JUNE 01, 2019 : MEMORIAL OF SAINT JUSTIN, MARTYR

Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr
Lectionary: 296

Reading 1ACTS 18:23-28

After staying in Antioch some time,
Paul left and traveled in orderly sequence
through the Galatian country and Phrygia,
bringing strength to all the disciples.

A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria,
an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus.
He was an authority on the Scriptures.
He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and,
with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus,
although he knew only the baptism of John.
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue;
but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,
they took him aside
and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.
And when he wanted to cross to Achaia,
the brothers encouraged him
and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him.
After his arrival he gave great assistance
to those who had come to believe through grace.
He vigorously refuted the Jews in public,
establishing from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.

Responsorial PsalmPS 47:2-3, 8-9, 10

R.(8a) God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap your hands;
shout to God with cries of gladness.
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne. 
R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The princes of the peoples are gathered together
with the people of the God of Abraham.
For God's are the guardians of the earth;
he is supreme. 
R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.

AlleluiaJN 16:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I came from the Father and have come into the world;
now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 16:23B-28

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

"I have told you this in figures of speech.
The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures
but I will tell you clearly about the Father.
On that day you will ask in my name,
and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.
For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me
and have come to believe that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world.
Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father." 

For the readings of the Memorial of Saint Justin, please go here.

www.usccb.org

Meditation: "Ask in Jesus' name, that your joy may be full"

Do you pray with confidence to your heavenly Father? Jesus often taught his disciples by way of illustration or parable. Here he speaks not in "figures" (the same word used for parables), but in plain speech. Jesus revealed to them the hidden treasure of the heavenly kingdom and he taught them how to pray to the Father in his name. Now Jesus opens his heart and speaks in the plainest of language: "The Father himself loves you!" How can the disciples be certain of this?

The Lord Jesus unites us with the Father through the love and power of the Holy Spirit
Paul the Apostle states that "All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (Romans 8:14). Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus makes it possible for his disciples to have a new relationship as sons and daughters of God the Father (Romans 8:14-17). No one would have dared to call God his or her Father before this! Because of what Jesus has done for us in offering his life for our redemption we now can boldly and confidently pray to God as our Father in heaven. 

The presence and action of the Holy Spirit within us is living proof of this new relationship with the Father. Paul the Apostles says that "when we cry, ‘Abba! Father!' it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:15-16).

We can boldly approach God as our Father and ask him for the things we need. In love he bids us to draw near to his throne of grace and mercy. Do you approach the Father with confidence in his love and with expectant faith in his promise to hear your prayers?

"Heavenly Father, your love knows no bounds and your mercies are new every day. Fill me with gratitude for your countless blessings and draw me near to your throne of grace and mercy. Give me confidence and boldness to pray that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Offer prayers in Christ's name, by Cyril of Alexandria, 376-444 A.D.

"He urges the disciples to seek for spiritual gifts and at the same time gives them confidence that, if they ask for them, they will not fail to obtain them. He adds the word Amen, that he might confirm their belief that if they ask the Father for anything they would receive it from him. He would act as their mediator and make known their request and, being one with the Father, grant it. For this is what he means by 'in my name'. For we cannot draw near to God the Father in any other way than through the Son. For it is by him that we have access in the one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:8). It was because of this that he said, 'I am the door. I am the way. No one comes to the Father but by me' (John 10:7; 14:6). For as the Son is God, he being one with the Father provides good things for his sanctified people and is found to be generous of his wealth to us... Let us then offer our prayers in Christ's name. For in this way, the Father will most readily consent to them and grant his graces to those who seek them, that receiving them we may rejoice." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 11.2)

www.dailyscripture.net

SATURDAY, JUNE 1, JOHN 16:23b-28
(Acts 18:23-28; Psalm 47)

KEY VERSE: "The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father" (v.25).
TO KNOW: Jesus often spoke in parables using images of shepherds, vines and women in childbirth ̶ the language of human experience meant to convey the mystery of the kingdom of God. Although his disciples were often confused as to the meaning of Jesus’ words, his passion, death and resurrection would speak clearly to them of God's love. The Holy Spirit would enlighten them so that they would understand everything Jesus told them. Then, they would have new insights about God's reign. For the seventh time in John's gospel, Jesus said that when he was glorified he would be present to his followers in a new way, and they would be able to pray in the authority of his name. The Father loved them and would grant them whatever they needed in order to do Christ's work on earth.
TO LOVE: For whom do I need to intercede in prayer today?
TO SERVE: Risen Lord, give the Church what is needed to live this day for you.

www.togetherwithgodsword.com

Saturday 1 June 2019

ST JUSTIN.
Acts 18:23-28. Psalm 46(47):2-3, 8-10. John 16:23-28.
God is king of all the earth – Psalm 46(47):2-3, 8-10.
‘The Father himself loves you.’

Jesus came from the Father with good news. When Jesus speaks of coming and going he does not mean moving from one place to another. He is talking about being present to us in a different way. In dying a human death, Jesus experiences the limits of human life. He enters the fabric of creation, where God dwells. Here is the heart of the Easter message.

By the grace of God in Jesus, creation is reinvested with its holiness. Ordinary and common things are shown to be holy things – bread and wine, water and earth, marriage and parenthood, career and vocation. Our living and our dying is good and holy, and the world in which we live and die and rise is the world in which God lives and dies and rises. Lord, for this we give thanks.

www.pray.com.au

Saint Justin Martyr

Saint of the Day for June 1

(c. 100 – 165)

 

Mosaics in Mount of Beatitudes | photo by Deror avi

Saint Justin Martyr’s Story

Justin never ended his quest for religious truth even when he converted to Christianity after years of studying various pagan philosophies.

