Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 17:15, 22--18:1
Ps 148:1-2, 11-14
John 16:12-15

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/043008.shtml

Gifts from the Spirit of Truth

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus assures us that we have the Holy Spirit to teach us what we need to know and to help us recognize the truth. To better understand how this happens, let's consider the seven sanctifying gifts of the Spirit, as listed in Isaiah 11:2-3.

Wisdom: The wisdom of God is contrary to the wisdom of the world. The Holy Spirit's gift of wisdom helps us to detach from the world and to cherish only what's heavenly. This wisdom, used in everyday life, is what changes us from our old, pre-converted ways and enlivens us in the ways of Christ. We find pleasure in what's holy.

Understanding: What don't you understand about a Church teaching or the ways of faith? Ask the Holy Spirit for understanding and you will be enlightened. You will increasingly gain a fuller awareness that makes sense of the truths of the faith, of God's love, of his plans for you, etc., to the extent that it's necessary for your salvation and your work of serving God's kingdom.

Counsel: Are you ever indecisive? Do you feel hesitant and full of doubts about your current choices or your future? The Holy Spirit wants to guide you and instruct you so that you can make the right decisions. My favorite prayer for this is: "Lord, open the doors of opportunities in the way I should go, and close all doors that lead elsewhere." And he does!

Fortitude: Are you growing weary from trials? The Holy Spirit gives us supernatural courage to persist and overcome obstacles and difficulties. From this we learn that we really can trust Jesus and reach a good end despite how bad and lengthy the problems seem.

Knowledge: The Holy Spirit directs us to the right paths and the right solutions, even supernaturally if necessary. Watch carefully; the Spirit of Truth is pointing out the dangers to avoid and the goals to reach. Listen to the songs, the scriptures, and the people that God puts "coincidentally" into your day. If their message seems familiar, because the Holy Spirit has already been speaking it to your heart, trust it and proceed with confidence.

Piety: Do you have a desire to embrace a life of holiness and to imitate Christ? This desire comes straight from the Holy Spirit, who teaches us how to respond to every situation with holy actions and attitudes.

Fear of the Lord: Once we've been converted, respect for God feels instinctive, doesn't it? That's because it's purely a gift from the Holy Spirit, who teaches us to hate sin. Fear of the Lord is a profound respect for his perfect holiness. The more enlivened our relationship with the Spirit is, the more we loathe the idea of offending the Lord whom we love so dearly.

Here's a prayer for increasing these gifts:

Come, Holy Spirit, and renew the face of the earth through me.
Fill me with Your life and Your grace,
that my soul may be sanctified.
Increase in me the gift of holy wisdom,
that I may use wisely the gifts You have given me.
Increase in me the gift of understanding,
that I may hear and respond to Your call.
Increase in me the gift of Your good counsel,
that I may always follow God's will.
Increase in me the gift of knowledge,
that I may grow in holiness by knowing God and myself more fully.
Increase in me the gift of love, that I may serve as Christ's hands and feet and voice
sharing Your love with everyone I meet today.
Come, Holy Spirit! Renew the face of the earth through me!
Amen.

Nature of God:

What is the invisible nature of God? Does it mean that God is in absences because there is nothing there, like a negative connotation? Or does the invisible nature of God depict an elasticity of perception? We perceive God to be of a certain nature, but the nature of God is known only by God.

Holy Spirit - Faith:

In today's Gospel, Jesus assures us that the Holy Spirit will always lead us to the Father's Truth only if we learn to consult, act and trust Him more. But, if we are lukewarm in seeking the Spirit's Truth, then we will be misled by our selfish motives and self-centered gains.

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Nothing was too small, too arduous or too costly to put into action day or night for one of God's little ones.

- St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868)

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Today's Memorial: St. Catherine of Siena

http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/CatherineSiena.htm

Today's Readings:
Acts 16:22-34
Ps 138:1-3, 7c-8
John 16:5-11

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/042908.shtml

When a loved one leaves us

We can all identify with the disciples in today's Gospel reading. Grief fills our hearts when loved ones leave us, whether through death or abandonment or simply by moving to a new town. But as it was with the disciples, so it is with us: With every ending there is a new beginning. With every departure there is a new gift, because God is generous and loving.

Sometimes we try desperately to cling to what is lost, but then we miss the wonderful new blessings that God wants to give us. The disciples felt that kind of despair when Jesus told them that he would soon leave them to join the Father. They thought only of their own loss. This is why Jesus said, "Not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'"

However, Jesus was not saddened by their self-centered thinking. He felt concern for them, so he said, "It is much better for YOU that I go!" And he reminded them again of the Advocate, whom he would give to them after he went to the Father.

God loves us so much that he never abandons us. He comes to us in the flesh through the love that others give to us, but when he takes them away, even then he doesn't abandon us. Look around. What is he giving you as a new blessing while you're saying good-bye to whatever you're losing? What new people is he offering to you? What new ministry does he want you to begin by using the lessons of your sufferings?

We say good-bye to our children when they grow up and move out. Though we miss their childhood dependence upon us, with the end of parental responsibilities comes new opportunities and new freedoms for serving the kingdom of God.

We say good-bye to our family and friends when they leave this world and move on to eternal intimacy with God. We miss them so very much, but they have gone to the Father where they intercede for us more powerfully than ever before. They're available at a moment's notice. They're completely free to serve us through God, unencumbered by human faults and earthly limitations.

No ending is a dead end. God always provides a new path, a new friend, a new ministry, a new adventure. To discover the new, we have to take our eyes off the old. This does not mean we forget the old. While we treasure the past, we are to face the future and hold on tight to God's hand. To hold his hand, we have to let go of whatever else we've been clinging to.

With and In God:

God is within us and we are in God, and therefore we are in one another. This connection is not conscious. We have our own egos and our own self-knowledge, history and story. Rather, this connection is a unification of the human element in us all, spread forth from the past to the present and to the future, the living essence of God and the mystical within.

'Overburdened' - Faith:

In today's Gospel, Jesus invites us to go to Him if we feel 'overburdened' in our life. There is no surer way in this world than to go to the Lord when we are in need. He will surely lighten our burdens and soothe our pains. He will never let us down.

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Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind.

- Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

Merit consists in the virtue of love alone, flavored with the light of true discretion, without which the soul is worth nothing.

- Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 16:11-15
Ps 149:1b-6a,9b
John 15:26--16:4a

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/042808.shtml

Bearing witness to the truth of Christ

In unity with the Holy Spirit, precisely because the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us, we are empowered to successfully give testimony about Jesus Christ. And with this enablement comes great responsibility. We cannot ignore the call to be evangelizers — not without committing the sin of omission.

Then the question is not IF but HOW: How are we to do this in our ordinary, everyday lives and circumstances?

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus defines the gift that the Church received on Pentecost (and which we received in baptism when we became members of the Church) as "the Advocate." In the original Greek, this translates as "Paraclete", which comes from "parakalein", which means "to invoke" ("para" is "with" and "kalein" is "to call").

From this name we can conclude that Jesus was telling us to invoke or call upon the help of his Spirit. He wants us to know that we are capable of doing whatever the Father asks of us, despite our human limitations, if we rely on the Holy Spirit.

