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“God has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do his work, I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it if I just keep His commandments. Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain… He knows what He is about.”
Blessed John Henry Newman
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
All Things Well
Readings:
Isaiah 35:4-7
Psalm 146:7-10
James 2:1-5
Mark 7:31-37
The incident in today’s Gospel is recorded only by Mark. The key line is what the crowd says at the end: “He has done all things well.” In the Greek, this echoes the creation story, recalling that God saw all the things he had done and declared them good (see Genesis 1:31).
Mark also deliberately evokes Isaiah’s promise, which we hear in today’s First Reading that God will make the deaf hear and the mute speak. He even uses a Greek word to describe the man’s condition (mogilalon = “speech impediment”) that’s only found in one other place in the Bible—in the Greek translation of today’s Isaiah passage, where the prophet describes the “dumb” singing.
The crowd recognizes that Jesus is doing what the prophet had foretold. But Mark wants us to see something far greater—that, to use the words from today’s First Reading: “Here is your God.”
Notice how personal and physical the drama is in the Gospel. Our focus is drawn to a hand, a finger, ears, a tongue, spitting. In Jesus, Mark shows us, God has truly come in the flesh.
What He has done is to make all things new, a new creation (see Revelation 21:1-5). As Isaiah promised, He has made the living waters of baptism flow in the desert of the world. He has set captives free from their sins, as we sing in today’s Psalm. He has come that rich and poor might dine together in the Eucharistic feast, as James tells us in today’s Epistle.
He has done for each of us what He did for that deaf mute. He has opened our ears to hear the Word of God, and loosed our tongues that we might sing praises to Him.
Let us then, in the Eucharist, again give thanks to our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. Let us say with Isaiah, Here is our God, He comes to save us. Let us be rich in faith, that we might inherit the kingdom promised to those who love Him.
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Pure Religion
Readings:
Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-8
Psalm 15:2-5
James 1:17-18,21-22,27
Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23
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Today’s Gospel casts Jesus in a prophetic light, as one having authority to interpret God’s law.
Jesus’ quotation from Isaiah today is ironic (see Isaiah 29:13). In observing the law, the Pharisees honor God by ensuring that nothing unclean passes their lips. In this, however, they’ve turned the law inside out, making it a matter of simply performing certain external actions.
The gift of the law, which we hear God giving to Israel in today’s First Reading, is fulfilled in Jesus’ gospel, which shows us the law’s true meaning and purpose (see Matthew 5:17).
The law, fulfilled in the gospel, is meant to form our hearts, to make us pure, able to live in the Lord’s presence. The law was given that we might live and enter into the inheritance promised to us—the kingdom of God, eternal life.
Israel, by its observance of the law, was meant to be an example to surrounding nations. As James tells us in today’s Epistle, the gospel was given to us that we might have new birth by the Word of truth. By living the Word we’ve received, we’re to be examples of God’s wisdom to those around us, the “first fruits” of a new humanity.
This means we must be “doers” of the Word, not merely hearers of it. As we sing in today’s Psalm and hear again in today’s Epistle, we must work for justice, taking care of our brothers and sisters, and living by the truth God has placed in our hearts.
The Word given to us is a perfect gift. We should not add to it through vain and needless devotions. Nor should we subtract from it by picking and choosing which of His laws to honor.
“Hear me,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel. Today, we’re called to examine our relationship to God’s law.
Is the practice of our religion a pure listening to Jesus, a humble welcoming of the Word planted in us and able to save our souls? Or are we only paying lip-service?
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
A Choice to Make
Readings:
Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18
Psalm 34:2-3, 16-23
Ephesians 5:21-32
John 6:60-69
This Sunday’s Mass readings conclude a four-week meditation on the Eucharist.
The 12 apostles in today’s Gospel are asked to make a choice—either to believe and accept the new covenant He offers in His body and blood, or return to their former ways of life.
Their choice is prefigured by the decision Joshua asks the 12 tribes to make in today’s First Reading.
Joshua gathers them at Shechem—where God first appeared to their father Abraham, promising to make his descendants a great nation in a new land (see Genesis 12:1-9). And he issues a blunt challenge—either renew their covenant with God or serve the alien gods of the surrounding nations.
We too are being asked today to decide whom we will serve. For four weeks we have been presented in the liturgy with the mystery of the Eucharist—a daily miracle far greater than those performed by God in bringing the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
He has promised us a new homeland, eternal life, and offered us bread from heaven to strengthen us on our journey. He has told us that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood we will have no life in us.
It is a hard saying, as many murmur in today’s Gospel. Yet He has given us the words of eternal life.
We must believe, as Peter says today, that He is the Holy One of God, who handed himself over for us, gave His flesh for the life of the world.
As we hear in today’s Epistle, Jesus did this that we might be sanctified, made holy, through the water and word of baptism by which we enter into His new covenant. Through the Eucharist, He nourishes and cherishes us, making us His own flesh and blood, as husband and wife become one flesh.
Let us renew our covenant today, approaching the altar with confidence that, as we sing in today’s Psalm, the Lord will redeem the lives of His servants.
An act of love is remaining silent even though our egos desires to speak.
An act of love is a decision to love even before seeing, hearing or touching.
An act of love is to always welcome the stranger in our midst.
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Wisdom’s Feast
Readings:
Proverbs 9:1-6
Psalm 34:2-3, 10-15
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58
The Wisdom of God has prepared a feast, we hear in today’s First Reading.
We must become like children (see Matthew 18:3-4) to hear and accept this invitation. For in every Eucharist, it is the folly of the cross that is represented and renewed.
To the world, it is foolishness to believe that the crucified Jesus rose from the dead. And for many, as for the crowds in today’s Gospel, it is foolishness—maybe even madness—to believe that Jesus can give us His flesh to eat.
Yet Jesus repeats himself with gathering intensity in the Gospel today. Notice the repetition of the words “eat” and “drink,” and “my flesh” and “my blood.” To heighten the unbelievable realism of what Jesus asks us to believe, John in these verses uses, not the ordinary Greek word for eating, but a cruder term, once reserved to describe the “munching” of feeding animals.
The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-25). In His foolish love, He chooses to save those who believe that His flesh is true food, His blood, true drink.
Fear of the Lord, the desire to live by His will, is the beginning of true wisdom, Paul says in today’s Epistle (see Proverbs 9:10). And as we sing in today’s Psalm, those who fear Him shall not want for any good thing.
Again today in the liturgy, we are called to renew our faith in the Eucharist, to forsake the foolishness of believing only what we can see with our eyes.
We approach, then, not only an altar prepared with bread and wine, but the feast of Wisdom, the banquet of heaven—in which God our savior renews His everlasting covenant and promises to destroy death forever (see Isaiah 25:6-9).
Let us make the most of our days, as Paul says, always, in the Eucharist, giving thanks to God for everything in the name of Jesus, the bread c0me down from heaven.
Am I blessed? Does Jesus listen when I pray? Can He really use a sinner like me?
YES…..YES….a resouding YES! Praise the Lord! Here is a little testimony of testimonies of how Jesus has acted in my life recently, though I must say I have not been dilligent in giving Him glory in the other many, many,many numerous instances in which He had….
Last Saturday during a healing mass and adoration of the blessed Sacrament, while I was praying I received a message which I posted here on this blog two posts ago. At the same time I was praying for my Aunty Veronica who had been admitted on Friday I believe for some blockage in the intestine. On two separate occasions during the whole healing prayer session at the precise instance I had prayed for my Aunt by name, the leader Joseph Fernandez (from the Gloria Patri Ministry) announced on the microphone “Some of you are now praying for your family members, know that the Lord has heard your prayer.”
On Sunday through facebook my cousin informed all of us whom had been praying for her mum that she would be discharged the very next day! Praise the Lord.
Back to the Saturday of the healing mass, I had brought the whole family that is my two young sons, my baby daughter of nine months and my darling wife. My wife was struggling to keep our little girl quiet and had to leave the auditorium ( basement level ) frequently to do so. Outside the auditorium however it is not air-conditioned and so it got pretty hot real quick especially when she was trying to feed our daughter. So she went up to the ground level where she met Valarie from the Church office who had just closed up for the day but offered to open the office for a spell so she could feed our daughter in the air-conditioned office. Praise the Lord!
Then a lady stood by the doorway peering in looking a little perplexed. Valarie asked if she needed help on something of which she replied she was looking for Holy communion for the sick for her husband. He was bed ridden as a result of an accident involving a lorry hitting his bicycle. According to her she had come to both the church’s offices to fill up some forms for this service but no one had gotten back to her for more than a month. My wife offered to pass her contact details on to me so that arrangements could be made swiftly. For those who haven’t really been following my blog, she passed it on to me because I happen to be serving as a an Extraordinary Minister Of Holy Communion. Coincidence? I beg to differ…..Praise the Lord! I made arrangements with the wife to bring Jesus to him the following Sunday.
