Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Thursday 4th Week of Easter
May 11, 2006
Thursday 4th Week of Easter - Yr II
ACTS 13:13-25
>From Paphos, Paul and his companions set sail and arrived at Perga in
Pamphylia. But John left them and returned to Jerusalem. They continued
on from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the sabbath they
entered into the synagogue and took their seats. After the reading of
the law and the prophets, the synagogue officials sent word to them,
"My brothers, if one of you has a word of exhortation for the people,
please speak." So Paul got up, motioned with his hand, and said,
"Fellow children of Israel and you others who are God-fearing, listen.
The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and exalted the
people during their sojourn in the land of Egypt. With uplifted arm he
led them out, and for about forty years he put up with them in the
desert. When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he
gave them their land as an inheritance at the end of about four hundred
and fifty years. After these things he provided judges up to Samuel the
prophet. Then they asked for a king. God gave them Saul, son of Kish, a
man from the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. Then he removed him
and raised up David as their king; of him he testified, I have found
David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will carry out my
every wish. From this man's descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. John heralded his coming by
proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; and as
John was completing his course, he would say, 'What do you suppose that
I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to
unfasten the sandals of his feet.'"
JOHN 13:16-20
When Jesus had washed the disciples' feet, he said to them: "Amen,
amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any
messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this,
blessed are you if you do it. I am not speaking of all of you. I know
those whom I have chosen. But so that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me. From now on I
am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may
believe that I AM. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I
send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent
me."
REFLECTION
The relationship of a rabbi and his students in Israel was seen as a
master-disciple relationship. The students of any particular rabbi were
bound to imbibe the thought and style of their master. There were even
a number of schools of thought to choose from in deciding which
rabbinic school of thought to enter.
In the Christian walk, we are called to follow Jesus intimately. He is
our Master as he has shown us the way to the Father. In fact, Jesus is
the only way to the Father. Our lives as Christians not only need to be
modeled upon the life and thought of Jesus. They also need to come into
submission to it. "Submission" is another word which our society is not
very fond of. However, again, this is precisely the right word to
describe the type of master-disciple relationship that is necessary for
Christian discipleship.
Jesus becomes the Master of our lives or he does not. The extremity of
these comparisons captures the difference between a mediocre life and
the life of a saint. It is because the saints lived their lives out
there on the edge of human existence that they appeal so much to our
imagination. The difficult thing to do is to tell ourselves that the
saints not only have to live in our imagination but that we must also
follow in their footsteps in the same way that they followed in Jesus'
footsteps.
A life of discipleship is about putting Christian principles into daily
practice, not just thinking about how good it would be if only we could
put them into practice. The saints were probably the greatest
individualists of their times but their lives were always in total
submission to their Master, Jesus Christ. It is time to start putting
some of those thoughts into practice. Jesus was a man of action. He
never stood by and did nothing. Ask the Lord Jesus today to take hold
of your life and make something out of it by following his example.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
- for the speedy recovery of Aida.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Aaron L. Lim
- Birthday: Kim Atienza
- In Memoriam (+): Antonino Santos-Ocampo, Sr.
- for world peace and reconciliation.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our
prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
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