SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY - Monday, May 29, 2017

Monday - May 29, 2017

“As mariners are guided into port by the shining of a star, so Christians are guided to heaven by Mary”

-- Saint Thomas Aquinas

TODAY'S READINGS

 

May 29, 2017

 

« May 28  |  May 30 »

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Lectionary: 297

Reading 1ACTS 19:1-8

While Apollos was in Corinth,
Paul traveled through the interior of the country
and down to Ephesus where he found some disciples. 
He said to them,
"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?"
They answered him,
"We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
He said, "How were you baptized?"
They replied, "With the baptism of John."
Paul then said, "John baptized with a baptism of repentance,
telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,
that is, in Jesus."
When they heard this,
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul laid his hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came upon them,
and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Altogether there were about twelve men.

He entered the synagogue, and for three months debated boldly
with persuasive arguments about the Kingdom of God. 

Responsorial PsalmPS 68:2-3AB, 4-5ACD, 6-7AB

R. (33a) Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
God arises; his enemies are scattered,
and those who hate him flee before him.
As smoke is driven away, so are they driven;
as wax melts before the fire. 
R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
But the just rejoice and exult before God;
they are glad and rejoice.
Sing to God, chant praise to his name;
whose name is the LORD. 
R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The father of orphans and the defender of widows
is God in his holy dwelling.
God gives a home to the forsaken;
he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.
R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.

AlleluiaCOL 3:1

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If then you were raised with Christ,
seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 16:29-33

The disciples said to Jesus,
"Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech.
Now we realize that you know everything
and that you do not need to have anyone question you.
Because of this we believe that you came from God."
Jesus answered them, "Do you believe now?
Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived
when each of you will be scattered to his own home
and you will leave me alone.
But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but take courage, I have conquered the world." 

 

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Do You Really Believe?

As we begin the final week before Pentecost, Jesus asks us, in today's Gospel: Do you now believe -- that I came from God? That I am God? That I am your Lord? That I love you faithfully and unconditionally? That what I say is true -- all the time? "Do you really believe?"

In the first reading, St. Paul asks: "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" That answer to that one is: Yes, during baptism we received the fullness of God's presence. The Holy Spirit is the presence of Christ our Savior within us.

But … do you really believe this?

There's a difference between receiving God's Spirit by sacrament and living in the Spirit as a faith-filled believer. To live fully by faith requires being fully committed to an active Christian lifestyle, relying on the Holy Spirit to help us become holier and holier each day, continually purifying ourselves so that we are ever-increasingly united to the fullness of God through the gifts of all the sacraments and in the Church community.

True believers have a trusting relationship with God. They regret their sins and realize they're forgiven because of what Jesus did on Good Friday. They understand that with this forgiveness they're able to go to heaven because of what he did on Easter. They want to imitate him by laying down their lives for others in loving service. None of this is possible without the Holy Spirit.

How do you know that the Holy Spirit is active in you? Speaking in tongues and uttering God-inspired prophecies, like we see in the story from Acts, are not the only indications, nor are they necessary. They are just a few examples of outward signs. Read carefully what Jesus tells us in this Gospel passage: True belief brings peace, even in the midst of suffering!

Again, this is only possible by relying on the Holy Spirit. We lose peace when we rely on our own resources and our limited perceptions of the problems we face. Faith, hope, and inner peace come from relying on the Spirit of Christ, who is the Higher Power behind all of our overcomings, and who lives within each of us like a fountain of grace waiting to be released.

Saint Pope John Paul the Great gave us this beautiful prayer to the Holy Spirit (May 30, 1998): "Come, Holy Spirit, come and renew the face of the earth! Come with your seven gifts! Come, Spirit of Life, Spirit of Communion and Love!"

Let us journey toward heaven with this prayer daily on our lips.

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God Bless You.....

Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”

SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY - Sunday, May 28, 2017

Sunday - May 28, 2017

"Whenever you begin any good work

you should first of all make a most pressing appeal to Christ our Lord

to bring it to perfection"

~~ St. Benedict

TODAY'S READINGS

 

May 28, 2017 - The Ascension Of The Lord

 

« May 27  |  May 29 »

The Ascension of the Lord
Lectionary: 58

Reading 1ACTS 1:1-11

In the first book, Theophilus,
I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught
until the day he was taken up,
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit
to the apostles whom he had chosen.
He presented himself alive to them
by many proofs after he had suffered,
appearing to them during forty days
and speaking about the kingdom of God.
While meeting with the them,
he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem,
but to wait for "the promise of the Father
about which you have heard me speak;
for John baptized with water,
but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

When they had gathered together they asked him,
"Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
He answered them, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons
that the Father has established by his own authority.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
throughout Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth."
When he had said this, as they were looking on,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,
suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
They said, "Men of Galilee,
why are you standing there looking at the sky?
This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven
will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven."

Responsorial PsalmPS 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9

R. (6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
for the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading 2EPH 1:17-23

Brothers and sisters:
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation
resulting in knowledge of him.
May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
for us who believe,
in accord with the exercise of his great might,
which he worked in Christ,
raising him from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,
far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,
and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And he put all things beneath his feet
and gave him as head over all things to the church,
which is his body,
the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

AlleluiaMT 28:29A, 20B

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Go and teach all nations, says the Lord;
I am with you always, until the end of the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMT 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
"All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

 

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Called to do more than follow

Christ   

 

In the Gospel reading for this Sunday, Jesus states the Great Commission. He still repeats it today and at the end of every Mass when, through the priest, he sends us on our way. "Go," he says. "Go and make disciples wherever I send you."

A disciple is a student. Think of people you know who are mere followers of Christ, people who claim to believe in Jesus but who are not learning how to imitate Christ, adult Catholics who stopped their religious education a long time ago. Their faith is not enough to change the world, because they live more like the world than like holy representatives of Christ. Or they live more miserably, less joyfully than those who know how much Jesus cares about them. Or they are unpleasant to be around, because they have not developed enough humility to exude Christ.

You are called to disciple them! Jesus has commissioned you to do it. And it's not impossible to do. Take apart the word "commission" to see that you are "with" ("co") Jesus on his "mission". He says, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me" in the context of the Great Commission. This means that, when we share in Christ's mission, we share in his power.

If we are more than mere followers and have been disciples learning how to be fully alive in the Holy Spirit of Christ, he will give us the words and the opportunities to teach others to observe and understand what he has commanded.

With Christ, we can change hearts by teaching the people around us what it means to be a follower of Christ who also learns from Christ. We teach first by our example, but unless this is backed up with explanations of why we follow Christ, those whom we hope to influence will make no new discoveries about God's love, the benefits of God's commandments, or the need for God's merciful forgiveness.

"Behold!" he adds as an exclamation point on the Great Commission, "I am with you always. Together we will change the world, one disciple at a time."

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God Bless You.....

Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”