Today my wife and I made our way to their home after attending the 1115am Eucharistic Celebration. It started to drizzle as we reached the bus stop, so I handed my wife a small umbrella which I had gone back into my home just as I was leaving this morning, just so that I could bring it ‘just in case’ ? Praise the Lord! Then I had a vision of sorts, that if I walked past the bus stop to the traffic light junction and waited on the opposite side, I would be able to flag down a blue cab. So I told my wife and we did just that….and lo and behold a blue cab arrived! Praise the Lord!
We made our way up to the home and I proceeded into his bedroom to read the Gospel and administer Holy Communion for the sick to him. It was great to be able to serve the Lord and my brother in Christ who was faithfully waiting for Jesus. Praise the Lord!
So my sisters and brothers in Christ as Jesus says in John 10:27
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
1 Kings 19:4-8
Psalm 34:2-9
Ephesians 4:30-5:2
John 6:41-51
Sometimes we feel like Elijah in today’s First Reading. We want to lie down and die, keenly aware of our failures, that we seem to be getting no better at doing what God wants of us.
We can be tempted to despair, as the prophet was on his forty-day journey in the desert. We can be tempted to “murmur” against God, as the Israelites did during their forty years in the desert (see Exodus 16:2,7,8; 1 Corinthians 10:10).
The Gospel today uses the same word, “murmur,” to describe the crowds, who reenact Israel’s hardheartedness in the desert.
Jesus tells them that prophecies are being fulfilled in Him, that they are being taught by God. But they can’t believe it. They can only see His flesh, that He is the “son” of Joseph and Mary.
Yet if we believe, if we seek Him in our distress, He will deliver us from our fears, as we sing in today’s Psalm.
At the altar in every Eucharist, the angel of the Lord, the Lord himself (see Exodus 3:1-2), touches us. He commands us to take and eat His flesh given for the life of the world (see Matthew 26:26).
This taste of the heavenly gift (see Hebrews 6:4-5) comes to us with a renewed command—to get up and continue on the journey we began in baptism, to the mountain of God, the kingdom of heaven.
He will give us the bread of life, the strength and grace we need—as He fed our spiritual ancestors in the wilderness and Elijah in the desert.
So let us stop grieving the Spirit of God, as Paul says in today’s Epistle, in another reference to Israel in the desert (see Isaiah 63:10).
Let us say to God as Elijah did, “Take my life.” Not in the sense of wanting to die. But in giving ourselves as a sacrificial offering—loving Him as He has loved us, on the cross and in the Eucharist.
First reading
Daniel 7:9-10,13-14
Second reading
2 Peter 1:16-19
Gospel
Mark 9:2-10
Personal Reflection
In today’s Gospel we see how Peter, James and John witness the transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ. They are given the opportunity to bear witness to Christ’s divinity. To stand in the presence of the vision had by Daniel who prophesied the Lord’s coming to the Father to be conferred dominion over us His children. The law and prophesy represented by Moses and Elijah, together with our Saviour Jesus Christ points to us the direction of our salvation in Him.
Are our hearts opened to Him? Are we ready and willing to be transfigured? To be made pure? To be changed from ordinary water into wine as at the wedding feast in Cana? To bow down to our Sovereign King so that we may receive Him in our hearts and minds?
Are we still looking through worldly eyes, hence not yet able to comprehend what we see in the Eucharistic Celebration? Similar to how Saint Peter first reacted at the transfiguration…asking to build three tabernacles, not yet able to see that the three cannot be separated but are as one in heaven?
Let us pray….
O God, whom no eye has ever seen, you have revealed your glory in the transfigured face of your Son. Through his voice, you have spoken your Word to us. Give light to our eyes; make us attentive to the Gospel, for in baptism we have become His brothers and sisters and your children. Hear us through this same beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives with you and The Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen
Thank you sweet Jesus for your gentle reminder….
Catholicjules
04 Aug 2012
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Exodus 16:2–4, 12–15
Psalm 78:3–4, 23–25, 54
Ephesians 4:17, 20–24
John 6:24–35
The journey of discipleship is a life-long exodus from the slavery of sin and death to the holiness of truth in Mount Zion, the promised land of eternal life.
The road can get rough. And when it does, we can be tempted to complain like the Israelites in this week’s First Reading.
We have to see these times of hardship as a test of what is in our hearts, a call to trust God more and to purify the motives for our faith (Deuteronomy 8:2–3).
As Paul reminds us in this week’s Epistle, we must leave behind our old self-deceptions and desires and live according to the likeness of God in which we are made.
Jesus tells the crowd in this week’s Gospel that they are following him for the wrong reasons. They seek him because he filled their bellies. The Israelites, too, were content to follow God so long as there was plenty of food.
Food is the most obvious of signs—because it is the most basic of our human needs. We need our daily bread to live. But we cannot live by this bread alone. We need the bread of eternal life that preserves those who believe in him (Wisdom 16:20, 26).
The manna in the wilderness, like the bread Jesus multiplied for the crowd, was a sign of God’s Providence—that we should trust that he will provide.
These signs pointed to their fulfillment in the Eucharist, the abundant bread of angels we sing about in this week’s Psalm.
This is the food that God longs to give us. This is the bread we should be seeking. But too often we don’t ask for this bread. Instead we seek the perishable stuff of our every day wants and anxieties. In our weakness we think these things are what we really need.
We have to trust God more. If we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, all these things will be ours as well (Matthew 6:33).
In today’s first reading we learn that discipleship is wrought with hardship and often times persecution, to spread the Good news of the Lord sometimes entails despise from some. Do we throw our hands up in defeat? Do we walk away? Do we wallow and turn to sin instead? Or do we lift it up to the Lord?
God our faithful Father says this to us….thus says the LORD:
“If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze;they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, says the LORD. I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”
In today’s Gospel we are reminded of some of our personal experiences in which we discovered the treasures of the living Word of God that leads us to His Kingdom. The richness of both the Old and the New Testament which emboldens us to lead our life to the fullest in Christ. The love, peace and joy we receive is so overwhelming that we would do anything to hold to the treasure. We realise that to hold on is also to hide it from the enemy that wants to swoop down and take it from us, or to hide it within our hearts, to be detached from the business of this life. Are we living the life that we are called to live? Are we willing to entrust our lives to the Lord?
Saturday’s first reading is still fresh in my mind, simply because I had been pondering on how well the passage hits home for many Catholics who routinely go to Church more out of obligation then of love. How many of us have forgotten that we are going into the sanctuary before God to worship him and yet were reverent neither in disposition or outward appearance. How we have simply continued to live our lives according to our own whim and fancies. How some of us have chosen what we want to believe in the Word given to us and how we have omitted the other parts which were a hindrance or deemed to ‘Old School’ or ‘Old fashionly’ rigid. Why then do some wonder how others seem to leave Church, rejuvenated, joyful with a serenity that you do not seem to possess? Let this Old testament passage speak to your hearts…..take note of the end where a similar utterance can be found by Jesus in the New Testament…
The word that was addressed to Jeremiah by the Lord, ‘Go and stand at the gate of the Temple of the Lord and there proclaim this message. Say, “Listen to the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who come in by these gates to worship the Lord. The Lord Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this: Amend your behaviour and your actions and I will stay with you here in this place. Put no trust in delusive words like these: This is the sanctuary of the Lord, the sanctuary of the Lord, the sanctuary of the Lord! But if you do amend your behaviour and your actions, if you treat each other fairly, if you do not exploit the stranger, the orphan and the widow (if you do not shed innocent blood in this place), and if you do not follow alien gods, to your own ruin, then here in this place I will stay with you, in the land that long ago I gave to your fathers forever. Yet here you are, trusting in delusive words, to no purpose! Steal, would you, murder, commit adultery, perjure yourselves, burn incense to Baal, follow alien gods that you do not know? – and then come presenting yourselves in this Temple that bears my name, saying: Now we are safe – safe to go on committing all these abominations! Do you take this Temple that bears my name for a robbers’ den? I, at any rate, am not blind – it is the Lord who speaks.”’
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
2 Kings 4:42-44
Psalm 145:10-11, 15-18
Ephesians 4:1-6
John 6:1-15
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Today’s liturgy brings together several strands of Old Testament expectation to reveal Jesus as Israel’s promised Messiah and king, the Lord who comes to feed His people.
Notice the parallels between today’s Gospel and First Reading. Both Elisha and Jesus face a crowd of hungry people with only a few “barley” loaves. We hear similar words about how impossible it will be to feed the crowd with so little. And in both the miraculous multiplication of bread satisfies the hungry and leaves food left over.
The Elisha story looks back to Moses, the prophet who fed God’s people in the wilderness (see Exodus 16). Moses prophesied that God would send a prophet like him (see Deuteronomy 18:15-19). The crowd in today’s Gospel, witnessing His miracle, identifies Jesus as that prophet.
The Gospel today again shows Jesus to be the Lord, the good shepherd, who makes His people lie down on green grass and spreads a table before them (see Psalm 23:1,5).
The miraculous feeding is a sign that God has begun to fulfill His promise, which we sing of in today’s Psalm – to give His people food in due season and satisfy their desire (see Psalm 81:17).
