Tag: resurrection

Saturday of the Second Week of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, To deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 6:16-21)

When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.

Continuing where yesterday’s Gospel left off, today’s reading describes what happens after Jesus fed the five thousand and then went off to the mountain alone. John describes how the disciples went down to the sea to reach Capernaum. Within moments after embarking, a strong wind stirs up the sea and they see Jesus walking on the sea toward them. Until he says to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid,” the disciples fail to recognize Jesus. They wish to take Jesus into the boat, but they reach the shore immediately. Two miracles—really three—occur as the Gospel unfolds: Jesus walks on water, the disciples reach the shore without human effort, and they recognize the divinity of Jesus in the peace that only he can give.

God, I am certain of the myriad uncertainties I will face today. In the midst of them, give me the grace to call to mind that Jesus your Son is present at all times. Help me trust that as much as uncertainty and fear will be woven into the day, “all your works,” as the psalmist says, “are trustworthy” and preserve me in every trial. “Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.” Jesus, I trust in you.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Friday of the Second Week of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 6:1-15)

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

Crowds began to follow Jesus because they saw the miracles he performed among the sick. Before feeding the crowd of five thousand that came to him, Jesus asks Philip a question: “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” Knowing what he would do, Jesus asks Philip to test him. Seeing the vast crowd, Andrew tells Jesus there is a boy who has five loaves of bread and two fish. This time, Andrew asks a question, uncertain of the outcome: “but what good are these for so many?” Of the two questions, one affirms God’s superabundant grace; the other is despairing, skeptical. Every day, God tests our faith by giving us countless opportunities to trust him. Where do we go for true food, true drink?

God, open my mind to understand today’s Gospel. When I consider that Jesus broke bread, feeding five thousand, I marvel at how he made that possible. Even more so do I stand in awe at the feeding of millions every day in the Eucharist. It is the same Christ broken and shared but undivided among those most in need of his body and blood, soul and divinity. There is something in Jesus’ question, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” that begs to be answered. We can’t buy what we most need; no one can. Only you, Lord, can supply the Eucharistic meal that makes you present within me and makes me whole.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Bertramz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Memorial of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr

From the responsorial psalm: “I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. Taste and see how good the LORD is; blessed the man who takes refuge in him. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 3:31-36)

Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.

What is clear from today’s Gospel is the love of the Father for the Son and the complete abandonment of the Son to the will of the Father. The love of the Father abides fully in the Son. To obey the Son is to trust in God and participate in the fullness of his redemption through the resurrection. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” “The wrath of God remains upon,” John tells us, whoever disobeys the Son. Not an active divine punishment, wrath is the natural result of suffering through active rejection of belief in Christ. The wrath of God is a continual invitation to return to him wholeheartedly, to trust in his will and be obedient to it.

God, help me trust in you at all times and accept the testimony of your Son, who “testifies to what he has seen and heard” from above all. When I consider the trials and distress of the day that is certain to come, I want to hold fast to my faith. “Many are the troubles of the just man,” the psalmist says, “but out of them all the LORD delivers him.” And “When the just cry out, the LORD hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them.” Guide me in your ways today, Lord; teach me to persevere in faith in this life so that in the world to come I may one day give you unceasing praise and bless you at all times. Saint Stanislaus, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, To do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!” Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 3:16-21)

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.

Today’s Gospel reading picks up where yesterday’s left off. In John’s words, the passage summarizes the conversation Jesus has with Nicodemus. So that everyone might have eternal life and because he loves the world he created, God sent his only-begotten Son “so that everyone who believes in him might not perish.” But because God made us to be free and respects free will, the choice to believe in the Son of God—the choice between light and darkness—is left to each person. “Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,” John says, “but whoever does not believe has already been condemned.” In choosing Christ, we come willingly into the light of truth, seeking to do God’s will.

God, you fashioned the world out of love, and you love the world you created. Help me choose freely today to come toward the light of Christ your Son. Inclined toward sin, it’s not a given that I will choose to live in the truth of that light. Let me remember to call out to you for your help, and aid me today in choosing to do right and rejecting evil. In the words of the psalmist, grant me the grace to call on you in every distress and look to you so that I may be radiant with joy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter

From the Gospel acclamation: “The Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 3:7b-15)

Jesus answered [Nicodemus] and said to him, “If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. 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.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus explains to Nicodemus the purpose of being “born from above” in order to enter the kingdom of God. He emphasizes that spiritual rebirth is not something that should be surprising to Nicodemus. And he goes on, saying, “The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Just as the Israelites looked at the bronze serpent, so people look to Jesus lifted up on the cross to receive eternal life.

God, help me understand what Jesus conveys to Nicodemus in teaching him about spiritual rebirth. In the risen Christ, the lifted cross becomes the means not of death but of the way made ready for us to eternal life. Give me the grace to trust in your mercy, that what Jesus says to Nicodemus about heavenly things I can trust with complete assurance. Help me live out today as Jesus instructed Nicodemus: “You must be born from above.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Friday in the Octave of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Israel say, “His mercy endures forever.” Let those who fear the LORD say, “His mercy endures forever.” The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 21:1-14)

Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Jesus appears on the shore to the disciples, but at first they don’t recognize him. He asks if they have caught any fish. When they tell him no, Jesus instructs them to cast their net on the right side of the boat, and they catch an enormous number of fish. Recognizing Jesus, John says, “It is the Lord.” Peter then jumps into the water to meet Jesus, and the other disciples follow. As they reach the shore, they find a charcoal fire with fish and bread that Jesus prepared for them. He invites them to bring some of the fish and to have breakfast with him. Recognizing who it is they sit with, no one asks “Who are you?” This is the third time Jesus appears to the disciples after his resurrection. As if to return to daily life, Peter and the others get back to their occupation. In his appearance as the risen Christ, Jesus demonstrates that they can’t go back to where they were, that their lives from that moment on will be anything but ordinary.

