Tag: truth

Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 11:47-54)

The Lord said: “Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute’ in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus condemns those who memorialize the prophets their ancestors killed. It is a sweeping, difficult message that takes into account generations of human history, in which, as Saint Paul writes “all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.” While a criticism of religious leaders of the time, Jesus also condemns the hypocrisies of the present age, wherever putting on appearances and false displays of piety supersede genuine acts of mercy and love. The building up of what is false can only lead to separation from God since God is truth itself. As Jesus says: “Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” From every person, Jesus calls for transformation of heart and a genuine commitment to hearing and keeping God’s word.

Father in heaven, help me recognize that Jesus your Son condemns only to set people again on a path to integrity and truth. “I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.” Give me the grace today to trust that you are attentive to my prayers and that in your mercy you alone satisfy every need. Help me know the strength of your guidance throughout the day, keep me from the harm of accepting what is false as true, and bring me into the knowledge of your will and the light of your glory.

From the responsorial psalm: “I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word. My soul waits for the LORD more than sentinels wait for the dawn. With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.”

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 Seventh Week of Easter

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus said to Simon Peter: “Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”

Today’s Gospel from John tells the story of Peter’s encounter with Jesus after his resurrection, where he appears to Peter and the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” For Peter’s threefold denial before Jesus’ death, Jesus now gives Peter a threefold invitation to love and serve him. The consequence of Peter’s commitment, his yes to following the Lord, will mean his life is no longer his own. And the “someone else” who dressed and led Peter is the same Christ, who desires the same for me as he did for Peter: that I love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and that I love my neighbor as myself.

God, help me understand that to follow you means abandoning my own will for yours. Help me joyfully surrender every gift you have given me as a means to give you glory. Peter became distressed when Jesus asked him a third time “Do you love me?” Countless times from that moment on Peter must have heard that question in his heart. Lord, you know I love you; you know also that because of sin, I will fail you, myself, and others in giving you due glory. Help me listen out for you throughout the day and receive your grace so that I can hear your voice and follow you.

Lord, stay with me today. When inevitable conflicts come, help me remember to ask for your guidance and to know and do your will. Saint Philip Neri, 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.

Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus prays that the disciples may know the unity between him and the Father and that they may believe that God sent him. As they go out into the world to spread the Gospel, Jesus’ prayer expresses the desire for unity among the disciples and among those who hear the word from them. By being brought to perfection in the glory Jesus has given them, his followers come to know God and the eternal life Jesus offers them through his death and resurrection. “Father, they are your gift to me,” Jesus prays. That gift taken from the Father becomes Jesus’ self-gift of dying on the cross to bring all to eternal life with the Father.

Father in heaven, through the unity of your love, you give to your Son all who have lived in the world and those who will be born into the world. In giving this gift, he gives you glory through his perfect gift of self to the world in his sacrificial death and in his resurrection. Nobody is left out in the prayer that your Son offers for the whole world. For this, Jesus prays “that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.” God, help me understand my role in proclaiming this. What Saint Paul says in the first reading, I can say of my life and how I live out my faith: “I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.”

Thank you, God, for making of me and of the whole world a gift to your Son. Keep me always in his care and guide me in this world on the path to eternal life.

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 Seventh Week of Easter

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”

Jesus prays for his disciples so that they may be one just as he is one with the Father. To be one with the Father is to be consecrated in his truth. Jesus’ prayer is that the disciples be sent out into the world just as he was sent out, consecrated in the truth. In the first reading, Paul echoes Jesus’ prayer for protection. He says as he speaks to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus: “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them.” He urges them to be vigilant and departs from them saying, “And now I commend you to God.”

Lord, help me see and live in the truth today so that I can be consecrated in you, truth itself. Help me look toward eternal life, and the means to it: to know you, the only true God. I am easily led away from you throughout the day, and the result is that I accept confused and distorted views in place of your clarity and truth. The psalmist in today’s responsorial says, “Confess the power of God!” Give me the grace today to remain in your truth.

From the Gospel acclamation: “Your word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth.”

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 Fifth Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”

In today’s Gospel, some of the Jews who believe in Jesus struggle to recognize the truth of his divinity. Jesus, truth incarnate in the person of Christ, says to them: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” But they believe that as descendants of Abraham, they have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it, then, that Jesus tells them that the truth will set them free? As the Son of God, Jesus freely chooses to do the will of the Father through his passion, death, and resurrection, and in that he invites us into the freedom of discipleship. Jesus tells them: “A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.” Like the people Jesus addresses in today’s Gospel, are there precedents or biases I accept that are obstacles to the truth of Jesus Christ?

God, give me the grace to recognize that I often accept partial truths as if they were incontrovertible realities. Help me take care today of the agendas I set for myself this morning that I check against tonight. Do I measure my worth by the things I plan to do and then carry out? Have I accomplished my will? There is something disappointing and bitter in living that way—checking off accomplishments. What can I hope to accomplish in a day unless I first seek to know your will? God, I want to live today knowing that your Son frees me to hear your voice and do your will.

Lord, thank you for the peace in knowing you are near. You loved me first. Keep me in your truth today and always so that I am free to receive your love!

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.

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Readings

Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark

“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to the crowd and tells them: “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” Mark tells us that Jesus’ disciples later questioned him about this. He told them that everything that goes into us from the outside cannot defile but that what comes out of us, from our hearts, defiles. From the heart, Jesus says, come evil thoughts. God does not impose his will on his people but gives them the freedom and responsibility to choose between good and evil.

God, open my eyes to understand today’s Gospel reading. The list Jesus presents of the things that defile is not exhaustive; yet, the result for anything that defiles is the same: folly. The meaning of the word is similar to foolish and comes from an Old French word meaning “madness.” Help me, Lord, in the decisions I make throughout the day to remain sound of mind by choosing to do good and pure in spirit by asking for your grace.

Lord, thank you for the words you spoke in private to your disciples. Keep me in your care today with your word. As the Gospel acclamation says: “Your word, O Lord, is truth: consecrate us in the truth.”

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.

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Readings