MAY 08, 2012 : TUESDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Lectionary: 286

Reading 1 Acts 14:19-28

In those days, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium
arrived and won over the crowds.
They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city,
supposing that he was dead.
But when the disciples gathered around him,
he got up and entered the city.
On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

After they had proclaimed the good news to that city
and made a considerable number of disciples,
they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.
They strengthened the spirits of the disciples
and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,
"It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the Kingdom of God."
They appointed presbyters for them in each Church and,
with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord
in whom they had put their faith.
Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.
After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.
From there they sailed to Antioch,
where they had been commended to the grace of God
for the work they had now accomplished.
And when they arrived, they called the Church together
and reported what God had done with them
and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Then they spent no little time with the disciples.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 145:10-11, 12-13ab, 21

R. (see 12) Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is a kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
or:
R. Alleluia.
May my mouth speak the praise of the LORD,
and may all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel Jn 14:27-31a

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you,
'I am going away and I will come back to you.'
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.
I will no longer speak much with you,
for the ruler of the world is coming.
He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father
and that I do just as the Father has commanded me."

Meditation: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you”

Do you know the peace which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7)? In his farewell discourse Jesus grants peace as his gift to his disciples. What kind of peace does he offer? The peace of Christ is more than the absence of trouble. It includes everything which makes for our highest good. The world's approach to peace is avoidance of trouble and a refusal to face unpleasant things. Jesus offers the peace which conquers our fears and anxieties. Nothing can take us from the peace and joy of Jesus Christ. No sorrow or grief, no danger, no suffering can make it less. Jesus also speaks of his destination and ultimate triumph over the powers of evil in the world. In the eyes of the world the cross stood for shame, humiliation, and defeat. Jesus went to the cross knowing that it would lead to victory over the powers of sin and of Satan. Jesus also knew that he would return to his Father in glory. The cross brought glory to Jesus and to the Father and it is our way to glory as well. In the Cross of Christ we find true peace and reconciliation with God. Do you live in the peace of Jesus Christ?

"Lord Jesus, may your peace be always with me. May no circumstance, trouble, or vexation rob me of the peace which passes all understanding. You, alone, O Lord, are my Peace. May I always reside in that peace by believing your word and by doing your will.”

(Don Schwager)

Your friends tell the glory of your kingship, Lord

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.’

Today we are greeted with two powerful readings that remind us of the comfort we can find despite the hardships that are part of every life. Paul’s words, ‘We must experience many hardships before we enter the kingdom of God’, are spoken with all the passion of his recent experience of being stoned. This surely rings true for all of us.

It reminds me of a local Catholic community where people who have struggled for justice are ministering to each other in love and compassion. Through their outreach they are finding the true peace which Jesus spoke of at the Last Supper: ‘My own peace I give to you.’ They are ‘engraced’ by the love which has become part of their everyday experience. Perhaps the grace they share has permitted them a taste of the kingdom of God

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

.

FREEDOM 

If a person binds himself solely to the one true God, who is not identical with any finite reality, he becomes free in regard to all finite values, goods, powers. He then perceives also the relativity of his own achievements and failures. He is no longer subject to the merciless law of having to achieve something. Not that he is dispensed from all achievement. But he is liberated from the constraint and frenzy of achievement. He is no longer absorbed in his role or roles. He can be the person he is. 

- Hans Kung 
  Hans Kung, On Being a Christian [Collins]

(Daily Prayer Online)

MINUTE MEDITATIONS 

Unity in Love
To be free is to be able to live in truth, to love radically and to act justly by living the grace of costly discipleship. We are called to be humble and free in love, like Jesus, that we may help move the world toward unity in love.
— from The Humility of God

May 8
St. Peter of Tarentaise
(c. 1102-1174)

here are two men named St. Peter of Tarentaise who lived one century apart. The man we honor today is the younger Peter, born in France in the early part of the 12th century. (The other man with the same name became Pope Innocent the Fifth.)

The Peter we’re focusing on became a Cistercian monk and eventually served as abbot. In 1142, he was named archbishop of Tarentaise, replacing a bishop who had been deposed because of corruption. Peter tackled his new assignment with vigor. He brought reform into his diocese, replaced lax clergy and reached out to the poor. He visited all parts of his mountainous diocese on a regular basis.
After about a decade as bishop Peter “disappeared” for a year and lived quietly as a lay brother at an abbey in Switzerland. When he was “found out,” the reluctant bishop was persuaded to return to his post. He again focused many of his energies on the poor.
Peter died in 1175 on his way home from an unsuccessful papal assignment to reconcile the kings of France and England.