Notice what kind of help Jesus focuses on here. He refers to the Paraclete/Advocate as "the Spirit of truth" who testifies to others about Jesus. How? Not by emails from heaven. God's Spirit teaches the truth about Jesus to the world through me and through you!

To what extent does your everyday life bear witness to the truth about Christ's love? Or his saving power? The more we invoke the Holy Spirit, repenting of sin and asking God to increase our holiness, the more we testify to the truth in our daily circumstances.

We need to invoke the Holy Spirit whenever we're tempted to fight with someone rather than turn the other cheek, or whenever we feel selfish instead of generous, and so on. We grow in holiness by asking the Spirit of Holiness to teach us how to imitate Christ whenever we're unable to do so on our own.

We cannot bring others to conversion or successfully invite them back to church through our own choice of words, our own wisdom, and our own understanding of what they're seeking. It's only the Spirit of Truth who provides us with the right way to reach their hearts. And it's only the Spirit of Truth who prepares their hearts and gives them an understanding of the truth that you give them.

Whenever we testify against Christ, through decisions and behaviors that are unGodly, we must turn quickly to the Holy Spirit, repent, and ask for help.

"If you realize that I believe in the Lord, come and stay at my house," said Lydia in today's first reading. Are the people around you convinced that you believe in the Lord? They will be, if you continue to grow in the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit.

Fabric of God:

We are the very fabric of God; we are the fabric that is God. The energy we experience as the uniqueness of self is really the multifaceted face of God. We are the momentary mortal aspect of God in our lifetime, and at the moment of our death, his spirit returns to its purest state, the energy of the Divine.

'Persecution' - Faith:

In today's Gospel, Jesus warns us that we could be 'persecuted' for our belief and practice of our faith. Have you experienced having your family and others preventing you from living out God's Will and ways e.g. responding to a vocation calling, being active in Church activities and the like?

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O Jesus, I promise You to submit myself to all that You permit to befall me; make me only know Your Will.

- Saint Gianna Beretta Molla (1022-1962)

A Disciple’s Prayer:

O Lord Jesus Christ, Savior and Redeemer, show me the real way to be your follower. Give me the wisdom and humility to learn from your words and from the church which you left after raising up disciples in your own name.

Holy Spirit - Faith:

In today’s Gospel, Jesus assures us that the Holy Spirit will always be there to lead, guide and protect us in our daily living. As believers, we should have the courage to live the daily challenges of our lives and vocations. We are never alone. God's infinite power is within us always.

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Be driven by the love of God because Jesus Christ died for all, that those who live may live not for themselves but for him, who died and rose for them. Above all, let your charity and zeal show how you love the Church. Your work is for the Church, which is the body of Christ.

- Saint John Baptist de La Salle

Sixth Sunday of Easter (A)

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
1 Pt 3:15-18
Jn 14:15-21

In next Sunday's Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit is our "Advocate". Some scholars translate the word to "Counselor". In the original Greek language, it means "called alongside". It's closely related to the verb "parakaleo" ("to call" or "summon") from which we get "Paraclete" as a name for the Holy Spirit. In ancient Greek society, it referred to a legal assistant, a courtroom advocate. Jesus is telling us that the Holy Spirit is our legal assistant who speaks up for us when we're accused, judged, or wrongly condemned.

Notice that Jesus refers to our Advocate as the "Spirit of truth". God always knows the truth about us, despite what people think of us and the wrong things they say about us. Remember: It's only his opinion of us that really matters. And his opinion of us is better than we think it is!

We judge ourselves more harshly than we should, and this is why we worry so much about how badly others might judge us. If we honestly examine our consciences, confessing our sins during the Penance Rite at Mass or in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and if we genuinely want to improve, then Jesus says to us what he said to other sinners: "I do not condemn you; go and sin no more."

Don't you sometimes wish that Jesus would come physically to your rescue when you're undergoing trials? He said that he will not leave us orphans — he will always be with us in the Spirit when we need to be defended.

To love him is to desire to keep his commandments, and when we fail, the Spirit of Truth says to the Father: "Look, this precious child really does want to be holy." To us, the Spirit says, "Let me teach you how to grow in holiness and avoid this sin." And to others, the Spirit says: "If you love me, love this precious friend of mine."

Questions for Personal Reflection:

How have you been unjustly accused and unfairly judged? Imagine what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Father about that. And to those who condemned you. What is he saying to you about you?

Questions for Group Faith Sharing:

Describe a time when God defended you. How did the Advocate manifest his help? Who learned more from it: you or your accusers?

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Have you ever been visited by representatives of a particular religion or Church, going door to door to evangelize? While most of probably have, I suspect the reverse is not true. Rarely do Catholics engage in such face-to-face faith-sharing. I know I’m very shy about approaching a total stranger with a request to consider learning about Jesus.

Today’s Scripture selections continue our Easter instructions for the newly baptized. The first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, reflects how Christian witness might be received—persecution was a real threat for the Church in Jerusalem. The First Letter of Peter seems to reflect a similar harsh reality. Peter urges Christians to approach others, ready to explain who we are, but to do so with “gentleness and reverence.”

That reminds me of the advice St. Francis of Assisi gave his brothers who were thinking of being missionaries. He told them to “avoid quarrels or disputes and to be subject to every human creature for God’s sake.” Francis was quoting from the First Letter of Peter. The letter goes on to encourage those fearful of persecution to remember that Christ also suffered persecution. In the Gospel, Jesus himself assures us that we will not be alone; the Holy Spirit will be present with us, to support and guide us.

Scripture:

•Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:17)

•Shout joyfully to God, all the earth, sing praise to the glory of his name; proclaim his glorious praise. Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!…” (Psalm 66:2,3)

•Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit. (1 Peter 3:18b)

•…and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you. (John 14:16,7)

Reflection:

•Jesus comes to those who love him. How do you love Jesus?

•How is the “Advocate,” the “Spirit of Truth,” alive in you?

•How is it that the world is not capable of receiving the Spirit? Are you in the world or in the spirit?

To come to possess all desire to possess nothing. To arrive at being all desire to be nothing.

The soul that journeys to God but does not shake off its cares and quiet its appetites is like one who drags a cart uphill.

Inherit the Earth:

Scripture says that the meek will inherit the earth. Such a promise strikes our ears as rather grandiose, like hyperbole or grand overstatement. It obviously does not mean the earth in which we live; it means the heavenly world. Our reward for meekness involves spiritual realms, blessings that will last forever.

'Hated' - Faith:

In today's Gospel, Jesus laments that if we follow His teachings, 'the world will hate us'. Jesus' teaches us to be humble and forgiving, unconditional in our love, selfless in our service. Such Gospel values are the opposites of the worldly values of pride, revenge, hatred, selfishness and the like.

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In this life, conversion is a goal which is never fully attained: On the path which the disciple is called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, conversion is a lifelong task.

- Pope John Paul II (January 22, 1999)

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Today's Feast: Saint Mark the Evangelist

http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Mark.htm

Today's Readings:
1 Peter 5:5b-14
Ps 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17
Mark 16:15-20

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/042508.shtml

Going into the whole world with the Good News

Today's Gospel passage contains the reason why my ministry is named "Good News Ministries." Jesus said: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Good News." In 1995, when Ralph (my husband of 31 years) and I were commissioned to start this Catholic evangelization service in our local community, we had no idea we would be reaching out to "the whole world" via the Internet.