God, help me understand where the disciples were after the resurrection of Jesus. They were lost, going back to what they knew rather than incorporating into their lives what they had learned from the teachings and works of your Son, and through his resurrection. Give me the grace to see that Easter is not an event in the past but is the living person of Jesus, alive in the glorified body and present in the Church. John says of their attempt to return to ordinary life: “but that night they caught nothing.” Lord, teach me in the ordinariness of the day to hear your voice and with joyful recognition take heart, saying, “It is the Lord.” From the sequence from today’s readings: “Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining. Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning! Amen. Alleluia.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Thursday in the Octave of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “O LORD, our Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth! What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him? O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 24:35-48)

He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

Gathered together in Jerusalem, the disciples who had encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus share their experiences. Even as they speak, Jesus appears among them. “Peace be with you,” he says to them. The disciples believe at first that they are seeing a ghost, but Jesus assures them of his physical presence and invites them to touch him and see his wounds. As if to further reassure the disciples, he asks for something to eat and eats the baked fish they give him. In his presence and in opening their minds to understand the Scriptures, Jesus reveals how his passion, death, and resurrection are part of God’s plan for salvation. “You are witnesses of these things,” he tells them, reminding them of their identity and commissioning them to proclaim repentance to all the nations.

God, help me throughout the day hear the first words of Jesus as he appears to the disciples: “Peace be with you.” Startled by what they believe is a ghost, the disciples go from terror to being “incredulous for joy and were amazed.” Help me put aside the distractions and worries of the day—figments of the imagination—to see with eyes of faith that you are truly with me at all times whether or not I comprehend it. Open my mind, Lord!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“The risen Jesus appears to the disciples in the upper room” flickr photo by Nick in exsilio https://flickr.com/photos/pelegrino/4669927869 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) license

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name; make known among the nations his deeds. Sing to him, sing his praise, proclaim all his wondrous deeds. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 24:13-35)

As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”

As two of Jesus’ disciples are walking toward Emmaus, discussing recent events about him, a man they don’t recognize asks what they are talking about. In their sadness and disappointment, they explain to the man that they thought Jesus would save Israel but was instead crucified. Jesus explains all of this to them in terms of how the Messiah had to suffer according to the Scriptures. While he stays with them, Jesus breaks bread, and the disciples immediately recognize him. And then he disappears. Returning to the Eleven in Jerusalem, they tell them that the Jesus has been raised and appeared to Simon, and the two disciples share their story of recognizing Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

God, help me see Jesus your Son with the eyes of faith when he appears in the needs of others. The disciples were discouraged but quickly regained their hope as they begin to realize that what Jesus said about dying and rising was true. Give me the grace to strengthen my faith in the resurrection and confront any doubts I have that prevent me from trusting in your mercy and almighty power. From the sequence of the readings: “Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous: The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.”| Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works. The LORD lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The Lord is gracious and merciful.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 5:17-30)

Jesus answered the Jews: “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.

Today’s Gospel continues where yesterday’s left off. Because Jesus told the man he cured to pick up his mat and walk, some of the Jews who learned of this began to persecute Jesus for encouraging the man to work on the sabbath by carrying his mat. When Jesus is questioned, his persecutors accuse him not only of breaking the sabbath but making himself an equal to the Father. But as the Father does, the Son also does. Jesus does the will of his Father, and like the Father, he “raises the dead and gives life,” and as the Son of Man he will call all who are in tombs to come out, either to the resurrection of life or to the resurrection of condemnation. The Son does the work of the Father; as a just judge, he works to accomplish his Father’s will.

God, help me imitate Jesus, who says, “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” I have many questions about how I am to work today, how the day and how the week will play out. From the untold number of decisions I will make today and act on, give me the grace to remember that my work is to do your will, and the grace to understand and accomplish it. What possible hesitation or fear do I have of working throughout the day if I am committed to knowing your will and doing it? Father, you gave me life and sent me for a purpose no one else can fulfill. For the sake of your glory, Lord, help me do your work today.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“You may go; your son will live.”| Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will. At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 4:43-54)

Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.

The Galileans welcome Jesus as he enters Galilee because they had seen the miracles he performed while at the feast in Jerusalem. From among the people whose faith in him was strong, Jesus encounters a royal official whose child was sick to the point of death. In seven words, “You may go; your son will live,” Jesus cures the child of the illness, and the official learns of this from a messenger while he is on his way back home. As a result, John tells us “he and his whole household came to believe.” In this miracle, Jesus gives us a glimpse of the love of the LORD that Isaiah speaks of in the first reading: “Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create.”

God, just as the father reveals great faith in the power Jesus has with mere words, give me the grace of complete trust in you in this world and in the life of the world to come. Trust is essential. As the psalmist says, there is nightfall in this life; there is the pit, the netherworld; there is weeping. And while facing this, just as the father faced his son’s death, what is the song the psalmist hears in his mind and heart? “O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world; you preserved me from among those going down into the pit. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.” Be with me, Lord!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.