Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
Lectionary: 276
Lectionary: 276
The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip,
“Get up and head south on the road
that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.”
So he got up and set out.
Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch,
a court official of the Candace,
that is, the queen of the Ethiopians,
in charge of her entire treasury,
who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home.
Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit said to Philip,
“Go and join up with that chariot.”
Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said,
“Do you understand what you are reading?”
He replied,
“How can I, unless someone instructs me?”
So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.
This was the Scripture passage he was reading:
Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will tell of his posterity?
For his life is taken from the earth.
Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply,
“I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this?
About himself, or about someone else?”
Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this Scripture passage,
he proclaimed Jesus to him.
As they traveled along the road
they came to some water,
and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water.
What is to prevent my being baptized?”
Then he ordered the chariot to stop,
and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water,
and he baptized him.
When they came out of the water,
the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away,
and the eunuch saw him no more,
but continued on his way rejoicing.
Philip came to Azotus, and went about proclaiming the good news
to all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
“Get up and head south on the road
that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.”
So he got up and set out.
Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch,
a court official of the Candace,
that is, the queen of the Ethiopians,
in charge of her entire treasury,
who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home.
Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit said to Philip,
“Go and join up with that chariot.”
Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said,
“Do you understand what you are reading?”
He replied,
“How can I, unless someone instructs me?”
So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.
This was the Scripture passage he was reading:
Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will tell of his posterity?
For his life is taken from the earth.
Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply,
“I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this?
About himself, or about someone else?”
Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this Scripture passage,
he proclaimed Jesus to him.
As they traveled along the road
they came to some water,
and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water.
What is to prevent my being baptized?”
Then he ordered the chariot to stop,
and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water,
and he baptized him.
When they came out of the water,
the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away,
and the eunuch saw him no more,
but continued on his way rejoicing.
Philip came to Azotus, and went about proclaiming the good news
to all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Responsorial
PsalmPS 66:8-9, 16-17, 20
R. (1) Let all
the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Bless our God, you peoples,
loudly sound his praise;
He has given life to our souls,
and has not let our feet slip.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
When I appealed to him in words,
praise was on the tip of my tongue.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Bless our God, you peoples,
loudly sound his praise;
He has given life to our souls,
and has not let our feet slip.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
When I appealed to him in words,
praise was on the tip of my tongue.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
AlleluiaJN 6:51
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven,
says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven,
says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelJN 6:44-51
Jesus said to the crowds:
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my Flesh for the life of the world."
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my Flesh for the life of the world."
Meditation: "If anyone eats of this bread, he
will live for ever"
: God offers his
people abundant life, but we can miss it. What is the bread of life which
Jesus offers? It is first of all the life of God himself - life which sustains
us not only now in this age but also in the age to come. The Rabbis said
that the generation in the wilderness have no part in the life to
come. In the Book of Numbers it is recorded that the people who
refused to brave the dangers of the promised land were condemned to wander in
the wilderness until they died. The Rabbis believed that the father who missed
the promised land also missed the life to come. God sustained the Israelites in
the wilderness with manna from heaven. This bread foreshadowed the true
heavenly bread which Jesus would offer his followers.
Jesus is the "bread of life"
Jesus makes a claim only God can make: He is the true bread of heaven that can satisfy the deepest hunger we experience. The manna from heaven prefigured the superabundance of the unique bread of the Eucharist or Lord's Supper which Jesus gave to his disciples on the eve of his sacrifice. The manna in the wilderness sustained the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land. It could not produce eternal life for the Israelites. The bread which Jesus offers his disciples sustains us not only on our journey to the heavenly paradise, it gives us the abundant supernatural life of God which sustains us for all eternity.
Jesus makes a claim only God can make: He is the true bread of heaven that can satisfy the deepest hunger we experience. The manna from heaven prefigured the superabundance of the unique bread of the Eucharist or Lord's Supper which Jesus gave to his disciples on the eve of his sacrifice. The manna in the wilderness sustained the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land. It could not produce eternal life for the Israelites. The bread which Jesus offers his disciples sustains us not only on our journey to the heavenly paradise, it gives us the abundant supernatural life of God which sustains us for all eternity.
The food that makes us live forever
When we receive from the Lord's table we unite ourselves to Jesus Christ, who makes us sharers in his body and blood and partakers of his divine life. Ignatius of Antioch (35-107 A.D.), an early church father and martyr, calls it the "one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ" (Ad Eph. 20,2). This supernatural food is healing for both body and soul and strength for our journey heavenward.
When we receive from the Lord's table we unite ourselves to Jesus Christ, who makes us sharers in his body and blood and partakers of his divine life. Ignatius of Antioch (35-107 A.D.), an early church father and martyr, calls it the "one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ" (Ad Eph. 20,2). This supernatural food is healing for both body and soul and strength for our journey heavenward.
Do you hunger for the "bread of life"?