The Feast of St. Mark is a good opportunity to share with you more about what the Lord has been doing in our ministry. May our example inspire you in whatever the Holy Spirit is calling you to do for spreading the Gospel of salvation.

Today's first reading shows why I have always felt an urgency to keep this ministry going. Everywhere, people are suffering and struggling in daily battles against Satan and trials and other sufferings. I want to be God's proclaimer of the Good News about his gifts of victory over evil, healing from woundedness, encouragement in holiness, and restoration from weariness.

Like you, Ralph and I have had frequent need to resist the devil, and when we've turned to the Holy Spirit for help, we've grown stronger in the faith.

Each time, God restored us, confirmed us, and used the hardships to make us more compassionate, more humble, and more able to do his work well. When one door got slammed shut in our faces, God opened a new door and blessed us as we walked into unexpected opportunities. This is how we grew an Internet ministry that includes these daily Good News Reflections and thousands of pages on four websites (gnm.org, wordbytes.org, gogoodnews.net, and the newest one, designed especially for churches seeking materials for distribution: catholicdr.com).

And we've shared the Good News in other ways that we could not have foreseen or planned.

After the sinful behavior of our chaplain caused us to lose our local reputation, God raised us out of the dirt by sending our team across country to provide a one-week diocesan Pastoral Institute on Catholic Evangelization. He even sent me as far away as Malawi in Central Africa to teach two courses for a week in a seminary.

Satan prowls around like a roaring lion, trying to interfere, especially when God is about to do something awesome. Christians in ministry are tempted most when the devil wants us to stop what we're doing. If you're being harassed by unusual problems that keep popping up, praise the Lord! God is about to take you to the next level of service and growth.

If you're suffering and are willing to turn it into a ministry for others who are likewise suffering, praise God like in today's responsorial Psalm! You are already victorious; you will be a powerful and effective instrument for God's kingdom.

Gift of Reverence:

O Holy Spirit, give me your gift of reverence that I may always pass through life in a certain silent awe, knowing that you will have passed over the darkness and emptiness of the void and called it to life and that you call me to a more loving life in this world and to eternity in the next.

'Signs' - Faith:

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that there are “signs associated with believers.” How do we witness our faith in Jesus as our Saviour and Lord? Do we have a fervent prayer life, serve the needy, speak about God to others, forgive those who have hurt us and the like?

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O My Redeemer, will that terrible moment ever come when but few Christians shall be left who are inspired by the spirit of faith, that moment when Your indignation shall be provoked and Your protection shall be taken from us?

- Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer

St. Mark

Most of what we know about Mark comes directly from the New Testament. He is usually identified with the Mark of Acts 12:12. (When Peter escaped from prison, he went to the home of Mark's mother.)

Paul and Barnabas took him along on the first missionary journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem. It is evident, from Paul's refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second journey despite Barnabas's insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul. Later, Paul asks Mark to visit him in prison so we may assume the trouble did not last long.

The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of Mark emphasizes Jesus' rejection by humanity while being God's triumphant envoy. Probably written for Gentile converts in Rome—after the death of Peter and Paul sometime between A.D. 60 and 70—Mark's Gospel is the gradual manifestation of a "scandal": a crucified Messiah.

Evidently a friend of Mark (Peter called him "my son"), Peter is only one of the Gospel sources, others being the Church in Jerusalem (Jewish roots) and the Church at Antioch (largely Gentile).

Like one other Gospel writer, Luke, Mark was not one of the 12 apostles. We cannot be certain whether he knew Jesus personally. Some scholars feel that the evangelist is speaking of himself when describing the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane: "Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked" (Mark 14:51-52).

Others hold Mark to be the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Venice, famous for the Piazza San Marco, claims Mark as its patron saint; the large basilica there is believed to contain his remains.

A winged lion is Mark's symbol. The lion derives from Mark's description of John the Baptist as a "voice of one crying out in the desert" (Mark 1:3), which artists compared to a roaring lion. The wings come from the application of Ezekiel's vision of four winged creatures (Ezekiel, chapter one) to the evangelists.

Comment:

Mark fulfilled in his life what every Christian is called to do: proclaim to all people the Good News that is the source of salvation. In particular, Mark's way was by writing. Others may proclaim the Good News by music, drama, poetry or by teaching children around a family table.

Quote:

There is very little in Mark that is not in the other Gospels—only four passages. One is: “...This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26-29).

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 15:7-21
Ps 96:1-3, 10
John 15:9-11

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/042408.shtml

The supernatural joy of loving obedience

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus spells out the three basic elements of faith: obedience, love, and joy. Love is the center; it holds everything together. When we disobey, it's because we don't understand why it's unloving; we don't realize our sin interferes with our ability to love and to be loved. On the other hand, when we obey because we love, we experience great joy.

Obeying because we love is a mature faith. As children, we first obeyed because we feared punishment. To experience joy, we have to let go of childish reasons for obeying God's commands. Adult obedience is this: We love God so much that we want to follow Jesus in every way and in every circumstance, because we know that he loves us and that his commands are always based on love (even when we don't understand how so), and we know that we can trust him. We'd be foolish to disobey.

And we love others so much that we don't want to sin against them.

Love is like the air around us: We can close ourselves up and never breathe the air, and thus we die. Likewise, we can close our hearts and never receive the love that is permeating from God in every moment, and thus our souls slowly die. But when we obey God, imitating the holiness of Christ by following his commandments, we unite ourselves to him and therefore we're immersed in his love and therefore we experience unworldly joy.

If we really understand what occurs in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, joy is our primary feeling as we emerge from the confessional. It's a joy that comes from rediscovering that despite our disobedience, God still loves us, and that by reconciling with him we have opened ourselves to receive and experience his love more fully again.

Consider any command that you have trouble obeying, whether from the Bible or Church teachings. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you how this command is based on love. In what ways are you missing or misunderstanding the love that's inherently there?

In today's first reading, the first Christians had to learn to stretch their love for God to include the Gentiles. We all need to allow God to stretch us beyond our current limits of love. To grow in holiness, we have to grow beyond old, familiar ways of dealing with the laws that we dislike and the people who are unlikable. That's the secret to finding supernatural joy.

Here's a great prayer for starting each day: "Dear God, I want to obey You today; help me to stay close to You. Thank You for being so good to me; I love You and I want to love You more. Lord Jesus, be my joy. When I am tempted to sin, help me to love others more fully. I want to remain in Your love; help me to obey the call to love."

Pain and Suffering:

My Redeemer—your Redeemer—has the right to be called that because he suffered with us as well as for us. God could have saved us in some simpler, less terrible way than subjecting himself to the worst that human beings could do, but he wanted us to know how much he loved us when we are in pain and suffering.

'Fullness of Joy' - Faith:

In today's Gospel, Jesus assures us that our 'joy will be complete' if we keep His Father's commandments. God created us to love others as He has loved us. Such selfless living is shown in His Son's Life and Death for us. Selfish living can only lead to emptiness, anger and division.

