evangelio del dia – Page 90

Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

“ ‘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.”

Jesus asks Philip where they could buy enough food for the crowd that followed Jesus up the mountain. He does this to test Philip, who gives Jesus a matter-of-fact reply: “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” But it is Andrew, Peter’s brother, who suggests something that Jesus follows up on: a boy in the crowd has five barley loaves and two fish. “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.” How many times throughout the Gospel Jesus does this! He takes the little given to him, blesses it, and returns it to us in superabundance.

This miracle, which takes place near the time of Passover, is a kind of Last Supper before the Last Supper. Because of that, in it is a prefiguring of the Mass and the Eucharist, a sharing in life-sustaining food that fully satisfies, a dwelling in the house of the Lord. God, help me understand what it means to seek you as the crowd that followed you were hungry for food but also for so much more. Help me know what it means to be satisfied, as today’s Psalm says, to gaze on your loveliness and contemplate your temple.

To contemplate the Lord, to dwell in his house, I can imagine the risen Jesus asking Thomas to put his hand into his side, putting his finger into the nailmarks. That also, as grotesque as it seems, is to gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and to share in the Paschal meal; it is to take the broken bread and have more than I could eat.

Today when I am caught up in the flow of the day and the tasks I am given, I want to remember it’s not about measuring how much productive labor will yield but instead a trusting in the little given to God to accomplish his work, not mine. I want to remember to be like the boy who gave what he had and found through God’s work more superabundant grace than I could possibly imagine.

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

“The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 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.”

After reading today’s Gospel passage several times, I see John describing the relationship of the Holy Trinity. The one who comes from above is Jesus and is above all in the person of God. The one whom God sent, Jesus, speaks the words of God through the Holy Spirit and “does not ration his gift of the Spirit.”

God, help me understand relationship of the Trinity in light of the Holy Spirit as love between the Father and the Son. The last words of the Gospel are harsh, dealing with disobedience of the son and the consequences of that being the wrath of God. Yikes! Yet, I also have to consider Peter’s experience in the first reading of being brought before the Sanhedrin and accused of wanting to bring blood upon them. They acted out of fear, desolation, and vengeance. Peter’s reply, which is echoed in the Gospel: “We must obey God rather than men.”

I’m tired and distracted. Before I try to accomplish today what I know will only be a fraction of what I hope to do, let me rest my head on Jesus’ chest. In that rest, let me see what the Holy Spirit witnessed during Jesus’ life on earth and also what the Holy Spirit witnesses today as Jesus continues to live in those who believe in him and in the sacraments, where his presence remains.

Peter says in the first reading, “We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” To think that, like the disciples, the Holy Spirit witnessed the death and resurrection of Jesus, “who does not ration his gift of the Spirit,” I have to pause to consider that today and every day, I can call on the Holy Spirit, witness of the life of Christ, to know and obey that same love between the Father and the Son.

Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter

USCCB Readings

One of the lines that strikes me in today’s readings has been made famous by wherever large crowds appear, John 3:16: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” Also in today’s reading, what stands out for me is “so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.”

Today’s reading is a continuation of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, who said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.” At the end of today’s Gospel passage, John follows Nicodemus’s statement to its conclusion: “But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.”

I love the imagery of light and darkness. But what’s hard to acknowledge is my participation in the latter: “And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.” Evil is abominable, wickedness has been personified throughout history by names instilled in all of us by sixth grade. “That’s not me; I’m not them,” I might reassure myself. But evil is impartial, and every reasoning person of age succumbs at times to evil. No question, no exceptions. It is to will the harm of the other just as love (as Saint Thomas Aquinas describes) is to will the good of the other. God, help me understand always the way to avoid evil and live in the light.

Father in heaven, I have a full agenda today. Some of it is good and necessary; some, pie in the sky. Help me be remain in your light today and be responsive to the Holy Spirit. As Jesus says to Nicodemus, “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.” God, help me stay in the light.

Today, among the many junctions I will come to, I have a moral choice set before me: avoid the light so that my actions might not be exposed; that is, live in darkness; or, live the truth and come toward the light to receive and act in God’s grace.

April 23, 2022—Saturday of Easter Week

USCCB Readings

“But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.’ ”

It’s difficult to hear Jesus rebuking the disciples for not believing the others after his resurrection. The flip side of this is that he asks the disciples to go out into the world to proclaim the Gospel to every creature. (Saint Francis took these words of Jesus literally, preaching to the birds.)

Three times this Gospel passage refers to the unbelief of the disciples (“they did not believe”; “they did not believe them either”; “they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised.”). God, help me understand the unbelief endemic among the disciples, the witnesses of the Messiah, the first Christians. Yet, Jesus is patient with these disciples, slack in faith, to the point where he charges them to proclaim the Gospel to the entire world. Humbling to consider!

Many distractions today, many twists on how I thought the day would go. On any given day, I hope to accomplish dozens of things. Today is no different, yet there is consolation today in letting God take the helm, peace in knowing that my unbelief doesn’t stop God from asking me to share humbly in his mission.

Today let me put aside as best I can the unbelief that prevents me from seeing Jesus even as I see his face in others and in the humble appearance of bread and wine. As Peter says in the first reading, after Jesus appeared to the Eleven and his unbelief he put behind him: “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”