This can happen all too easily as we know. In this mornings gospel reading Jesus speaks as the shepherd who looks after each member of his flock and keeps them all united to himself. He wants people to go freely in and out through him. and my own know me, If his fellow disciples were full of Easter faith, he was full of doubt. We are to be as faithful to the Lord as he is to us, by striving to live as he calls us to, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and we are to keep growing in our knowledge of him, so that we come to know him just as he knows us, knowing him not just with our heads but with our hearts. However, for the good shepherd, the role is not just a job; it is a loving commitment. That way of the cross became more difficult this past week, the Easter octave, when the church celebrates the resurrection of Christ. In todays gospel reading, the stranger is the risen Lord. Having heard their story, he told them a wider story, drawn from the Jewish Scriptures, a story that began with Moses and the prophets. Like Thomas, they may find it difficult to identify fully with those believers who acclaim with conviction, We have seen the Lord, and whose faith seems so much more assured than theirs. We listen to him, we follow him, in the confidence that his devotion to us and to our ultimate well-being is unconditional. Perhaps we can never know what exactly happened on that day, but the gospel reading is suggesting that the Lord can work powerfully through what are apparently very insignificant resources, a small boy and his few loaves and fish. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. Where could food be found to feed such a crowd? The Lord will not allow anything or anyone to come between himself and ourselves. It is also true that just as we can eat poor quality food in an effort to satisfy our physical hunger, we can try to satisfy our spiritual hunger on poor quality fare. In calling us to himself he also sends us into the world afire with the flame of his love. Even older again is Rome, and older again is Jerusalem. It was as if this brutal hatred gathered up every rejection of love there has ever been. Shortly after his return, Pope Gregory died. In todays gospel reading two followers of Jesus are walking in the opposite direction to pilgrims, away from Jerusalem. This two-fold movement of coming to Jesus and going forth in his strength expresses well the contemplative and active dimension of the Christian life. myself draw life from the Father, Jesus often spoke about day to day realities, like the wind, as a way of talking about more spiritual realities. These stages of Lectio Divina are not fixed rules of procedure but simply guidelines as to how the prayer normally develops. It was while he was at table with the two disciples and broke bread with them that they finally came to recognize fully the stranger who had shared their journey. Jesus brings God to us and brings us to God. She insisted that the Popes place was beside the bones of the martyrs. Elsewhere in the gospels, Jesus says, Give and it will be given to you. The stranger wanted to show his two companions that there was more to all that had happened in Jerusalem in recent days than their story allowed for. In the gospel of Luke, Zacchaeus goes looking for Jesus in broad daylight, even climbing a sycamore tree to see him. For some centuries reading the Bible in one's own language was rather frowned upon and this led to a lessening of the practice of Lectio Divina. Therein lies our confidence, especially in times of struggle and failure. She was deeply involved in what was happening in Europe and in the church in her time. He went on to show that he continued to trust them. Yes, he desperately wants us to have life and to have it to the full. The Ethiopian eunuch was journeying away from Jerusalem when Philip, one of the missionaries of the early church, joined them and opened up the Scriptures for him. This sharing in Gods life begins here and now for those who turn to Jesus in faith, and comes to fullness in the life beyond death. As he says to Philip, in another part of the gospel of John, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Eight days later, Jesus came again and stood among them. The gospel reading does not state that Thomas actually touched the wounds of Jesus. Divine Office It is present again in todays gospel reading. However, once we set out for that other side, we often find ourselves struggling, like the disciples. The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep as soon as he sees a wolf coming, Jesus said: In all truth I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a bandit. The Lord will always take the initiative towards us but he will never force himself upon us. Our reflections on the daily readings for Mass are published one day in advance to accommodate our readers who live in different time zones throughout the world. This was a moment of new creation. In the second scene of todays gospel reading, the focus is on one disciple, Thomas. Rather, his teaching is liberating and life-enhancing. The image of Jesus as the gate emphasizes more what we must do in response to all that Jesus has done and is doing for us. Going through a particular gate is a choice that has to be made. - 5:00 pm Registration. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares that no one knows the Son except the Father. We look forward to that day when we will see the Lord, face to face. With great wisdom he suggests that they should leave the apostles alone and just wait and see. To this end, the website features regularly updated elements such as talks on Carmelite themes, reflections on the spiritual life from a Carmelite perspective, and words of wisdom from contemporary and classic Carmelite figures. - 6:00 pm Dinner. In all four gospels, Jesus shows us how so much of human life can speak to us of Gods life, the kingdom of heaven. As parishioners of the parish of St John the Baptist, we might think of ourselves as having a special calling to enable, to encourage, using our own gifts while also making way for the gifts of others. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. Ive been in the coffee shop before and at a neighboring table the people were speaking a language I didnt understand. Seeing that they were in need of food, he asked Philip where food could be bought to give them something to eat. They wanted more; they asked him to stay, and over table they recognized him in the breaking of the bread. In calling us to himself he also sends us into the world afire with the flame of his love. The Spirit comes from God and goes to God and God is always beyond us, beyond our understanding and our control. They can lead, rather, to a deepening of our faith. We recognize in the words of todays gospel reading that he is above all others, including all human authority, be it religious or political. Where did this man get all this? And they took offense at him. It is a very natural way of prayer and was developed and practised by the early monks and thus came to the first Carmelite hermits. The disciples now understood that those who put Jesus to death did not have the last word, and would never have the last word. and I shall raise him up on the last day. It is in this latter sense that we have to understand the reference to the gate in this mornings gospel reading. They understood, as Jesus did, that prayerful attentiveness to Gods word would allow their lives to be shaped by Gods purpose and would