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Woe to me if I should prove myself but a half-hearted soldier in the service of my thorn-crowned Captain.

- Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1577-1622)

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 15:1-6
Ps 122:1-5
John 15:1-8

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/042308.shtml

Bearing more fruit from the vine

Is your life making a difference? Are people brought closer to God as a result of spending time with you? (And I don't mean, do they have to run to God for help because you're causing them problems!) If you're connected to Jesus, like a branch of the vine in today's Gospel reading, then the answer is yes, you ARE making a difference, you ARE evangelizing the world around you.

Are people attracted to you? Do they want to be near you because of the love you share? When others go through difficulties, do they come to you for prayers, wisdom, compassionate understanding, or some other attribute of Christ? If yes, then you ARE bearing his fruit on the vine.

We're all in need of some pruning so that our vines become more deeply grafted into Jesus and we produce better fruits. Sometimes we scrape others with dead branches that are leafless and hard and broken. Being pruned of these ugly, diseased and poisonous twigs is painful, but it's good that the Father cares enough to trim them away. Pruning enables growth, and thus we become stronger and more beautiful.

In today's first reading, we have an example of well-intentioned Christians who scraped others with old branches. As Pharisees, they legalistically clung to old Jewish ways by insisting that Gentile converts subscribe to all Mosaic laws. But in the verses that follow, we see that God was able to prune them because they had grafted themselves into Jesus. They listened to Paul and Barnabas and allowed the Holy Spirit to change their minds.

Jesus wants to bring peace to others through YOU. To bear his good fruits, let God prune away everything that does not come from Jesus:

Come to Me, My friend
I call you to a deeper surrender of yourself
I call you to come to Me
I call you to come to My freedom
Unloose your heart
Surrender again to Me today
Come to Me, My friend
I will give you all you need
Believe and trust in Me
I know you will not understand
Only know My way is the perfect way
My plan is a perfect plan for your life
Turn yourself to Me again today
I wish to deepen My life in you
I wish to give you My love
My friend, I want to transform you
to make you a new creation,
ever new, ever changing
I want to bring you into a deeper freedom
I want you to believe in My power
to transform you, to heal you
Do not limit what I can do
There is still so much MORE
I want to do with you and through you
I call you to a deeper faith
that I may be still
more powerful in you

(Written by Father Jim Ferry, quoted on his Memorial Card when he died in 1989.)

Let Me Welcome You:

Let me seek and find you, recognize and serve you in all who suffer. Give me the grace, O Savior of the world, to bring your presence even to your enemies and to persist faithfully in witnessing to them even when I find it painful to do so.

'Branch - Vine':

In today's Gospel, Jesus asserts, ' a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it remains part of the vine.' Jesus is the True Vine. Do we ever think we can live without God because we have money, intelligence, and talents? Such thinking is not only foolish but also self- destructive.

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The opinion of men, who are liable to error, are often at variance with those of God.

- Blessed Giles of Assisi (d.1262)

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 14:19-28
Ps 145:10-13ab, 21
John 14:27-31a

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/042208.shtml

Peace for the troubled heart

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus assures us that in him there is no reason to be afraid nor for our hearts to feel troubled. The opposite of a troubled heart is peace, but very often we head for the wrong kind of peace, he says.

When a spouse or friend argues with us, we try to regain peace by proving that we're right or by making the other person agree with us. And when this doesn't work? How then can we find peace? Maybe we punish the person by using "the silent treatment" or by refusing to have a good time together until we get an apology. And when this doesn't produce peace, then what?

For every troubling situation, we try a multitude of worldly ways to feel peaceful again: We anesthetize ourselves with alcohol or drugs or food addition or burying ourselves in work. We insist on our own way, or we pout and withdraw, or we dump the problem into someone else's lap and run away. We blame others to appease our own guilt. And when this fails to calm our fears or soothe our troubled hearts? Then what?

Even when our troublesome trials end, our troubled hearts are never fully satisfied. Burnt once, we shy away from all flickering flames, wary that one of them will explode and burn us again. Cynicism and self-protective walls that shut others out are a sure sign that we're not turning to Jesus for the peace that only he can give.

Jesus says, "Not as the world gives peace do I give you peace." His peace is a gift that we discover only by uniting ourselves to his life and to his Holy Spirit. A broken heart is never fully mended by those who broke it; it can only be healed by Jesus.

Because no one overcomes evil completely except Jesus, and because he defeated the "ruler of the world" by his sacrifice and resurrection, only HIS love can satisfy us completely. But to receive his perfect love and the peace that comes with it, we have to quit insisting that we get it from those who hurt us. Yes, they should love us more; yes, they should want to reconcile with us and make amends, but even if they do, they can never give us the fullness of love that Jesus provides. So why look to them for what they cannot give? We must keep our eyes on Jesus at all times!

When in our troubles and fears Jesus seems far away, remember what he said: "You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.'" When he seems to be gone, we have not been abandoned. He has given us his own Holy Spirit to guide us and comfort us. He most assuredly will do the Father's will for you, for you are God's beloved child.

Live My Life for You:

O Lord Jesus Christ, give me the grace to become your true disciple. Let me see ever more clearly that faith in you is not simply conviction of my mind—but a call to live my life for you and with you.

'Peace' - Faith:

In today's Gospel, Jesus is giving us a 'Peace that the world cannot give.' How true is this of your experiences? Have you experienced any 'peace, joy, happiness' of the world that is deeper than the 'Peace, Joy' and Fulfilment that Jesus gives? This could never be possible.

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In simplicity of heart I gladly offer everything, O Lord. The Lord put me on this path, he will remember to sustain me in battle. To His mercy I entrust my frailty.

- Blessed Maria Gabriella (1914-1983)

Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 14:5-18
Ps 115:1-4, 15-16
John 14:21-26

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/042108.shtml

Learning love from the Holy Spirit

Jesus says in today's Gospel reading that love is the key to knowing God and having God dwell within us. Loving him, Jesus says, means that we cherish him and embrace him so closely that we also cherish his ways and desire to imitate him. We embrace his teachings, his ways of handling problems, his ready and willing forgiveness, his servanthood, and his Holy Spirit.

Hmmm, can we really be that loving? Jesus assures us that the Holy Spirit will teach us everything we need to know so that we really can love like him!

In the first reading, Paul and Barnabas heal a lame man with Jesus. It's their love for Jesus and their fellowship with the Holy Spirit that stirred up their compassion for the crippled man and enabled them to do the miraculous. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they felt the calling to reach out to him and the courage to shout out loudly, in public, "Stand up!" before they had any evidence that their prayers would work.

Whenever we help others, we are partnering with the Holy Spirit. It is this Person of the Trinity who enables us to go beyond our human abilities so that we actually live in the realm of Christ's abilities.

Notice how Paul relied on this partnership: He looked "intently" at the man. Why? I suspect that he was silently asking the Holy Spirit if the man had the faith to receive the healing love of God. Then he trusted the Holy Spirit to provide the healing that the man's faith level allowed. He knew that faith comes from having a love relationship with God. Faith is not a power, it's a union with the One who has the power. Love is the out-flow of that power.