But Jesus points to the final fulfillment of that promise in the Eucharist. He does the same things He does at the Last Supper – He takes the loaves, pronounces a blessing of thanksgiving (literally, “eucharist”), and gives the bread to the people (see Matthew 26:26). Notice, too, that 12 baskets of bread are left over, one for each of the apostles.
These are signs that should point us to the Eucharist – in which the Church founded on the apostles continues to feed us with the living bread of His body.
In this Eucharist, we are made one body with the Lord, as we hear in today’s Epistle. Let us resolve again, then, to live lives worthy of such a great calling.
First reading
Jeremiah 2:1-3,7-8,12-13
Gospel
Matthew 13:10-17
Personal Reflection
In today’s Gospel we learn how we are to receive the Word of God. When we are prepared to listen with our hearts more will be poured out unto us. Prior to this passage was the parable of the sower, showing us what happens to the Word of God in four types of people. But even to this day many today are still clueless, they struggle with understanding or even if they do claim to understand at some level the Word does not fill them with joy or move them as they ought to be moved. Why? Today, if we were to put the bible in the hands of every man, woman or child, would the world be automatically converted? The command given to the apostles and all their successors in the ministry was to “Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, &c. teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you all days, even to the end of the world.”
If our hearts and minds are not prepared to listen, we will see but do not perceive, hear but do not understand. Jesus is calling all of us today, Come to me and be healed, be made worthy to receive. It is not by our own wills or intellect that we can understand or perceive but through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you not willing to do what it takes? Do you not want to experience true love, peace and joy in your lives? Why not be made worthy to drink from the living fountain by way of repentance rather than hold on to leaking cisterns that hold no water?
Let us be numbered among the blessed as Jesus speaks to our hearts,”But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Jeremiah 23:1-16
Psalms 23:1-6
Ephesians 2:13-18
Mark 6:30-34
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As the Twelve return from their first missionary journey in today’s Gospel, our readings continue to reflect on the authority and mission of the Church.
Jeremiah says in the First Reading that Israel’s leaders, through godlessness and fanciful teachings, had mislead and scattered God’s people. He promises God will send a shepherd, a king and son of David, to gather the lost sheep and appoint for them new shepherds (see Ezekiel 34:23).
The crowd gathering on the green grass (see Mark 6:39) in today’s Gospel is the start of the remnant that Jeremiah promised would be brought back to the meadow of Israel. The people seem to sense that Jesus is the Lord, the good shepherd (see John 10:11), the king they’ve been waiting for (see Hosea 3:1-5).
Jesus is moved to pity, seeing them as sheep without a shepherd. This phrase was used by Moses to describe Israel’s need for a shepherd to succeed him (see Numbers 27:17). And as Moses appointed Joshua, Jesus appointed the Twelve to continue shepherding His people on earth.
Jesus had said there were other sheep who did not belong to Israel’s fold, but would hear His voice and be joined to the one flock of the one shepherd (see John 10:16). In God’s plan, the Church is to seek out first the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and then to bring all nations into the fold (see Acts 13:36; Romans 1:16).
Paul, too, in today’s Epistle, sees the Church as a new creation, in which those nations who were once far off from God are joined as “one new person” with the children of Israel.
As we sing in today’s Psalm, through the Church, the Lord, our good shepherd, still leads people to the verdant pastures of the kingdom, to the restful waters of baptism; He still anoints with the oil of confirmation, and spreads the Eucharistic table before all people, filling their cups to overflowing.
Pope Benedict XVI
On Today’s Readings……
First Reading Isaiah 38:1-6,21-22,7-8
Gospel Matthew 12:1-8
Personal Reflection
In the first reading, we are reminded of our Fathers faithfulness as He fulfills the covenant made with David. We learn that sin drains the life out of us, but when we reach out in repentance to God our Father, He forgives and gives us new us life. Are we sorrowful for our sins? Do we examine our conscience daily?
In today’s Gospel we are reminded that a steadfast love is what is required of us not sacrifice. Jesus our Lord of the Sabbath and the Lord of All has come to write the laws on our hearts, so that we may live them to the fullest in His love. Are we imposing judgement or our laws on others? Or Are we loving and guiding others to faith by our deeds?
Personal Reflection
In the first reading we hear how we are to walk upright and straight in righteousness and God helps us through our suffering which produces character and teaches us His ways. Do we let our sufferings in life, like the pains of a pregnant woman go to waste? Or do we let it bear fruit instead? Does our hope, prayer and actions in life lead us to our hope in the resurrection of Christ where we can claim our rightful inheritance?
In today’s Gospel Jesus invites us to come to Him when we are overburdened and remain in Him. For when we remain in Him our allegiance results in rest. Do we seek Him only when we are overburdened by our sins or our daily way of lives? Are we afraid to surrender to our Lord and receive His Yoke because of our lack of faith and understanding? Are we working hard through our sufferings to bear fruit for His Kingdom?
Let us cry out……Ah my Lord my God, your Grace is sufficient! Your tender mercies flow abundantly over me that I no longer am burdened. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to The Holy Spirit…Amen
Personal Reflection
“Does the axe claim more credit than the man who wields it,
or the saw more strength than the man who handles it?
It would be like the cudgel controlling the man who raises it,
or the club moving what is not made of wood!”
Do we acknowledge God’s hand presence in our lives? Do we give Him glory for His marvellous deeds? Or are we too arrogant to think our wisdom, our strength and our ‘fearlessness’ is what it takes to succeed in every aspect of our life? We can choose to participate in His plan for us and witness true greatness…..
In today’s Gospel we are reminded of how much Jesus loves us, and that He opened His heart to us revealing His Father’s united love. He calls us children because He has faith in our purity of heart and our openness to learn and grow in faith. On the contrary the ‘great’ and the ‘wise’ are too full of themselves to learn anything.
Which one are we here? Mere Children? or are we the learned and the clever?
Catholicjules.net
Some have tried to argue that Jesus did not mean that his Church would be built on Peter but on something else.
Some argue that in this passage there is a minor difference between the Greek term for Peter (Petros) and the term for rock (petra), yet they ignore the obvious explanation: petra, a feminine noun, has simply been modifed to have a masculine ending, since one would not refer to a man (Peter) as feminine. The change in the gender is purely for stylistic reasons.
These critics also neglect the fact that Jesus spoke Aramaic, and, as John 1:42 tells us, in everyday life he actually referred to Peter as Kepha or Cephas (depending on how it is transliterated). It is that term which is then translated into Greek as petros. Thus, what Jesus actually said to Peter in Aramaic was: “You are Kepha and on this very kepha I will build my Church.”
The Church Fathers, those Christians closest to the apostles in time, culture, and theological background, clearly understood that Jesus promised to build the Church on Peter, as the following passages show.
Tatian the Syrian
“Simon Cephas answered and said, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah: flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee also, that you are Cephas, and on this rock will I build my Church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it” (The Diatesseron 23 [A.D. 170]).
Tertullian
“Was anything withheld from the knowledge of Peter, who is called ‘the rock on which the Church would be built’ [Matt. 16:18] with the power of ‘loosing and binding in heaven and on earth’ [Matt. 16:19]?” (Demurrer Against the Heretics 22 [A.D. 200]).
“[T]he Lord said to Peter, ‘On this rock I will build my Church, I have given you the keys of the kingdom of heaven [and] whatever you shall have bound or loosed on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18–19]. . . . What kind of man are you, subverting and changing what was the manifest intent of the Lord when he conferred this personally upon Peter? Upon you, he says, I will build my Church; and I will give to you the keys” (Modesty 21:9–10 [A.D. 220]).
The Letter of Clement to James
“Be it known to you, my lord, that Simon [Peter], who, for the sake of the true faith, and the most sure foundation of his doctrine, was set apart to be the foundation of the Church, and for this end was by Jesus himself, with his truthful mouth, named Peter” (Letter of Clement to James 2 [A.D. 221]).
The Clementine Homilies
“[Simon Peter said to Simon Magus in Rome:] ‘For you now stand in direct opposition to me, who am a firm rock, the foundation of the Church’ [Matt. 16:18]” (Clementine Homilies 17:19 [A.D. 221]).
Origen
“Look at [Peter], the great foundation of the Church, that most solid of rocks, upon whom Christ built the Church [Matt. 16:18]. And what does our Lord say to him? ‘Oh you of little faith,’ he says, ‘why do you doubt?’ [Matt. 14:31]” (Homilies on Exodus 5:4 [A.D. 248]).
Cyprian of Carthage
“The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven . . . ’ [Matt. 16:18–19]. On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was [i.e., apostles], but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. . . . If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?” (The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; 1st edition [A.D. 251]).
“There is one God and one Christ, and one Church, and one chair founded on Peter by the word of the Lord. It is not possible to set up another altar or for there to be another priesthood besides that one altar and that one priesthood. Whoever has gathered elsewhere is scattering” (Letters 43[40]:5 [A.D. 253]).