Jesus offers us the abundant supernatural life of heaven itself - but we can miss it or even refuse it. To refuse Jesus is to refuse eternal life, unending life with the Heavenly Father. To accept Jesus as the bread of heaven is not only life and spiritual nourishment for this world but glory in the world to come. When you approach the Table of the Lord, what do you expect to receive? Healing, pardon, comfort, and rest for your soul? The Lord has much more for us, more than we can ask or imagine. The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist or Lord's Supper is an intimate union with Christ. As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens us in charity and enables us to break with disordered attachments to creatures and to be more firmly rooted in the love of Christ. Do you hunger for the "bread of life"?
Jesus offers us the abundant supernatural life of heaven itself - but we can miss it or even refuse it. To refuse Jesus is to refuse eternal life, unending life with the Heavenly Father. To accept Jesus as the bread of heaven is not only life and spiritual nourishment for this world but glory in the world to come. When you approach the Table of the Lord, what do you expect to receive? Healing, pardon, comfort, and rest for your soul? The Lord has much more for us, more than we can ask or imagine. The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist or Lord's Supper is an intimate union with Christ. As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens us in charity and enables us to break with disordered attachments to creatures and to be more firmly rooted in the love of Christ. Do you hunger for the "bread of life"?
"Lord Jesus, you are the living
bread which sustains me in this life. May I always hunger for
the bread which comes from heaven and find in it the
nourishment and strength I need to love and serve you wholeheartedly. May I
always live in the joy, peace, and unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
both now and in the age to come."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Studying the Scriptures with humility,
by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"My ambition as a youth was to apply to the study
of the Holy Scriptures all the refinement of dialectics. I did so, but without
the humility of the true searcher. I was supposed to knock at the door so that
it would open for me. Instead I was pushing it closed, trying to understand in
pride what is only learned in humility. However, the all-merciful Lord lifted
me up and kept me safe." (excerpt
from Sermon 51,6)
THURSDAY,
APRIL 19, JOHN 6:44-51
Easter Weekday
(Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 66)
Easter Weekday
(Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 66)
KEY VERSE: "This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die" (v.50).
TO KNOW: On the Exodus journey through the wilderness, the people grumbled against God and Moses for having brought them into the desert only to die of starvation. Nevertheless, Moses fed them with the "manna" that God provided (Ex 16:2, 15). Jesus also fed the hungry people in the wilderness with miraculous loaves, and just like the people of the Exodus, they murmured against him when he told them that he was the "bread that came down from heaven" (v.41). The bread in the wilderness was only a foretaste of the true bread, Jesus, who came from God. The Israelites ate the manna in the desert, but they all died. Jesus is the life-giving bread who eternally sustains those who believe in him. Whoever listens to God's truth are drawn to Jesus who is Divine Wisdom incarnate.
TO LOVE: Do I help feed those who are physically and spiritually hungry?
TO SERVE: Risen Lord, feed me with your Eucharistic presence.
Thursday 19
April 2018
Acts
8:26-40. Psalm 65(66):8-9, 16-17, 20. John 6:44-51.
Let all
the earth cry out to God with joy—Psalm 65(66):8-9, 16-17, 20.
You cannot
come to me unless you are drawn by the Father who sent me.
While
making the Spiritual Exercises for the first time in 1980, I became deeply
aware of the beloved Father and that I had such a Father. My priorities
rearranged themselves around this central reality and prayer deepened. This
remained the focal point of my spirituality for some time. Some years later,
during a retreat, while walking around the grounds, I had a deep awareness of
the Father’s love. Suddenly, I said to Jesus, ‘Oh, you know about the Father.’
I could share my experience with him.
This grew
into a desire to live with Jesus for the Father and for his people. When, years
later, I made the Spiritual Exercises again, this companionship with Jesus
deepened into a love relationship.
Father of
Jesus, I thank you.
Saint Gianna Beretta Molla
Saint of the Day for April 19
(October 4, 1922 – April 28, 1962)
 |
| Painting of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla with her children | Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe | flickr |
Saint Gianna Beretta Molla’s Story
In less than 40 years, Gianna Beretta Molla became a pediatric
physician, a wife, a mother and a saint!
She was born in Magenta near Milano, the 10th of Alberto and
Maria Beretta’s 13 children. An active member of the St. Vincent de Paul
Society and a leader in the Catholic Action movement, Gianna also enjoyed
skiing and mountain climbing. She earned degrees in medicine and surgery from
the University of Pavia, eventually specializing in pediatrics. In 1952, Gianna
opened a clinic in the small town of Mesero, where she met engineer Pietro
Molla.
Shortly before their 1955 marriage, Gianna wrote to Pietro:
“Love is the most beautiful sentiment that the Lord has put into the soul of
men and women.” In the next four years the Mollas had three children:
Pierluigi, Mariolina, and Laura. Two pregnancies following ended in
miscarriage.
Early in her sixth pregnancy, doctors discovered that Gianna had
both a child and a tumor in her uterus. She allowed the surgeons to remove the
tumor but not to perform the complete hysterectomy that they recommended, which
would have killed the child. Seven months later in April 1962, Gianna Emanuela
Molla was born at the hospital in Monza, but post-operative complications
resulted in an infection for her mother. The following week, Gianna Molla died
at home in Mesero, where she was buried.