The Holy Spirit answers people's prayers through us. But this partnership won't work unless we love Jesus so much that we embrace his love for others. Unanswered prayers are very often the fault of Christians who neglect to extend Christ's presence on earth through their own hands, their own feet, their own voice, their own actions and ministry — in love.

Our love is lacking if we see a need that we can address with the help of God but walk away saying, "God will take care of it without me."

After the resurrection, Jesus could have resumed his normal ministry activities. Imagine how fast Christianity would have spread if he'd made himself visibly known to the public. Even the stubborn Pharisees would have dropped to their knees in worship had he shown up in the town square preaching and healing and proving he was real by showing the marks of the cross that had killed him. But as the stories in the Book of Acts make clear, he chose instead to share his Holy Spirit with his disciples — who are now us — to continue his ministry of love.

Lift Me Up:

I am often cast down, defeated, and broken; often blind and insensitive even to those I love; often caught up foolishly in that which is passing away before my eyes. Spirit of truth, when this road is long and weary and I am fearful and tired, lift me up on your eagle wings so that I may not fail utterly those whom you have given me in this life to influence, to help and to support.

Holy Spirit - Faith:

In today's Gospel, Jesus assures us that the Holy Spirit will continue to teach and remind us everything that Jesus has taught. To listen to the Holy Spirit is to learn to discern. This is because there are many other spirits and evil voices that will try to deceive and draw us away from God.

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No one will have any other desire in heaven than what God wills; and the desire of one will be the desire of all; and the desire of all and of each one will also be the desire of God.

- Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

Reach Down, O Lord:

Jesus, Our Savior, knock down with your wounded hand at the closed doors of our hearts and call to us in the streets of life. Give us direction in the confusion and cares of this painful journey. Stay with us, O Lord, for evening comes and the shadows grow long.

Belief - Good Works:

In today's Gospel, Jesus tells us that if we have a strong belief in Him as our Way, Truth and Life, then we should be able to do 'great works' for Him. However, our motives must be clear and our zeal rooted in our love, trust and hope in Him.

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It is impossible for a man to soar towards the heights of virtue if he tends to slip and fall in the ways of the spirit and is not firmly balanced in virtue, but is tossed to and from, and carried about, fluctuating and uncertain in his ideas of reality.

- Saint Gregory of Nyssa

Fifth Sunday of Easter (A)

Acts 6:1-7
Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
1 Pt 2:4-9
Jn 14:1-12

This Sunday's Gospel reading ends with a very astounding verse: "Whoever believes in me will do the works I do, and greater far than these." What does he mean — how can we do the same — and bigger — supernatural miracles than Jesus did? The answer is found in the context of the entire chapter, as Jesus explains his close relationship with the Father, i.e., what he does for the Father and with the Father. Remember, Jesus was (and still is) both human and divine. We need to look at these verses with this in mind.

The "works I do" means what he did with his humanity FOR the Father. As a human, he did very human works, i.e., the same types of good deeds that you and I readily do in appreciation for the love that God the Father has for us.

As beloved children, we love others as he loves them, we teach what we've learned, we share what we've been given, we listen to those who need someone to understand them, we work hard on the job to our fullest potential, offering a helping hand when we see a need, etc. There's nothing supernatural about it. It's being who we are, human children of a loving Daddy-God.

The "greater" works are what Jesus did in his divinity WITH the Father. They are the miracles that the Father worked through Jesus, because the love of the Father and the love of the Son are one love.

When Jesus took upon himself the punishment for our sins and the Father raised him from the dead, Jesus gave us his divinity so that we can continue his works on earth. Because we've received God's divinity in our baptisms, the Father extends himself through us to the world. With him, we can love the unlovable after they've pushed us past our human limits, we can be instruments of miracles, we can hear God speak to us, and we can share his wisdom and comfort without knowing what to say. We can do everything that God asks of us, despite our inadequacies.

Questions for Personal Reflection:

Make a list of your gifts and talents. Then reflect on how each of these are the human works of Jesus for the world today. How has the Father also worked through you supernaturally?

Questions for Group Faith Sharing:

Name some of the good works being done in your parish or group: How do these reflect the human nature of Jesus? Name some of the ways that your parish or group shows the Father's supernatural nature to the world. How can we become better able to do the "greater works" of the Father?

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Do you ever long with nostalgia for the “good old days”?

I wonder if the early Christians, after the excitement of the first Pentecost had worn off, longed for their own “good old days.” As they found themselves “in for the long haul,” trying to set up structures and institutions for the growing community, did they wish they were back when it was just Jesus and a little band of disciples?

The passage from the Last Supper in John’s Gospel today seems to anticipate that situation. Jesus reassures his troubled followers that he is going to prepare a place for them. When they want to know the “way” to this place, Jesus tells them he is “the way.” The disciples will go on to do Christ’s work—a mission to a wider world. Elsewhere in that Last Supper discourse, Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will be present to remind them of all he’s said and done.

The spread of the gospel challenged the fledgling community as the Church grew, and encompassed other languages, cultures and regions. New structures and new ministries would be needed.

The same is true in our day. Facing a new millennium, we need to know the Holy Spirit, Christ’s gift to the Church, is present to teach us what’s needed today, and unite us to Christ, our way, our truth and our life.

Scripture:

•They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them. (Acts 6:6)

•He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full. (Psalm 33:5)

•Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4,5)

•”…Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.… Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:10,12)

Reflection:

•How are you a vessel of Jesus, “a living stone?”

•What are the greater works that those who believe in Jesus do?

•How are you a “spiritual house, a holy priesthood?”


The “return” is the end beyond all ends, and the beginning of beginnings. To “return to the Father” is not to “go back” in time, to roll up the scroll of history, or to reverse anything. It is a going forward, a going beyond, for merely to retrace one’s steps would be a vanity on top of vanity, a renewal of the same absurdity in reverse. Our destiny is to go on beyond everything, to leave everything, to press forward to the End and find in the End our Beginning, the ever-new beginning that has no end. To obey Him on the way, in order to reach Him in whom I have begun, who is the key and the end— because he is the beginning.

A Haven of Rest:

Because he is the God of peace, the Father provides this inner haven for each of us, a shelter that allows us to survive during difficult times, a place where we can receive the light of grace. If we are trying desperately to hold onto him, God will allow us to find this precious place of peace. He will hold out his hand.

Evidences - Faith:

In today's Gospel, Jesus laments the lack of belief in Him and His Teachings. The evidences of God’s almighty power in the wonder of the human person, the world, the universe and our experiences of 'miracles' are overwhelming. Yet, why do we still turn away from His Truth that offers eternal life?

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What would remain to me if God took all that He has given me? If God took back my mind, what should I be? If He deprived me of life and motion, what should I be? If He took away my substance and my whole being, what should I be? A simple nothing! O my God! All I have comes from You; it is just that all in me should belong to you.

- Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 13:26-33
Ps 2:6-11ab
John 14:1-6

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/041808.shtml

What does your heavenly mansion look like?

One day, when I felt weakened by some long-enduring difficulties, I said to God, "I'm tired of being betrayed and attacked and misinterpreted. I need to refocus on what YOU think of me and get my mind off of what others think of me. Show me something, puleeeease! Show me anything that will re-energize me to get me back into the battle without becoming a casualty of war."