“There [John 6:68–69] speaks Peter, upon whom the Church would be built, teaching in the name of the Church and showing that even if a stubborn and proud multitude withdraws because it does not wish to obey, yet the Church does not withdraw from Christ. The people joined to the priest and the flock clinging to their shepherd are the Church. You ought to know, then, that the bishop is in the Church and the Church in the bishop, and if someone is not with the bishop, he is not in the Church. They vainly flatter themselves who creep up, not having peace with the priests of God, believing that they are
secretly [i.e., invisibly] in communion with certain individuals. For the Church, which is one and Catholic, is not split nor divided, but it is indeed united and joined by the cement of priests who adhere one to another” (ibid., 66[69]:8).
Firmilian
“But what is his error . . . who does not remain on the foundation of the one Church which was founded upon the rock by Christ [Matt. 16:18], can be learned from this, which Christ said to Peter alone: ‘Whatever things you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth, they shall be loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:19]” (collected in Cyprian’s Letters74[75]:16 [A.D. 253]).
“[Pope] Stephen [I] . . . boasts of the place of his episcopate, and contends that he holds the succession from Peter, on whom the foundations of the Church were laid [Matt. 16:18]. . . . [Pope] Stephen . . . announces that he holds by succession the throne of Peter” (ibid., 74[75]:17).
Ephraim the Syrian
“[Jesus said:] ‘Simon, my follower, I have made you the foundation of the holy Church. I betimes called you Peter, because you will support all its buildings. You are the inspector of those who will build on earth a Church for me. If they should wish to build what is false, you, the foundation, will condemn them. You are the head of the fountain from which my teaching flows; you are the chief of my disciples’” (Homilies 4:1 [A.D. 351]).
Optatus
“You cannot deny that you are aware that in the city of Rome the episcopal chair was given first to Peter; the chair in which Peter sat, the same who was head—that is why he is also called Cephas [‘Rock’]—of all the apostles; the one chair in which unity is maintained by all” (The Schism of the Donatists 2:2 [A.D. 367]).
Ambrose of Milan
“[Christ] made answer: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church. . . . ’ Could he not, then, strengthen the faith of the man to whom, acting on his own authority, he gave the kingdom, whom he called the rock, thereby declaring him to be the foundation of the Church [Matt. 16:18]?” (The Faith 4:5 [A.D. 379]).
“It is to Peter that he says: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church’ [Matt. 16:18]. Where Peter is, there is the Church. And where the Church is, no death is there, but life eternal” (Commentary on Twelve Psalms of David 40:30 [A.D. 389]).
Pope Damasus I
“Likewise it is decreed . . . that it ought to be announced that . . . the holy Roman Church has not been placed at the forefront [of the churches] by the conciliar decisions of other churches, but has received the primacy by the evangelic voice of our Lord and Savior, who says: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it; and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. . . . ’ [Matt. 16:18–19]. The first see, therefore, is that of Peter the apostle, that of the Roman Church, which has neither stain nor blemish nor anything like it” (Decree of Damasus 3 [A.D. 382]).
Jerome
“‘But,’ you [Jovinian] will say, ‘it was on Peter that the Church was founded’ [Matt. 16:18]. Well . . . one among the twelve is chosen to be their head in order to remove any occasion for division” (Against Jovinian 1:26 [A.D. 393]).
“I follow no leader but Christ and join in communion with none but your blessedness [Pope Damasus I], that is, with the chair of Peter. I know that this is the rock on which the Church has been built. Whoever eats the Lamb outside this house is profane. Anyone who is not in the ark of Noah will perish when the flood prevails” (Letters 15:2 [A.D. 396]).
Augustine
“If the very order of episcopal succession is to be considered, how much more surely, truly, and safely do we number them [the bishops of Rome] from Peter himself, to whom, as to one representing the whole Church, the Lord said, ‘Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not conquer it.’ Peter was succeeded by Linus, Linus by Clement. … In this order of succession a Donatist bishop is not to be found” (Letters 53:1:2 [A.D. 412]).
Council of Ephesus
“Philip, the presbyter and legate of the Apostolic See [Rome], said: ‘There is no doubt, and in fact it has been known in all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince and head of the apostles, pillar of the faith, and foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, and that to him was given the power of loosing and binding sins: who down even to today and forever both lives and judges in his successors’” (Acts of the Council, session 3 [A.D. 431]).
Sechnall of Ireland
“Steadfast in the fear of God, and in faith immovable, upon [Patrick] as upon Peter the [Irish] church is built; and he has been allotted his apostleship by God; against him the gates of hell prevail not” (Hymn in Praise of St. Patrick 3 [A.D. 444]).
Pope Leo I
“Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . has placed the principal charge on the blessed Peter, chief of all the apostles. . . . He wished him who had been received into partnership in his undivided unity to be named what he himself was, when he said: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church’ [Matt. 16:18], that the building of the eternal temple might rest on Peter’s solid rock, strengthening his Church so surely that neither could human rashness assail it nor the gates of hell prevail against it” (Letters 10:1 [A.D. 445]).
Council of Chalcedon
“Wherefore the most holy and blessed Leo, archbishop of the great and elder Rome, through us, and through this present most holy synod, together with the thrice blessed and all-glorious Peter the apostle, who is the rock and foundation of the Catholic Church, and the foundation of the orthodox faith, has stripped him [Dioscorus] of the episcopate” (Acts of the Council, session 3 [A.D. 451]).
NIHIL OBSTAT: I have concluded that the materials
presented in this work are free of doctrinal or moral errors.
Bernadeane Carr, STL, Censor Librorum, August 10, 2004
IMPRIMATUR: In accord with 1983 CIC 827
permission to publish this work is hereby granted.
+Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego, August 10, 2004
This month had been particularly hetic for me…. apart from my normal office hour job; the First Holy Communion program of which I had been faciliatating for my neighbourhood group finally drew to a close and we have set a date in Sept for our children to received their First Holy Communion.
Then there is my forthnightly neighbourhood LTW meeting ( Living The Word ) which I have to be prepared for. Also it was my first time joint-leading with my EMC group to lead Primary 3 students in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and I was quite excited about getting it done smoothly, praise the Lord that it went quite well though it took about almost 1 hour 45 mins to finish which is a tad too long, especially for the children their age.
Then I was invited to lead a communion service on one of the week days as our priests were on a retreat. I was rather nervous at first but all when smoothly, through prayers and much preparation, praise the Lord!
Then finally I thought that I had till next week to prepare for my spiritual presentation to my EMC group, thinking that the 3rd Monday of the month for July was on the 22nd. It did not occur to me that there are five mondays instead of four this month! So when I received the text message asking me if I was ready, I jumped a little but did not panick as I might normally have done. Why? Well before I get to the why…I must mention that I had been very nervous about doing the presentation partly because the topic I chose was quite a difficult one and secondly it required lots of preparation time. I had been going at it for nearly a month in head, but never actually got down to preparing the slides or the write up. And the reason I was calm even though I had less than two hours to prepare for the presentation, was because I had just gotten back from the four steps retreat. Being spirit filled, trusting and surrendering to the Lord made quite a difference.
Truly with the help of the Holy Spirit I managed to finish my presentation to the sound of applause, all glory be to God! My little cell group requested I continue to do the rest of presentations till year end, but I declined only because everyone in the group should be given an oppturnity to grow.
Praise the Lord!
But some one may say,”It is so very difficult to serve God, it is so much against my own mind, such an effort, such a strain upon my , strength to bear Christ’s yoke, I must give it over, or I must delay it at least. Can nothing be taken instead? I acknowledge his law to be most holy and true and the accounts I read about good men are most delightful. I wish I were like them with all my heart; and for a little while I feel in a mind to set about imitating them. I must have begun several times, I have had seasons of repentance, and set rules to myself; but for some reason or other, I fell back after a while, and was even worse than before. I know, but I cannot do. “O wretched man that I am!”
Now to such a one I say, You are in a much more promising state than if you were contented with yourself, and thought that knowledge was every thing, which is the grievous blindness which I have hitherto been speaking of; you are in a better state, if you do not feel too much comfort or confidence in your confession. For this is the fault of many men; they make such an acknowledgement as I have described a substitute for real repentance; or allow themselves, after making it, to put off repentance, as if they could be suffered to give a word of promise which did not become due (so to say) for many days. You are, I admit, in a better state than if you were satisfied with yourself.
Blessed John Henry Newman
+1890
Jesus began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent.
‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard on Judgement day with Tyre and Sidon as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted as high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom on Judgement day as with you.’
It appears that Jesus is venting his anger on the three cities, however because we know our loving saviour we know that he is in actual fact lamenting over them. Even with powerful miracles that had been worked before them; still they would not repent their wicked ways.
Do we want Jesus to mourn for us? Have we ourselves truly repented? Have we put it off saying tomorrow I will do so? When I am ready I will? When I have overcome my addiction or my evil ways I will? Jesus is saying come as you are, I love you! Come and be made white as snow through my love for you……
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
The Church’s Mission
Readings:
Amos 7:12-15
Psalms 85:9-14
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:7-13
In commissioning the apostles in today’s Gospel, Jesus gives them, and us, a preview of His Church’s mission after the resurrection.
