GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Monday - April 24, 2023

 

Monday - April 24, 2023

"The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist."

--Pope St. Gregory the Great

April 24, 2023

Monday of the Third Week of Easter

Lectionary: 273

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    Acts 6:8-15

 

Stephen, filled with grace and power,

was working great wonders and signs among the people.

Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,

Cyreneans, and Alexandrians,

and people from Cilicia and Asia,

came forward and debated with Stephen,

but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

Then they instigated some men to say,

"We have heard him speaking blasphemous words

against Moses and God."

They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes,

accosted him, seized him,

and brought him before the Sanhedrin.

They presented false witnesses who testified,

"This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law.

For we have heard him claim

that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place

and change the customs that Moses handed down to us."

All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him

and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                              Ps 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30

 

R. (1ab) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

 

Though princes meet and talk against me,

your servant meditates on your statutes.

Yes, your decrees are my delight;

they are my counselors.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

 

I declared my ways, and you answered me;

teach me your statutes.

Make me understand the way of your precepts,

and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

 

Remove from me the way of falsehood,

and favor me with your law.

The way of truth I have chosen;

I have set your ordinances before me.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

Alleluia         

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

One does not live on bread alone

but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                                       Jn 6:22-29

 

[After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.]

The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea

saw that there had been only one boat there,

and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat,

but only his disciples had left.

Other boats came from Tiberias

near the place where they had eaten the bread

when the Lord gave thanks.

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,

they themselves got into boats

and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

And when they found him across the sea they said to him,

"Rabbi, when did you get here?"

Jesus answered them and said,

"Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me

not because you saw signs

but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

Do not work for food that perishes

but for the food that endures for eternal life,

which the Son of Man will give you.

For on him the Father, God, has set his seal."

So they said to him,

"What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"

Jesus answered and said to them,

"This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent."

 

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Becoming Full of Grace

The two disciples in this Sunday’s Gospel reading did not recognize Jesus until after they heard him explain the scriptures and then broke bread with him. It was a two-part process.

 

First, while listening to him teach about the scriptures, only their hearts recognized him. (“Were not our hearts burning within us?”) Their eyes didn’t see his true identity until Jesus shared a meal with them, raised the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them to eat.

 

When we celebrate Mass today, we’re on a similar journey with Jesus. First, we have the Liturgy of the Word, during which we hear the scriptures and a homily that explains them. This is a time of opening our hearts to him.

 

A well-trained reader will speak the words of scripture with meaning and emphasis so that our hearts can recognize God in the words. A well-trained priest or deacon will set our hearts on fire as if Jesus himself were teaching us the meaning of the scriptures. But even when the reader or homilist does a poor job, we can open our hearts to hear Jesus speaking to us directly.

 

Then we move into the Liturgy of the Eucharist. When the presiding priest consecrates the bread and wine, it is Jesus himself who is actually doing it, using the priest’s hands and vocal chords. Jesus is doing for us what he did for those two disciples at Emmaus.

 

If we have opened our hearts to Jesus during the first part of Mass, and if we are still paying attention, we see much more than a piece of bread and a chalice of wine. We see Jesus. We recognize him with our hearts and our heads. We know beyond all doubt that the resurrected Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.

 

Today's Prayer

 

Lord Jesus Christ, open my eyes and my understanding so that I may recognize You in all my experiences. Help me to practice with strength and determination Your Words that are Spirit and Life. Amen.

 

 

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!”