When we are faced with a challenge or a problem the way we speak about it can be very important. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 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. Every day we try to discern what we need to do to give expression to our desire to take Jesus as our gate. Paul met the Lord on the road to Damascus; we meet the Lord in the Eucharist. If you did not receive an email please check your spam and other folders. 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. If we open ourselves to his presence, as, eventually those two disciples did, the Lord will lift us up. In showing them the wounds in his hands and side he was reminding them of the extent of his love for them. Jesus went off to the other side of the Sea of Galilee or of Tiberias and a large crowd followed him, impressed by the signs he gave by curing the sick. God the Father draws him to his Son firstly through the Scriptures, the Word of God. The gospel reading suggests that people of faith, those who seek to be guided by the light of Christ, will always have something very fundamental in common with all who seek the truth with sincerity of heart. It may seem as small as the two barley loaves and five fish, but the Lord can work powerfully through our efforts, small as they may seem to us. He says that they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me. Elsewhere in the gospels, Jesus says, Give and it will be given to you. In his weakness, he is ready to be redirected by the Lord. Jesus also speaks as one who invites all who are overburdened to come to him for rest. Barnabas was what we would call today, an enabler. Jesus had risen from the dead. The temptation to lock away our faith out of fear can be very strong. Thomas too had locked himself away from the other disciples and from the Lord because of his strong doubt. St. Therese's Daily Reflections - Society of the Little Flower We struggle to bring our prayers of petition into line with what the Lord wants to give us. The Holy Spirit had a major role to play in bringing the Ethiopian to Jesus, but Philip the evangelist and the Ethiopian himself had their roles to play as well. Catholic Daily Mass Readings and Reflections A CATHOLIC MOMENT Saturday April 29, 2023: "This is hard!" John Ciribassi, DVM, Dipl. The stranger who unexpectedly enters our lives can turn out to be a messenger of the Lord. The story of Pauls conversion on the road to Damascus has captured the imagination of many people in the course of the centuries, including the imagination of many artists. The risen Lords face to face meeting with Thomas dispelled all Thomass doubts. In todays gospel reading, Gamaliel a leading member of the Jewish Sanhedrin shows a similar openness. It was to him that they must submit, not to them. What is of God will also endure. Paul and Barnabas went on to spend twelve months together in that church. Their inclination was to do nothing because the situation seemed hopeless. Each of us is responsible for someone or for some others. We spend our lives learning to receive like little children. This remains Gods work today, the work of gathering people together around his Son. NEW: Catholic Daily Reflections Series Two, Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, The Sorrowful Heart of Our Blessed Mother. The gospel reading is very suited to her feast. Like Thomas, they may find it difficult to identify fully with those believers who acclaim with conviction, We have seen the Lord, and whose faith seems so much more assured than theirs. The story is a reminder to us that we need each other on the journey of faith. We have made some progress on the road of faith, but we remain searchers; we continue to feel a restlessness within us. He was sent because he was known to be a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. There are no lengths to which the Lord will not go to hold onto us, to keep us in relationship with him. The Lord calls out to all of us to come to him, to know and love him as he knows and loves us. Today we remember Joseph the worker. He not only gave them all every encouragement, he set out for Tarsus to bring Paul to Antioch, because he could see that this new development in Antioch was ripe for Pauls gifts. Even though Gods quest for us is the more fundamental one, we need to be engaged in our own quest for God. This is the core of the gospel. Yet, there is something that we must do as well. These cookies may track your personal data. He challenges the crowd to reflect on their priorities. Todays gospel reading assures us that the Lord understands a doubting, questioning, faith. What doesnt pass away, because it is of God, is Jesus capacity to work powerfully through humble human resources in the service of Gods people, such as feeding a large crowd with five barley loaves and two fish. The feeding of the multitude is one of the few stories from the public ministry of Jesus that is to be found in all four gospels. There will always be forces in our world that are hostile to our coming to Jesus. Communion with the Lord is the gateway to eternal life here and now and beyond this life. Jesus observed how shepherds related to their flock and he recognized something of himself in them. God the Father draws all people to his Son and our coming to Jesus is in response to the drawing of the Father. John 6:35-40 His words were prophetic. He saw in his relationship with the risen Lord the completion of his Jewish faith. Philips response to Jesus showed that he felt overwhelmed by the problem. is to come to me. Reflections on Daily Readings 2022 Introduction We have compiled a comprehensive set of reflections on the readings, covering the entire year. 