Tag: evangelio del dia

Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter: Reflection

“On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God.”

Jesus says two things that seem discrepant: “whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you” and “on that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.” Asking anything in the Father’s name and in Jesus’ name are not two separate acts but one. Jesus confirms this in his words and in the Ascension as he is “leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

Jesus is able to say that he will no longer speak in figures but tell the disciples clearly about the Father because he will send the Advocate, who will reveal all truth. God, help me understand that same Jesus who sits at your right hand became human to save us from the consequences of human wretchedness.

There are so many distractions in a day that it would be enough for me to ask Jesus to help me remember to ask anything in his name. At all times, he wants to be present throughout the day; it is only a matter of my asking him to join me and stay with me.

Today in confidence I ask that I remain firm in my belief in Jesus. “For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God.” Let me come to believe in those moments when I hesitate to put God first instead of on the shelf.

USCCB Readings

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Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest: Reflection

“You will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

I can only guess that by saying “while the world rejoices,” Jesus means that his absence from them after his death, resurrection, and ascension will be for the world a cause for rejoicing. Since this is before Jesus’ death, the disciples experience great uncertainty at this point in his time with them, the mention of joy might seem foreign to them. The Easter joy that I take for granted was something the disciples knew nothing about at this moment.

God, open my mind to understand the first reading in relation to daily life. There is something there worth paying attention to. In it, Silas and Timothy oppose and revile Paul for testifying to the Jews. He left them, saying, “From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” He then meets a man named Titus Justus, whose house was next to a synagogue. Because of Paul, a synagogue official “came to believe in the Lord,” and many of the Corinthians believed and were baptized. Here is where it’s relevant: just as Paul preached and brought to conversion the Gentiles, God blessed him abundantly by bringing to conversion the synagogue official as well.

God, I know you want to break through the anxieties and distractions of the day to make yourself present. Do I dare say to myself and believe, “I want to see you face to face?” Is that what I want, and do I want to make that temple within me for no material gain other than to be before you? I know that as the day burns by my thoughts will tend toward matters at hand.

Today I want to look for the abundant blessings of God. In the midst of anxiety and grief, light pierces the darkness; let me trust in the words of truth that come from Jesus’ lips: “you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

USCCB Readings

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Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter: Reflection

“Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”

Jesus brought to the disciples the fullness of the truth. The Spirit of truth, the Advocate, will take that fullness from Jesus and declare it to the disciples and to the rest of the world. This brings to mind the Trinity, that the Advocate will glorify Jesus just as Jesus glorifies the Father.

God, help me understand that the Spirit of truth will guide me to all truth. That Jesus spoke of truth should enough to counter any doubts I have in daily life about what is uncertain. “I am the way and the truth and the life,” Jesus says. Truth is not a philosophy or a myth or an unknown god but a person, the second person of the Holy Trinity.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will not speak on his own but will speak what he hears. Let me be open today to speak not on my own but through what the Spirit of truth teaches me to bring that truth to others.

In today’s Gospel reading of twelve short lines, Jesus says three times that the Spirit of truth will take from what is his and declare it to the disciples. Jesus has much more to tell them, but he sends the Advocate to reveal all truth to them. When I am in the midst of the day weighing the relative truth of an idea or situation, I want to remember to leave room to allow the Advocate to guide me to all truth.

USCCB Readings

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Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

“My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

Jesus says these words near the Portico of Solomon during the Feast of the Dedication, during winter. A footnote in the reading says that the Portico of Solomon faces east and offered protection from the cold desert winds. So people gathered around Jesus not only because of what he had to say but because they wanted to seek basic comfort, protection from the cold.

The people surrounding Jesus don’t believe that he is the one with the Father but instead believe he is “keeping them in suspense.” This makes for a long winter of the heart for them because, as Jesus says, “I told you and you do not believe.” God, help me understand the suspense is over; you sent your Son Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to give us eternal life, and you are one with your Son.

