As he says in his second letter to the Corinthians, the love of Christ urges us on. Whenever we share our experience with someone else it often takes the form of a story of some kind. To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here:Cookie Policy. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. He discerned that Paul who had recently encountered the risen Lord just outside Damascus would be the ideal person to give leadership to the church in Antioch. Early on in this period, she was tormented by doubt, but this gave way to mystical encounters with Christ. Just as he empowered his disciples to get out behind their closed doors and bring his faithful love to all, he empowers us to do the same. He understands of what we are made, why we do what we do and fail to do what we fail to do. Listen. It was to him that they must submit, not to them. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the risen Lord and we need his Spirit if our lives are to proclaim his word, his presence, with clarity and courage. The origin and destination of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is wrapped in the mystery of God. He was a Pharisee, a member of that group who are consistently hostile to Jesus in Johns gospel. A mystic, she involved herself as a peacemaker and a reconciler in the great affairs of church and state of the day. Then there are other kinds of losses that we experience in the course of our lives, such as the loss of a job, or the loss of full health, or the loss of our good name. Below are links to various resources to inspire you on a daily basis. That is why a reading from the first letter of Peter is read on Marks feast day. In todays gospel reading, Jesus does not say, Come to my teaching, but Come to me. They were turning their backs on the city where their hopes had been dashed. Yet, Nicodemus did not give up on Jesus and the last we see of him in Johns gospel is at Golgotha where, after the death of Jesus, he and Joseph of Arimathea ensure that Jesus has a dignified burial. The role of the shepherd was to give life to his flock, to protect them form harm and to lead them to pasture. He was trying to protect Gods people from a very strange message that was being preached by some Jews about a crucified criminal being the long-awaited Messiah. Yet, the Lords part in our relationship with him is always so much greater than ours. In a sense, it condemns the wrong doer. He is calling on those who have gone looking for him to attend to the deeper hunger in their lives, their spiritual hunger. We struggle to believe that Jesus could want to be as close to us as he is to his heavenly Father. The same risen Lord who stood among his disciples on that first Easter morning stands among us on in this Easter time, with all its anxiety and uncertainty. He will not allow the forces that are hostile to our relationship with him to get the better of us. the usability. As the gospel reading says, their faces were downcast. When the other disciples approached him with the good news of Easter, We have seen the Lord, their message did not resonate with him in any way. Our website places advertising cookies to show you 3rd party advertisements based on your interests. In the gospel reading this morning, the people come to Jesus looking for more of the bread they ate when Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish. He immediately came to them, speaking a reassuring word, It is I. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. The Lords faithfulness encourages us to keep turning back to him, to keep coming to him, even after we have turned away from him. and the sheep do not belong to him, Perhaps, like the people of Galilee, our expectations are too small. Anyone who believes in the Son has eternal life, We each have to ask ourselves, What does it mean for me to live out my calling to be the Lords disciple?. That is one of the purposes gates can serve. We remember this morning these young girls who are soon to make their first Holy Communion. There is an ancient tradition which locates the writing of the gospel of Mark in the city of Rome and identifies the evangelist Mark as a disciple of Peter. He walked with them with a view to getting them to change direction, but before he could do that, he had to walk with them in the wrong direction for a while. Martin Hogan continues to write many books on the Gospel Readings for each day of the Catholic Liturgical Year. I tell you most solemnly, Then, out of the mouth of the great sceptic came one of the most complete professions of faith in the four gospels, My Lord and my God. In the language of that responsorial psalm, he is there as a shepherd in every valley of darkness to give us comfort. He had been devastated once by the crucifixion of Jesus; he wasnt going to have his hopes dashed again by wishful thinking. It shows Paul prostrate on the ground beside his horse, looking upwards with a light shining upon him. that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, are thieves and brigands; The Jewish feast of Passover was near. It was in response to that initiative of theirs that he joined them at table. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. Even Marks gospel is placed second in the New Testament, almost all scholars agree that it was the earliest gospel to be written. The movement of the prayer is towards silence. After a profoundly mystical experience she had a sense of Christ calling her to take a further step, to serve the wider world and universal church. An Infant Rejoices in the Presence of the Lord! Such communion, if entered into in faith, is an opportunity to draw life from the Lord. He doesnt get behind us and drive us in this direction. Up until that moment, all the disciples of Jesus were Jews. Our website uses functional cookies. In todays gospel reading, Jesus tells Nicodemus, a leading Pharisee and expert in the Jewish Law, that he needs the Holy Spirit. In this mornings gospel reading we are told that the disciples were preaching everywhere in response to the risen Lords call, and that the Lord was working with them. Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries Jesus was saying to Nicodemus that we need the Spirit at our back to enter the kingdom of God; we cant enter it in our own strength. 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 continues to offer the gospel to those who initially reject it. Alarms, security lighting, codes to get in and out of premises, strong gates and doors have become much more the norm than they used to be. He wants us to go freely in and out through him. The word nourishes our faith, and it is out of that nourished faith that we come to the Eucharist. As risen Lord he was present among them, just as he had been present with the disciples in the boat as the storm raged at sea. Yet, Jesus also declares in that gospel reading that the Father reveals these things to mere children. As they prayed, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and in the strength of that Spirit they proclaimed the word of God courageously. Scripture: Acts 11:1-18 John 10:11-18. They want more of the bread that he multiplied in the wilderness. The good shepherd takes on the role not primarily to get something out of it, but to give something in it. In this mornings gospel reading, Jesus sees crowds coming towards him. and I will raise him up at the last day. Those who might be up to no good prefer the cover of darkness. and yet you people reject our evidence. The proclamation of the word leads to baptism and then in the gospel reading Jesus speaks in language that is clearly Eucharistic, the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world. I give them eternal life; In their own words, their hearts began to burn within them. As we allow the Lord to touch our lives through others, through his word, through the Eucharist, we will be strengthened to continue on our pilgrim way with fresh hope in our hearts, just as the two disciples returned joyfully to Jerusalem after meeting the Lord. As he says to Philip, in another part of the gospel of John, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. We find a similar pattern in the first reading. If we listen to that story, if we are attentive to the word of the Lord, we will begin to recognize life where we thought there was only death, light where we thought there was only darkness. Student Daily Reflection. In the case of infants, it is the faith of the parents and family and the faith of the believing community that is presupposed. Yet, God is prepared to wait, as Jesus was prepared to wait for Nicodemus. This deeper hunger is more easily neglected than our physical hunger. Then out of the blue, the risen Lord stopped him in his tracks. Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he meant by telling it to them. EASTER SUNDAY: April 9th Day 47 (Easter Sunday): From Exodus to Ecstasy We tend to focus on Jesus and his disciples, and on the crowd. We can each make our own those words of Saint Paul. All that the Father gives me will come to me, Every so often the Lord prompts the church to take a new step beyond where it has been. However, in raising Jesus from the dead God was announcing that human rejection of Gods love did not have the last word. It is my Father's will that whoever sees the Son should have eternal life. They had forgotten that Jesus had told them that, having been crucified by his enemies, God would raise him from the dead. It is a very natural way of prayer and was developed and practised by the early monks and thus came to the first Carmelite hermits. Jesus argues that if there is a mysterious quality about the wind, there is an even more mysterious quality about the Spirit of God. They are searching for the material bread that Jesus had given them earlier, rather than for Jesus himself. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, How long are you going to keep us in suspense? We can often find ourselves initially resisting a request that someone makes of us or some declaration that they make to us. Jesus fed the hungry multitude in the wilderness with five loaves and two fish. The church now had two rival Popes. If you do not believe me when I speak about things in this world, Jesus speaks as the one who gives us a unique access to God. he will go freely in and out Carmelite Spirituality, Gospel Reflection / By Ritche Salgado, O.Carm. How can this man, Jesus, give us his flesh to eat? Clearly the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd that we find in todays gospel reading spoke to Christians from the earliest days of the church. Daily prayer and reflections based on the Scripture readings of the day. The Spirit is the Spirit of Gods personal love for the world. It is significant that the two disciples said, Stay with us and not stay with me. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal. So they said to him, What can we do to accomplish the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.. The two disciples were journeying away from Jerusalem when the risen Lord joined them in the form of a stranger and opened the Scriptures for them. God gives everything to us by giving us Christ as the good shepherd who gives his life for us. The journey of faith is not always straightforward. In the gospel reading Jesus speaks of things of this world and heavenly things. He was succeeded by Pope Urban VI who turned out to be a disastrous Pope. The Lord appeared directly to Paul but he also came to Paul through a member of the church he was persecuting. However, Jesus offers himself to them as someone who can satisfy not just their material hunger, but the deep, spiritual, hunger within them. Yet, todays gospel reading suggests that this is not what the risen Lord wants from his followers. When they arrived at their home town of Emmaus, the disciples invited the stranger to stay with them. This is a message we need to hear today. It is a statement worth reflecting upon. If we open ourselves to his presence, as, eventually those two disciples did, the Lord will lift us up. He says, I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. If we come to him, having initially turned away, he will not turn us away because, as he declares in the gospel reading, it is his Fathers will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life. Joseph had a marketable skill. He entered into their situation; he invited them to tell their story, What matters were you discussing as you walk along? The story they told was the reason they were leaving Jerusalem, the very city where the Lord wanted them to remain. The Lectio is a part of their daily spiritual life. Those who have been through an experience of loss know how therapeutic it can be to tell the story of the last days of a loved one. Jesus is concerned when people are physically hungry, when their basic physical needs are not being met, but he always leads us beyond the level of the physical, the material, to more ultimate realities. Indeed, we can all take heart from it, because there is something of Thomas in all of us. We look forward to that day when we will see the Lord, face to face. There is a clear reference here to the Eucharist as the moment when we enter into communion with the body and blood of the Lord. The language of Jesus in todays gospel reading must have sounded very offensive to many people. Reflections on Daily Readings 2023 - Carmelites We are those who seek to take Jesus as the Lord of our lives. It is a very reassuring promise for all of us. This is what we find Barnabas doing in todays first reading. Having allowed God to work through him to bring the Ethiopian to Jesus, Philip moved on from him, and the Ethiopian continued on his way rejoicing. LEARN MORE. Todays first reading makes reference to the persecution of the early church. It has been said that Easter is the feast of Gods faithful love, the feast of Gods mercy. As he said earlier, No one has greater love than this, to lay down ones life for ones friends. We are very familiar with the story from the life of Jesus that we have just read. In this mornings gospel reading, Jesus declares, I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full. We need to keep trying to go where the Spirit is leading us. Now Jesus was challenging him to live by the Spirit. We find it very hard to get started. She lived a life of solitary prayer for three years before re-joining her family and working with the sick, the poor, prisoners and plague victims. After a profound mystical experience she had a sense of Christ calling her to serve the wider world and universal church. This is a call to Eucharistic communion with the Lord. Many of us will have had more personal experiences of loss, with the death of a close relative or of a good friend. That way of the cross became more difficult this past week, the Easter octave, when the church celebrates the resurrection of Christ. It was at that moment when they were battling with the elements in the darkness that the disciples saw Jesus coming towards the boat, saying to them, It is I. The realism of his talk about eating his flesh and drinking his blood is shocking in many ways. the Son of Man who is in heaven; We received the gift of the Holy Spirit at our baptism and our confirmation, but we need fresh outpourings of the Holy Spirit as we go through life. He walks with us, even when we are walking in the wrong direction. There is a great deal more to life than the satisfaction of our physical needs. The Spirit is always at work furthering the work of the Lord in the world. Life is never the same for a couple after the birth of their child. Our calling is to come out into the light, in the words of the gospel reading. As Saint Paul came to realize, the Lords power is often made perfect in weakness. Yet, the Lord had wonderful plans for this almost helpless figure. The gospel reading does not state that Thomas actually touched the wounds of Jesus. Then their eyes were opened, and the sad journey away from Jerusalem became a joyful journey back to the city. He breathed new life into them; he recreated them in his love. The gate gave access to both security and feeding for the sheep. In this mornings gospel reading, Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. There tends to be a restlessness in all of us. He said to them, Peace be with you, and showed them his hands and his side. The Lord is always doing something new among us, and we all need to discern the ways the Lord is leading the church, especially in these times. In todays gospel reading, Jesus compares the Spirit to the wind. Please join us in praying these daily Lenten Reflections with Fr. In the evening the disciples went down to the shore of the lake and got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other side of the lake. Parents are called upon by their children and then, as parents get older, it is the children who often get called upon by their parents. The Lord will do all he can to hold onto us but we also have our part to play. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. We need to come to Gods Son, to come out into the light, in the words of gospel reading. In the gospel reading this morning we hear of the shepherd who calls his own sheep. He calls out to all of us to come to him, to come to know and love him as he knows and loves us. Social mediaOur website places social media cookies to show you 3rd party content like YouTube and FaceBook. He was drawn to Jesus but he could not quite grasp what Jesus was asking of him, not initially at least. John 6:35-40 That is why we gather as a community of faith, in various settings, especially in the setting of the Eucharist. Yet, there is always something we can do, no matter how small. The gospel reading this morning encourages us to remain hopeful even in the face of situations that seem very unpromising. For us as Christians, obedience to God is obedience to his Son, Jesus, our risen Lord, because as todays gospel declares, he whom God has sent speaks Gods own words. Barnabas was what we would call today, an enabler. These days when we are deprived of the Eucharist can sharpen our awareness of the many other ways the Lord is always coming to us. Yet, this is not a closed relationship. If his fellow disciples were full of Easter faith, he was full of doubt. The shepherd calls out to each of us individually, by name. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Gods love, a love whose breadth and length and height and depth cannot be fully comprehended. In receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, we are inviting him to live out in us his life towards God and towards others. Jesus said to the crowds: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is as a mystic that John is known as a 'Doctor of the Church'. The Lord calls out to all of us to come to him, to know and love him as he knows and loves us. That is why the first reading for the feast of Mark is always from the first letter of Peter. Jesus has come not just to give people physical food but to give them the spiritual food of Gods presence, Gods life and Gods Spirit. The first reading suggests that Barnabas knew how to listen to the voice of the shepherd. The gospel reading suggests that even when we might cut ourselves off from others, we do not cut ourselves off from the Lord. In this he is being true to Gods will which is, according to the gospel reading, that all who see the Son and believe in him shall have eternal life. When we are faced with a challenge or a problem the way we speak about it can be very important. We have made some progress on the road of faith, but we remain searchers; we continue to feel a restlessness within us. He had been prompted by the Spirit to go to the pagan home of Cornelius, a Roman centurion. It was this same Saul who went on to become the greatest missionary in the early church, bringing the gospel to major cities in modern day Turkey and Greece. These cookies are necessary to let our website work. In some mysterious way, Jesus worked with those few resources to feed the multitude. We hear and experience that bigger story, above all, in the Eucharist. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares that no one knows the Son except the Father. No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. and I know the Father; The life which flowed from the side of Jesus as he hung from the cross, symbolized by the blood and water, is conveyed personally to each of us when we eat his body and drink his blood. The Hellenists, Greek speaking believers, were complaining about the Hebrews, Aramaic speaking believers, because the Hellenists felt that their widows were not being as well provided for as the widows of the Hebrews. It is a verse worth pondering and reflecting upon at length. We are being reminded by both readings that, even when our own personal lives and the life of our church seem to hold out little promise, the Lord can be powerfully at work there, if we live towards him in a generous and trusting manner. He speaks Gods own words. The hermits and desert fathers in the Holy Land influenced the formation of the Carmelites in the early 13th century. According to the gospel reading, Jesus came and stood among them, without knocking on the door, without waiting to be let in. In todays gospel reading, Jesus speaks of two kinds of food, food that cannot last and food that endures to eternal life. Here and now the Lord wants us to know something of that life to the full which is our ultimate destiny. I know them and they follow me. Her mission was a surprising success. It is evident that Catherines mysticism did not withdraw her from the world. On his search he meets with a companion who helps him to find an answer to some of his questions, who throws light on the word of God that has so intrigued him. The works I do in my Fathers name testify to me. They ran from the suffering and crucified Jesus. The message of the Lord working with and confirming his disciples is present in both readings. Reflections on Daily Readings December 22 - Carmelites In todays gospel reading, the two disciples of Jesus had each other for support in the days after Jesus had been crucified. The first reading puts before us a troubling moment in the life of the church, conflict between Greek speaking and Aramaic speaking Jewish Christian widows regarding the distribution of food. Up until then, the story of Jesus live had been passed primarily by word of mouth. The Lord will not allow anything or anyone to come between himself and ourselves. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life..
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