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. It is also a very important place of pilgrimage for Muslims. The probing question he asks Philip about the text gives Philip an opening to speak to him about Jesus. It falls to us to respond to all he has done and is doing if that relationship is to become a reality. In this mornings gospel reading, Nicodemus takes his first tentative steps towards the Lord. Because we only live in hope of such a meeting, there will always be some element of doubt in our own faith. In the early centuries the church seems to have found Matthews gospel in particular more helpful for the life of faith because of the large amount of the teaching of Jesus it contains, relative to Mark. We cannot fully grasp the Holy Spirit and we certainly cannot control the Holy Spirit. and no one can steal from the Father. Yet, the life that the Lord talks about there is not just a future reality, life beyond death; it is also a present reality. In the gospel reading this morning Jesus speaks of the shepherd who calls his own sheep one by one and leads them out. However, Jesus knew that this impulse was not from God and he fled from it, and the impulse passed away for the moment, even though the impulse to make the church an earthly kingdom would rear its head more than once in the following centuries. These cookies may track your personal data. Up until then, the story of Jesus live had been passed primarily by word of mouth. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.. There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. What we want from him can be far too limited. Many of us will have had more personal experiences of loss, with the death of a close relative or of a good friend. They saw the Lord; they now knew that the crucified one had been raised from the dead, as he promised. Syria has been in the news for some time because of the unrest there and Damascus, the capital, has been mentioned more than once. One of the tasks of life for each of us as disciples of the Lord is to try and listen to the particular call that the Lord is addressing to me here and now. Vocations Sunday reminds us that the more fundamental call we hear in life is the call of the Lord. they are retained.. They will all be taught by God, and I lay down my life for my sheep. Philip and Andrew were very sceptical about Jesus ability to feed the crowds. In the words of todays first reading she lived her life in the light, in God who is light, and brought the light of Gods reconciling love to her broken church and world. God will seek to draw us to his Son in a variety of ways. We appreciate it when someone listens to our story and takes it seriously and then, in response, shares something of their story with us. We might highlight the tragic dimension of what happened, but fail to see the signs of hope that are there as well. Welcome to A Catholic Moment! It was as if this brutal hatred gathered up every rejection of love there has ever been. His first tentative step was to come to Jesus by night. Yet this mornings gospel assures us that the Lords hold on us is stronger than the forces which seek to remove us from him. Within that community of faith, no member was ever in want, because all who had more than they needed shared with those in need, through the agency of the Apostles. A common security measure in many homes and businesses are strong lights that come on at night when somebody comes within a certain radius and breaks the beam. Surely he cannot reenter his mothers womb and be born again, can he? Jesus answered, Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Thomas was on a journey towards Easter faith, but he was travelling that journey at a slower pace than the other disciples. Our website uses cookies to give you the best online experience. Give me your hand; put it into my side. If we face our questions honestly, as Thomas did, and bring them to each other and to the Lord, we too can find ourselves exclaiming, My Lord and my God. He continues to speak to us in and through the Scriptures, inviting us to see our own personal journey in the light of Gods loving journey towards us. There tends to be a restlessness in all of us. He is uniquely placed to bear witness to who God is because, according to Johns gospel, he has been with God from all eternity and has come from God. The Lord works in life-giving ways in what can seem to be desolate places. His reading of the passage gave rise to a question for him that he sought an answer to from Philip, Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else? When Philip then proclaimed the gospel to him, the Ethiopian took a further initiative on his spiritual quest, again in the form of a question, Look, there is some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptized? Having been baptized by Philip, the Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing. In the world of Jesus, there were no sheepdogs to do the shepherds work for him. In todays first reading, Philip preaches the gospel in Samaria and the people there unite in welcoming the message Philip preached. At other times we may find ourselves in the role of Philip, helping someone to take a new step on their journey towards Jesus. It is composed by Carmelite scholars and is available in English, Spanish and Italian. There is something wonderfully mysterious about the birth of every child. 