who were with me. In every way I have shown you that by so working hard one must help the weak, remembering the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘Happiness lies more in giving than in receiving.’”
After this discourse, Paul knelt down with them and prayed. Then they all began to weep and threw their arms around him and kissed him. They were deeply distressed because he had said that they would never see him again. And they went with him even to the ship.
►Gospel: Jn 17:11b–19
Jesus prayed, “I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world whereas I am going to you. Holy Father, keep them in your Name (that you have given me,) so that they may be one, just as we are. When I was with them, I kept them safe in your Name, and not one was lost except the one who was already lost, and in this the Scripture was fulfilled. But now I am coming to you and I leave these my words in the world that my joy may be complete in them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world; just as I am not of the world. I do not ask you to remove them from the world but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world; consecrate them in the truth—your word is truth.
“I have sent them into the world as you sent me into the world, and for their sake, I go to the sacrifice by which I am consecrated, so that they too may be consecrated in truth.”
REFLECTION
“I do not ask you to take them out of the world
but I do ask you to keep them safe from the Evil One.”
“Tell me, Holy One,” the disciple said,
“Should I sell my business and go into a monastery?”
And the Holy One answered,
“No, keep your business but go into your heart.”
Point: God must be the center of our lives
wherever we are.
That is far more difficult than going into a monastery.
7th Week of Easter
Bernardine of Siena
►1st Reading: Acts 22:30; 23:6–11*(completed)
The next day the commander wanted to know for certain the charges the Jews were making against Paul. So he released him from prison and called together the High Priest and the whole Council; and they brought Paul down and made him stand before them.
Paul knew that part of the Council were Sadducees and others Pharisees; so he spoke out in the Council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee. It is for the hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial here.”
At these words, an argument broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the whole assembly was divided. For the Sadducees claim that there is neither resurrection, nor angels nor spirits, while the Pharisees acknowledge all these things.
Then the shouting grew louder, and some teachers of the Law of the Pharisee party protested, “We find nothing wrong with this man. Maybe a spirit or an angel has spoken to him.”
With this the argument became so violent that the commander feared that Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He therefore ordered the soldiers to go down and rescue him from their midst and take him back to the fortress.
That night the Lord stood by Paul and said, “Courage! As you have borne witness to me here in Jerusalem, so must you do in Rome.”
►Gospel: Jn 17:20–26
Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed, “I pray not only for these but also for those who through their word will believe in me. May they all be one as you Father are in me and I am in you. May they be one in us; so the world may believe that you have sent me.
“I have given them the Glory you have given me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. Thus they shall reach perfection in unity and the world shall know that you have sent me and that I have loved them just as you loved me.
“Father, since you have given them to me, I want them to be with me where I am and see the Glory you gave me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
“Righteous Father, the world has not known you but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me. As I revealed your Name to them, so will I continue to reveal it, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I also may be in them.”
REFLECTION
“May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you.”
The most certain sign of a holy life
is that in our love for the God who made us all--
we come to love one another
as a reflection of that God
in whose image
we are all made.
7th Week of Easter
Christopher Magallanes
►1st Reading: Acts 25:13b–21
Some days later King Agrippa and his sister Bernice arrived in Caesarea to greet Festus. As they were to stay there several days, Festus told the king about Paul’s case and said to him.
“We have here a man whom Felix left as a prisoner. When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews accused him and asked me to sentence him. I told them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over a man without giving him an opportunity to defend himself in front of his accusers. So they came and I took my seat without delay on the tribunal and sent for the man.
“When the accusers had the floor, they did not accuse him of any of the crimes that I was led to think he had committed; instead they quarreled with him about religion and about a certain Jesus who has died but whom Paul asserted to be alive. I did not know what to do about this case, so I asked Paul if he wanted to go to Jerusalem to be tried there. But Paul appealed to be judged by the emperor. So I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.”
►Gospel: Jn 21:15–19
After Jesus and his disciples had finished breakfast, he said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” And Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” And Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Look after my sheep.” And a third time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was saddened because Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus then said, “Feed my sheep. Truly, I say to you, when you were young you put on your belt and walked where you liked. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and another will put a belt around you and lead you where you do not wish to go.”
Jesus said this to make known the kind of death by which Peter was to glorify God. And he added, “Follow me.”
