May 10, 2017

May 10

May 10, 2017:  Wednesday, 4th week, Easter
  • 'Hands' pin:  They laid hands on Barnabas and Saul (1st reading)
  • 'Dove' pin:  They, sent forth by the Spirit, went to Seleucia and Cyprus (1st reading)
  • 'Olympics' tie pin:  God, let all the nations praise you (psalm)
  • 'Eyeball' pin:  "Whoever sees me sees the one who sent me" (gospel)
  • 'Lights' tie:  "I came into the world as light" (gospel)
  • White shirt and socks:  St. Damien, Easter season

    Listen
    For Psalm 67
      Pope Francis hope audience
      Mary is the Mother of Hope, a woman of courage, perseverance, and obedience.  Her experience of motherhood models that of so many mothers who have had to confront their children's suffering.  She courageously accepted her vocation and welcomed the new life entrusted to her.  Despite her trials, she remained obedient to God.
      Mary was with her son till the end.  Her image standing at the foot of the cross and grieving her innocent Son's death has inspired artists of every age to present her as a model of persevering hope in God’s promises.  The hope she had was the fruit of a life of prayer and daily effort to be conformed to God’s will; it was fulfilled in Jesus’ rising to new life.  We are not orphans; we have a Mother in heaven, the Holy Mother of God.
      Read
      • Acts 12:24-13:5a  Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, with John/Mark.  The Holy Spirit told the Antioch prophets and teachers, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul.”  They laid hands on them and sent them off to sail to Cyprus to proclaim God's word.
      • Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8  "O God, let all the nations praise you!"  May God have pity on us and bless us.  May all nations know your way and salvation.  You rule in equity, guiding the nations.
      • Jn 12:44-50  Jesus:  “Whoever believes in me also believes in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees him.  I came as light.  If anyone hears my words and doesn't observe them, I do not condemn him, for I came to save the world, but the word I spoke will condemn him.”
      Reflect
        • Creighton:  How can I be more present to colleagues, family, and friends?  What are the needs in my community that I can support?  How am I in darkness?  What is my purpose now?  Who are my role models for living as Jesus teaches?
        • One Bread, One Body:  "The mission of love":  If we don't believe in Jesus and give our lives to him, we remain in the dark, are "dead because of [our] sins," and have no hope.  May the word of the Lord continue to spread.  May each of us be a missionary for Jesus, may the Spirit set apart missionaries to spread the gospel, and may we back them.
        • Passionist:  Jesus’ last messages to his disciples were centered on unity:  between him and God, between us as people, and between us and God.  He charges us to live out of that unity:  forgive, seek, love one another.  The Father is in him, and he in us, we're in the Father.  This mirrors Catholic teaching, in which God’s Trinitarian nature is perfect relationship, one we're called to participate in.  What if Jesus “saves” us by freeing us to live as divinely created people with one foot already in God's Kingdom?  What if salvation has more to do with understanding our identity as members of the Body of Christ, responsible for each other and empowered to participate in the divinity that created us, once we let go of our narrow view of God and the world?  According to many theologians, the incarnation is not primarily a remedy for sin but the bodily enactment of the primacy of creative love.  May we grow into unity with Christ, living such that those who speak or think of us speak or think of Christ....
        • DailyScripture.net:  "Believe.. that you may not remain in darkness":  Jesus warns us to avoid the darkness of unbelief and rejection of God.  Light is associated with God's truth and life. "The Lord is my light and my salvation."  God's word enables those with eyes of faith to see the truths of his kingdom.  God's light and truth enables us to grow in the life only he can offer us; his words produce his life in those who receive it with faith.  To see Jesus is to see God in visible form; to hear Jesus' words is to hear God's voice. God's light and truth brings healing, pardon, and transformation.  If we don't listen, or ignore his word or take it lightly, we remain in spiritual darkness.  Jesus came to bring abundant life and freedom from sin's oppression.  

          • St. Damien of Molokai
          "Father, we find it difficult to come to you, because our knowledge of you is imperfect.  In our ignorance we have imagined you to be our enemy; we wrongly thought you take pleasure in punishing our sins; and we have foolishly conceived you as a tyrant.  But Jesus among us showed you're loving and that our resentment against you is groundless" (Augustine).

          God is ready to give his light, wisdom, and truth to all who seek him; he doesn't want to leave us in ignorance and unbelief.  Through the Spirit he helps us to grow in faith, knowledge, and understanding.  In his truth we find joy, freedom, and wholeness of body, mind, heart, and soul.
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