When my plans and hopes for the day bend and break, Lord, help me step out of the winter of frustration and into your own will. How will I be able to hear and follow your voice if my own mind is a beehive of noise and activity, if I refuse to come out of the cold?

Today I want to rest in knowing that the winter is over. Jesus has come into the world and destroyed death. He himself is the Eternal Word and has the words of eternal life. God, keep me from the suspense of unbelief.

USCCB Readings

Saturday of the Third Week of Easter

“As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, ‘Do you also want to leave?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Master, to whom shall we go?’ ”

Some of the disciples turned away from Jesus after he said to them, “It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken are Spirit and life.” They returned to their former way of life in a way that reminds me of a daily choice: Do I turn and go a different way, or do I say like Peter, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life?”

Help me understand, God, the meaning of “the flesh is of no avail.” In the first reading, Peter cures a paralyzed man and raises Tabitha from the dead. The flesh is subject to the spirt; the flesh is of no avail. God, help me believe this and put into practice my belief that Jesus is the Holy One of God. Are these only words, and are words of no avail? Jesus is the Word Incarnate, and the words he has spoken are Spirit and life.

I am impatient to begin the day. There’s so much I dream of doing that won’t get done. I want to invite God to be with me today, remembering him especially in the most ordinary moments. I don’t know that I can do that on my own, but by God’s grace, I can.

Today let me remember that some words, like fruit from a tree, have the power to sustain for a while and then fall into decay. But the words of Jesus are Spirit and life. The risen Jesus, himself the Word, is the way to eternal life.

USCCB Readings

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

“For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink.”

In saying “true food” and “true drink,” Jesus’ words catch my attention. What does that even mean? Every time I eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack, isn’t that true food, true drink? What is not true about the food and drink I take daily?

God, help me understand your words more clearly. I can venture to say that true food sustains me spiritually, that it is the bread of life come down from heaven, that taking it will not leave me hungry again soon, as earthly food does. I have heard true food described as the living bread, that which does not die and become assimilated when taking it. Unlike earthly food, the Flesh and Blood of Christ continues to live and transform what is dead in me into life in the spirit. And unlike earthly food, the more that take from it, it is no less diminished or fragmented. An example: in the Multiplication of the Loaves, Jesus takes the loaves and what would ordinarily be divided into fragments he multiplies into superabundance!

The quiet rain and call of the chickadee this morning remind me that silence is never lack of sound but an act of quieting down to know that God is present with me. That’s true for any given moment. I want to turn to him throughout the day and realize I have in that the true food that gives me life.

Today, like Paul in the first reading when scales fall from his eyes, I want to see clearly where God directs me. I want to take from the true food and true drink that will sustain me, and God willing, give me eternal life.

USCCB Readings

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe.”

This Gospel reading continues the Bread of Life Discourse from two days ago. The crowds had come to Capernaum, looking for Jesus, who had fed them in the breaking of the bread. By the end of this reading, Jesus is one hundred percent clear in his Father’s purpose for sending him: “ ‘For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.’ ”

As I read and re-read this reading, I know very well that I see and believe in the Son right now as much as my capacity allows. Yet, as day goes on, that same clarity seems to dissipate in the din and turmoil of the day. God, help me understand, give me the wisdom throughout the day to be able to see your Son and realize—to really believe—that Jesus came so that in his being raised on the cross everyone may have eternal life. I want to remember and praise you and receive your grace throughout the mundane moments of this day.

The intimate way in which Jesus speaks to the crowds sometimes draws my attention to the boundless goodness of his humanity. Yet, this is the Second Person of the Trinity, the Creator of the Universe who sits at the right hand of the Father. Here, present in this backwater town of my mind is the All Powerful God. If I worry that I won’t remember him throughout the day, can I ask him to take care of that, ask him for the grace today to see him and know he is there? Absolutely!

Today, Lord, help me to see past the ordinary flow of things to lock my gaze on you. Help me also to see the face of your Son in others; in turn, to be given the opportunity to put on Christ for the sake of others.