I am not a mystical visionary, but once in a while God communicates to me through images. During that prayer time, I "saw" a beautiful mansion. It was not beautiful by earthly standards. Indeed, it didn't make sense in earthly terms. It was bathed in a very bright white light, but not like any light we know here on earth. It was pure light. Of course it was God's light, and the mansion I saw was an image (not to be taken literally) of what Jesus refers to in today's Gospel passage.

I knew it was My Place. It had a very large main section, with many add-on extensions of varying sizes and styles of architecture. The main section was me, so to speak. It was my life, or rather, the part of my life that I will be able to take with me to heaven after everything else has been purged from me in the after-death process of purification.

Over the front door was a huge gem, like a diamond. It radiated the same light that permeated all of heaven. I asked what it represented. The answer: The Holy Spirit. The explanation: When the Holy Spirit radiates from me, people are attracted to me and want to be part of my life. And when I let them in, my mansion grows (the added-on extensions).

Some of these extensions were large rooms representing people who are filled with God's love. Others had rooms with crooked roofs or shoddy construction because they did a poor job of building their relationships with God. Some had half-finished rooms because they left my life before God wanted them to leave. And each addition had its own unique beauty, reflecting the made-in-God's-image personality of each individual.

You are building a similar heavenly mansion. The size of our mansions are determined by how many additions we allow others to build. All difficulties in relationships are well worth enduring if we remember that we're connected by Love and if we rely on the Holy Spirit to help us through the hard times. Even when others bang too loudly with their hammers or use warped lumber or buy the wrong materials, they are precious additions to our lives; each new room increases the value of our house.

Whenever we demolish one of these additions because we don't like it, or whenever someone picks up their lumber and leaves, the result is an ugly, gaping hole.

Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He has the ultimate mansion, and our heavenly houses are additions attached to his. If your life radiates the Holy Spirit, you're attracting people to your mansion, and thus you're attracting people to God's.

Prayer, the Breath of Life:

Prayer is the breathing of the spiritual life. No prayer, no life. Prayer is the way we speak to God, as well as the way he communicates with us.…We all need to pray, and pray better. A person who does not seek to grow in the life of prayer will, sooner or later, not pray at all.

Evidences - Faith:

In today's Gospel, Jesus laments the lack of belief in Him and His Teachings. The evidences of God’s almighty power in the wonder of the human person, the world, the universe and our experiences of 'miracles' are overwhelming. Yet, why do we still turn away from His Truth that offers eternal life?

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There is a human splendor and a celestial splendor. The splendor that can be attained on earth is temporary and limited, while that of heaven lasts forever, which will be shown when the corruptible becomes incorruptible and the mortal, immortal.

- Saint Basil the Great

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 13:13-25
Ps 89:2-3, 21-22, 25, 27
John 13:16-20

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/041708.shtml

Blessed are the servants in frustrating situations

Think of people who frustrate you. Who has raised their heel against you? What is so frustrating about them? Do you know how to be a servant like Jesus in these situations?

Jesus says in today's Gospel reading that we can never be greater than he is. He is our Master; we understand this. What we don't understand is how we'll be blessed by serving the same ways that he served. He served Judas by not getting mad at him when he was betrayed.

Because Jesus lives in us, we can have the same servant's heart toward those who betray us or frustrate us with their on-going sins.

We betray Jesus when we give anger to others instead of God's love. We raise our heels against him when we refuse to imitate his self-sacrificing servanthood. Jesus showed, by his example, that going to the cross for others is a good thing! Okay, but how can it be good FOR US when we're nailed by someone's unloving behavior, or when we're crucified unjustly by false accusations? How are we to overcome feeling frustrated and hurt?

Jesus answered that in John 12:26: "Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me." There is no greater blessing than to be honored by God!

The alternative is to hang onto our hurts and act upon our feelings of frustration. But then we remain cursed by our woundedness. Healing only begins when we forgive others, whether they ask for it or not.

It's frustrating to insist that others treat us the way they should, because when they don't, our focus is on what's hurting us rather than on Jesus. We'll never find happiness this way. True happiness in troubling times comes from uniting ourselves to Christ. Our flesh-nature says, "I don't want to do this! Let this cup pass from me!" Our spirit-nature, connected to the Holy Spirit of Jesus, says: "If they can't or won't give me love, I must let them crucify my desire to receive love from them."

St. Ignatius of Antioch explained it beautifully: "I am the wheat of Christ, ground by the teeth of beasts to become pure bread." By letting others grind up what we want from them, we become Eucharist for them (the Bread of Christ). We become a sign of the true Christ. What a tremendous gift we can give! If we only want to receive the gift, for example during the Eucharistic Liturgy of Mass, then we are selfishly sinning.

Being Eucharist does NOT mean keeping ourselves in harm's way. We follow Jesus to the cross AND the resurrection. Even if the other people don't change, we do. Their choices and behaviors no longer control our feelings. In this, we are greatly blessed!

Be With Us in the Dark:

O Jesus, you who experienced and shared this devastated world with us, we trust you to be with us in the dark times. At moments, life can be beautiful and fulfilling; at others, it can be like a hell.…Hold onto my hand in the darkness. Come to me in the lonely night.

Christ - Reality:

In today's Gospel, Jesus asserts, 'No servant is greater than His Master.' Jesus is the Master of all masters. Do we compromise on the way we live the 'Commandments of Christ' in our homes, at work, in socialising and the like? Are we exemplary or lukewarm Christians?

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Prayer is certainly the most wonderful medicine in the world. And none of us ever grows strong enough to do without it.

- Saint Hyacinth (1185-1257)

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 12:24 -- 13:5a
Ps 67:2-6, 8
John 12:44-50

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/041508.shtml

Sharing the light

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus describes himself as the light of the world and explains why he came: "to keep anyone who believes in me from remaining in the dark." In the first reading, we see Barnabas and Saul (the Jewish name for St. Paul) being called by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by the community (the Church) to take the light of Christ into a dark world.

Today, the Holy Spirit still calls and the Church still commissions: WE are being sent into the darkness to share the light of Christ. It's not just the ordained clergy who are commissioned; in the Vatican II document, the "Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity," the bishops wrote:

"The laity accomplish the Church's mission in the world principally by that blending of conduct and faith which makes them the light of the world..." (para. 13). We spread the light of Jesus by conducting ourselves the way Jesus would — with love, forgiveness, patience, going the extra mile, etc. — and by speaking up to explain who it is we're imitating and why.

Jesus says elsewhere (see Matt. 5:14-16) that a light hidden under a basket is worthless. Faith becomes an occasion of sin if it's only a private experience. Faith is what forms us into the image of Christ who came to earth to bring others to the kingdom of God. If we have true faith, we are motivated to be like Jesus in our dealings with others so that they, too, experience God's love.

"The laity should, by the light of faith, try to find the higher motives that should govern their behavior in the home and in professional, cultural and social life; they should too, given the opportunity, let these motives be seen by others, conscious that by so doing they become cooperators with God the creator, redeemer and sanctifier, and give him glory" (para. 16). We can change the world, starting in our homes but also in the workplace and in social settings, when the reason for our kind, good, and loving behavior is clearly and visibly tied to our faith in Jesus.

