After all, Paul knew the Lord was calling him to be the apostle to the Gentiles and here was a church with a significant number of Gentile converts. However, Mark also assures us that in our efforts to live the gospel, the Lord is with us to strengthen us and support us. When we hear in this mornings first reading of the road from Jerusalem to Gaza it is hard not to think of the strained and tension-filled relationship between Jerusalem and Gaza today. There are various ways of practising Lectio Divina either individually or in groups but Guigo's description remains fundamental. There is another way of looking at a gate. The question What must we do? is as valid a question for us today, as it was for the people of Jerusalem two thousand years ago. In Antioch Barnabas witnessed the new development of a community of believers consisting of both Jews and Gentiles. The story that we tell about some event often needs to be enriched by someone elses story about the same happening. There is a clear reference here to the Eucharist as the moment when we enter into communion with the body and blood of the Lord. She lived a life of solitary prayer for three years before re-joining her family and working with the sick, the poor, prisoners and plague victims. However, Ananias resisted what the Lord asked of him because he knew Sauls reputation as a persecutor of the church and he didnt trust Saul. Almost immediately, they arrived at their destination that they had just been struggling to reach. We are called to listen attentively to the word of God, especially as proclaimed and lived by Jesus who is Gods Word in human form. The movement was from God and no human authority could destroy it. In this life our seeing the Lord with the eyes of faith will always be a seeing dimly. The Lord took Paul by surprise, and he can take any of us by surprise. His death produced a real sense of loss in many Catholics. In todays gospel reading, Jesus tells Nicodemus, a leading Pharisee and expert in the Jewish Law, that he needs the Holy Spirit. God wants our response, but God cannot force it. Free Resources The Free Resources section provides information about the Carmelite Order, Spirituality and Catholicism. He fed the hungry, healed the sick; he called on the rich to share with the poor. they are retained.. He tells them, you are looking for me because you had all the bread you wanted to eat. We need to pay attention, in some way, to the Lord. The city of Jerusalem had been a centre of pilgrimage for Jews for hundreds of years before the coming of Jesus. My hosanna has come forth from the crucible of doubt. He was drawn to Jesus but he could not quite grasp what Jesus was asking of him, not initially at least. In this mornings gospel reading we find Jesus and his disciples faced with a hungry crowd and little or no means of feeding them. A lot of our lives are lived in response to various calls that are made upon us. He walks with us, even when we are walking in the wrong direction. Yet, the light of Jesus is not primarily a condemnatory light whose primary purpose is to expose evil. Jesus came among us, full of Gods grace and truth, full of Gods gracious love and faithfulness, and we are invited to keep receiving from this fullness of God in Jesus. The people, seeing this sign that he had given, said, This really is the prophet who is to come into the world. Jesus, who could see they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, escaped back to the hills by himself. The risen Lord walked with the two disciples, even though they were heading in the wrong direction. We find something similar happening in todays gospel reading. The house I grew up in had a small garden to the front as well as railings and a gate. In the verse just before this gospel reading begins, John the Baptist had said of Jesus, He must increase, but I must decrease. That beatitude embraces all of us gathered here this morning. The photograph of the Pope with a lamb draped across his shoulders went around the world in seconds. As people of faith, we are always on a journey, on a pilgrimage. In this mornings gospel reading, Jesus makes the striking statement, everybody who believes in me has eternal life. and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; Barnabas linked a person and a place to the mutual benefit of both. We depend on him especially when the wind is against us and the waters of life get stormy. We can all look for Jesus for the wrong reasons. Philip made a calculation: on the basis of the number of people and the amount of money available to buy food, and decided that nothing could be done. When we have suffered a great loss we often feel the need to talk about the loss with someone. The bread that we break, is it not a communion in the body of Christ? This was the faith of the early church and of the church ever since. Jesus revealed Gods faithfulness to us; he loved us even when we put him to death. That is why he calls out to us to pass through him, because he knows himself to be the gateway to all that we long for at the deepest core of our being. One of the tasks of life for each of us as disciples of the Lord is to try and listen to the particular call that the Lord is addressing to me here and now. Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Paul saw the Son because the risen Lord appeared to him just outside Damascus. The Lords presence to us and our awareness of his presence always makes the journey to the other side, the far shore, seem that bit shorter. Barnabas features prominently in todays first reading. He goes on to say of Jesus, in the words of our gospel reading, that he comes from heaven, that the Father gives Jesus the Spirit without reserve, that the Father has entrusted everything to the Son. Yet, it is language which expresses the depth of communion which Jesus wants to create between himself and his disciples. It invites us to ask, Who shapes our lives? As he read from the prophet Isaiah, questions rose in his heart and mind. We need to come to Gods Son, to come out into the light, in the words of gospel reading. When we find ourselves in some dark place because of a great loss, we value the company of people who love us. The Lord will do his work; it doesnt all depend on us. He looks to us to take some initiative towards him. Jesus reveals himself to Nicodemus as the giver of the Spirit - the Spirit who propels us towards the kingdom of God. Thomas stood in the light of Easter, yet that light did not dispel his darkness. he will go freely in and out There is a need for different groups of people to take responsibility for different ministries. It was winter, and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon. The old Catechism definition of prayer was the raising up of our minds and hearts to God. The risen Lords face to face meeting with Thomas dispelled all Thomass doubts. Whenever we take on some new enterprise, or go in a new direction of some kind, we will sometimes find ourselves battling with the equivalent of a strong wind and a rough sea, perhaps with a kind of darkness coming over us. She was born in 1347 and died in 1380, at the age of thirty three. Alternatively, please click the Cookie settings button to adjust which cookies this website stores during your visit. All of a sudden it is bright beyond 7.00 pm. Catherines mysticism did not withdraw her from the world; she was deeply involved in what was happening in Europe and in the church in her time. In Lukes gospel we find the following saying of Jesus: Give and it will be given to you. The spiritual person is the person whose life is shaped and directed by the Spirit. John was very aware that Jesus was above him. Jesus had risen from the dead. According to the verse before our gospel reading (Jn 6:15), Jesus had withdrawn to the mountain by himself, in response to the crowd wanting to make his king. Jesus immediately challenges him to take a much bigger step towards him; he calls on Nicodemus to allow himself to be born from above, to be born of water and the Spirit. you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. In this he is being true to Gods will which is, according to the gospel reading, that all who see the Son and believe in him shall have eternal life. The suggestion is that Jesus needed to be in communion with God in prayer. That is why he could say in his letter to the Philippians, a little written from prison, from a very unpromising situation, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Their inclination was to do nothing because the situation seemed hopeless. The Lord needs what we have, even if it seems slight to us, and he can accomplish far more than we could imagine with the little we have if we make ourselves available to him. He walked with them with a view to getting them to change direction, but before he could do that, he had to walk with them in the wrong direction for a while. For us who have been baptized, the connection between word and Eucharist remains very close. Here and now they already share in the life of God which Jesus brings us. Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. The Lords contribution to the relationship between us and him is much more significant than ours. Like Saint Paul, we can find ourselves saying, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Our website places advertising cookies to show you 3rd party advertisements based on your interests. In that village culture, a skill could be a small source of income. Our Blessed Mother: The Queen of All Saints! Having come to know Jesus somewhat, he continues to draw us to himself. I am the bread of life. Having told the story to each other, the two disciples told it to the stranger who joined them on the road. Because we do not yet see him face to face, our faith is always a faith that hopes. LEARN MORE. the usability. The thief comes Yet, is spite of this resistance, the Lord insisted all the more on the need, not only to eat his flesh, but to drink his blood also. For us as Christians, obedience to God is obedience to his Son, Jesus, our risen Lord, because as todays gospel declares, he whom God has sent speaks Gods own words. We have compiled a comprehensive set of reflections on the readings, covering the entire year. But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe. He can offer himself to them as the Bread of Life who responds to the deepest yearnings of their heart, for truth, for a love that endures, for a life over which death has no power. Jesus said to Nicodemus that he had to be born from above; he had to be born of water and the Spirit. Yet, because the boy was generous with his few resources, the Lord worked powerfully through his meagre resources for the feeding of the crowd, so that there was more than enough food for all. The conclusion of the letter, which is the conclusion of todays first reading, sends greetings from your sister in Babylon. In the gospel reading, after Jesus fed the multitude in the wilderness, the people wanted to take him by force and make his king. Another member of the church there, Ananias had a vision of the Lord in which the Lord asked him to go to Saul and to heal Sauls blindness. The risen Lord recreates his failed and fearful disciples. We struggle to empty ourselves sufficiently to receive all the Lord wants to give us. Communion with the Lord is the gateway