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. The Lords personal call to each of us will always be in harmony with that fundamental purpose of his coming among us. The Lords faithfulness encourages us to keep turning back to him, to keep coming to him, even after we have turned away from him. The claims of the gospel reading about Jesus and about what he offers us take time to absorb, so striking and powerful are these claims. Because we only live in hope of such a meeting, there will always be some element of doubt in our faith. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares that he came to do his Fathers will, which is that all who see the Son and believe in him shall have eternal life. He wants to be with us, to journey with us, to dwell within our hearts through the Holy Spirit. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs. He is present to each one of us in a very personal way, as he was present to Mary Magdalene, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, to Thomas in todays gospel reading. for the life of the world.. In various ways, calls are made upon our time, upon our gifts, upon our energies. Having recreated them through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord could then send them out as ambassadors of his reconciling love, those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven. In this mornings gospel, Jesus calls on us to search for him for who he is rather than for what he can give us. Our own hope had been that he would set Israel free. This two fold dynamic of prayerful communion with God and loving service of the broken and needy that shaped the life of Jesus also shaped the life of Catherine. Those disciples represent us all. There is often some tension between the Easter cry, Christ is risen! He would not join the community of those who had experienced the risen Lord for themselves. According to the verse before our gospel reading (Jn 6:15), Jesus had withdrawn to the mountain by himself, in response to the crowd wanting to make his king. The Lord who came to Paul through Ananias had earlier come to Ananias through a vision. Our emotions can dull our memories and cloud our reasoning. Alternatively, please click the Cookie settings button to adjust which cookies this website stores during your visit. Lectio Divina - Carmelites When we are faced with a challenge or a problem the way we speak about it can be very important. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. This is why he draws attention so strongly in todays gospel to the importance of working for the food that endures to eternal life. Philips teaching led to the Ethiopian requesting baptism. Most days in this part of the world we have a damp wind from the west. There is a sense in which we are always trying to get to the other side, like the disciples in the boat who were trying to reach the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The gospel reading reminds us that the Lord can work powerfully through humble and meagre resources if they are made available to him. It is not a condemnatory light; God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but so that, through him, the world may have life and have it to the full. He was imprisoned by the Carmelites at Toledo for trying to reform them, and later was badly treated by the houses of his own reform which he had established. The response of Peter and John was to go the community of believers and in their presence to pray, asking God for help to proclaim the gospel with all boldness. When we pray, we open ourselves to the coming of the Holy Spirit upon us and to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When Andrew chimed in, he too spoke in a way that conveyed a kind of hopelessness. It is interesting to speculate that Joseph might have found work as that city was being built. He looks to us to take some initiative towards him. In various ways, calls are made upon our time, upon our gifts, upon our energies and resources. The sequence for us has been a little different, because it began with baptism. It is the story we find in the Jewish scriptures and in the Christian New Testament. The role of the shepherd was to give life to his flock, to protect them from harm by taking them to the sheepfold for the night, and then to lead them out of the sheepfold to pasture in the morning. The gospel reading suggests that we respond by listening to his voice and allowing his word to make its home in us. Very often when Jesus uses an image, like that of the gate, he takes it from his observation of life all around him. In this mornings gospel reading we find Jesus and his disciples faced with a hungry crowd and little or no means of feeding them. The language Jesus had used about eating his flesh was shocking. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares that all who come to him have been drawn to him by the Father, No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me. In that sense, he was a pioneer; he broke new ground. The shepherd enters the sheepfold through the gate. and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; He said to them, Peace be with you, and showed them his hands and his side. The Lord, through his word, opens us up to Gods point of view, which is so much more expansive and always rich in possibilities. This new life has an extraordinary impact on their lives from the moment the child is born. The phenomenon of theft is much more common than it used to be. Her mission was a surprising success. However, the Lord recognizes that only a small group of disciples will see and believe, and, so, he speaks a beatitude over the many future disciples who believe without seeing. He was sent because he was known to be a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. Reflections on Daily Readings December 21 - Carmelites He had a profound appreciation of the uniqueness of Jesus, which is why he could say, he must increase, but I must decrease. The first reading reminds us that an encounter with the Lord in his word is often prior to an encounter with him in the Sacraments. In todays gospel reading we find two disciples heading away from Jerusalem having shared a very significant experience. He is calling on those who have gone looking for him to attend to the deeper hunger in their lives, their spiritual hunger. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. As Paul says in one of his letters, now we see as in a mirror, dimly. We refer to this as kidnapping or people trafficking. In one of his encyclicals, Faith and Reason, Pope John Paul II stated that the church remains profoundly convinced that faith and reason mutually support each other they offer each other a purifying critique and a stimulus to pursue the search for a deeper understanding. The earliest Christian art is to be found in the Catacombs in Rome. NEW: Catholic Daily Reflections Series Two, Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, The Sorrowful Heart of Our Blessed Mother. EASTER SUNDAY: April 9th Day 47 (Easter Sunday): From Exodus to Ecstasy He was attracted by Jesus, and he allowed himself to be drawn to Jesus, even though it meant going against the prevailing current. Philip made a calculation: on the basis of the number of people and the amount of money available to buy food, and decided that nothing could be done. There was a very large hungry crowd gathered around Jesus and his disciples and the only food source was a small boy with five loaves and two fish. We live our lives in response to calls of all sorts. 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. Like Thomas, we can struggle to identify fully with those faith seems so much more assured than ours. Not that anybody has seen the Father, In the gospel reading Jesus speaks of things of this world and heavenly things. All advertisements on this site are served by CatholicAdNet.com, consider using them for your advertising needs. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Sometimes, it is our very weakness that gives the Lord scope to work through us most fully, whereas when we are overconfident and too sure of our own ability and success we can block the Lord from working through us. In the world of Jesus, there were no sheepdogs to do the shepherds work for him. Paul met the Lord on the road to Damascus; we meet the Lord in the Eucharist. He challenges the crowd to reflect on their priorities. A rule of life was given to the early Carmelites by St Albert Avogadro, Patriach of Jerusalem between the years 1206 - 1214. Click on the "Save cookie settings" button to apply your choice. There is indeed much to ponder here and much to give thanks for. When the disciples were full of Easter joy, declaring to Thomas, We have seen the Lord, he couldnt bring himself to believe their good news. It was only after listening carefully to the two disciples that the stranger spoke. The Father loves me, But the one who comes from heaven is above all. Thomas, like the other disciples, saw and believed. Click on the "Save cookie settings" button to apply your choice. This Easter season is a good time us all to pray, Stay with us Lord. Thomas was on a journey towards Easter faith, but he was travelling that journey at a slower pace than the other disciples. As such times, we need people like Barnabas who recognize that the Lord is behind this new direction and who encourage us to trust that the Lord is present in what is happening. The Father reveals the Son to those who become like little children, those who, like Catherine, are deeply aware of their dependence on God and are completely open to all that God can give us. There will always be the kind of tensions or storms within the church that we find in todays first reading. Gods love revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus had triumphed over human wickedness. That is why we gather as a community of faith, in various settings, especially in the setting of the Eucharist. The church has been grieving this past week since the death of the Pope. The hired man, since he is not the shepherd All who seek the truth are already standing in the light of Christ, even though they may not be aware of it. The bread of the word prepares us for the bread of the Eucharist. As a result of the risen Lords appearance to him, Paul was transformed from a zealous persecutor of the church to an equally zealous proclaimer of the gospel to the Gentiles. Light for the Journey: Reflections from Carmel (Second Edition) She began gathering a group of followers about herself, men and women, priests and religious. The death of Jesus had destroyed their hope. Because we do not yet see him face to face, our faith is always a faith that hopes. After saying this he breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit. When we hear in this mornings first reading of the road from Jerusalem to Gaza it is hard not to think of the strained and tension-filled relationship between Jerusalem and Gaza today. He had just fed the people in the wilderness with bread and fish; he was very aware that peoples physical hunger needed to be satisfied. Jesus showed himself to the Eleven and said to them: Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. you will not have life in you. For my flesh is real food Although Peter and the other apostles had been given a formal warning by the religious authorities not to preach the gospel, they carried on regardless because they understood that this was their calling in life, the mission they had received from the risen Lord. The circumstances of our own lives can make it very difficult for us to sing the Easter Alleluia with any conviction. His zeal was now tempered by love. Most of us like the light. Before Mark came to write, much of the tradition about Jesus circulated within the early church in oral form; there were also some written traditions about Jesus. That is why the first reading for the feast of Mark is always from the first letter of Peter. Jesus uses many images of himself in Johns gospel. 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. Jesus declares that we need to be born of the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God. We appreciate it when someone listens to our story and takes it seriously and then, in response, shares something of their story with us. That is why we take Jesus so seriously, why we pay such close attention to what he does and says, to his life, death and resurrection. Yes, it is my Fathers will We look forward to that eternal day when we will see the Lord, face to face. In 1378, the Great Schism began, splitting the allegiance of Christendom between two, then three, popes. God gave us his Son so that we might have life and have it to the full, what this mornings gospel reading calls eternal life. 