When problems arise, we are witnesses of the light of Christ if we, as this document points out, "learn ... to see all things in the light of faith, to judge and act always in its light, to improve and perfect oneself by working with others [loving them generously no matter how difficult], and in this manner to enter actively into the service of the Church. Inasmuch as the human person is continuously developing and new problems are forever arising, this education should be steadily perfected" (para. 29).

We are beacons of the light of Christ when we learn from our problems and grow from our trials.

How bright is your light? Whose darkness is it illuminating?

Bring Us Home:

Bring us home, Father, after the contest of this life. Bring back the lost sheep and summon those who have struggled even haltingly along the way. Open before us the great vista of the Heavenly City so that at the end of our journey we may look up and see its light reflected in the sky ahead.

Eternal Life - Faith:

In today's Gospel, Jesus challenges us to accept His Words and Teachings that bring Eternal Life. If we do not keep the Father's Commandments, then we 'condemn' ourselves through our own deeds. We have to choose the type and quality of life that we want to live daily.

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Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. All other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him fulfill the end for which he is created. From this it follows that man is to use these things to the extent that they will help him to attain his end. Likewise, he must rid himself of them in so far as they prevent him from attaining it.

- St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 11:19-26
Ps 87:1b-7 (with Ps 117:1a)
John 10:22-30

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/041508.shtml

The sound of the Shepherd's voice

In today's Gospel reading, there's a distinct difference between those who are the sheep of Christ and those who are not. By nature, we all want to follow the Good Shepherd. We were created in the image of God, and we instinctively want to be with the one whom we're most like. More than that, everyone wants a savior who will love them no matter what and who will rescue them from evil when no one else can. But many don't recognize his voice.

"If you are the Christ, tell us plainly," these people say.
Jesus answers, "I told you and you do not believe."

Why don't they believe? Well, why don't WE always believe? Our sins are evidence that sometimes we don't really believe that we should follow Jesus. If we always recognized his voice — and the love behind everything he says, teaches, and commands — we'd always follow him and never stray. But when we don't understand what Jesus tells us, we doubt it's really him. When we don't like a moral teaching of the Church, for example, we doubt it's really Jesus, and so we rationalize that it's only man-made, giving ourselves permission to make up our own rules.

However, we are the sheep of God's flock. We do know how to recognize the voice of Jesus. We know he is the Good Shepherd and we do want to follow him. Why then do we sometimes listen to false shepherds, who give us the words we want to hear, and follow them instead?

We all have imperfect voice-recognition programs running in our ears. Unconsciously, we've been affected by the way humans have modeled (or rather, failed to model) Christ among us. No human person is perfect except Jesus; therefore, every person we've known has imperfectly loved us, imperfectly forgiven us, imperfectly shepherded us — and we project onto God what we've experienced from others.

The Jesus we think we know is very limited. Has a friend ever let you down? The result is that you probably see (unconsciously) Jesus as a shepherd who can mislead you. Did you grow up in a home where a parent was abusive or short-tempered or too quick to punish? Were you ever treated unfairly by a teacher or priest or policeman or other authority figure? To the extent that these representatives of God failed to convey to you what God is really like, that's the extent to which you believe in a god who is not God.

To discern the difference between false shepherds and the true Shepherd, we need to spend time consciously separating the imperfect image from the Divine Image.

In the River of God’s Love:

The love of God is like an infinite river…it flows with an irresistible power, and its deep current is unhindered. You and I are in the river of God’s love. If we swim with the tide, we will float along with that love. It will bring us to wherever we are supposed to be.

'I am the Christ' - Faith:

In today's Gospel, Jesus asserted openly many times that He is the Christ, yet the crowd did not believe in Him. How guilty are we of the same sin? We profess that we 'believe' that Jesus is our Saviour, but do our lives reveal the Gospel values of His Teachings?

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He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it.

- Bl. Titus Brandsma, martyr (1881-1942)

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 11:1-18
Ps 42:2-3; 43:3-4
John 10:11-18

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/041408.shtml

The joy of being sheep

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus identifies himself as the Good Shepherd. We are the sheep for whom he has dedicated his life and for whom he is willing to sacrifice his life. We are the sheep he protects from the wolfish evil spirits who want to snatch us away from him to devour us. We are the sheep who stay in his protection by recognizing our Shepherd's voice and following him to better pastures.

Many of us have never been around sheep enough to really understand what it means to be sheep, but we DO know how it feels to be cared for and guided by Jesus. And yet, how easily we forget the goodness of his shepherding when life doesn't go as planned, i.e., OUR plan, according to what WE want.

In frustration and fear, we assume that Jesus has left the sheepfold — you know, he's gone after that lost sheep and he's left us behind to fend for ourselves, and oh my this is surely when the wolves attack! Doesn't he realize that? How could he abandon us if he really cares about us?

For example: Think of the last time you doubted that God would answer your prayers or that he would ever rescue you from a troubling situation.

This IS when the wolves attack. But not because Jesus has left us. He hasn't. He's prodding us with his shepherd's staff, trying to get us to move in a different direction. He's calling our name, trying to tell us what to do and what not to do so that we will remain safe. He's warning us about the wolves. The problem is, we're not listening. Why not? Because there's something about the wolves — something they are doing or saying — that appeals to us.

The Shepherd's voice calls out to us through many different methods of communication: Church teachings, our consciences (if they are well formed), the lyrics of Christian music, homilies, spiritual directors, confessors, friends who know our situations and even strangers (or friends) who don't have a clue about our struggles. Sometimes, the Shepherd speaks to us through that black sheep on the far side of the pasture who is least likely to be one of Christ's ambassadors.

It takes extra humility to recognize the Shepherd's voice when he seems to be silently absent. To be "sheepy", we have to be open to the prodding of the Shepherd's staff at all times, because he sees pits and wolves and good pastures and sweet streams that we cannot see. We have to be prayerfully conscious of our sheepyness in order to remain safe. Only then can we experience the freedom and joy of not needing to figure everything out by ourselves.

Stand still, little sheepy one, and listen.....

Let Us Return to You:

O Lord Our God, let us trust and hope in the protecting shadow of your wings. Guard us and bear us up. Bear us up, as tiny infants and into our old age. For when you are our strength, we have strength indeed.

Good Shepherd - Faith:

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, 'I am the Good Shepherd' who 'lays down His Life for His sheep.' Do we live the Gospel values of the Good Shepherd daily? Are we ‘others centered’ or are we concerned only for our own convenience, needs and gains?

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Holiness does not demand anything great, beyond the ability of the person. It depends on God's Love; every daily act can be transformed into an act of love.

- Saint Ursula Ledochowska (1865-1939)

Fourth Sunday of Easter (A)

Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
1 Pt 2:20b-25
Jn 10:1-10

Are you at an impasse in your spiritual growth or emotional healing or a difficult relationship? Do you need a breakthrough? Do you feel stuck behind a fence that's keeping you on the outside of peace, joy, satisfaction, or healing? This Sunday's Gospel reading tells us that Jesus is the gate in that fence. He helps us reach the heavenly side of the gate, outside the realm of earthly restrictions — not only when we die and enter eternal life, but also here and now in our earthly life, so that we might always "have life and have it more abundantly."

