SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Sunday - April 11, 2021

Sunday - April 11, 2021

One must not think that a person who is suffering is not praying. He is offering up his sufferings to God, and many a time he is praying much more truly than one who goes away by himself and meditates his head off, and, if he has squeezed out a few tears, thinks that is prayer.

--St. Teresa of Avila

April 11, 2021

Second Sunday of Easter

Sunday of Divine Mercy

Lectionary: 44

 

Reading I                                          Acts 4:32-35

 

The community of believers was of one heart and mind,

and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own,

but they had everything in common.

With great power the apostles bore witness

to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,

and great favor was accorded them all.

There was no needy person among them,

for those who owned property or houses would sell them,

bring the proceeds of the sale,

and put them at the feet of the apostles,

and they were distributed to each according to need.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                              118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24

 

R.  (1) Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.

or:

R.  Alleluia.

 

Let the house of Israel say,

    “His mercy endures forever.”

Let the house of Aaron say,

    “His mercy endures forever.”

Let those who fear the LORD say,

    “His mercy endures forever.”

R.  Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.

or:

R.  Alleluia.

I was hard pressed and was falling,

    but the LORD helped me.

My strength and my courage is the LORD,

    and he has been my savior.

The joyful shout of victory

    in the tents of the just:

R.  Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.

or:

R.  Alleluia.

The stone which the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone.

By the LORD has this been done;

    it is wonderful in our eyes.

This is the day the LORD has made;

    let us be glad and rejoice in it.

R.  Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.

or:

R.  Alleluia.

 

Reading II                                         1 Jn 5:1-6

 

Beloved:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God,

and everyone who loves the Father

loves also the one begotten by him.

In this way we know that we love the children of God

when we love God and obey his commandments.

For the love of God is this,

that we keep his commandments.

And his commandments are not burdensome,

for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.

And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.

Who indeed is the victor over the world

but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

 

This is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ,

not by water alone, but by water and blood.

The Spirit is the one that testifies,

and the Spirit is truth.

 

Alleluia                                              Jn 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 me, but still believe!

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel                                                                       Jn 20:19-31

On the evening of that first day of the week,

when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,

for fear of the Jews,

Jesus came and stood in their midst

and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,

“Receive the Holy Spirit.

Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,

and whose sins you retain are retained.”

 

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,

was not with them when Jesus came.

So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”

But he said to them,

“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands

and put my finger into the nailmarks

and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

 

Now a week later his disciples were again inside

and Thomas was with them.

Jesus came, although the doors were locked,

and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,

and bring your hand and put it into my side,

and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?

Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

 

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples

that are not written in this book.

But these are written that you may come to believe

that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,

and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

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Seeing a Miracle at Every Mass

"My Lord and my God!" This exclamation of Thomas in this Sunday's Gospel reading used to be our exclamation at the raising of the Eucharist during Mass. It would be good to renew this habit. It's an awe-filled, humble recognition of Christ's Lordship and of the reality of his presence in the form of bread and wine.

 

Saint John Paul II wrote in his encyclical on the Holy Eucharist, Ecclesia de Eucharistia: "To contemplate Christ involves being able to recognize him wherever he manifests himself, in his many forms of presence, but above all in the living sacrament of his body and his blood." (You can get to know the entire amazing document by downloading my 5-Part Catholic Study Guide on it)

 

Notice how Jesus convinced the disciples that he had truly come back to life in the flesh. At first, they thought he was a ghost, or they didn't know what to think. They found the miracle of the resurrection too incredible to grasp.

 

Jesus opened their minds to the truth of the miracle by showing his wounds. He does the same for you and me in every Mass.

 

Through the use of our logic and our senses, it's difficult to grasp the truth that the bread and wine miraculously become the actual body and blood of Christ -- the same broken and bleeding body that died on the cross 2000+ years ago. It's even harder to see and understand that the resurrected Jesus is also there!

 

During Mass, we enter the timelessness of eternity to benefit from the living Christ. When we realize that we personally need the sacrifice he made on Good Friday, because we've sinned, we begin to look at his wounds from a crucial perspective. It is then that we begin to understand the truth about the Eucharist.

 

The first step toward believing in the miracle of the Eucharist is to want Christ's death to save us from our sins and to want his resurrection to take us to heaven. The final step occurs when our desire to unite to Jesus is so thorough that we yearn for him to consume our lives with his presence. We want the divine Jesus to come to us in the flesh, in whatever manner he chooses, to transform us into his likeness. It is this desire that makes us exclaim whenever we see the Eucharist, "My Lord and my God!"

 

Today's Prayer

 

Jesus, I want to learn to discover You in endless ways. Thank You for the faith You have given me, but please increase it so that I may grow closer to You every day! Amen.

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God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

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