GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Saturday - May 20, 2023

   

Saturday - May 20, 2023

She is the eldest daughter of the Great King. If you enjoy her favor, she will introduce you to the Monarch of the Universe. No one has so great an interest with Him than Mary, who was the occasion of His coming down from Heaven to become man for the redemtion of mankind.

 

-St. John the Almoner

May 20, 2023

Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Lectionary: 296

 

Reading I     

                                                                                                Acts 18:23-28

 

After staying in Antioch some time,

Paul left and traveled in orderly sequence

through the Galatian country and Phrygia,

bringing strength to all the disciples.

 

A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria,

an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus.

He was an authority on the Scriptures.

He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and,

with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus,

although he knew only the baptism of John.

He began to speak boldly in the synagogue;

but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,

they took him aside

and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.

And when he wanted to cross to Achaia,

the brothers encouraged him

and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him.

After his arrival he gave great assistance

to those who had come to believe through grace.

He vigorously refuted the Jews in public,

establishing from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                                          Ps 47:2-3, 8-9, 10

 

R. (8a) God is king of all the earth.

 

All you peoples, clap your hands;

shout to God with cries of gladness.

For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,

is the great king over all the earth.

R. God is king of all the earth.

 

For king of all the earth is God;

sing hymns of praise.

God reigns over the nations,

God sits upon his holy throne.

R. God is king of all the earth.

 

The princes of the peoples are gathered together

with the people of the God of Abraham.

For God's are the guardians of the earth;

he is supreme.

R. God is king of all the earth.

 

Alleluia         

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I came from the Father and have come into the world;

now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                           Jn 16:23b-28

 

Jesus said to his disciples:

"Amen, amen, I say to you,

whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

Until now you have not asked anything in my name;

ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

 

"I have told you this in figures of speech.

The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures

but I will tell you clearly about the Father.

On that day you will ask in my name,

and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.

For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me

and have come to believe that I came from God.

I came from the Father and have come into the world.

Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."

 

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The Love of the Father Revealed

“I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father.”  John 16:25

 

When is it that Jesus will speak clearly about the Father? When is that “hour” of which He speaks? First, this “hour” can be understood to be the time after His death, Resurrection and Ascension to Heaven. It is then when the Holy Spirit will come upon them at Pentecost to open their minds to understand all that He has taught with much greater insight and clarity. But in John’s Gospel, the “hour” is also a reference to His death on the Cross. It is His hour of glory, the hour in which the Son of Man saves us through His holy passion. Therefore, this statement of Jesus should be read within the context of Him alluding to His coming passion. Recall that this sermon Jesus gives is part of His “Last Supper Discourse.” It is given immediately prior to Jesus going out to the Garden of Gethsemane to be arrested.

 

When we consider this “hour” to be the passion and death of Jesus on the Cross, we should be aware of the fact that His act of dying is not only a saving act of redemption, it is also one of the clearest ways in which He speaks about His Father in Heaven. Jesus’ suffering and death does, in fact, reveal the Father to the disciples in ways that His “figures of speech” could not reveal. Jesus’ veiled language was spoken as truth but as truth that could not be fully communicated. However, Jesus’ freely embraced suffering and death does clearly communicate the Father in the most profound way possible. The Cross is pure love, and the Father is pure love. Jesus’ death on the Cross in obedience to the will of the Father reveals to all that the Father loves us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His only begotten Son so that if we but believe in Him, we will inherit eternal life.

 

The message of the Cross is a true teaching about the love of the Father. It’s a teaching that took place through an act of the most pure and sacrificial love imaginable. The Cross was Jesus speaking “clearly about the Father” insofar as it reveals the depth of the Father’s love for all humanity. If you find this difficult to understand, then you are not alone. The disciples themselves struggled with this. That is why they ultimately needed the Holy Spirit to come upon them to open their minds. We too need the Holy Spirit if the veil is to be lifted and we are to comprehend this most powerful message of God’s infinite love.

 

Reflect, today, upon Jesus’ burning desire to lift the veil of His teaching and to reveal to you, clearly, the depth of the Father’s love for you. Allow the Holy Spirit to open your mind to this revelation as it is given through the Crucifixion. Pray for that gift. Listen to Jesus tell you He desires to give you this understanding and then await the grace you need to see and understand the very heart of the Father and His divine love for you.

 

Today's Prayer

 

My precious Jesus, Your hour of glory upon the Cross is the clearest and fullest revelation of the Father’s love. On the Cross, You show us all how deeply we are loved by You and Your Father in Heaven. Please do open my mind, dear Lord, to all You wish to reveal to me, so that as I come to know You, I will also come to know Your Father in Heaven. Jesus, I trust in You. 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!”