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. Even though we are an Easter people, we never stop being a Good Friday people also, at least on this side of eternity. Certainly, one purpose of a gate is to prevent access to some area. According to the gospel reading, Jesus came and stood among them, without knocking on the door, without waiting to be let in. In the first reading, Peter assures the churches he is addressing that even though they are having to suffer for their faith, the Lord will see that all is well again; he will confirm, strengthen and support you. In response to this preoccupation with Jesus as the provider of physical bread, Jesus speaks of the food that endures to eternal life which he is offering. he cannot see the kingdom of God.. There are many voices competing for our attention today, but in the midst of them all we need to be attentive to the voice of the Lord so that we can follow him each day. There is often some tension between the Easter cry, Christ is risen! These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. The Lord can come to us through the refreshing beauty of nature. We all have a role to play in calling forth the gifts of others by recognizing situations that would be ideally suited to them and by creating space for them in which to work. If we are open and honest, the Lord will draw us to himself in time, in his time and in ours. That is very evident from that reading we have heard this morning. Just as Jesus was always in communion with his Father so he wants us to be always in communion with him. In reality, Jesus was not just Nicodemus fellow teacher. On one occasion he stood up to his fellow Pharisees and challenged them to give Jesus a proper hearing, declaring that this would be in keeping with the spirit of the Jewish Law. Catherine remained faithful to Urban, in spite of his faults, because he had been duly elected. We come before him because we know he has a fullness from which he wants us to receive, so that our deepest hungers and thirsts can be satisfied. bears witness to the things he has seen and heard, 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 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. Supplied by the Madonna Magazine. Catherine remained faithful to Urban, in spite of his faults, because he had been duly elected. His last appearance in the gospel is alongside Joseph of Arimathea, as they both arrange for Jesus to have a dignified burial. A little later the Ethiopian asked Philip to baptize him and Philip responded to that request too. In the gospel reading this morning Jesus makes a distinction between food that cannot last and food that endures to eternal life. In the Eucharist we consume Christ in a very personal way. and the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Lukes first volume, his gospel. Charity Number CHY 5894 | Registered Charity Number RCN 20009656, Copyright 2021. He immediately went off to Tarsus to look for Saul, or Paul, who had recently come to faith in Christ and Barnabas encouraged him to go to Antioch and support this new development there. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days? And he replied to them, What sort of things? They said to him, The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. If we do that, the gospel reading suggests that we can be assured that the Lord will do the rest. But he said to them, It is I. There are several stories in the gospels of people who go looking for Jesus. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. Some are asked by Jesus; others are asked by those who meet with Jesus. In this mornings gospel reading, Jesus declares, I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full. We are to be constantly asking ourselves, What is the Lord saying to us? We can always slip back into the mood of Good Friday, tentative about our relationship with the Lord, fearful of making it known. Jesus is speaking as the good shepherd who defends the members of his flock in times of danger, who stands up against the thieves and robbers who intend to do harm to the flock. Like Thomas, we can struggle to identify fully with those faith seems so much more assured than ours. The Spirit comes from God and goes to God and God is always beyond us, beyond our understanding and our control. We live our lives in response to calls of various kinds. The evangelist declares that Jesus, Gods Son, reveals Gods love for the world and for each of us individually. Friday. Therein lies our confidence and hope. A person filled with the Holy Spirit was likely to discern whether or not this novelty was the work of the Spirit. The suggestion is that Jesus needed to be in communion with God in prayer. His intimate relationship with God flows over into a loving and caring relationship with all who struggle under heavy burdens. The Spirit is always at work furthering the work of the Lord in the world. If Jesus is our gate, we must choose to enter through him. Life has triumphed over death!, and our own present experience. 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). The two disciples were suddenly joined by a stranger who invited them to share their story with him, What matters are you discussing as you walk along? He was inviting them to open their hearts to him. that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, When the Lord speaks about life to the full there, we might be inclined to think only in terms of eternal life, life beyond death.