GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Saturday - May 27, 2023

   

Saturday - May 27, 2023

O admirable Mother of God! How many sins have I committed for which thou hast obtained pardon for me, and how many others would I have committed if thou hadst not preserved me? How often have I seen myself on the brink of Hell in obvious danger of falling into it but for thy most benign hand which saved me? How often would the Roaring Lion of Hell have devoured and swallowed up my soul had not the charity of thy heart opposed him? Alas! Without thee, my dearest and my all-good Mother, where should I be today? I should be in the fiery furnace of Hell from which I would never emerge!

 

-St. John Eudes

May 27, 2023

Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter - Mass in the Morning

Lectionary: 302

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    Acts 28:16-20, 30-31

 

When he entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself,

with the soldier who was guarding him.

 

Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews.

When they had gathered he said to them, "My brothers,

although I had done nothing against our people

or our ancestral customs,

I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.

After trying my case the Romans wanted to release me,

because they found nothing against me deserving the death penalty.

But when the Jews objected, I was obliged to appeal to Caesar,

even though I had no accusation to make against my own nation.

This is the reason, then, I have requested to see you

and to speak with you, for it is on account of the hope of Israel

that I wear these chains."

 

He remained for two full years in his lodgings.

He received all who came to him, and with complete assurance

and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God

and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  Ps 11:4, 5 and 7

 

R. (see 7b)  The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.

 

The LORD is in his holy temple;

the LORD's throne is in heaven.

His eyes behold,

his searching glance is on mankind.

R. The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.

 

The LORD searches the just and the wicked;

the lover of violence he hates.

For the LORD is just, he loves just deeds;

the upright shall see his face.

R. The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.

 

Alleluia         

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I will send to you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord;

he will guide you to all truth.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                           Jn 21:20-25

 

Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved,

the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper

and had said, "Master, who is the one who will betray you?"

When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?"

Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until I come?

What concern is it of yours? 

You follow me."

So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die.

But Jesus had not told him that he would not die,

just "What if I want him to remain until I come?

What concern is it of yours?"

 

It is this disciple who testifies to these things

and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.

There are also many other things that Jesus did,

but if these were to be described individually,

I do not think the whole world would contain the books

that would be written.

 

********************************** 

 

Now is the time to supercharge your faith!

The problem is: We want everything but we expect less, so we receive less instead of the abundant “more” that God wants to give us. Why are we stuck in this rut of insufficiency? Because Satan and his cohorts have been doing everything they can to disempower the Church. Why? Because we are a huge threat to them. If the Body of Christ on Earth today (you, me, and all who have faith in Christ) were to become fully active in the Holy Spirit and be who we really, truly, are — little Christs banded together and covering the whole Earth, doing what Jesus did — it is Satan and all evil-doers who would be disempowered.

 

This is exciting to hear, but do we believe it? We want to conquer evil. We want to be a Spirit-filled Church. We want to be God’s instruments of divine power. We see how it happened on a daily basis in the Book of Acts, and we wish it could be like that today. So then, where is the disconnect?

 

With Jesus in us, we should be able to do everything that Jesus did. Everything and more!

 

He said: “Truly, truly I tell you: Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12)

 

And then he said, “The Father will give you the Spirit of Truth to help you and be with you forever. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)

 

Wow! With the Holy Spirit in us, nothing should be able to stop us from being God’s instrument of divine power. Let us pray:

 

Supercharge my faith, O Lord. Come Holy Spirit, renew me. Come Holy Spirit, change me. Come Holy Spirit and empower me to be all that the Father designed me to be. In the name of Jesus my Savior, amen.

 

This Pentecost — and beyond — let’s identify and then replace (with the help of the Holy Spirit) all of the wrong programming that’s infiltrated our ideas about the Christian life, all of the weak teachings about Christ that’s convinced us to be weak of faith.

 

“Do not conform to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to know and do God’s will — his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

 

We also need to overcome all of the bad assumptions that tell us it’s okay to be mediocre because only a few special Saints can do what Jesus did. Before Jesus arrived on the Earth, the Holy Spirit manifested through only a few special holy men. After Jesus died, rose, and ascended to Heaven, he gave the Holy Spirit to everyone — all those who believe in Jesus as their Savior — not just a few special people.

 

In our world today, more than ever we need to rely on the Holy Spirit to replace our subnormal faith with the manifestations of the Spirit that were normal in the Book of Acts. The Holy Spirit — the Spirit of Truth — has truths to teach us so we can be set free to be powerful messengers of Christ bringing disbelievers and non-believers to the Faith.

 

Are you ready for a new Pentecost? Ask for it! And don’t stop until you see it happen.

 

Today's Prayer

 

Oh Lord Father God, forgive us for being content with our powerlessness! Thank you for all the trials and darkness in our world today, for they are making us dissatisfied with the old status quo of sub-normal faith. Come in Your Glory, Holy Spirit, to super-charge our faith. In the name of Jesus Christ, 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!”