REFLECTION
“‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”
‘Yes, Lord,’ he answered, ‘you know that I do.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Take care of my lambs.’”
The point is clear:
to love Jesus means that I
must love those whom Jesus loves.
And that’s everyone of every station in life.
The great spiritual question, then, is do I?
And if I say I do, how am I showing it?
7th Week of Easter
Rita of Cascia
►1st Reading: Acts 28:16–20, 30–31
Upon our arrival in Rome, the captain turned the prisoners over to the military governor but permitted Paul to lodge in a private house with the soldier who guarded him.
After three days, Paul called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered, he said to them: “Brothers, though I have not done anything against our people or against the traditions of our fathers, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. They examined me and wanted to set me free, for they saw nothing in my case that deserved death. But the Jews objected, so I was forced to appeal to Caesar without the least intention of bringing any case against my own people. Therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I bear these chains.”
Paul stayed for two whole years in a house he himself rented, where he received without any hindrance all those who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught the truth about Jesus Christ, the Lord, quite openly and without any hindrance.
►Gospel: Jn 21:20–25
Peter looked back and saw that the disciple Jesus loved was following as well, the one who had reclined close to Jesus at the supper and had asked him, “Lord, who is to betray you?” On seeing him Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I come, does that concern you? Follow me.”
Because of this the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus had not said to Peter, “He will not die,” but “suppose I want him to remain until I come.”
It is this disciple who testifies about the things he has recorded here and we know that his testimony is true. But Jesus did many other things; if all were written down, the world itself would not hold the books recording them.
REFLECTION
“Jesus said, ‘If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you?’”
When I compare myself to those around me,
when I wonder why they are blessed
and I, it seems, am not,
I have completely forgotten that Jesus
deals with all of us differently.
My holiness depends only on living my own life well.
Pentecost Sunday
►1st Reading: Acts 2:1–11
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. And suddenly out of the sky came a sound like a strong rushing wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared tongues as if of fire which parted and came to rest upon each one of them. All were filled with Holy Spirit and began to speak other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
Staying in Jerusalem were religious Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered, all excited because each heard them speaking in his own language. Full of amazement and wonder, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that we hear them in our own native language? Here are Parthians, Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and foreigners who accept Jewish beliefs, Cretians and Arabians; and all of us hear them proclaiming in our own language what God, the Savior, does.”
►2nd Reading: Rom 8:8–17
So, those walking according to the flesh cannot please God.
Yet your existence is not in the flesh, but in the spirit, because the Spirit of God is within you. If you did not have the Spirit of Christ, you would not belong to him. But Christ is within you; though the body is branded by death as a consequence of sin, the spirit is life and holiness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is within you, He who raised Jesus Christ from among the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. Yes, he will do it through his Spirit who dwells within you.
Then, brothers, let us leave the flesh and no longer live according to it. If not, we will die. Rather, walking in the Spirit, let us put to death the body’s deeds so that we may live.
All those who walk in the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God. Then, no more fear: you did not receive a spirit of slavery, but the Spirit that makes you sons and daughters and every time we cry, “Abba! (this is Dad!) Father!” the Spirit assures our spirit that we are sons and daughters of God. If we are children, we are heirs, too. Ours will be the inheritance of God and we will share it with Christ; for if we now suffer with him, we will also share Glory with him.
►Gospel: Jn 14:15–16, 23b–26
Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my com-mandments; and I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him; and we will come to him and make a room in his home. But if anyone does not love me, he will not keep my words, and these words that you hear are not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
“I told you all this while I was still with you. From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have told you.”
REFLECTION
“‘Peace be with you,’” Jesus said. After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side.”
Whatever life demands of us,
we see in the glorified wounds of Jesus,
we will survive and be better for
because the One who was wounded for us
is sign of the God who stretches us, too,
for the sake of the kingdom.
8th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: 1 P 1:3–9
Let us praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for his great mercy. In raising Jesus Christ from the dead he has given us new life and a living hope. The inheritance that does not corrupt nor goes bad nor passes away was reserved to you in heavens, since God’s power shall keep you faithful until salvation is revealed in the last days.
There is cause for joy, then, even though you may, for a time, have to suffer many trials. Thus will your faith be tested, like gold in a furnace. Gold, however, passes away but faith, worth so much more, will bring you in the end praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ appears.
