Sunday, May 25, 2014

 

Monday Sixth Week of Easter

May 26, 2014 
Monday Sixth Week of Easter
[Memorial, St. Philip Neri]

Acts 16: 11-15 / Ps 149: 1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b / Jn 15: 26 - 16: 4a 

Reading: Acts 16:11-15
So we put out to sea from Troas and sailed straight across to Samothrace Island, and the next day to Neapolis. From there we went inland to Philippi, the leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. We spent some days in that city. On the sabbath we went outside the city gate to the bank of the river where we thought the Jews would gather to pray. We sat down and began speaking to the women who were gathering there. One of them was a God-fearing woman named Lydia from Thyatira City, a dealer in purple cloth. As she listened, the Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. After she had been baptized together with her household, she invited us to her house, "If you think I am faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us to accept her invitation.    

Gospel: John 15: 26 - 16:4a
From the Father, I will send you the Spirit of truth. When this Helper has come from the Father, he will be my witness, and you, too, will be my witnesses for you have been with me from the beginning. I tell you all this to keep you from stumbling and falling away. They will put you out of the Jewish communities. Still more, the hour is coming when anyone who kills you will claim to be serving God; they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. I tell you all these things now so that when the time comes you may remember that I told you. 

Reflection:
     "From the Father, I will send you the Spirit of truth. When this Helper has come from the Father, he will be my witness, and you, too, will be my witnesses for you have been with me from the beginning."
     The entire scenario of this verse from the gospel presents Jesus' last instructions to his apostles.  He is from God yet accepted by the people of his time.  He strengthens his statement by his sending the Holy Spirit from the Father to teach for him in addition to the apostles' testimony.  It was very hard for Jesus to convince the people of his time to believe in the Father, to believe in him as God's only son, so he will send the Spirit of Truth in addition to the testimony of his apostles who on account of their testimony will be expelled and even killed.
     In our time we have come to know God, Jesus and the Spirit of Truth through the teachings of the apostles and the Christian believers.  Many men and women have dedicated their lives to continue teaching the Word of God. Their activities spread to foreign lands and cultures of different eras. But is Jesus' mission of unity, of unifying us to the Father progressing? Do we realize that during our age, we still have the mission to continue spreading the Good News as if we were the apostles sent by Jesus? Could we ask Jesus again to send us the Spirit to teach us and to strengthens our faith? 
     Pray: Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.  Let us pray. O God, who did instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn. 
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
... for families who are in need of healing.
... 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!

**************************************************
These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only. Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends, colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the following: 

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   |  The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
   |  priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
   |            http://www.marythequeen.org
   |  Distributed free and for personal use only.  
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Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 25, 2014 
Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 8: 5-8, 14-17 / Ps 66: 1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20/ 1 Pt 3: 15-18/ Jn 14: 15-21 

First Reading: Acts 8: 5-8, 14-17
Philip went down to a town of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. All the people paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him and saw the miraculous signs that he did. For in cases of possession, the unclean spirits came out shrieking loudly. Many people who were paralyzed or crippled were healed. So there was great joy in that town. Now, when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. They went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not as yet come down upon any of them since they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So Peter and John laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Second Reading: 1 Peter 3: 15-18
Bless the Lord Christ in your hearts. Always have an answer ready when you are called upon to account for your hope, but give it simply and with respect. Keep your conscience clear so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your upright, Christian living. Better to suffer for doing good, if it is God's will, than for doing wrong. Remember how Christ died, once and for all, for our sins. He, the just one, died for the unjust in order to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the Spirit he was raised to life, 

Gospel: John 14:15-21  
If you love me, you will keep my commandments; and I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, that Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him for he is with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you. A little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me because I live and you will also live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me, and I in you. Whoever keeps my commandments is the one who loves me. If he loves me, he will also be loved by my Father; I too shall love him and show myself clearly to him."

Reflection:
     The gospel passage is part of the Last Discourse of Jesus, something that is usually taken more seriously when we know that what is being shared is from someone who believes in one's imminent death. In an attempt to minimize regrets, the one to pass away shares one's most intimate thoughts as a sort of legacy with the hope that one will be remembered.
     In this short passage, Jesus repeats his earlier commandment to love one another which he considers as something new. Though there is basis in the Old Testament of the commandment of love as found in the Book of Leviticus (Lv 19:18), the claim of Jesus regarding the newness of his commandment of love is true because our capacity to love will only be possible in the way that Jesus wants is essentially dependent with regard to the reality that Jesus loves us first. Love is synonymous to many words that would include being patient, understanding, and merciful, among many others. But due to our human weaknesses and limitations, we sometimes get discouraged and begin to readily give up. Besides, to love others would mean becoming vulnerable, something that we would not readily prefer.
     Given such human tendencies that will somehow prevent us in achieving the mission of Jesus, the latter now provides us with assistance. In particular, he says in this passage that he shall send an Advocate, a helper who is none other than the Holy Spirit. This passage essentially details two important functions of the Spirit of Jesus.
       First, the Advocate will be with us. Consequently, we shall never feel orphaned and abandoned because Jesus through his Spirit will continue to be present. Jesus will die but his relationship with us will not end due to his abiding presence. Such accompaniment of the Spirit may hopefully give us courage and strength especially when we face trials and crisis moments.  The Spirit will help us manage and overcome our fears so that the mission of Jesus may be fulfilled.
     Equally important is that the Spirit shall be responsible in reminding us regarding all the teachings of Jesus. The Spirit of Jesus from his Father has no other agenda except to promote and reinforce the mission of Jesus. This is significant because Jesus knows that we can easily be forgetful of our task as friends of Jesus to proclaim his love and mercy to anyone who is open enough to allow Jesus to enter one's life.
     Yet, how many among us truly desire for the Spirit of Jesus to be with us and accompany us in our journey in life especially with the task and responsibility to do our share in the mission of salvation initiated by Jesus? How can we then become more aware of this Advocate that Jesus promised to be with us so that we can expend efforts to work with Jesus in his desire that we all be transformed and be back in his fold?

Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary
... for families who are in need of healing
... 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!

**************************************************
These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only. Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends, colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the following: 

  +================================================+
   |  The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
   |  priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
   |            http://www.marythequeen.org
   |  Distributed free and for personal use only.  
  +================================================+

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