As a young man, he was principally attracted to the school of Plato. However, he found that the Christian religion answered the great questions about life and existence better than the philosophers.

Upon his conversion he continued to wear the philosopher’s mantle, and became the first Christian philosopher. He combined the Christian religion with the best elements in Greek philosophy. In his view, philosophy was a pedagogue of Christ, an educator that was to lead one to Christ.

Justin is known as an apologist, one who defends in writing the Christian religion against the attacks and misunderstandings of the pagans. Two of his so-called apologies have come down to us; they are addressed to the Roman emperor and to the Senate.

For his staunch adherence to the Christian religion, Justin was beheaded in Rome in 165.

---

Reflection

As patron of philosophers, Justin may inspire us to use our natural powers—especially our power to know and understand—in the service of Christ, and to build up the Christian life within us. Since we are prone to error, especially in reference to the deep questions concerning life and existence, we should also be willing to correct and check our natural thinking in light of religious truth. Thus we will be able to say with the learned saints of the Church: I believe in order to understand, and I understand in order to believe.

www.franciscanmedia.org

Lectio Divina: John 16:23b-28

Lectio Divina

Saturday, June 1, 2019

1) Opening prayer

Lord God, merciful Father,
it is hard for us to accept pain,
for we know that You have made us
for happiness and joy.
When suffering challenges us
with a provocative "why me?"
help us to discover the depth
of our inner freedom and love
and of all the faith and loyalty
of which we are capable,
together with, and by the power of,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

2) Gospel Reading - John 16:23b-28

Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. "I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."

3) Reflection

• John 16:23b: The disciples have full access to the Father. This is the assurance that Jesus gives to His disciples: they can have access to God’s fatherhood in union with Him.  Jesus’ mediation takes the disciples to the Father. Clearly, the role of Jesus is not that of substituting Himself for “His own.”  He does not assume it by means of a function of intercession, but He unites them to Himself, and in communion with Him they present their needs.

The disciples are certain that Jesus can access the riches of the Father: “In all truth I tell you, anything you ask from the Father in My name, He will grant it to you” (v.23b). In such a way, it means, in union with Him, the petition becomes effective. The object of any petition to the Father must always be joined to Jesus, that is to say, to His love and to His commitment to give His life for man (Jn 10:10). Prayer addressed to the Father, in the name of Jesus, in union with Him (Jn 14:13; 16:23), is heard.

Until now they have not asked anything in the name of Jesus, but they will be able to do it after His glorification (Jn 14:13) when they will receive the Spirit who will fully enlighten them on His identity (Jn 4, 22ff) and will create the union with Him. His own will be able to ask and receive the fullness of joy when they will go from the sensory vision of Him to that of faith.

• Jn 16:24-25: In Jesus the direct contact with the Father. The believers are taken into the relationship between the Son and the Father. In Jn 16:26 Jesus once again speaks about the link produced by the Spirit that permits His own to present every petition to the Father in union with Him. That will take place “on that day.” What does this mean: “On that day you will ask”? It is the day when He will come to His own and will transmit the Spirit to them (Jn 20:19,22). It is then that the disciples, knowing the relationship between Jesus and the Father, will know that they will be listened to. It will not be necessary for Jesus to intervene between the Father and the disciples to ask on their behalf, not because His mediation has ended, but they, having believed in the Incarnation of the Word, and being closely united to Christ, will be loved by the Father as He loves His Son (Jn 17:23,26). In Jesus the disciples experience direct contact with the Father.

• John 16:26-27: The prayer to the Father. To pray consists, then, in going to the Father through Jesus; to address the Father in the name of Jesus. The expression of Jesus in vv. 26-27, “And I do not say that I shall pray to the Father for you; because the Father Himself loves you”, deserves special attention. The love of the Father for the disciples is founded on the adherence of “His own” to Jesus on faith in His provenance, the acknowledgment of Jesus as gift of the Father.

After having gathered the disciples to Himself Jesus seems to withdraw from His role of mediator, but in reality He permits that the Father take us and seize us: “Ask and you will receive and so your joy will be complete” (v.24). Inserted into the relationship with the Father through union in Him, our joy is complete and prayer is perfect. God always offers His love to the whole world, but such a love acquires the sense of reciprocity only if man responds. Love is incomplete if it does not become reciprocal: as long as man does not accept,  it remains in suspense. However, the disciples accept it at the moment in which they love Jesus and thus they render operational the love of the Father. Prayer is this relationship of love. In the end the history of each one of us is identified with the history of His prayer, even at the moments which do not seem to be such.  Longing, yearning is already prayer and in the same way, searching, anguish...

4) Personal questions

• Does my personal and community prayer take place in a state of calmness, silence, and great peace?
• How much effort or commitment do I dedicate to growing in friendship with Jesus? Are you convinced of attaining a real identity through communion with Him and in the love for neighbor?
• How do I view my union with Jesus, reflecting on Song of Songs 2:16, “My beloved is mine, and I am his” ?
• Do I pray in union with Jesus, or with my own ideas and agenda?

5) Concluding Prayer

God reigns over the nations,
seated on His holy throne.
The leaders of the nations rally
to the people of the God of Abraham. (Ps 47:8-9)

www.ocarm.org