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. In Lukes first volume, Jesus had attempted to preach the gospel to a Samaritan village but they rejected Jesus because he was heading for Jerusalem. Discerning where the Holy Spirit is leading us is central to our lives as followers of Jesus. Charity Number CHY 5894 | Registered Charity Number RCN 20009656, Copyright 2021. God wants our response, but God cannot force it. The first reading from the first letter of Peter and the gospel reading from the gospel of Mark have a theme in common. Leading is much more respectful of our freedom, of our humanity. These basic human physical needs had to be met first. On these grounds is sentence pronounced: Others followed his example, leaving us with four gospels altogether. Thankfully in recent years, along with the whole Church, the Carmelite Order has rediscovered the importance of Lectio Divina as a privileged way of growing in the relationship with Jesus Christ. We are then sent out from the Eucharist to nurture and protect life in all its forms. We need the Spirit of the Lord all the more in these days. Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. This particular gate is also the good shepherd who has laid down his life for us so that we might have life and have it to the full. The small amount of food that the boy had was not enough to feed the crowd in itself, and, yet, Jesus could not have fed the crowd without it. What do we expect from him? In todays gospel reading, Jesus compares the Spirit to the wind. Please see our cookies page for further details or agree by clicking the 'Accept all cookies' button. When it comes to our relationship with the wind, it is the wind, not us, that has the upper hand. In todays first reading it is was while the early church in Jerusalem was at prayer that they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and in the strength of that Spirit began to proclaim the word of God boldly. The Lord calls each of us in accordance with our own particular nature. Yet, we are not just passive sheep. They declared to the other members of the church that as the leaders they should be devoting themselves to prayer and to the service of Gods word. However, the message that the evangelist seeks to communicate through his telling of that event is reasonably clear. It can lead, rather, to a deepening of our faith. In that sense, each of us is called to be a shepherd to others. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, Yes, it is true. His call sets us out on a communal journey, a journey with others who are trying to respond to his call. We take hope and wisdom from St. Therese of Lisieuxs sayings and reflections from her Story of a Soul and other writings. Gods love was revealed most powerfuuly in the sending of his Son so that we might have life and have it to the full. Paul once persecuted the Lord, but after his experience near Damascus, he went on to draw life from the Lord as he gather with other members of the church at the Eucharist. It didnt really matter which gate you went through. It is sent out monthly at the end of the previous month (for instance the Lectio Divina of Febrary will be emailed out by the end of January). Yet, the Lord will always seek us out and offer us the gift of peace, the gift of his reconciling love. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. He has given us so much from his fullness that a life time is not long enough to receive it all. He is coming from Jerusalem and is reading from the text of the prophet Isaiah, without really understanding what he is reading. In this mornings gospel reading Jesus identifies himself as the one who can satisfy these deeper hungers in our hearts, the hunger for God, for a love that is faithful, for a life that endures beyond this life. Jesus speaks about the wind in this mornings gospel reading. In these changing times for the church, we have to trust that what is of God will endure and what isnt will pass away. We are more aware today than in the past that our relationship with Jesus and with his followers is a choice we have to make. He is declaring there that if we do our best to keep following him, if we keep on trying to listen to his voice, he will keep us faithful to himself. The message of the Lord working with and confirming his disciples is present in both readings. Later on, writing to the church in Corinth, he would say, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. As Jesus says in the gospel reading, whoever eats me will draw life from me. The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; The word of the Lord remains a living word for each one of us today. This was how people usually read the Scriptures at that time, even when they were alone. Vocations Sunday reminds us that the most fundamental call that come to us in life is the call of the Lord. and the sheep do not belong to him, With the rapid expansion of new means of communication in recent decades we can be made much more aware of these various calls on us. When Peter preached the gospel there, the Holy Spirit immediately came down upon this pagan household, just as it had come down on Peter and the other disciples at Pentecost. Everyones journey towards faith is unique to them. He was being the good Pharisee that he believed God wanted him to be. In the gospel reading, Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd and he declares that there are other sheep that are not of this fold that he needs to lead as well. Our website places advertising cookies to show you 3rd party advertisements based on your interests. A contemplative, her life of prayer expressed itself in the loving service of those in need. so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost Like Saint Paul, we can find ourselves saying, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. We are very security conscious in these times. It was while he was at table with the two disciples and broke bread with them that they finally came to recognize fully the stranger who had shared their journey. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. This step will always entail for us, as it did for Nicodemus, a greater surrender to the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. John was very aware that none of those things could be said about himself. Looking upon the sheepfolds of his day, Jesus identifies with both the gate and the shepherd. the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep. His first approach to Jesus is tentative, coming to Jesus under cover of darkness. 