Thursday - April 12, 2018
Nothing seems tiresome or painful when you are working for a Master who pays well; who rewards even a cup of cold water given for love of Him.
-- St. Dominic Savio
April 12, 2018
Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
Lectionary: 270
Reading 1ACTS 5:27-33
When the court officers had brought the Apostles in
and made them stand before the Sanhedrin,
the high priest questioned them,
"We gave you strict orders did we not,
to stop teaching in that name.
Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching
and want to bring this man's blood upon us."
But Peter and the Apostles said in reply,
"We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,
though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior
to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
We are witnesses of these things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."
When they heard this,
they became infuriated and wanted to put them to death.
and made them stand before the Sanhedrin,
the high priest questioned them,
"We gave you strict orders did we not,
to stop teaching in that name.
Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching
and want to bring this man's blood upon us."
But Peter and the Apostles said in reply,
"We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,
though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior
to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
We are witnesses of these things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."
When they heard this,
they became infuriated and wanted to put them to death.
Responsorial PsalmPS 34:2 AND 9, 17-18, 19-20
R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
Many are the troubles of the just man,
but out of them all the LORD delivers him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord;
blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
Many are the troubles of the just man,
but out of them all the LORD delivers him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
AlleluiaJN 20:29
R. Alleluia, alleluia.You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord;
blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelJN 3:31-36
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.
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.
******************************
Earthly or Heavenly?
In today's first reading, Peter and the Apostles declare that the Holy Spirit testifies to the truth about Jesus. Then they really begin to shake things up, infuriating the disobedient priests and Pharisees by boldly proclaiming that this Holy Spirit is only given to those who obey God.
We harm our relationship with the Holy Spirit whenever we disregard the truth. When I was a kid, Jesus was my best friend and the Father was the highest authority in my life, but I thought of the Holy Spirit only as an impersonal ghostly image of God. I wanted to experience the miraculous power of God that I had read about in Bible stories, but because I didn't understand the role of the Holy Spirit, I disobeyed God by seeking his power in the only place left to explore: the world.
Many years of this totally destroyed my relationship with God; my eternal soul was in grave danger. When I repented, it was because I finally met the Holy Spirit. The fact that I can write these Good News Reflections and touch so many unknown people's lives with just the right words at just the right time gives testimony to this.
The Gospel reading today speaks of the consequences of disobedience: "Whoever disobeys the Son will not see life." In the Creed, we proclaim that the Holy Spirit is the "Giver of Life." We do not have the supernatural and eternal life of the Spirit of God while we're in a state of disobedience.
We don't really want to be disobedient. We do desire to be "above all" that is earthly, but we play games in our consciences and pretend that disobedience either doesn't matter or is not really disobedience. We don't intend to disobey God, but we choose disobedience because obedience seems somehow more unpleasant, as if it's not good for us.
Learning to obey for the sake of avoiding punishment is not true obedience. It's just another game, a child's game, meant to protect ourselves because we are too immature to understand the love behind the commandments that God has given us in scripture and in Catholic Church teachings. But we are called to live as mature, fully loving Christians.
If we're lustful, for example, and "obey" God by refusing to look at someone lustfully, but we still have lust in our hearts, we are disconnected from God's Spirit. True obedience means our hearts are so strongly set on the love that comes from above, that we're repulsed by the feeling of lust (or by whatever tempts us).
When our spirits long only for what is heavenly, we are fully alive in the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says that "he does not ration his gift of the Spirit." All of his own holiness is fully available to us. How much we receive is up to us. The more we dislike what is not of God, the more freely God's holy power fills our lives, and the more we have his holiness, the more we dislike what is not holy.
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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!”
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