His instructions to the Twelve echo those of God to the twelve tribes of Israel on the eve of their exodus from Egypt. The Israelites likewise were sent out with no bread and only one set of clothes, wearing sandals and carrying a staff (see Exodus 12:11; Deuteronomy 8:2-4). Like the Israelites, the apostles are to rely solely on the providence of God and His grace.
Perhaps, also, Mark wants us to see the apostles’ mission, the mission of the Church, as that of leading a new exodus – delivering peoples from their exile from God and bringing them to the promised land, the kingdom of heaven.
Like Amos in today’s First Reading, the apostles are not “professionals,” who earn their bread by prophesying. Like Amos, they are simply men (see Acts 14:15) summoned from their ordinary jobs and sent by God to be shepherds of their brothers and sisters.
Again this week, we hear the theme of rejection: Amos experiences it, and Jesus warns the apostles that some will not welcome or listen to them. The Church is called, not necessarily to be successful, but only to be faithful to God’s command.
With authority and power given to it by Jesus, the Church proclaims God’s peace and salvation to those who believe in Him, as we sing in today’s Psalm.
This word of truth, this gospel of salvation, is addressed to each of us, personally, as Paul proclaims in today’s Epistle. In the mystery of God’s will, we have been chosen from before the foundation of the world – to be His sons and daughters, to live for the praise of His glory.
Let us, then, give thanks for the Church today, and for the spiritual blessings He has bestowed upon us. Let us resolve to further the Church’s mission – to help others hear the call to repentance and welcome Christ into their lives.
First Reading Hosea 11:1-4.8e-9
Gospel Matthew 10:7-15
Reflection
In the first reading we hear of God’s immense love for His children, of how He patiently loves and feeds them and yet they constantly turn away from Him. When a child of ours ignores our advice or rules, we are often tempted to react in anger and punish him/her for defying us. However we know in moments of composure, that the best response is find a suitable consequence that will allow for them to make better choices. This is how God treats His people. Ever faithful he promises to restore them as soon as they come to their senses.
In today’s Gospel we hear again of God’s love through Jesus His Son who his Apostles to the lost sheep of Israel, he empowers them to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast our devils. How many of us are using the gifts by virtue of our baptism to reach out to our sisters and brothers in Christ? To bring them back to faith? Comfort and console them with the news of God’s love and mercy? To share the good news with someone who otherwise would never have heard it?
You received without charge, give without charge. How many of us performs acts of service or kindness, without want of recognition or appreciation? Jesus warns his Apostles not to give in to temptation of expecting monetary gifts or compensation for the gifts bestowed upon them. Neither should they worry of what they are to eat or wear but to have faith in God’s Providence. Have we that kind of trust in God? That He will provide for all of our needs?
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Ezekiel 2:2-5
Psalm 123:1-4
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Mark 6:1-6
As we’ve walked with the apostles in the Gospels in recent weeks, we’ve witnessed Jesus command the wind and sea, and order a little girl to arise from the dead.
But He seems to meet His match in His hometown of Nazareth. Today’s Gospel is blunt: “He was not able to perform any mighty deed there.”
Why not? Because of the people’s lack of faith. They acknowledged the wisdom of His words, the power of His works. But they refused to recognize Him as a prophet come among them, a messenger sent by God.
All they could see was how much “this man” was like them – a carpenter, the son of their neighbor, Mary, with brothers and sisters.
Of course, Mary was ever-virgin, and had no other children. The Gospel refers to Jesus’ brothers as Paul refers to all Israelites as his brothers, the children of Abraham (see Romans 9:3,7).
That’s the point in today’s Gospel, too. Like the prophet Ezekiel in today’s First Reading, Jesus was sent by God to the rebellious house of Israel, where He found His own brothers and sisters obstinate of heart and in revolt against God.
The servant is not above the Master (see Matthew 10:24). As His disciples, we too face the mockery and contempt we hear of in today’s Psalm. And isn’t it often hardest to live our faith among those in our own families, those who think they really know us, who define us by the people we used to be – before we chose to walk with Jesus?
As Paul confides in today’s Epistle, insults and hardships are God’s way of teaching us to rely solely on His grace.
Jesus will work no mighty deeds in our lives unless we abandon ourselves to Him in faith. Blessed then are those who take no offense in Him (see Luke 7:23). Instead, we must look upon Him with the eyes of servants – knowing that the son of Mary is also the Lord enthroned in the heavens.
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24
Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13
2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15
Mark 5:21-24, 35-43
God, who formed us in His imperishable image, did not intend for us to die, we hear in today’s First Reading. Death entered the world through the devil’s envy and Adam and Eve’s sin; as a result, we are all bound to die.
But in the moving story in today’s Gospel, we see Jesus liberate a little girl from the possession of death.
On one level, Mark is recounting an event that led the disciples to understand Jesus’ authority and power over even the final enemy, death (see 1 Corinthians 15:26). On another level, however, this episode is written to strengthen our hope that we too will be raised from the dead, along with all our loved ones who sleep in Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:18).
Jesus commands the girl to “Arise!” – using the same Greek word used to describe His own resurrection (see Mark 16:6). And the consoling message of today’s Gospel is that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. If we believe in Him, even though we die, we will live (see John 15:25-26).
We are called to have the same faith as the parents in the Gospel today – praying for our loved ones, trusting in Jesus’ promise that even death cannot keep us apart. Notice the parents follow Him even though those in their own house tell them there is no hope, and even though others ridicule Jesus’ claim that the dead have only fallen asleep (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Already in baptism, we’ve been raised to new life in Christ. And the Eucharist, like the food given to the little girl today, is the pledge that He will raise us on the last day.
We should rejoice, as we sing in today’s Psalm, that He has brought us up from the netherworld, the pit of death. And, as Paul exhorts in today’s Epistle, we should offer our lives in thanksgiving for this gracious act, imitating Christ in our love and generosity for others.
An event for non-Catholic young adults from the ages of 20 to 35. Catholics are most welcome to come along with their invited non-Catholic friends for an afternoon to discover more of what life has to offer us. Tea and snacks will be provided.
Event Date : 29 Jul 12, 3:30 pm – 29 Jul 12, 6:30 pm
Location : 73 Taman Mas Merah S128195
Organised By : Verbum Dei Missionaries
Booking information : Verbum Dei Missionaries 62740251 or 97932605
Email: verbumdeispore@yahoo.com.sg
Cast: Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Deborah Kara Unger, Yorick van Wageningen, James Nesbitt, Tcheky Karyo, Ángela Molina, Carlos Leal, Simón Andreu, Eusebio Lazaro
Director: Emilio Estevez
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hr. 55 min. Genre: Drama, Action & Adventure, Comedy
Sypnosis “The Way” is a powerful and inspirational story about family, friends, and the challenges we face while navigating this ever-changing and complicated world. Martin Sheen plays Tom, who comes to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to collect the remains of his adult son , killed in the Pyrenees in a storm while walking the Camino de Santiago,. Rather than return home, Tom decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage to honor his son’s desire to finish the journey. What Tom doesn’t plan on is the profound impact the journey will have on him. From the unexpected and, oftentimes, amusing experiences along “The Way,” Tom begins to learn what it means to be a citizen of the world again. Through his unresolved relationship with his son, he discovers the difference between “the life we live and the life we choose.”
A powerful movie with strong spirituality blowing gently amidst the backdrop. A movie which depicts transformation, Pilgrims set on a solus journey on Camino de Santiago ‘The Way of St James’ become a community. Everyone is changed one way or another….
A film for the whole family.
One of Martin Sheen’s finest performance ever in a movie directed by his son. The family background which led to the movie is intriguing and can be found in the special features.
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings
Isaiah 49: 1–6
Psalm 139: 1–2, 13–15
Acts 13:22–26
Luke 1:57–66, 80
The people in this week’s Gospel are frightened and amazed by the mysterious events surrounding the birth of John.
Only his mother and father, Elizabeth and Zechariah, know what this child will be.
John the Baptist was fashioned in secret, knit by God in his mother’s womb, as we sing in this Sunday’s Psalm. From the womb he was set apart, formed to be God’s servant, as Isaiah declares in this week’s First Reading.
The whole story of John’s birth is thick with Old Testament echoes, especially echoes of the story of Abraham. God appeared to Abraham, promising that his wife would bear him a son; He announced the son’s name and the role Isaac would play in salvation history (see Genesis 17:1, 16, 19).
The same thing happened to Zechariah and Elizabeth. Through his angel, God announced John’s birth to this righteous yet barren couple. He made them call John a special name—and told them the special part John would play in fulfilling His plan for history (see Luke 1:5–17).
As Paul says in today’s Second Reading, John was to herald the fulfillment of all God’s promises to the children of Abraham (Luke 1:55, 73). John was to bring the word of salvation to all the people of Israel. More than that, he was to be a light to the nations—to all those groping in the dark for God.
