GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Wednesday - May 06, 2020

  

Wednesday - May 06, 2020

"Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence."

- Saint Francis de Sales

 

May 06 2020

 

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Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Lectionary: 281

Reading 1ACTS 12:24—13:5A

The word of God continued to spread and grow.

After Barnabas and Saul completed their relief mission,
they returned to Jerusalem,
taking with them John, who is called Mark.

Now there were in the Church at Antioch prophets and teachers:
Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them.”
Then, completing their fasting and prayer,
they laid hands on them and sent them off.

So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit,
went down to Seleucia
and from there sailed to Cyprus.
When they arrived in Salamis,
they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.

Responsorial Psalm67:2-3, 5, 6 AND 8

R.    (4)  O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R.    Alleluia.
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
R.    O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R.    Alleluia.
May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R.    O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R.    Alleluia.
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R.    O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R.    Alleluia.

AlleluiaJN 8:12

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 12:44-50

Jesus cried out and said,
“Whoever believes in me believes not only in me
but also in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.
I came into the world as light,
so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.
And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them,
I do not condemn him,
for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.
Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words
has something to judge him: the word that I spoke,
it will condemn him on the last day,
because I did not speak on my own,
but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.
And I know that his commandment is eternal life.
So what I say, I say as the Father told me.”

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Receive What You Choose for Eternity

In the Gospel reading today, Jesus explains how people end up in hell.

Many are confused about this. As Catholic Christians, we've been taught that immediately upon our death we "receive" our Particular (i.e., personal) Judgment and that our soul immediately goes to its reward or punishment. But if we misunderstand the divine meaning of "receive," we assume that our fate is entirely up to the Judge and how he chooses to sentence us.

We presume that God either gives us heaven (with purgatory first if we need to be purged of some unholiness when we die) or he gives us hell (if we've committed a mortal sin without repenting and going to Confession and/or if we reject belief in Jesus).

From this, we get the impression that God is a harsh father who is eager to punish bad children, and then we assume that anything bad that happens to us is because we are bad and God is punishing us. In this mindset, we fear that because we are not perfect we might lose our salvation. And (I hate to admit this) we hope that the unrepentant sinners who greatly irritate us will finally get their just rewards of God's hellish condemnation.

Right? Are you hoping that this world, because of its worsening and widespread immorality, will soon be chastised and severely punished by divine intervention? To some extent we all would like to see evil-doers get punished. But Jesus did not come to condemn the world. He doesn't have to. We condemn ourselves. Hell is not what God wants for evil-doers; it's what they want for themselves.

When we die, Jesus comes for us and clears our minds of all misconceptions about how we've lived our lives and about who he really is. Then, fully understanding, we receive what we want. If we want to be like him, we're purged of everything that's not like him. If we prefer to be unChrist-like, we don't want to spend eternity with him. God gives us what we want.

(You can research this by looking up the word "salvation" in the Catechism; see vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/index/s.htm.)

God does not sentence anyone to hell, because Jesus took the punishment for us and for the whole world. God won't reject anyone who wants accept the salvation that Jesus provides, even if it happens at the moment of death. God won't turn away anyone who wants to live with the Savior forever, but neither will he reject our free-will decisions to disregard the truth.

This is why he added: "Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words is judged -- not by me -- but by the word I spoke."

What is the word that condemns people? "I love you. I really, really love you. I love you so much that I died for you." To reject that is to prefer hell.

Today's Prayer
I thank You, Holy Father, for enlightening our lives in Jesus! May Your word take root in my heart to announce it to those who haven't heard about it yet. Amen.

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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!”