Archive for April 12, 2014

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: April 12, 2014 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Marys_Anointing_of_Jesus

Have I offered my best or choicest to my Lord and God in praise, honour and worship? Or have I made excuses out of being practical or modest? Have I anointed the feet of Jesus my Lord with such fragrant oil of love, that it perfumes the air such that everyone can know the presence of my Lord in all I say and do?

When I feel that Jesus is not with me, do I go seeking Him out knowing I will surely find Him in the poor? Do I serve Him in the poor and downtrodden bringing them His light? The same light that illuminated my life and drove all darkness from it.

Lord Jesus be with me always, however if there are times that You must go so that I may grow, then return to me Lord as swiftly as Your Will is done. Amen

FIRST READING
Isaiah 42:1–7

GOSPEL
John 12:1–11

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.

A Reflection On My Lenten Journey For 2014

Posted: April 12, 2014 by CatholicJules in Meditations, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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I began this Lenten journey like most with the desire to grow in my relationship with God. But what I was shown and taught went a whole lot deeper. 

First thing I learned was that in any relationship, with a spouse,  children, family members, friends, colleagues and whomever I desire to get to know better. I would need to ‘SPEND’ time with them.  In other words I would need to invest some precious time in order that I may build up my relationship with them.  And by doing so on a regular basis, and with God’s grace I am able to build intimate bonds with them.

So it is with building a relationship with God, I need to spend time with Him, getting to know Him and experiencing Him in His Word.  I would need to spend quiet time with Him in prayer, and stay alert listening to Him and being in His presence. To heed Him as He told His disciples, ”Could you not stake awake an hour with me?” Matt 26:40

Now here is where it gets deeper, to grow in my relationship with Him does not end in building it in Him or with Him alone. I need to grow in my relationship with His Body, in other words with my brothers and sisters in Christ! Not just my immediate family, but my Church community. Not just the ones that I love, but the ones I don’t love as much or at all.  And how do I go about doing that?  Well like in the very beginning, I need to spend time with them; learning and growing in faith with them. 

While there is certainly room for improvement and further growth, I praise and thank God for allowing me to grow in my relationship with Him, my immediate family and my family in Him during this Lenten journey.  Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Amen

April 13th 2014 – Passion Sunday

Posted: April 12, 2014 by CatholicJules in Sunday Reflections
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April 13th 2014 – Passion Sunday

Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn



Readings:
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24
Philippians 2:6-11
Matthew 26:14-27:66

“All this has come to pass that the writings of the prophets may be fulfilled,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel (see Matthew 26:56).

Indeed, we have reached the climax of the liturgical year, the highest peak of salvation history, when all that has been anticipated and promised is to be fulfilled.

By the close of today’s long Gospel, the work of our redemption will have been accomplished, the new covenant will be written in the blood of His broken body hanging on the cross at the place called the Skull.

In His Passion, Jesus is “counted among the wicked,” as Isaiah had foretold (see Isaiah 53:12). He is revealed definitively as the Suffering Servant the prophet announced, the long-awaited Messiah whose words of obedience and faith ring out in today’s First Reading and Psalm.

The taunts and torments we hear in these two readings punctuate the Gospel as Jesus is beaten and mocked (see Matthew 27:31), as His hands and feet are pierced, as enemies gamble for His clothes (see Matthew 27:35), and as his enemies dare Him to prove His divinity by saving Himself from suffering (see Matthew 27:39-44).

He remains faithful to God’s will to the end, does not turn back in His trial. He gives Himself freely to His torturers, confident that, as He speaks in today’s First Reading: “The Lord God is My help…I shall not be put to shame.”

Destined to sin and death as children of Adam’s disobedience, we have been set free for holiness and life by Christ’s perfect obedience to the Father’s will (see Romans 5:12-14,17-19; Ephesians 2:2; 5:6).

This is why God greatly exalted Him. This is why we have salvation in His Name. Following His example of humble obedience in the trials and crosses of our lives, we know we will never be forsaken. We know, as the centurion today, that truly this is the Son of God (see Matthew 27:54).