USCCB Readings

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Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

“Jesus answered them and said, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.’ ”

The crowd came looking for Jesus after he had fed them in the Multiplication of the Loaves. They expended energy to find him, believing they would again be filled with food he gave them. Like them, I am daily subject to the hunger-satiety-hunger cycle and am satisfied for a short time before the cycle repeats.

God, help me understand what it means to work not for food that perishes but to accomplish your works through belief in your Son. This is your work, God, believing in the one you sent in order to gain the food that endures for eternal life. Through the sacraments, this is participation in the Eucharist; in daily life, it is not looking for signs but participating in the love between the Father and the Son and seeking the Son.

Even in the quietest moments of the day, I feel the intrusion of anxiety and begin to line up all of the tasks I hope to accomplish. Anticipation and fear pull me in different directions. How will I remember to put myself in God’s presence? How do I stop the billiard balls once they scatter on the table? God, be near me and make clear when you present me with an opportunity to acknowledge you and remember.

The people in the crowd ask a question worth considering throughout the day: “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus makes clear in his response that the works of God are belief in him, on whom the Father has set his seal. Today I want to stop amid the sometimes mindless expense of energy and recognize something I can’t see, taste, touch, hear, or sense; unlike the taking of earthly food that satisfies only for a while, only something invisible and out of grasp will last. The Son of God is present here today, and to gain eternal life, he asks only that I believe in him.

Third Sunday of Easter

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
Jesus said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

Having heard this so many times, if I didn’t know this passage almost by heart, I’d say the conversation between Jesus and Peter sounds like a married couple renewing their vows after many years together. To read this is to eavesdrop on an intimate conversation, leaving me feeling a little uncomfortable, both because of the intimacy and because of the repeated question—three times—and with each time a different charge.

God, help me understand that what you ask Peter to do, you also ask of us: we are our brothers’ keepers. Thank you for calling me to intimacy with you in a way that sometimes challenges me and even makes me uncomfortable. You call me to a higher standard—the care of others close to me—whether they behave more like lambs or sheep.

At the end of the Gospel, Jesus simply says, “Follow me.” Easier to say than agree to than to actually do. However, whatever my relationship to others, if I accompany them without first following Christ, where will the relationship tend? I am a sheep among sheep unless I hear his voice and take to heart that penetrating question, “Do you love me more than these?”

Today I want to recognize you throughout the day as the risen Christ. Your disciples had trouble recognizing you even after you had appeared to them several times. I ask you, God, make clear to me when you approach so that I understand fully what it means to be at peace, to be able to say, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Saturday of the Second Week of Easter

USCCB Readings

“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.”

Today’s reading takes place in John’s Gospel immediately after the Multiplication of the Loaves, after which Jesus withdraws again to the mountain. It’s no surprise, then, that the disciples are afraid when they see him walking toward them on the water since they probably believe Jesus to be away from them. A strong wind was blowing; fear was in the air. This is one of many times when Jesus appears to the disciples and says, “Do not be afraid.” A quick Internet search reveals that this is said in the Bible 365 times—once for every day of the year.

God, help me understand that you are present even in the ordinary moments of the day when fear and anxiety pervade; you are present in every trial. In the midst of persecution, your words, Jesus, penetrate the depths of our being: “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” At first, the disciples didn’t recognize Jesus, perhaps thinking he was a ghost. Since they had rowed out about three or four miles, they wanted to take Jesus into the boat but found the boat arrived immediately to shore.

Let me rest in knowing God is with me and that he can quiet whatever the storm that elicits fear. Let me know that God has his hand on my head, guiding me, showing me which way to go to arrive seemingly right away.

Today, a Saturday, will not produce the usual workaday trials, but there will be tasks to complete and timeframes to accommodate. Places to get to and the anxiety of getting there. God willing, today will bring, at worst, light stress. I want to remember, like Brother Lawrence, that God is with me even during mundane tasks like peeling potatoes. I want to recall throughout the day that the very Son of God will be beside me, saying, “It is I. Do not be afraid.”