You have not yet seen him and yet you love him; even without seeing him, you believe in him and experience a heavenly joy beyond all words, for you are reaching the goal of your faith: the salvation of your souls.
►Gospel: Mk 10:17–27
Just as Jesus was setting out on his journey again, a man ran up, knelt before him and asked, “Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?”
Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat, honor your father and mother.” The man replied, “I have obeyed all these commandments since my childhood.”
Then Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him and he said, “For you, one thing is lacking. Go, sell what you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.” On hearing these words, his face fell and he went away sorrowful for he was a man of great wealth.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus insisted, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
They were more astonished than ever and wondered, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus looked steadily at them and said, “For humans it is impossible, but not for God; all things are possible with God.”
REFLECTION
“Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor
and you will have riches in heaven;
then come and follow me.”
Whatever I have belongs to the poor.
I have talent and success and security
so that I can help others.
In that way, the gifts given to me
are given by God to others through me.
Then, like Jesus,
I will have fulfilled my work on earth.
8th Week in Ordinary Time
Venerable Bede / Gregory VII / Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
►1st Reading: 1 P 1:10–16
This was the salvation for which the prophets so-eagerly looked when, in days past, they foretold the favor of God with regard to you. But they could only investigate when the Spirit of Christ present within them pointed out the time and the circumstances of this – the sufferings of Christ and the glories which would follow.
It was revealed to them that they were working not for themselves but for you. Thus, in these days, after the Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven, the Gospel’s preachers have taught you these mysteries which even the angels long to see.
So, then, let your spirit be ready. Be alert, with confident trust in the grace you will receive when Jesus Christ appears. Like obedient children, do not return to your former life given over to ignorance and passions. Imitate the one who called you. As he is holy so you, too, be holy in all your conduct, since Scripture says: Be holy for I am holy.
►Gospel: Mk 10:28–31
Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, “We have given up everything to follow you.” Jesus answered, “Truly, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or lands for my sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive his reward. I say to you: even in the midst of persecution he will receive a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands in the present time and in the world to come eternal life. Do pay attention: Many who now are first will be last, and the last, first.”
REFLECTION
“Then Peter spoke up. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘we have left everything and followed you.’”
It is one thing to follow Jesus
when the sun is shining
and the crowds are cheering.
It is when following Jesus makes us different
from the rest of the world that discipleship is difficult.
The question is who am I following now?
And who am I following that Jesus would not?
8th Week in Ordinary Time
Philip Neri
►1st Reading: 1 P 1:18–25
Remember that you were freed from the useless way of life of your ancestors, not with gold and silver but with the precious blood of the Lamb without spot or blemish. God, who has known Christ before the world began, revealed him to you in the last days. Through him, you have faith in God who raised him from the dead and glorified him in order that you might put all your faith and hope in God.
In obeying the truth, you have gained interior purification from which comes sincere mutual love. Love one another, then, with all your heart, since you are born again, not from mortal beings, but with enduring life, through the Word of God who lives and?remains forever. It is written: All flesh is grass and its glory like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord endures forever. This Word is the Gospel which has been brought to you.
►Gospel: Mk 10:32–45
Jesus and his disciples were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead. The Twelve were anxious and those who followed were afraid. Once more Jesus took the Twelve aside to tell them what was to happen to him, “You see we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be given over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the foreigners who will make fun of him, spit on him, scourge him and finally kill him; but three days later he will rise.”
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, “Master, we want you to grant us what we are going to ask of you.” And he said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They answered, “Grant us to sit one at your right and one at your left when you come in your glory.”
But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized in the way I am baptized?” They answered, “We can.” And Jesus told them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and you will be baptized in the way I am baptized. But to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to grant. It has been prepared for others.”
On hearing this, the other ten were angry with James and John; Jesus then called them to him and said, “As you know, the so-called rulers of the nations act as tyrants and their great ones oppress them. But it shall not be so among you; whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you shall make himself slave of all. Think of the Son of Man who has not come to be served but to serve and to give his life to redeem many.”
REFLECTION
“You know that those who are considered rulers of the heathen have power over them,
and the leaders have complete authority. This, however, is not the way it is among you.
If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest...”
We must beware authority
that rules for its own sake–
that uses people to enhance its power and pride.
Real authority sets out
to empower the powerless,
to give freedom and develop gifts.
Bogus authority only seeks to control others.
8th Week in Ordinary Time
Augustine of Canterbury
►1st Reading: 1 P 2:2–5, 9–12
Like newborn children, seek eagerly for the pure milk of the Word that will help you grow and reach salvation. Did you not taste the goodness of the Lord? He is the living stone rejected by people but chosen by God and precious to him; set yourselves close to him so that you, too, become living stones built into a spiritual temple, a holy community of priests offering spiritual sacrifices that please God through Jesus Christ.
You are a chosen race, a community of priest-kings, a consecrated nation, a people God has made his own to proclaim his wonders. For he called you from your darkness to his own wonderful light. At one stage you were no people, but now you are God’s people, you had not received his mercy, but now you have been given mercy.
Beloved, while you are strangers and exiles, I urge you not to indulge in selfish passions that wage war on the soul. Live a blameless life among the pagans; so when they accuse you falsely of any wrong, they may see your good works and give glory to God on the day he comes to them.
►Gospel: Mk 10:46–52
As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth passing by, he began to call out, “Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me!” Many people scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man saying, “Take heart. Get up, he is calling you.” He immediately threw aside his cloak, jumped up and went to Jesus.
Then Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said, “Master, let me see again!” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way, your faith has made you well.” And immediately he could see, and he followed Jesus along the road.
REFLECTION
“Go your way, your faith has saved you.”
To be like Jesus, we just share
what we have of it with everyone.
As a Christian country,
we must give to others more than we take.
8th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: 1 P 4:7–13
The end of all things is near; keep your minds calm and sober for prayer. Above all, let your love for one another be sincere, for love covers a multitude of sins. Welcome one another into your houses without complaining. Serve one another with the gifts each of you received, thus becoming good managers of the varied graces of God. -If you speak, deliver the word of God; if you have a special ministry, let it be seen as God’s power so that, in everything, God may be glorified in Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
My dear people, do not be sur-prised at the testing by fire which is taking place among you, as though something strange were happening to you. Instead, you should be glad to share in the sufferings of Christ because, on the day his Glory is revealed, you will also fully rejoice.
►Gospel: Mk 11:11–26
Jesus entered Jerusa¬lem and went into the Temple. And after he had looked all around, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The next day, when they were leaving Bethany, he felt hungry. In the distance he noticed a fig tree covered with leaves, so he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. Then Jesus said to the fig tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit!” And his disciples heard these words.
When they reached Jeru¬salem, Jesus went to the Temple and began to drive away all the people he saw buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the stools of those who sold pigeons. And he would not let anyone carry anything through the Temple area.
Jesus then taught the people, “Does not God say in the Scriptures: My house will be called a House of Prayer for all the nations? But you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
The chief priests and the teachers of the Law heard of this, and they tried to find a way to destroy him. They were afraid of him because all the people were captivated in his teaching.
When evening came, Jesus left the city.
Early next morning, as they walked along the road, the disciples saw the fig tree withered to its roots. Peter then said to him, “Master, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.”
And Jesus replied, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, if you say to this mountain: ‘Get up and throw yourself into the sea,’ and have no doubt in your heart but be¬¬lieve that what you say will happen, it will be done for you. There¬¬¬fore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it shall be done for you. And when you stand to pray, forgive whatever you may hold against anyone, so that your heavenly Father may also forgive your sins.”
REFLECTION
“When Jesus came (to the fig tree) he found only leaves, because it was not the right time for figs.
Jesus said to the fig tree,’No one shall ever eat figs from you again.’”
Jesus curses the fig tree, not because
it did not do what was expected of it.
–After all, ‘it was not the right time for figs.’
No, Jesus curses the fig tree
because it did only what was expected of it.
Obviously, doing the minimum is not enough–
not even from us.
8th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Jd 1:17, 20b–25
But, most beloved, remember what the apostles of Christ Jesus, our Lord, announced to you.
But, dearly beloved, build your life on the foundation of your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Remain firm in the love of God, welcoming the mercy of Jesus Christ, our Lord, which leads to eternal life.
Try to convince those who doubt; others you will save, snatching them from condemnation. Treat the others with compassion but also with prudence, shunning even the clothes that touched their body.
To the one God who is able to keep you from all sin and bring you happy and without blemish before his own Glory, to the one God who saves us through Jesus Christ, our Lord, to him be glory, honor, might and pow-er, from past ages, now and forever. Amen.
►Gospel: Mk 11:27–33
They were once again in Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law and the elders came to him and asked, “What authority do you have to act like this? Who gave you authority to do the things you do?”
Jesus said to them, “I will ask you a question, only one, and if you give me an answer, then I will tell you what authority I have to act like this. Was John’s preaching and baptism a work of God, or was it merely something human? Answer me.”
And they kept arguing among them-selves, “If we answer that it was a work of God, he will say: ‘Why then did you not believe him?’” But neither could they answer before the people that the baptism of John was merely something human, for everyone regarded John as a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know,” and Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you what authority I have to act as I do.”
REFLECTION
“As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law,
and the elders came to him and asked him, ‘What right do you have to do these things?
Who gave you such right?’”
Authority that dominates
always fears authority that comes from God–
authority that resides in personal gifts and insight–
because it threatens the positions of those
who have claimed all authority for themselves alone.
Then the powerless become slaves of the system
and God can no longer work through them.
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
►1st Reading: Prov 8:22–31
Yahweh created me first,
at the beginning of his works.
He formed me from of old,
from eternity, even before the earth.
The abyss did not exist when I was born,
the springs of the sea had not gushed forth,
the mountains were still not set in their place
nor the hills, when I was born
before he made the earth or countryside,
or the first grains of the world’s dust.
I was there when he made the skies
and drew the earth’s compass on the abyss,
when he formed the clouds above
and when the springs of the ocean emerged;
when he made the sea with its limits,
that it might not overflow.
When he laid the foundations of the earth,
I was close beside him,
the designer of his works,
and I was his daily delight,
forever playing in his presence,
playing throughout the world
and delighting to be with humans.
►2nd Reading: Rom 5:1–5
By faith we have received true righteousness, and we are at peace with God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Through him we obtain this favor in which we remain and we even boast to expect the Glory of God.
Not only that, we also boast even in trials, knowing that trials produce patience, from patience comes merit, merit is the source of hope, and hope does not disappoint us because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God.
►Gospel: Jn 16:12–15
Jesus said to his disciples, “I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. When he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into the whole truth.
“He has nothing to say of himself but he will speak of what he hears, and he will tell you of the things to come. He will take what is mine and make it known to you; in doing this, he will glorify me. All that the Father has is mine; because of this I have just told you, that the Spirit will take what is mine and make it known to you.”
REFLECTION
“I have much more to tell you but now it would be too much for you to bear.
When, however, the Spirit comes who reveals the truth about God,
he will lead you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own authority
but he will speak what he hears and will tell you of things to come.
We come to know God slowly in life.
We do not understand everything at once.
But little by little, the Spirit leads us to the truths
God wants us to know.
First, of course, we have to be open to the Spirit.
We must trust God at work in us–
even when it seems to be outside the rules.
Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
►1st Reading: Zep 3:14–18a
Cry out with joy, O daughter of Zion; rejoice, O people of Israel! Sing joyfully with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem!
Yahweh has lifted your sentence and has driven your enemies away. Yahweh, the King of Israel is with you; do not fear any misfortune.
On that day they will say to Jerusalem: Do not be afraid nor let your hands tremble, for Yahweh your God is within you, Yahweh, saving warrior. He will jump for joy on seeing you, for he has revived his love. For you he will cry out with joy, as you do in the days of the Feast.
I will drive away the evil I warned you about, and you will no longer be shamed.
►Gospel: Lk 1:39–56
Mary then set out for a town in the Hills of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with holy spirit, and giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to-me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who be-lieved that the Lord’s word would come true!”
And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit exults in God my savior!
He has looked upon his servant in her lowliness,
and people forever will call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
Holy is his Name!
From age to age his mercy extends
to those who live in his presence.
He has acted with power and done wonders,
and scattered the proud with their plans.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones
and lifted up those who are downtrodden.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He held out his hand to Israel, his servant,
for he remembered his mercy,
even as he promised our fathers,
Abraham and his descendants forever.”
Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned home.
REFLECTION
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby moved within her.
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and said in a loud voice,
“You are the most blessed of all women
and blessed is the child you will bear.”
It was a woman, Elizabeth, not a rabbi or a teacher of the Law,
through whom the Holy Spirit spoke to Mary.
It was a woman
who recognized that God was working differently
than ought to be expected in her.
Clearly, the Holy Spirit
was working outside the lines of authority.