We often associate John with his fiery preaching (see Matthew 3:7–12). But there was a deep humility at the heart of his mission. Paul alludes to that when he quotes John’s words about not being worthy to unfasten the sandals of Christ’s feet.
John said, “[Christ] must increase. I must decrease” (John 3:30).
We must have that same attitude as we seek to follow Jesus. The repentance John preached was a turning away from sin and selfishness and a turning of our whole hearts to the Father.
We must decrease so that like John we can grow strong in the Spirit, until Christ is made manifest in each of us.
The Lord of My Lord
Psalm 110, used in the Liturgy for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Year C), is frequently cited and alluded to in the New Testament.
Jesus testified that Psalm 110 prophesies about Him – that He is the “Lord” who David refers to as “my Lord” in the opening verse (see Matthew 22:41-45).
And key images from the Psalm resound in the teaching and preaching of the New Testament:
* Jesus enthroned at God’s right hand (see Psalm 110:2; Matthew 26:64; Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33-34; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2).
* The enemies of Jesus put under His foot, made His “footstool” (see Psalm 110:2; 1 Corinthians 15:25,27; Ephesians 1:22; Hebrews 2:8; 10:13).
The Liturgy for the Solemnity invokes these images along with the image of Melchizedek, the mysterious high priest who offers bread and wine and bestows blessings on Abram.
As interpreted in the New Testament, the Psalm speaks of Jesus when the Lord swears: “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek” (see Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 6:20-7:1-3, 15-17; 20-26).
By virtue of our baptism we are all commissioned to go and spread the good news though each of us have been given different gifts to do so…..
Here are four simple steps we can take to begin :-
In my personal experience, I use to cringe at the thought of Evagelisation, because I had always thought that I had to be knowledgeable about my faith before I could even attempt to talk about Jesus. I also knew that if I didn’t at least try to start somewhere I would likely never ever do so. So with a prayer to the Holy Spirit, I began to try and talk about Jesus. I found it was easy to start with simply what Jesus has done for me in my life. How I have grown in faith and turned my life around and of how, I now experience inner joy and peace which I have not known before. Most people like to listen to stories, so why not tell my personal story? ( True living experience )
In my journey, I have found that family members and some closest friends are usually the toughest audience and more often than naught you will get grieve from them. But do not despair, you are not called to convert them but simply plant the seed of love. God will do the rest over time. I have witnessed this myself in my own family life.
Join me now as we participate with Jesus Christ to save the human race….
(SACCRE Ablaze Rally at Church Of The Holy Cross And A Talk by Jim Murphy ICCRS – Theme “The Royal Commission”)
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Ezekiel 17:22-24
Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16
2 Corinthians 5:6-10
Mark 4:26-34
________________________________________
Through the oracles of the Prophet Ezekiel, God gave his people reason to hope. It would have been a cryptic message to his hearers, long centuries before the Lord’s coming.
Ezekiel glimpsed a day when the Lord God would place a tree on a mountain in Israel, a tree that would “put forth branches and bear fruit.” Who could have predicted that the tree would be a cross, on the hill of Calvary, and that the fruit would be salvation?
Ezekiel foresees salvation coming to “birds of every kind”—thus, not just to the Chosen People of Israel, but also to the Gentiles, who will “take wing” through their new life in Christ. God indeed will “lift high the lowly tree,” as he solemnly promises at the conclusion of the passage from the prophet.
Such salvation surpasses humanity’s most ambitious dreams. And so we express our gratitude in the Responsorial Psalm: “Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.” It is indeed good to give thanks, and better still to give thanks with praise. The Psalmist speaks of those who are just upon the earth, but looks to God as the source and measure of justice,
of righteousness. Like Ezekiel, he evokes the image of a flourishing tree to describe the lives of the just. The image, again, suggests the cross as the measure of righteousness.
The cross is a challenge to those who would rather “flourish” according to worldly terms. It is a sign of contradiction. And so Saint Paul repeatedly emphasizes, to the Corinthians, the necessity of courage. Our faith makes us strong, and it is proved in our deeds. The
Apostle reminds us that we will be judged by the ways our faith manifested itself in works: “so that each may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.”
Faith. Courage. God himself will empower the works he expects from us; though we may freely choose to correspond to his grace.
In the prophetic oracles, in the Psalms that were sung in Jerusalem, he scattered the small seed that sprang up and became the mustard tree, large enough to accommodate all the birds of the sky, just as Ezekiel had foretold. He gave this doctrine to the disciples, as he still does today, in terms they were able to understand, and he provided a full explanation.
In the sacraments he provides still more: the grace of faith and the courage we need to live in the world as children of God.
Listen to this great interview with Country Singer by Marcus Grodi from the Journey Home. Click on the link below and enjoy..
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Exodus 24:3-8
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18
Hebrews 9:11-15
Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
All of today’s readings are set in the context of the Passover. The First Reading recalls the old covenant celebrated at Sinai following the first Passover and the exodus.
In sprinkling the blood of the covenant on the Israelites, Moses was symbolizing God’s desire in this covenant to make them His family, His “blood” relations.
Quoting Moses’ words in today’s Gospel, Jesus elevates and transforms this covenant symbol to an extraordinary reality. In the new covenant made in the blood of Christ, we truly become one with His body and blood.
The first covenant made with Moses and Israel at Sinai was but a shadow of this new and greater covenant made by Christ with all humankind in that upper room (see Hebrews 10:1).
The Passover that Jesus celebrates with His 12 apostles “actualizes,” makes real, what could only be symbolized by Moses’ sacrifice at the altar with 12 pillars. What Jesus does today is establish His Church as the new Israel, and His Eucharist as the new worship of the living God.
In offering himself to God through the Spirit, Jesus delivered Israel from the transgressions of the first covenant. And, as we hear in today’s Epistle, by His blood He purified us, and made us capable of true worship.
God does not want dead works or animal sacrifices. He wants our own flesh and blood, our own lives, consecrated to Him, offered as a living sacrifice. This is the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving that we sing of in today’s Psalm. This is the Eucharist.
What we do in memory of Him is to pledge our lives to Him, to renew our promise to live by the words of His covenant and to be His servants.
There is no other return we can offer to Him for the eternal inheritance He has won for us. So let us approach the altar, calling upon His name in thanksgiving, taking up the cup of salvation.
2nd Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy 3:10–17
You have followed my teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, persecutions that I endured. Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me. In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Everyday is a struggle for me, so it is for everyone on the journey. The closer we get to Christ, the deeper the relationship the more the trials and temptations we seem to receive. St Paul reminds us today that he too and many of our brothers and sisters before us have undergone the same persecutions if not far worst. But why do they continue? I believe it is because they carry Jesus with them in their hearts and they recall the love and peace they have experienced that no one and nothing on earth can provide except our Lord and Saviour and they know they will receive the Grace again at the end of the trial and bear witness to His Glory.
It is far easier to give up, to taste the forbidden fruit and enjoy its shortlived ecstasy only to wander again in nothingness. How many? Including I have said “all in good time” or “tomorrow definitely tomorrow” well friends…. what if tomorrow never comes for you? Do not be deceived! The truth St Paul speaks about is evident in our lives, be it with our own families, friends, even acquaintances, the wicked go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. Let us call to mind what we were called to do on ash Wednesday and put it to action and that is to “Turn away from Sin and be faithful to the Gospels.”
Only then can we truly grow in faith and righteousness and are able to share the Good News to others in our daily lives.
May the Love of Jesus be upon you always. Amen
“When you turn off the light of your heart to my love, you invite sin to manifest in you. Do not allow your shame to dishearten you or shy away from me, know that when you open your heart to me, I will bring forth my burning light of Love to illuminate your heart and set you free. Sin cannot prevail in the light of my love for you my son, my daughter. Remain in my love always…..”
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Last Sunday, we celebrated the sending of the Spirit, which sealed God’s new covenant and made a new creation.
In this new creation, we live in the family of God, who has revealed himself as a Trinity of love. We share in His divine nature through His body and blood (see 2 Peter 1:4). This is the meaning of the three feasts that cap the Easter season – Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and Corpus Christi.
These feasts should be intimate reminders of how deeply God loves us, how He chose us, from before the foundation of the world, to be His children (see Ephesians 1:4-5).
Today’s readings illuminate how all God’s words and works were meant to prepare for the revelation of the Trinity and God’s blessing in Jesus Christ – the blessing we inherited in baptism, and renew in each Eucharist.
By God’s word the heavens and earth were filled with His kindness, we sing in today’s Psalm. Out of love, God called Abraham and chose his descendants to be His own people, Moses says in today’s First Reading (see Deuteronomy 4:20,37). Through the Israelites, He revealed to the nations that He alone is Lord and there is no other.
In Jesus, God’s word took flesh as a son of Abraham (see Matthew 1:1). And Jesus reveals in the Gospel today that the one God is Father, Son, and Spirit, and that He desires to make all peoples His own.
