carmelite daily reflection carmelite daily reflection
The door of the church here is open from about 9.00 in the morning to 6.00 or 7.00 in the evening every day of the week. He not only calls on people to eat his flesh but to drink his blood. In calling us to himself he also sends us into the world afire with the flame of his love. When Jesus spoke of himself as the gate in that sense, he was thinking of the gate of a sheepfold. We have a part to play, of course. The disciples thought Jesus was dead and they presumed their following of him was over. No one can take them out of my hand. Those who might be up to no good prefer the cover of darkness. We tell the story of the person who has died, very often with a focus on the final days or weeks of his or her life. The Father reveals the Son to those who become like little children, those who, like Catherine, are deeply aware of their dependence on God and are completely open to all that God can give us. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. These cookies are necessary to let our website work. Each of us has a responsibility for a flock of our own, whether we are married or ordained or a religious or a single person. In Lukes second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, the risen Lord preaches the gospel again to the Samaritans through Philip, as described in our first reading, and on this occasion the Samaritans united in welcoming the message Philip preached. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal. So they said to him, What can we do to accomplish the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.. The old Catechism definition of prayer was the raising up of our minds and hearts to God. No one who believes in him will be condemned; