The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his Flesh to eat? Jesus said to them, Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. In the words of todays gospel reading, one by one, the Lord calls his own. It is composed by Carmelite scholars and is available in English, Spanish and Italian. When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. It may seem as small as the two barley loaves and five fish, but the Lord can work powerfully through our efforts, small as they may seem to us. In the words of todays first reading she lived her life in the light, in God who is light, and brought the light of Gods reconciling love to her broken church and world. It is his loving communion with Christ that now drives him. At some level we are all seekers or searchers. In the gospel reading Jesus declares that no one will steal his disciples from him. Even though we may be basically at home in our own religious tradition, our Catholic faith in our case, God is always beyond us. Mark may have written his gospel for the church in Rome in the aftermath of that cataclysmic event. He can only enter the kingdom of God if he is born of water and the Spirit, born from above. In different ways we too can abandon the Lord; we may deny and even betray him by something we say or do. Many of those images stress what Jesus does for us. The story they told the stranger was without any hope in it. Up until that moment, all the disciples of Jesus were Jews. When the two disciples told their story of the recent events in Jerusalem, the stranger who had joined them and who had listened carefully to their story told another story about those same events. He has done and is doing everything he can to make possible this intimate relationship between him and ourselves. It is a consolation to know that the Lord is so devoted to us and so committed to our well-being, and, in particular, our ultimate well-being, our eternal well-being. He goes on to say of Jesus, in the words of our gospel reading, that he comes from heaven, that the Father gives Jesus the Spirit without reserve, that the Father has entrusted everything to the Son. Joseph had a marketable skill. We are all aware of our limitations, our weaknesses, and, yet, we are not always so aware of the many ways that the Lord can work through us, in spite of our weaknesses, if we trust him to do so. After a powerful, ecstatic experience of Christ in 1374, she commenced her public role, mediating in an armed conflict between the city of Florence and the Avignon-based papacy. In the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, there is often a connection between prayer and the coming of the Holy Spirit. When we listen attentively to the Lords word, we are opening ourselves to Holy Spirit, and in the power of that Spirit we will be able to witness to our faith in the Lord with something of the courage shown by Peter and the apostles in todays first reading. Please join us in praying these daily Lenten Reflections with Fr. the usability. We live out the call to be the Lords disciple in a way that is unique to each one of us. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. At such times of great discouragement, very often we can only see what went wrong. Jesus is the good shepherd in that sense. She commenced her role as a public figure, dictating hundreds of letters to popes, monarchs and other leaders of note. and I will raise him up at the last day. Reflections on Daily Readings 2023 - Carmelites We can all find ourselves asking a similar kind of question to Andrew, What is that between so many? We see some need or other and we recognize that our own personal resources or those of the group are not sufficient to meet the need. Perhaps, therefore, we find it easy to identify with Thomas in todays gospel reading. Life has triumphed over death!, and our own present experience. The Ethiopian on that road is a seeker. We have all been born of water and the Spirit through baptism but we need to keep opening ourselves ever more completely to the presence of the Spirit within us. he cannot see the kingdom of God.. That way of the cross became more difficult this past week, the Easter octave, when the church celebrates the resurrection of Christ. As Peter puts it in todays second reading, You did not see him, yet you love him. He was anticipating what we see happening in the first reading. Give me your hand; put it into my side. For a three year period she devoted herself to prayer and seclusion. We come as beggars to the Eucharist, recognizing that we need to draw from the Lords risen life so that we can be fully alive in the way God wants us to be. So where did the man get it all? And they would not accept him. There is something wonderfully mysterious about the birth of every child. When they had eaten enough he said to the disciples, Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing gets wasted. So they picked them up, and filled twelve hampers with scraps left over from the meal of five barley loaves. If you did not receive an email please check your spam and other folders. Do not work for food that perishes but for food that endures for eternal life. He never ceases to come to us, and in coming he says to us what he said to his disciples on that first Easter morning, Peace be with you. The Lords invitation, Come to me, all who labour and are overburdened, was one she responded to every day of her life. In that sense, each of us is called to be a shepherd to others. These stages of Lectio Divina are not fixed rules of procedure but simply guidelines as to how the prayer normally develops. The Gratuitous Gift of Our Blessed Mother, Gifts of the Holy Spirit in Superabundance, Rejoicing in the Blessings Given to Others. unless a man is born from above, It is as the source of life, as the one who can satisfy our deepest hungers and thirsts, that Jesus invites people to come to him, while assuring them that they will never be turned away if they do come. The story they told was a true story but it was not the whole story. In Lukes gospel we find the following saying of Jesus: Give and it will be given to you. Sometimes the wind will be at our back and will help us along as we walk. Jesus speaks as the one who gives us a unique access to God. Philips teaching led to the Ethiopian requesting baptism. Jesus knew that something could be done and he involved his disciples in doing what could be done, calling on them to make the people sit down and then asking them to collect the pieces that were left over when everyone had eaten. The Lord who came to Paul through Ananias had earlier come to Ananias through a vision. As the gate, all who enter through him will be safe; as the gate, all who exit through him will find pasture. Jesus is portrayed as a young beardless man with a sheep draped around his shoulders. The first reading shows us one way in which the Spirit of God took flesh in the life of the early church. When the disciples were full of Easter joy, declaring to Thomas, We have seen the Lord, he couldnt bring himself to believe their good news. Barnabas was what we would call today, an enabler. In this mornings gospel reading, Jesus declares, I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full. Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries because I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, Reflections on Daily Readings December 22 - Carmelites He calls out to all of us to come to him, to know and love him as he knows and loves us. The darkness of Good Friday was still too real for him and prevented him from being moved by their Easter proclamation. Having assured them that they were reconciled to him, he then empowered them to be agents of Gods reconciling love in the world. He is described there as a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. Seeing the risen Lord was enough to dispel his doubt. Because of the Lords gracious accommodation of Thomas the great sceptic went on to make the great confession of faith, My Lord and my God. Jesus will do all in his power to keep us united with himself and to prevent us from being taken away from him or falling away from him. So the other disciples said to him, We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe., Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. The movement of the prayer is towards silence. As they were heading to a village called Emmaus, they were heading in the wrong direction. "Lectio Divina", a Latin term, means "divine reading" and describes a way of reading the Scriptures whereby we gradually let go of our own agenda and open ourselves to what God wants to say to us. It is said of Barnabas in that reading that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.. It was grief and disappointment and disillusionment that caused them to head in the wrong direction. I am the gate. As part of their discerning, they sent one of their member, Barnabas, to check out what was happening in Antioch. One thing we can be sure of is that, whatever the Lords call to me is, it will always be a call towards life. Yet, as Jesus declares there, the Father is greater than anyone. In both of our readings this morning we have an example of such resistance. you can see me and still you do not believe. We spend our lives growing in our openness to the Spirit. As Peter puts it in todays second reading, You did not see him, yet you love him. and as it is in my power to lay it down, No one who believes in him will be condemned; He was reconciling them to himself, displaying his faithfulness to them, in spite of how they had failed him. That is why, as the two disciples told the stranger, when the women went to the tomb in the early morning, they did not find the body of Jesus but, instead, had seen a vision of angels who announced that Jesus was alive. In this mornings gospel reading we find Jesus and his disciples faced with a hungry crowd and little or no means of feeding them. If his fellow disciples were full of Easter faith, he was full of doubt. He who comes to me will never be hungry; When the Ethiopian reflects on a passage from Isaiah, he begins to ask questions, Is the prophet referring to himself or someone else? He needed the help of a person of faith to answer this question, the help of the deacon Philip. It is significant that the two disciples said, Stay with us and not stay with me. If what the gospel reading says is true then how we respond to Jesus, the one whom God has sent into the world, is of enormous significance. That is because, in the words of todays gospel reading, God so loved the world. We are to take Jesus as our gate, going freely in and out through him, as the gospel reading puts it. One thing we can be sure of is that, whatever the Lords personal call to each one of us is, it will always be a call towards life. It was the Scriptures that Jesus opened up for the two disciples in order to tell them that story of God, a story which does not end in death, but in glory. We each have to ask ourselves, What does it mean for me to live out my calling to be the Lords disciple?. As the gate, he calls out to us to keep passing through him to find that fullness of life which alone can satisfy the deepest longings of our heart. Indeed, it could be argued that the current is flowing in the opposite direction. There was a time when gates were an important part of the look of the front of a house in the city or suburbs. When those disciples abandoned their locked room and went to Thomas with their wonderful news, We have seen the Lord, he refused to believe them. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. Rather than seeking the consolations of the Lord we are to seek the Lord of consolation. Jesus is always calling us too to take some new step on our faith journey. The light of Jesus is a light of love, the light of God who so loved the world that he gave his only Son. Do Not Be Afraid April 22, 2023 - Saturday of the Second Week of Easter Superabundance April 21, 2023 - Friday of the Second Week of Easter - Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Bishop and Doctor of the ChurchOptional Memorial The Meaning of Love April 20, 2023 - Thursday of the Second Week of Easter The Lord can also come to us through other people, just as the Lord came to Paul through Ananias who entered Sauls house in todays first reading. Eight days later, Jesus came again and stood among them. We are being reminded that people come to faith in the Lord by different ways, at different paces. No one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who believes in me will ever thirst. The first reading suggests that Barnabas knew how to listen to the voice of the shepherd. He was now alive with a new kind of life, and in that life he could come to his disciples wherever they were. Complete the form below to register. We all need something of the vision of Barnabas to see how the Lord is working in such unexpected and unplanned developments. you will not have life in you. As Peter declares in that first reading, we have a sure hope. God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, The Lords words will always be life-giving for us. they are forgiven; The leaders of the Jerusalem church, the Twelve, realized that this problem would not be resolved unless they drew other members of the church into this ministry of providing for all the widows and the other vulnerable people in the church. Do not be afraid. They were for taking him into the boat, but in no time it reached the shore at the place they were making for. What is important is that we allow the particular story that we tell to be filled out and to be enriched by the very different story about the same events that people who are strangers to us have to tell. The Lord recognizes in that relationship between sheep and shepherd something of his own relationship to us. Can he go back into his mothers womb and be born again? Jesus replied: I tell you most solemnly, He had been devastated once by the crucifixion of Jesus; he wasnt going to have his hopes dashed again by wishful thinking. The Lectio is on the homepage of the website. In raising his Son from the dead, God gave his Son back to the world that had rejected him. One by one, the Lord calls his own. Accept cookies within the '%CC%' category to view this content. We can be tempted to ask the somewhat despairing question of Andrew in todays gospel reading, What is that between so many? We sense that there is much for the church to do and our resources seem so small at times. When that happens we begin to remain in his love as he remains in his Fathers love. We reach out towards the Lord who journeys with us in the context of the church, in the company of our fellow pilgrims, those who are stumbling along the path of discipleship with us. He then travelled all the way to Tarsus to encourage Paul to come to Antioch and to work among the believers there. It is the same for the church today and for all of us who are the Lords disciples today. Having been touched by Gods word, he is ready for baptism. We begin with an Ethiopian, who was clearly drawn to Judaism in some way. Andrew recognized that one of the crowd had a small amount of food but he dismissed this small resource as of no value. As the shepherd calls his sheep one by one, so the Lord calls his followers one by one; he calls them by name; he calls them in a way that respects their individuality and uniqueness. This command I have received from my Father., (i)Monday, Fourth Week of Easter (Year A). I have come Jesus came among us, full of Gods grace and truth, full of Gods gracious love and faithfulness, and we are invited to keep receiving from this fullness of God in Jesus. He's in ALL OF IT. Perth/Singapore/Philippines: 7am; Timor-Leste/Tokyo: 8am; New Zealand: 12pm; Los Angeles: Thursday 4pm; New York/Toronto: Thursday 7pm] to prayerfully reflect on the Gospel of the coming Sunday. He fed the hungry, healed the sick; he called on the rich to share with the poor. It is evident that Catherines mysticism did not withdraw her from the world. We have had to live without the Eucharist and this has been a great loss for many Catholics. Many of us will have had more personal experiences of loss, with the death of a close relative or of a good friend. It is the story we find in the Jewish scriptures and in the Christian New Testament. The gospel reading does not state that Thomas actually touched the wounds of Jesus. That is why he took action to feed the crowd in the wilderness when he saw that they were hungry. It was only looking back on their encounter that the two disciples came to realize that the stranger was the risen Lord. These two disciples were not alone in their grief. The hermits and desert fathers in the Holy Land influenced the formation of the Carmelites in the early 13th century. When the Lord appeared to Thomas, he did not rebuke him. In this situation different people reacted in different ways. Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Yet, the primary purpose of this loving light is to take away our sin. Marks gospel was the primary written source for the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Doors are like gates in that they too can be used to keep people in or out, or they can serve the purpose of creating an opening in the building through which people can come in and go out. Jesus communion with God in prayer directs him to those who labour and are overburdened, inviting them to come to him and receive the gift of rest, the revival of their drooping spirits. Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. When it comes to the Lord we are not just one of a crowd, lost in a sea of faces. Reflections | Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles However, that doesnt seem to have been true of the conversation the two disciples were having on the road to Emmaus. The life of God is a life of love given and received. It is notable that the text says that Philip heard him reading Isaiah the prophet. In todays gospel reading, the crowd who had been fed by Jesus in the wilderness go to great lengths to seek him out. Most of us like the light. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.. As they say to the religious authorities in that first reading, Obedience to God comes before obedience to men. His last illness was in some ways a very public one. He calls us into a personal relationship with himself. On January 6 last, the Pope went to a parish on the outskirts of Rome and he visited a live nativity scene, which had various animals including sheep and lambs. Just as Jesus was always in communion with his Father so he wants us to be always in communion with him. Easter 3rd Week : Wednesday 26th April, 2023 Jesus said to the crowd: 'I am the bread of life. Having told the story to each other, the two disciples told it to the stranger who joined them on the road. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone, This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. When Philip left him, the Ethiopian went on his journey rejoicing. The risen Lord is present in the crucible of doubt, drawing us to himself, calling out to us as he called to Thomas, Doubt no longer but believe. Anything we do to bring people together in a way that builds them up is in the service of this great work of the Lord. Here indeed is a light that darkness cannot overcome, a love that human sin cannot extinguish. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. Normally, the Lord comes to us in much more ordinary ways. This frightened them, but he said, It is I. The Jews gathered round him and said, How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? Syria has been in the news for some time because of the unrest there and Damascus, the capital, has been mentioned more than once. Our calling as individual believers and as a community of faith is to allow the Holy Spirit to take flesh in our lives so that others can see heavenly things through our way of living and our manner of relating to one another.
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