to eternal life here and now and beyond this life. God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. Todays first reading follows on from the rulers, elders and scribes ordering Peter and John in a threatening manner not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. The Lords unique call to each one of us is with a view to our being fully alive. When I was a child my father used to take me to Dalymount Park to see Bohemians football club play their matches; he was a great fan of Boes, as they were known, and Dalymount Park was only about fifteen minutes walk from where we lived. We lock everything we can. In that gospel reading, Jesus declares that the sheep who belong to me listen to my voice they follow me. He is calling on those who have gone looking for him to attend to the deeper hunger in their lives, their spiritual hunger. Mark has the great distinction of being the first to write a gospel, the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. I know them and they follow me. Saint Paul had that same conviction which he expressed in his letter to the Romans when he said, If God is for us, who is against us? God is for us in and through Jesus our good shepherd. It was presumably the Spirit who prompted the Ethiopian to read the passage of Scripture that so intrigued him. Christ is always working to create us anew. The Greek word translated obedience suggests attentive listening. Barnabas features in this mornings first reading. It appears that eating Jesus the bread of life is an image for believing in Jesus. Jerusalem, the city that had held out so much promise and hope when Jesus entered it in triumph, was now a city they couldnt wait to leave. Vocations Sunday reminds us that the more fundamental call we hear in life is the call of the Lord. The risen Lord stood among them to replace that mood with the mood of Easter. Our union with Christ through baptism is thereby strengthened in the Eucharist. With great wisdom he suggests that they should leave the apostles alone and just wait and see. All the Lord asks is that we are generous with what we have, little as that may be, and he will work through us in ways that will surprise us. The experience of Thomas shows us that religious doubt need not keep us from the Lord or the church; Thomas story suggests also that great doubt can be the prelude to great faith. Yet, we see him with the eyes of faith. We received the gift of the Holy Spirit at our baptism and our confirmation, but we need fresh outpourings of the Holy Spirit as we go through life. Jesus said: Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. As part of their discerning, they sent one of their member, Barnabas, to check out what was happening in Antioch. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. Yet, Marks portrayal of the failure of the disciples serves as a foil for his portrayal of Jesus faithfulness to them, in spite of all their weaknesses. In 1378, the Great Schism began, splitting the allegiance of Christendom between two, then three, popes. When it comes to the Lord we are not just one of a crowd, lost in a sea of faces. Jesus challenges them to look for him not as the provider of food that cannot last but as the provider of food that endures to eternal life. His last appearance in Johns gospel is much less tentative; along with Joseph of Arimathea, he sees to it that Jesus is given a dignified burial. According to todays gospel reading, God gives the Spirit to Jesus without reserve. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. November 28th - December 25th, 2021. He discerned that this unexpected development was from God and that the Lord was asking him to support what was happening in Antioch. The first reading says that when Barnabas got there, he could see for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him, and he went on to give encouragement to what was happening. The Celtic Carmelite integration is unique and expresses a distinctive vision of a way to seek and give thanks to the God-among-us, in prayer and in the challenges and blessings of daily life. However, the more fundamental confirmation is the Lord confirming us as we strive every day to follow in his way. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, Where can we buy enough food for them to eat? He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. We need to open ourselves to that bigger story, to Gods story, and when we do we might find that, as was the case with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, our hearts begin to burn within us. We can find ourselves walking away from the very place or person that has the potential to give us life. Syria has been in the news for some time because of the unrest there and Damascus, the capital, has been mentioned more than once. This language is very familiar to us from the Eucharist, the body of Christ, the blood of Christ. We can harness the wind to some extent, to generate electricity, but that is dependent on the strength of the wind, over which we have no control. Our fundamental vocation is to be a loving and caring people, with a mind through which the good Shepherd thinks, a heart through which he loves, a voice through which he speaks and hands through which he works. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares that no one can come to him unless he is drawn by God the Father. One thing we can be sure of is that, whatever the Lords call to me is, it will always be a call towards life. That way of the cross became more difficult this past week, the Easter octave, when the church celebrates the resurrection of Christ. The evangelist, John, suggests that Jesus needed to be alone with God the Father who had sent him into the world. The probing question he asks Philip about the text gives Philip an opening to speak to him about Jesus. Even when we fail to respond to his coming, he remains for us the bread of life and he continues to promise that if we come to him we will never hunger and if we believe in him we will never thirst. There are a whole variety of gates opening up to us, beckoning us to pass through. In todays gospel reading, the people who had been fed by Jesus in the wilderness go looking for him, getting into boats and crossing the Sea of Galilee to find him. Her mission was a surprising success. It is my Father's will that whoever sees the Son should have eternal life. Unlike other religious orders in the West which are founded in direct historical lineage to a specific teacher (eg. We need the same courage or boldness to proclaim the gospel of the Lord today. He said that the first stage is lectio (reading) where we read the Word of God, slowly and reflectively so that it sinks into us. It was while he was at table with the two disciples and broke bread with them that they finally came to recognize fully the stranger who had shared their journey. Yet, the church will never disappear because, although very human, it is from God, and the risen Lord is always among us. He is clearly speaking about himself. The Twelve could not do everything; they had to prioritize. He is both the gate and the shepherd. God's blessings! They wanted to get out of the city where Jesus had been crucified as quickly as possible. He presents himself to the crowd as someone who can satisfy not just their physical hunger but their spiritual hunger. You do not cease to gather together with Your Word, a holy people from every land, city, and nation, so that in charity they may offer worship that is pleasing to you. It didnt really matter which gate you went through. This deeper hunger is more easily neglected than our physical hunger. They were walking away from Jerusalem, when they really should have been staying put there, because it was in Jerusalem that the risen Lord intended giving them the Holy Spirit, and it was from Jerusalem that he would send them out to the ends of the earth. The gospel reading invites us to pay attention to why we are searching for him. They claimed to have seen the risen Lord; Thomas declared that he would not believe until he not only saw the Lord but touched his wounds. Where did this man get all this? And they took offense at him. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. These cookies may track your personal data. Putting words on the events that have caused us such grief can help us to find some meaning in what has transpired. It was winter. Daily Homilies. In reality, Jesus was not just Nicodemus fellow teacher. The word nourishes our faith, and it is out of that nourished faith that we come to the Eucharist. Something of a storm was brewing in this young church, which became the mother church, because it was from the church in Jerusalem that the other churches were founded. Thomas stood in the light of Easter, yet that light did not dispel his darkness. Another purpose of a gate, however, is to provide access to an area. His physical blindness perhaps suggests his spiritual blindness up to this moment. The risen Lord continues to pour out his Spirit into our hearts so that our lives may be Spirit-filled. Even when the church is closed the front gates tend to be open. It was getting dark by now and Jesus had still not rejoined them. The Lord works in life-giving ways in what can seem to be desolate places. Jesus is not calculating about his giving of the Spirit. I remember some people saying recently when they heard this very familiar gospel story again that prior to this they hadnt really paid much attention to the presence of the small boy. The portrayal of the Ethiopian in todays gospel reading suggests that he was engaged in a spiritual search. Today is Vocations Sunday. In response, he looks to us for something of the same openness to being drawn displayed by the Ethiopian in our first reading. At some deep level, we are unhappy with the direction our lives are taking. In todays gospel Jesus says, the wind blows wherever it pleases. So we can be grateful to Mark for his written gospel. One thing we can be sure of is that, whatever the Lords personal call to each one of us is, it will always be a call towards life. If Jesus is the gate that leads to abundant life, we have to pass through that gate. Easter celebrates Gods radical faithfulness, his extraordinary mercy. Yet, the Lords part in our relationship with him is always so much greater than ours. Heavenly things can be viewed through earthly things. Shortly after his return, Pope Gregory died. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days? And he replied to them, What sort of things? They said to him, The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. Barnabas continued to listen to what the Lord was saying to him. Todays gospel reading assures us that the Lord understands a doubting, questioning, faith. We never arrive at our destination, in this earthly life. Gods giving continued as Jesus was lifted up to die, and Gods giving found further expression when God lifted up his Son in glory and gave him to us as risen Lord. When we find ourselves struggling with great religious doubts, and, as a result, maybe putting a distance between ourselves and the Lord and between ourselves and the community of believers, the Lord continues to engage with us and seek us out. We take hope and wisdom from St. Therese of Lisieuxs sayings and reflections from her Story of a Soul and other writings. The Lord is with his struggling churches to keep them faithful to the end. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood We then received the Eucharist at a relatively early age. We have asked Creighton faculty, staff and administrators to reflect upon the daily readings each day. If we are open and honest, the Lord will draw us to himself in time, in his time and in ours. God will stop at nothing to ensure that the world of humanity hears the gospel of Gods saving love for all. One of the features of Marks gospel is its very negative portrayal of Jesus first disciples, including Peter, those who were closest to him. The relationship between the shepherd and his sheep was more immediate than it is today. The church is the community of those who believe in and love the Lord, without having seen the Lord. It speaks of Gods love for the world, of Gods generous way of expressing his love by giving the world his Son and of Gods desire that all people would experience eternal life through receiving Gods Son in faith. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing.. The words of Jesus to Nicodemus in this mornings gospel reading are one of the strongest and most positive statements in the New Testament about God. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. Yes, it is my Fathers will When Peter preached the gospel to the crowd in Jerusalem, their response was to ask Peter, What must we do? They understood that the gospel they had heard placed an onus on them to do something, to make choices they had never made before and follow through on those choices. The Lord can work powerfully through our own rather limited resources, if we are generous with those resources and place them at the Lords disposal. We come as beggars to the Eucharist, recognizing that we need to draw from the Lords risen life so that we can be fully alive in the way God wants us to be. We spend our lives growing in our openness to the Spirit. He did not send them out in the strength of their own resources alone. It always strikes me as strange that the gospel reading for his feast is taken from the longer ending of Mark which was probably a later addition to the gospel! There they were, locked into a room, in a self-imposed prison, out of fear. Jesus said: I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. His meeting with Jesus convinced him that Jesus was alive, risen from the dead. Charity Number CHY 5894 | Registered Charity Number RCN 20009656, Copyright 2021. The story the stranger told the two travellers ended in the triumph of new life over death, Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory? This was the bigger story which the stranger told from the Scriptures and which complemented and completed the story of the two disciples. If the Lord is the good shepherd in those two ways, we are called to be good disciples of the Lord in the same two ways. Daily Reflections. The Lord calls each of us to be a good shepherd in some shape or form. Even older again is Rome, and older again is Jerusalem. There is often a bigger story which we fail to see, especially when we are broken in body, mind or spirit. Like a flag blowing in the wind, we are to move in response to the movement of the Spirit. The Lords invitation, Come to me, all who labour and are overburdened, is addressed to us all. They began to see that there was more to what had happened than they realized; this stranger was giving them a whole new understanding of what they had come to see as an awful tragedy. They reveal a certain insight into what has happened, but very often a limited insight. We would normally think of eternal life as beginning after our earthly life is completed, but this mornings gospel reading suggests that eternal life is somehow accessible to us here and now, during this earthly life. They may have been [], KNOW THE SHEPHERDS VOICE Several times in life we are called to explain the reason before our believe or the reason behind what we do [], One chore that belongs to elementary school children on a farm is opening gates. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. The two disciples were suddenly joined by a stranger who invited them to share their story with him, What matters are you discussing as you walk along? He was inviting them to open their hearts to him. This can happen all too easily as we know. In a sense, it condemns the wrong doer. She died at the age of thirty three. We dont draw life from ourselves but from the Lord. We can each make our own those words of Saint Paul. If the wind is mysterious and beyond our control, the Spirit of God is even more mysterious and beyond our control. Noticing that there was one small boy with five barley loaves and two fish, he asked, What is that between so many? However, the way Jesus spoke in response to the problem was much more inspirational. However, the Spirit can enter a human life and we know what a Spirit-filled life looks life. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. We speak of the Spirit as the third person of the Trinity. The Lord continues to call us to himself, drawing us into an ever deeper relationship with him. His gospel is the shortest of the four, but, nonetheless, it is a very powerful telling of the Jesus story. Ive been in the coffee shop before and at a neighboring table the people were speaking a language I didnt understand. When the gospel was first preached to non-Jews in the city of Antioch, and a new kind of local church began to be formed consisting of both Jews and pagans, the church in Jerusalem decided to send Barnabas to Antioch to investigate this new development.
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