Monday - May 08, 2017
Never be in a hurry;
do everything quietly and in a calm spirit.
Do not lose your inner peace
for anything whatsoever,
even if your whole world seems upset.
-- Saint Francis de Sales
TODAY'S READINGS
May 8, 2017
Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Lectionary: 279
Reading 1ACTS 11:1-18
The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judeaheard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem
the circumcised believers confronted him, saying,
'You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them."
Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,
"I was at prayer in the city of Joppa
when in a trance I had a vision,
something resembling a large sheet coming down,
lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me.
Looking intently into it,
I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth,
the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky.
I also heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.'
But I said, 'Certainly not, sir,
because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'
But a second time a voice from heaven answered,
'What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.'
This happened three times,
and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.
Just then three men appeared at the house where we were,
who had been sent to me from Caesarea.
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.
These six brothers also went with me,
and we entered the man's house.
He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying,
'Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,
who will speak words to you
by which you and all your household will be saved.'
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,
'John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us
when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I to be able to hinder God?"
When they heard this,
they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,
"God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too."
Responsorial PsalmPS 42:2-3; 43:3, 4
R. (see 3a) Athirst is my soul for the living God.or:
R. Alleluia.
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
AlleluiaJN 10:14
R. Alleluia, alleluia.I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep, and mine know me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelJN 10:11-18
Jesus said:"I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father."
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Trusting in the Holy Spirit's Plan
Today's first reading describes an important turning point for the early Church. Since Christianity was the fulfillment of Judaism, it seemed logical to the first Christians that Jewish laws should be obeyed. To eat with Gentiles was a sin, according to Jewish law, because they dined on food that was forbidden in the Torah.
The scene opens with Peter in trouble for breaking this law. He had evangelized Gentiles without first converting them to Judaism. The resulting uproar sent him to Jerusalem to defend his actions. The council's disapproval created a major obstacle, not only to Peter's ministry, but to the whole idea of spreading Christianity beyond Jewish boundaries.
Peter went through Jesus to reach the hearts of the council members and open them to God's plan. The key that unlocked the solution was their trust in the Holy Spirit's power to give direction and guidance through supernatural gifts such as Peter's vision.
Similarly today, when we face the trials of being misjudged and dealing with the disapproval of fellow Christians, we can get through it with success by trusting Jesus and relying on the gifts of his Holy Spirit.
If people have shut a door on something that God wants you to do, Jesus wants to lead you to an opportunity elsewhere where you can proceed. If he's given you a passion for which there seems to be no outlet, look for an outlet that you hadn't planned.
For example, for many years, I felt inspired to give homilies, but I'm not an ordained priest, nor have I ever hoped to be. My lack of ordination was no obstacle for my gift. God had other plans. And since I never had the opportunity to give lay reflections during Mass, I waited on Jesus to show me what to do with this gift.
Eventually, a few friends and I began to send emails to each other about our thoughts on the daily Mass readings. As I wrote my personal reflections on the scriptures, my friends began to share them with others, and thus these daily Rosary Family Reflections were born 2006. Today, I'm "homilizing" to hundreds of faithful friends around the world!
Only God knows the size of our daily Mass "congregation". Plus, some of my recipents are priests who use these reflections in actual homilies.
Because I have allowed Jesus to lead me, I'm using the gifts of the Spirit in a way that's beyond anything I could have ever dreamed. God is awesome! Wait for him to give you an outlet for your passions. Because he's calling you, he will lead you.
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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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