When our path seems blocked, we can only make progress by letting Jesus shepherd us around and through and over the obstacles. If people shut a door on something that God wants us to do, Jesus is still our open gate and no one can close him out of our lives. He will lead us into a new opportunity for accomplishing the plans of God. If he's given us a frustrated holy desire, a passion for which there seems to be no outlet, instead of complaining or quitting, we must look at Jesus and see him as a gate that opens into a direction or location.

And until we get all the way through this gate, we stick close to him like dumb sheep. There's a journey to take before we can reach the other side of the fence. The thief that comes to steal and slaughter can only reach us when we stray away from Jesus and we take our eyes off of him. Despair and worry are two common thieves, robbing us of peace, joy, satisfaction, and healing. But they're not as powerful as they pretend to be. They do not speak the truth about the destruction we fear. They are merely trying to make us forget that Jesus is our Good Shepherd safely guiding us into a life of abundant victory.

Questions for Personal Reflection:

What breakthrough are you hoping for? What's frustrating you and seems hopeless? What's causing you to think that a problem you're facing might lead to disaster and destruction? What will you do this week to follow Jesus more closely so that you can get through this with more peace?

Questions for Group Faith Sharing:

Share the story of a time when you experienced obstacles and Jesus provided a breakthrough that led to victory.

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Are you ready to continue your “post-graduate” work as a Christian?

On the Sundays of Easter the liturgy offers instruction for the newly baptized. All of us are “enrolled” in that course along with them. Our “curriculum” comes from the First Letter of Peter, the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospels. They all suggest how a community rooted in Christ witnesses in the world, with the Spirit’s help.

Today we’re reminded again of the Jesus we follow. A sermon from Acts on the first Pentecost calls listeners to conversion. The second reading—perhaps drawn from an early baptismal instruction to Christian converts who were Roman slaves—presents Jesus as the Suffering Servant, a theme we heard in Holy Week. The instruction urges the newly baptized to identify with and follow Christ as “shepherd of our souls.”

It’s a metaphor found in John’s Gospel. Imagine a crowded sheepfold, noisy with milling flocks and the conflicting voices of shepherds calling their sheep. It’s a likely place for a thief to slip over the wall and do mischief. But the Good Shepherd enters boldly by the main gate, calls us by name, and we recognize him. With the voice of the Shepherd calling us, we continue our Easter celebration of Baptism.

Scripture:

•…and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, (Acts 2:38,9)

•The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul. (Psalm 23)

•When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; (1 Peter 2:23)

•I am the gate for the sheep.…I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. (John 10:7b,9)

Reflection:

•Have you taken comfort in Psalm 23 when you were troubled or sad?

•Have you followed the example of Jesus (1 Peter) in not returning violence through acting with God’s grace?

•How is Jesus the “gate” in your life?

I call upon you to love one another as Jesus has commanded.
I call upon you to renew your efforts to appreciate and respect each others’ cultural diversity.
I call upon you to show special concern for the poor and those who are pushed to the margins of society.
I call upon you to work for a more just society, in which wealth will be more evenly divided and in which it will be possible for all to live a life in keeping with human dignity.
I call upon you, especially the young people, to respond to the Lord’s love and to share his joy with others.
I call upon you who are sick to offer your sufferings for the growth of the kingdom of God.
And I commend all of you to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the perfect example of dedication to the Lord, the Mother of him who says: “This is my commandment: Love one another as I have loved You.” Amen.

Given to Jesus:

It is your vocation, your privilege, your duty, to be wholly given over to Jesus. Then you will emerge in the greatness of the holiness that he has destined for you.…Then you will be unable to forget him, and you will be able to be the only person he has destined you to be.

Gospel Truth:

In today's Gospel, Jesus urges the crowd to enter the sheepfold of heaven through the gate of Christ, the Good Shepherd. We are all called to be self-less and caring like Christ, and not be selfish and cunning like the 'enemy' who Jesus says, 'steals and destroys.'

Our Hearts:

Only Jesus can give us the wisdom and courage of mind and heart to be the pathway by which others can come back to God. His heart, in oneness with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is abundant in meekness and gentleness. May our hearts be one with his.

Jesus' Words:

In today's Gospel, when Jesus' followers were complaining, He explained, 'The Words I have spoken are Spirit and they are Life.' Do we take Jesus' Words to be our source of inspiration, direction and basis of our decisions? Or, do we complain that His Words demand too much from us?

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If I saw the gates of Hell open and I stood on the brink of the abyss, I should not despair; I should not lose hope of mercy, because I should trust in You, my God.

- Saint Gemma Galgani (1878-1903)

Heartfelt Forgiveness:

There is no greater hope of peace than heartfelt forgiveness, for there is no greater expression of the power of God among sinners than his omnipotent mercy. We must beseech it for ourselves and shower it abundantly upon one another.

'Jesus caring for us':

In today's Gospel, Jesus assures us that He 'will watch over us and not one of us will be lost.' Are we aware of how much Jesus is caring for all our daily needs? Do we ignore Him and try to live by our own strength? Trust more fully in God's care and love for us.

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Do not seek to be regarded as somebody; don't compare yourself to others in anything. Leave the world, mount the cross, discard all earthly things, shake the dust from off your feet.

- Saint Barsanuphius of Gaza (d. 540)

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 9:1-20
Ps 117:1bc-2 (with Mark 16:15)
John 6:52-59

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/041108.shtml

Taking risks for the Lord

In today's first reading, Judas and Ananias take an extraordinary risk because of their love for the Lord and their ability to listen — really listen — to him. Against common sense, they helped a fanatically prejudiced, dangerous enemy. And thus they played a significant role in changing the world.

How would we respond if Jesus appears to us in a vision like he did to Ananias? Are our prayer lives so brief and weak that a vision is highly unlikely? And what if Jesus says to us, "I want you to go to the other side of town, to the house of another church member. He's got a visitor there and I want you to minister to him."

Are we involved enough in the life of the parish community that this could happen? And what if Jesus further says that he wants to use us to provide a miraculous healing? Is this when we assert the limitations of common sense and conclude that the whole vision is just our imagination? Or do we reply: "Jesus, if you want it, then he'll be healed as you say."

And what if Jesus then tells us that it's our ex-spouse we'll be visiting. Or the father who abused us. Or the employer who makes our job miserable. Or that other person who makes us angry or fearful. "Say what? You can't be serious!"

Jesus says, "Go!"

Ananias went despite any fears or logic. He and Judas were the first Christians to befriend and forgive Saul (renamed Paul). Because they trusted Jesus more than their own perspective and ideas, they were Paul's first experience of true Christianity.

We must never underestimate the impact that we can make when we follow Christ into unknown, unpredictable, unreasonable and even scary circumstances. What has he been asking you to do that you've been resisting? Your act of faith might be the first step in a long, hugely important plan of God. We must never underestimate how essential we are.

Jesus says in today's Gospel reading that his Flesh is bread from heaven. By consuming his Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist at Mass, we renew our participation in God's salvation plan for the world. Just as Jesus risked everything to heal our souls and lead us to heaven, so too are we sent forth from Mass to take risks with him, carrying his healing and salvation to others.