Tuesday - April 12, 2016
As often as God disturbs the sky, yet spares us still, we should implore God's mercy, examining the innermost recesses of our hearts and purging out the dregs of our sins, and behave with such caution that we may never deserve to be struck down.
- Saint Chad of Mercia
TODAY'S READINGS
April 12, 2016
Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
Lectionary: 274
Reading 1ACTS 7:51—8:1A
Stephen said to the people, the elders, and the scribes:
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you always oppose the Holy Spirit;
you are just like your ancestors.
Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?
They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one,
whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.
You received the law as transmitted by angels,
but you did not observe it.”
When they heard this, they were infuriated,
and they ground their teeth at him.
But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit,
looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
and Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
But they cried out in a loud voice,
covered their ears, and rushed upon him together.
They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him.
The witnesses laid down their cloaks
at the feet of a young man named Saul.
As they were stoning Stephen, he called out,
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice,
“Lord, do not hold this sin against them”;
and when he said this, he fell asleep.
Now Saul was consenting to his execution.
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you always oppose the Holy Spirit;
you are just like your ancestors.
Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?
They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one,
whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.
You received the law as transmitted by angels,
but you did not observe it.”
When they heard this, they were infuriated,
and they ground their teeth at him.
But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit,
looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
and Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
But they cried out in a loud voice,
covered their ears, and rushed upon him together.
They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him.
The witnesses laid down their cloaks
at the feet of a young man named Saul.
As they were stoning Stephen, he called out,
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice,
“Lord, do not hold this sin against them”;
and when he said this, he fell asleep.
Now Saul was consenting to his execution.
Responsorial PsalmPS 31:3CD-4, 6 AND 7B AND 8A, 17 AND 21AB
R. (6a) Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety.
You are my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake you will lead and guide me.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
My trust is in the LORD;
I will rejoice and be glad of your mercy.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence
from the plottings of men.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I am the bread of life, says the Lord;
whoever comes to me will never hunger.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety.
You are my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake you will lead and guide me.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
My trust is in the LORD;
I will rejoice and be glad of your mercy.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence
from the plottings of men.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
or:
R. Alleluia.
AlleluiaJN 6:35AB
R. Alleluia, alleluia.I am the bread of life, says the Lord;
whoever comes to me will never hunger.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelJN 6:30-35
The crowd said to Jesus:
“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
So Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”
So they said to Jesus,
“Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
So Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”
So they said to Jesus,
“Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
****************************** ****************************** ***********
The Healing Power of the Eucharist
In the Gospel reading today, Jesus makes himself known as the "bread of life". What does it mean to be bread? And how does that affect life?
The practicalities of providing communion to large congregations make it necessary to use little flat wafers of bread for the paschal meal, but they don't seem very bread-like. In the early years, Christians celebrated the Lord's Supper with bread that looked like bread and they broke off their own pieces after it became the Body of Christ. We've forgotten some of the rich meaning behind sharing the "breadness" of the Eucharist.
During the consecration prayers, Jesus comes to us fully, with all his humanity and divinity, in a form that we can touch. We can hold him. We can kiss him. We can consume him into our physical beings, and by uniting ourselves to him, we are consumed by him and our lives become his life (if we don't reject that life the moment we walk out the door). Such an encounter with God should change us every time!
Why then doesn't every Catholic who receives Communion leave Mass transformed? Since we've received the fullness of Jesus himself, it seems that no matter how little we've paid attention, we should be holier than when we came in.
Before Jesus distributed the Passover bread to his disciples, he broke it. It was the broken bread that he gave when he said, "Take and eat. This is my body, which will be given up for you." We are, in fact, transformed when we become aware that we are uniting ourselves to the brokenness of Christ.
It was in Christ's brokenness that he delivered us from evil. Therefore, it is in our brokenness that our humility unites us to Christ, it is in our brokenness that we become free from the power of evil. A broken spirit is ready to depend on God instead of self. A broken heart needs the love that no human, other than the divine Jesus, is perfect enough to give. A broken family is forever wounded unless Jesus becomes the center of each person's life, and when we want reconciliation but the other person refuses, we give our broken hearts to the perfect love of the only One who can heal us.
Recognizing our brokenness is what begins change within us. Accepting the blessing of our brokenness is what empowers the change. And offering our brokenness to the Lord -- to be used in loving service for others, like Jesus -- is what completes the transformation.
This is what it means to truly receive Jesus, the bread of our life, in the Eucharist.
In the Gospel reading today, Jesus makes himself known as the "bread of life". What does it mean to be bread? And how does that affect life?
The practicalities of providing communion to large congregations make it necessary to use little flat wafers of bread for the paschal meal, but they don't seem very bread-like. In the early years, Christians celebrated the Lord's Supper with bread that looked like bread and they broke off their own pieces after it became the Body of Christ. We've forgotten some of the rich meaning behind sharing the "breadness" of the Eucharist.
During the consecration prayers, Jesus comes to us fully, with all his humanity and divinity, in a form that we can touch. We can hold him. We can kiss him. We can consume him into our physical beings, and by uniting ourselves to him, we are consumed by him and our lives become his life (if we don't reject that life the moment we walk out the door). Such an encounter with God should change us every time!
Why then doesn't every Catholic who receives Communion leave Mass transformed? Since we've received the fullness of Jesus himself, it seems that no matter how little we've paid attention, we should be holier than when we came in.
Before Jesus distributed the Passover bread to his disciples, he broke it. It was the broken bread that he gave when he said, "Take and eat. This is my body, which will be given up for you." We are, in fact, transformed when we become aware that we are uniting ourselves to the brokenness of Christ.
It was in Christ's brokenness that he delivered us from evil. Therefore, it is in our brokenness that our humility unites us to Christ, it is in our brokenness that we become free from the power of evil. A broken spirit is ready to depend on God instead of self. A broken heart needs the love that no human, other than the divine Jesus, is perfect enough to give. A broken family is forever wounded unless Jesus becomes the center of each person's life, and when we want reconciliation but the other person refuses, we give our broken hearts to the perfect love of the only One who can heal us.
Recognizing our brokenness is what begins change within us. Accepting the blessing of our brokenness is what empowers the change. And offering our brokenness to the Lord -- to be used in loving service for others, like Jesus -- is what completes the transformation.
This is what it means to truly receive Jesus, the bread of our life, in the Eucharist.
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God Bless You.....
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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