As He led Israel out of Egypt, God freed us from slavery, Paul says in today’s Epistle. As He adopted Israel (see Romans 9:4), He gives us the Spirit by which we can know Him as “our Father.”
As God’s heirs, we receive the commissions of Moses and Jesus today. We are to fix our hearts on Him, and to observe all that He has commanded. The Eucharist is His pledge – that He will be with us until the end, that He will deliver us from death to live forever in the promised land of His kingdom.
I really wanted to attend this rally but could not as it was after a post night shift. Anyhow my Brother in Christ Raymund did a great job I think of sharing with us the main points…..here is what he wrote….
Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,
This are points from Fr. William’s preaching today at the Rally. It is not a total transcript, but pretty much the main points of what I could type during his talk. Hope it helps you recap his preaching.
For those of you who could not make, you missed a truly awesome rally. Hope this benefits you.
God bless.
Ray
Deuteronomy 11:13 * If, then, you truly listen to my commandments which I give you today, loving and serving the LORD, your God, with your whole heart and your whole being,
3rd millennium world is changing rapidly mostly because of globalisation. Advancements in technology in different facets. We’re facing a very different world. Many people are replacing God with science and technology. Modern man thinks that S&T can solve all their problems and give them the answers they seek.
Secularismism denies the presence of God. It can take the form of hostility. Today, it is no fun in being a religious leader. Today, many have no respect for religious leaders, and more so, God.
When God is rejected, the consequences are great. God is becoming more absent in our lives. We don’t talk about talk because of secularism. It breeds relativism. There is no more reference point in what is moral and immorality. They question the bible.
What were facing today is the collapse of values. Our young people are not bothered about committing sin. They do not believe in what is right and wrong. So, sin is no a matter for consideration. Today we’re surrounded in a situation of what is right and wrong. Media plays a large part in this problem. Our young people are influenced by the media. Young people have different understanding of casual sex for example. They do not feel it is wrong because “everyone” is doing it!
Because of the loss and collapse of values – Satan is attacking our Catholic values thru the destruction of families and marriages. Our children, as a result of this, suffer greatly, and history tends to repeat itself in their own adult lives later on.
Attacking the family and the church! Marriage used to be primarily for procreation, and secondarily for companionship. Today, the roles are reversed. In the face of all this, what is our cry? “Renew the face of the Church”. Only God can bring about a renewal, a change in the world. the new evangelisation is the key to renewing the face of the church.
1. Re-evangelise our Catholics.
2.Reaching out to those who are yet to know Christ by using new techniques and methods. To bring a new understanding and encounter with Christ. A real conversion.
Many of our Catholics today are inviting new age spirituality.This is not Christian, or Catholic. Many people turn to this as it is a combination of different religions and Science and Technology (S&T). Centring prayer which is not Catholic at all. It bypasses Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Christian prayer is a relationship with the Father, in the Son, through the Holy Spirit. The sole purpose of Jesus is to let us know who the Father is, and giving us the Holy Spirit. Christianity is not an impersonal relationship!
Many people are turning to the different forms of prayer because they do not know Jesus. Do you have a personal relationship with God? The Holy Spirit is critical in our relationship with God.
1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore, I tell you that nobody speaking by the spirit of God says, “Jesus be accursed.” And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the holy Spirit.
To know Jesus is the Lord is the work of the Holy Spirit. How does one know that God is Father? What sentiments do we have when we pray the ‘Our Father’? Who is the Father to us? Our concept of our Father, sometimes is not very great. Look at Jesus’ relationship with the Father – it is one of great intimacy.
Matthew 11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
Jesus surrendered his life to the Father because He knew He was the Son. He knew His identity. Do we know our identity? The idea of sonship and daughtership is not real. It is just an idea. If we are truly conscious, we will behave accordingly. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray.
Romans 8:14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba,* Father!”
Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
Romans 8:27 And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.
If our Christian lives are truly one of relationship, we will be conscious of that relationship! The Church is a sacrament of unity and love. The more intense our relationship with God, the more fulfilled we will be. We will not take God for granted. There is division in the world, in our families because there is no relationship.
In order to renew the face of the earth, we must heal the inner man. We all bear the consequences of the sins of our forefathers – Inter-generational sin/healing. We cannot inherit the sins of our forefathers. Many of us are living hypocritical lives. It is ok if you are aware of this and try to change for the better. We are all broken people – many of us are wounded emotionally, spiritually, and to an extent, physically.
The Holy Spirit not only gives us sonship, but also empowers us.
Romans 5:5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.
1 John 4:9 In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.
1 John 4:10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.
1 John 4:12 No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
1 John 4:13 * This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit.
The Holy Spirit restores us.
Wisdom, understanding and knowledge are very important to forming our faculties.
Fortitude is important in spiritual warfare. when we were baptised, we were give the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. One of the most important graces given to the Catholic Church is the Charismatic Renewal. This was emphasised by our Pope. If our sacraments are effective, it is because of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit makes us conscious of our baptismal spiritual gifts. That is why the LISS is important – to activate the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual gifts are meant for service.
1 Cor 12 – 1 Cor 14
The Charismatic Renewal builds communities. Praying freely in the Spirit. We are not purely spirit – we should pray in body and spirit. We should pray for the renewal of Pentecost. We needn’t be Catholics to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Remember Cornelius in Acts. Believing in the power of prayer and intercession.
The End.
“Truth? What is that? ”
To those who who do not have a relationship with the Truth then truth is relative, to be wielded for personal gain. To those who do, Truth is absolute all encompassing. A peaceful flight sailing against the winds of adversity in absolute freedom.
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Psalm 98:1-4
1 John 4:7-10
John 15:9-17
God is love, and He revealed that love in sending His only Son to be a sacrificial offering for our sins.
In these words from today’s Epistle, we should hear an echo of the story of Abraham’s offering of Isaac at the dawn of salvation history. Because Abraham obeyed God’s command and did not with-hold his only beloved son, God promised that Abraham’s descendants, the children of Israel, would be the source of blessing for all nations (see Genesis 22:16-18).
We see that promise coming to fulfillment in today’s First Reading. God pours out His Spirit upon the Gentiles, the non-Israelites, as they listen to the word of Peter’s preaching. Notice they receive the same gifts received by the devout Jews who heard Peter’s preaching at Pentecost—the Spirit comes to rest upon them and they speak in tongues, glorifying God (see Acts 2:5-11).
In his love today, God reveals that His salvation embraces the house of Israel and peoples of all nations. Not by circumcision or blood relation to Abraham, but by faith in the Word of Christ, sealed in the sacrament of baptism, peoples are to be made children of Abraham, heirs to God’s covenants of promise (see Galatians 3:7-9; Ephesians 2:12).
This is the wondrous work of God that we sing of in today’s Psalm. It is the work of the Church, the good fruit that Jesus chooses and appoints His apostles for in today’s Gospel.
As Peter raises up Cornelius today, the Church continues to lift all eyes to Christ, the only one in whose name they can find salvation.
In the Church, each of us has been begotten by the love of God. But the Scriptures today reveal that this divine gift brings with it a command and a duty. We are to love one another as we have been loved. We are to lay down our lives in giving ourselves to others—that they too might find friendship with Christ, and new life through Him
(http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=24861)
VATICAN CITY, May 6 (CNA/EWTN News) .- Pope Benedict XVI told pilgrims May 6 that their lives will be fruitful and have meaning if they live in union with Jesus Christ.
“Dear friends, every one of us is like a vine, which lives only if it is growing every day in prayer, participation in the sacraments, in charity, in its union with the Lord,” said the Pope in his midday Regina Coeli address marking the fifth Sunday of Easter.
“And he who loves Jesus, the true vine, produces fruits of faith for an abundant spiritual harvest.”
The Pope spoke to large crowds in an overcast and drizzly St. Peter’s Square, reflecting upon the words of Jesus, as recorded in today’s Gospel of St. John; “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”
In this passage, the Pope explained to pilgrims, Jesus reveals himself as “the true vine of God, the true life” who “with his sacrifice of love gives us salvation” and “opens the way to be part of this vine.”
And just as Christ is in God the Father, so his followers “carefully pruned by the words of the Master, are united in a profound way to him, becoming fruitful branches, which produce an abundant harvest.”
The Pope then quoted the 16-17th century Swiss bishop St Frances de Sales who, in his Treatise on the Love of God, observed how in nature “the branches united and joined to the trunk bears fruit not by its own virtue.”
Similarly a Christian who is “joined by love to our Redeemer” will produce “good works, taking their value from him, merit life eternal.”
Pope Benedict explained that this union occurs in baptism when “the Church grafts us as branches into the paschal mystery of Christ, into his own person.”
>From there on, he said, “it is essential to remain united to Jesus, to depend upon him” because “without him we can do nothing.”
This proposition, however, does not contradict a belief in the freedom of man, said Pope Benedict. He highlighted the 5th century writing of St. John the Prophet from Gaza who told an enquirer that “if a man inclines his heart to the good and asks God’s help, he receives the necessary strength to accomplish his work.”
Therefore “the freedom of man and power of God go together” as the good act is “possible because the Lord is good” but “it is fulfilled, thanks to his faithful.”
Before going onto pray the Regina Coeli, Pope Benedict concluded his comments by commending those present to Mary, the mother of God.
“Let us beseech the Mother of God that we might remain firmly grafted in Jesus and that all our actions may have their beginning, and their fulfillment, in Him.”
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Acts 9:26-31
Psalm 22:26-28, 30-32
1 John 3:18-24
John 15:1-8
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that He is the true vine that God intended Israel to be—the source of divine life and wisdom for the nations (see Sirach 24:17-24).
In baptism, each of us was joined to Him by the Holy Spirit. As a branch grows from a tree, our souls are to draw life from Him, nourished by His word and the Eucharist.
Paul in today’s First Reading seeks to be grafted onto the visible expression of Christ the true vine—His Church. Once the chief persecutor of the Church, he encounters initial resistance and suspicion. But he is known by his fruits, by his powerful witness to the Lord working in his life (see Matthew 7:16-20).
We too are commanded today to bear good fruits as His disciples, so that our lives give glory to God. Like Paul’s life, our lives must bear witness to His goodness.
Jesus cautions us, however, that if we’re bearing fruit, we can expect that God will ‘prune’ us—as a gardener trims and cuts back a plant so that it will grow stronger and bear even more fruit. He is teaching us today how to look at our sufferings and trials with the eyes of faith. We need to see our struggles as pruning, by which we are being disciplined and trained so that we can grow in holiness and bear fruits of righteousness (see Hebrews 12:4-11).
We need to always remain rooted in Him, as today’s Epistle tells us. We remain in Him by keeping His commandment of love, by pondering His words, letting them dwell richly in us (see Colossians 3:16), and by always seeking to do what pleases Him. In everything we must be guided by humility, remembering that apart from Him we can do nothing.
As we sing in today’s Psalm, we must fulfill our vows, turning to the Lord in worship, proclaiming his praises, until all families come to know His justice in their lives.
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Acts 4:8-12
Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 29
1 John 3:1-2
John 10:11-18
Jesus, in today’s Gospel, says that He is the good shepherd the prophets had promised to Israel.
He is the shepherd-prince, the new David—who frees people from bondage to sin and gathers them into one flock, the Church, under a new covenant, made in His blood (see Ezekiel 34:10-13, 23-31).
His flock includes other sheep, He says, far more than the dispersed children of Israel (see Isaiah 56:8; John 11:52). And He gave His Church the mission of shepherding all peoples to the Father.
In today’s First Reading, we see the beginnings of that mission in the testimony of Peter, whom the Lord appointed shepherd of His Church (see John 21:15-17).
Peter tells Israel’s leaders that the Psalm we sing today is a prophecy of their rejection and crucifixion of Christ. He tells the “builders” of Israel’s temple, that God has made the stone they rejected the cornerstone of a new spiritual temple, the Church (see Mark 12:10-13; 1 Peter 2:4-7).
Through the ministry of the Church, the shepherd still speaks (see Luke 10:16),and forgives sins (see John 20:23), and makes His body and blood present, that all may know Him in the breaking of the bread (see Luke 24:35). It is a mission that will continue until all the world is one flock under the one shepherd.
In laying down His life and taking it up again, Jesus made it possible for us to know God as He did—as sons and daughters of the Father who loves us. As we hear in today’s Epistle, He calls us His children, as He called Israel His son when He led them out of Egypt and made His covenant with them (see Exodus 4:22-23; Revelation 21:7).
Today, let us listen for His voice as He speaks to us in the Scriptures, and vow again to be more faithful followers. And let us give thanks for the blessings He bestows from His altar.
Yes I know this is long overdue since we are now in the third week of Easter celebrations already, but I have been kept pretty busy doing both the Lord’s work and work at the office. On the onset I must say that my Lenten journey this year has been rocky and painful but I have learnt much and have yet more to learn! I will be as brief as possible and share only the most important points/lessons that I have learned and experienced.
Many observe the Lenten fast or abstinence in their own way i.e. according to their own faith level and even physical constitution. For me, I did a 12 hour fast from food and water beginning each they at 5 am the fast started from 6am till 6pm in the evening. The first few days were the toughest since the body wants what is wants but soon enough it adjusted and I could concentrate on why I was emptying myself and let the Lord fill me with His love. To realise that our bodies does not actually need that much food or drink to survive, and that discipline of the body aids in spiritual discipline as well.
The closer I got to the Lord my God in the journey, the greater too the temptations to stray. And when I could no longer attend daily Mass since my wife returned to work after her maternity leave was over, I found myself not only hungering and thirsting for the Eucharist but my propensity to sin increased. The Eucharist is indeed a great gift of Love for us, the nourishment we need to resist sin and to remain in communion with our one Triune God and His children our brothers and sisters. Another great gift of Love is the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God receiving us close to His bosom even though we had strayed, freeing us from the bondage of sin and allowing His peace and Love to flow through our very being. I experienced His love for me even when I could not go for the sacrament till six days later, He knew I had fallen once again but with a contrite heart I cried out to Him and He heard me. He gave me consolations of peace and love till I manage to embrace Him once again in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The height and summit of the Lenten journey for me started on Maundy Thursday evening. I had been tasked to prepare and lead the adoration prayers for the Altar of Repose immediately after the Maundy Thursday Eucharistic Celebration, and through much prayer and with the power of the Holy Spirit the adoration touched many who attended. Also the presence of the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ our Lord was greatly felt by most who later attended the Lenten Vigil which followed from midnight to 6am Good Friday morning. I am certain that most, if not all who attended grew very much closer to God in prayer and worship. The team did a fantastic job, with videos of the passion of Christ, Praise and Worship sessions, meditation on the sorrowful mystery of the Rosary, Meditation on the powerful healing in uniting our sufferings with the Passion of Christ, Mediations on the Lord’s Supper and the stations of the cross. Again I am very thankful for being able to participate and contribute in two of the meditations that morning. It is indeed a powerful testament to witness God’s hand and to feel His presence throughout the Vigil, this only happens when we allow ourselves to be led and allow Him to work through us. Praise Be To God! Allelulia, Allelulia, Alleluia!
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Psalms 4:2, 4, 7-9
1 John 2:1-5
Luke 24:35-48
Jesus in today’s Gospel, teaches His apostles how to interpret the Scriptures.
He tells them that all the Scriptures of what we now call the Old Testament refer to Him. He says that all the promises found in the Old Testament have been fulfilled in His passion, death, and resurrection. And He tells them that these Scriptures foretell the mission of the Church – to preach forgiveness of sins to all the nations, beginning at Jersusalem.
In today’s First Reading and Epistle, we see the beginnings of that mission. And we see the apostles interpreting the Scriptures as Jesus taught them to.
God has brought to fulfillment what He announced beforehand in all the prophets, Peter preaches. His sermon is shot through with Old Testament images. He evokes Moses and the exodus, in which God revealed himself as the ancestral God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see Exodus 3:6,15). He identifies Jesus as Isaiah’s suffering servant who has been glorified (see Isaiah 52:13).
John, too describes Jesus in Old Testament terms. Alluding to how Israel’s priests offered blood sacrifices to atone for the people’s sins (see Leviticus 16; Hebrews 9-10), he says that Jesus intercedes for us before God (see Romans 8:34), and that His blood is a sacrificial expiation for the sins of the world (see 1 John 1:7).
Notice that in all three readings, the Scriptures are interpreted to serve and advance the Church’s mission – to reveal the truth about Jesus, to bring people to repentance, the wiping away of sins, and the perfection of their love for God.
This is how we, too, should hear the Scriptures. Not to know more “about” Jesus, but to truly know Him personally, and to know His plan for our lives.
In the Scriptures, the light of His face shines upon us, as we sing in today’s Psalm. We know the wonders He has done throughout history. And we have the confidence to call to Him, and to know that He hears and answers.
Sometimes Christ comes with such great majesty that no one could doubt but that it is the Lord himself. Especially after receiving Communion – for we know that he is present, since our faith tells us this – he reveals himself as so much the lord of this dwelling that it seems the soul is completely dissolved; and it sees itself consumed in Christ. O my Jesus! Who could make known the majesty with which you reveal yourself! And, Lord of all the world and of the heavens, of a thousand other worlds and of numberless worlds, and of the heavens that you might create, how the soul understands by the majesty with which you reveal yourself that it is nothing for you to be Lord of the world!
In this vision the powerlessness of all the devils in comparison with your power is clearly seen, my Jesus; and it is seen how whoever is pleasing to you can trample all hell under foot. In this vision the reason is seen why the devils feared when you descended into limbo and why they would have preferred to be in another thousand lower hells in order to flee from such great majesty. I see that you want the soul to know how tremendous this majesty is and the power that his most sacred humanity joined with the divinity has.
Saint Teresa Of Avilla +1582
“when I speak, only the faithful hear my voice. To be faithful is to listen to my Word and obey my commandment to love. “
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