Gianna Emanuela went on to become a physician herself. Gianna
Beretta Molla was beatified in 1994 and canonized 10 years later.
Her Liturgical Feast Day is April 28.
Reflection
With great faith and courage, Gianna Molla made the choice that
enabled her daughter to be born. We can often wish that we were in different
circumstances, but holiness frequently comes from making difficult choices in
bad situations.
LECTIO DIVINA: JOHN 6,44-51
Lectio Divina:
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Easter Time
1) OPENING PRAYER
Father,
you draw all people to you
who believe in your Son Jesus Christ.
Faith, Lord, faith it is that we need.
Give it to us, we pray you,
a living faith that we can encounter today
Jesus Christ, your Son,
in your word that you speak to us
in the bread that you offer us,
and in the food that we can give
and can be to one another,
in Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit
now and for ever.
you draw all people to you
who believe in your Son Jesus Christ.
Faith, Lord, faith it is that we need.
Give it to us, we pray you,
a living faith that we can encounter today
Jesus Christ, your Son,
in your word that you speak to us
in the bread that you offer us,
and in the food that we can give
and can be to one another,
in Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit
now and for ever.
2) GOSPEL READING - JOHN
6,44-51
'No one can come to me unless drawn by
the Father who sent me, and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is
written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God; everyone who has
listened to the Father, and learnt from him, comes to me. Not that anybody has
seen the Father, except him who has his being from God: he has seen the Father.
In all truth I tell you, everyone who believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate
manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread which comes down
from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die. I am the living bread
which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;
and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.'
3) REFLECTION
• Up until now the dialogue had been
between Jesus and the people. From now on, the Jewish leaders begin to enter
into conversation and the discussion becomes tenser.
• John 6, 44-46: Anyone who opens
himself to God accepts Jesus and his proposal. The conversation becomes more
demanding. Now, it is the Jews, the leaders of the people who complain:
“Surely, this is Jesus, son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know. How can
he say: I have come down from heaven?” (Jn 6, 42). They thought they knew the
things of God. But, in reality, they did not know them. If we were truly open
and faithful to God, we would feel within us the impulse of God which attracts
us toward Jesus and we would recognize that Jesus comes from God, because it is
written in the Prophets: “They will all be taught by God; everyone who has
listened to the Father and has learnt from him, comes to me.
• John 6, 47-50: Your fathers ate manna
in the desert and they are dead. In the celebration of the Passover, the Jews
recalled the bread of the desert. Jesus helps them to take a step ahead. Anyone
who celebrates the Passover, recalling only the bread that the fathers ate in
the past, will die as all of them did! The true sense of the Passover is not to
recall the manna which falls from heaven, but to accept Jesus, the new Bread of
Life and to follow the way which he has indicated. It is no longer a question
of eating the meat of the paschal lamb, but rather of eating the flesh of
Jesus, so that the one who eats it will not die, but will have eternal life!
• John 6, 51: Anyone who eats of this
bread will live for ever. And Jesus ends saying: “I am the living bread which
has come down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live for ever
and the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Instead
of the manna and the paschal lamb of the first exodus, we are invited to eat
the new manna and the new paschal lamb that was sacrificed on the Cross for the
life of all.
• The new Exodus. The multiplication of
the loaves takes place close to the Passover (Jn 6, 4). The feast of the
Passover was the prodigious souvenir of the Exodus, the liberation of the
People from the clutches of Pharaoh. The whole episode which is narrated in
chapter 6 of the Gospel of John has a parallel in the episodes related to the
feast of the Passover, whether as liberation from Egypt or with the journey of
the people in the desert in search of the Promised Land. The discourse of the
Bread of Life, in the Synagogue of Capernaum, is related to chapter 16 of the
Book of Exodus which speaks about the Manna. It is worth while to read all of
chapter 16 of Exodus. In perceiving the difficulties of the people in the
desert we can understand better the teaching of Jesus here in chapter 6 of the
Gospel of John. For example, when Jesus speaks of a “food which does not
perish, which endures for eternal life” (Jn 6, 27) he is recalling the manna
which produced worms and became rotten (Ex 16, 20) Like when the Jews
“complained” (Jn 6, 41), they do the same thing as the Israelites in the
desert, when they doubted of the presence of God in their midst during their
journey across the desert (Ex 16, 2; 17, 3; Nb 11, 1). The lack of food made
the people doubt about God and they began to complain against Moses and against
God. Here also, the Jews doubt about God’s presence in Jesus of Nazareth and
begin to complain (Jn 6, 41-42).
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
• Does the Eucharist help me to live in
a permanent state of Exodus? Am I succeeding?
• Anyone who is open to truth finds the
response in Jesus. Today, many people withdraw and do not find any response.
Whose fault is it? Is it of the persons who know how to listen? Or is it the
fault of us, Christians, who do not know how to present the Gospel as a message
of life?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
Come and listen, all who fear God,
while I tell what he has done for me.
To him I cried aloud,
high praise was on my tongue. (Ps 66,16-17)
while I tell what he has done for me.
To him I cried aloud,
high praise was on my tongue. (Ps 66,16-17)
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