best serve the life of the believing community. Saul sought to destroy all who responded to the welcoming invitation of Jesus. In the gospel reading, Jesus says, no one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me. Discerning where the Holy Spirit is leading us is central to our lives as followers of Jesus. There was the same greeting from the Lord, Peace by with you, and an invitation to Thomas to doubt no longer but believe. That statement has been a source of inspiration for many believers over the centuries. The Lords words will always be life-giving for us. His frustration at being unable to speak clearly to the people gathered in St. Peters square was painfully obvious. His reading of the passage gave rise to a question for him that he sought an answer to from Philip, Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else? When Philip then proclaimed the gospel to him, the Ethiopian took a further initiative on his spiritual quest, again in the form of a question, Look, there is some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptized? Having been baptized by Philip, the Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing. Do not be afraid. The Lord calls each of us to be a good shepherd in some shape or form to others. It suggests someone who worked with wood but also with other materials, such as stone. He saw in his relationship with the risen Lord the completion of his Jewish faith. She drew life from the Lord in the Eucharist, in the words of todays gospel reading, and that empowered her to give life to others, to give the Lord to others, especially to young people who always had a very special place in her heart. so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.. We were born of the Spirit at the time of our baptism. There can be times in life when we find ourselves walking in the wrong direction. Looking up, Jesus saw the crowds approaching and said to Philip, Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat? He only said this to test Philip; he himself knew exactly what he was going to do. It is evident that Catherines mysticism did not withdraw her from the world. for fear his actions should be exposed; Even though we might only have seen him through the media, or at most from a distance, we knew he was there and we were in some way reassured by his presence as the focal point of the churchs unity. She persuaded Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome from Avignon. In the gospel reading this morning, Jesus calls on the crowd to hear the teaching of the Father, and to learn from it. The Lord is always with his church in the various storms that will assail it. Subscribe to our Daily Gospel Reflections via Email! No one has gone up to heaven the usability. These cookies may track your personal data. We all have something to receive from someone else. One of my favourite depictions of this scene is by an artist called Caravaggio. The presence of a gate does not automatically mean that people will use it. The first reading reminds us that an encounter with the Lord in his word is often prior to an encounter with him in the Sacraments. The Lord is there before us even if we have not invited him in, even if we have locked ourselves away from him. Reflections on Daily Readings 2022 November 27th - December 31st, 2022 November 27 - December 3, 2022 Advent - The First Week | Readings: Sunday Cycle A; Weekday Cycle 1. A gate creates an opening into an otherwise closed environment. They seemed lost without Jesus. For a three year period she devoted herself to prayer and seclusion. Here in the early church was the life of God in human form. We are those who seek to take Jesus as the Lord of our lives. These cookies may track your personal data. The gospel reading suggests that we respond by listening to his voice and allowing his word to make its home in us. They then fail him completely when he enters into his passion and death; all of them deserted him. We look forward to that eternal day when we will see the Lord, face to face. Jesus is not calculating about his giving of the Spirit. He listens to and respects the stories we tell, but he is always trying to open us up to that bigger story of Gods life-giving work among us. The very personal call that the Lord addresses to each one of us will always be a call to give of ourselves in some way to others, to give life to others by our loving service. Jesus goes on to make a comparison between the wind and the Spirit, or more precisely with all who are born of the Spirit. The Bible is the Word of God which is always alive and active, always new. Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. - 8:00 pm Exposition followed by Conference, Night Prayer, and Confessions. Through his life, death, resurrection, he has befriended us and he calls out to us to entrust our lives to him as we would to a friend, including the pieces and fragments of our sometimes shattered lives. That is why he equates working for the food that endures to eternal life with believing in him. Life has triumphed over death!, and our own present experience. for the life of the world.. We are not in the dark about God, wondering who God is and what God is like. We can sometimes find it difficult to believe in the ultimate triumph of life over death, of joy over sadness, when death and sadness remain very palpable realities for us. When those disciples abandoned their locked room and went to Thomas with their wonderful news, We have seen the Lord, he refused to believe them. Normally, the Lord comes to us in much more ordinary ways. I am struck by that line in the gospel reading, Jesus came and stood among them. She died surrounded by her followers and was canonized in 1461. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He challenges the crowd to reflect on their priorities. We were drawn to Jesus through our parents, through our teachers at school, through our parish community. Like Saint Paul, we can find ourselves saying, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. Student Daily Reflection. This is in keeping with what Jesus says in todays gospel reading, Whoever comes to me I shall never turn away. The church in Jerusalem needed to check out this new and unforeseen development, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. We are to be constantly asking ourselves, What is the Lord saying to us? The Eucharist, like all the sacraments, presupposes faith. He sent them out to continue his mission, as the Father sent me, so am I sending you. That reflects the other image of Jesus that we find in the gospel reading today, the image of the shepherd who calls his own sheep, one by one, by name, and leads them out. this is because he is only a hired man She was such a light because of her deeply personal and mystical relationship with Jesus. It appears that eating Jesus the bread of life is an image for believing in Jesus. We can make that same discovery. Yes, Jesus fed their physical hunger in the wilderness, but more importantly he wants to feed their spiritual hunger, their longing for true life, the life that endures forever, eternal life. Seven suitable people were chosen, allowing the Twelve to focus on what was important in their calling. While walking the hills of Galilee, he would have noticed that before nightfall shepherds gathered their flock and led them through the gate of a sheepfold into the safety of the sheepfold, where they would be protected from wolves and other predators.
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