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. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. The Lords invitation, Come to me, all who labour and are overburdened, is addressed to us all. It is the life of God and his Son and it is received here and now by those who believe in Gods Son. One of the loving services we can render each other is listening to each others heartfelt and painful stories, especially in these times of Coronavirus. He fed the hungry, healed the sick; he called on the rich to share with the poor. Accept cookies within the '%CC%' category to view this content. He lays down his life for his flock; he is faithful to his flock, even unto death. The Lord is always working with us to confirm, strengthen and support us in our efforts to answer his call in todays world. He has come and he continues to come that we may have life now and beyond this earthly life. Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. I am sure many of you who have lost loved ones will have been supported in your loss by the supportive presence of family and friends. AnalyticalOur website uses analytical cookies to make it possible to analyze our website and optimize for the purpose of a.o. The word nourishes our faith, and it is out of that nourished faith that we come to the Eucharist. That is the trust of todays gospel reading. He wants us to go freely in and out through him. The gospel reading says that they were talking together about all that happened. The Lord calls us to attend to ourselves, so that we can give of ourselves to others, so that we can be good shepherds. His death produced a real sense of loss in many Catholics. These cookies may track your personal data. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. even if his testimony is not accepted; Catherine was one of the great mystics of the church. The second stage is meditatio (reflection) where we think about the text we have chosen and ruminate upon it so that we take from it what God wants to give us. It was only when a member of the church of Damascus, Ananias, laid his hands on Paul in prayer that his sight was restored. Jesus was very aware of that reality. 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. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him. After a profound mystical experience she had a sense of Christ calling her to serve the wider world and universal church. and that I should raise it up on the last day. Jesus fed the hungry multitude in the wilderness with five loaves and two fish. During this special year focus will be placed on the vocation of all Christians as expressed by witness, love and service and as lived out in the specific call of marriage, ordained priesthood, religious life and the single life. Seeing the risen Lord was enough to dispel his doubt. 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. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see. And he said to them, Oh, how foolish you are! It is in coming to him and his Father that we receive his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and so are empowered to live his teaching and, thereby, to become fully alive as human beings and as his joyful servants in the world. Yet, in these Covid times, it hasnt been possible for believers to receive the Eucharist. It is true that we often need to be on our own at such times, but we also deeply appreciate the presence of loved ones who understand what we are going through. The Carmelites invite you to participate with us for Lectio Divina On-line. so it is in my power to take it up again; Our website uses analytical cookies to make it possible to analyze our website and optimize for the purpose of a.o. the usability. It has been said that Easter is the feast of Gods faithful love, the feast of Gods mercy. As well as physical hungers, we also have deeper hungers within us, spiritual hungers and thirsts. The language of eating the flesh, the body, of Jesus and drinking the blood of Jesus is shocking. There was a time when gates were an important part of the look of the front of a house in the city or suburbs. This is how the Spirit continues to shape the life of the church. Earlier in that gospel reading, Jesus spoke about the intimate relationship he has with God his Father, No one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son. In receiving the Lord in the Eucharist we give him the opportunity to shape us in the way he wants to. This two-fold movement of coming to Jesus and going forth in his strength expresses well the contemplative and active dimension of the Christian life. We live our lives in response to calls of all sorts. I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. We tell the story of the person who has died, very often with a focus on the final days or weeks of his or her life. Yet, the gospel reading also states that people need to be open to this light, to come out into the light, to love the light of Gods enduring love. She also wrote her great work, the Dialogues, describing the contents of her mystical conversations with Christ. The gospel reading suggests that when we ourselves feel at our weakest, our most vulnerable, our lowest, when our own resources seem meagre, the Lord can work powerfully in us and through us. 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. He always comes to us with his gift of peace, a peace the world cannot give. All we can do is to surrender to the breath of the Spirit within us and around us, to allow the Spirit to direct us and to lead us. It was St Irenaeus, one of the early theologians of the church, who said that the glory of God is the human person fully alive. In that sense, each of us is called to be a shepherd to others. He lifted the story of the two disciples into this bigger story of Gods faithful love. Yes, Jesus fed them in the wilderness, but he has something more to give them, not just physical bread but a deeper and more enduring form of nourishment. The purpose of all that Jesus said and did - of his life, death and resurrection - is that we might have life, and have it in abundance.
The Stranger In The Lifeboat Ending Explained,
Is He Going To Break Up With Me Quiz,
Rod Ryan Show Thickstagram,
Bomaker Soundbar Remote Code,
Articles C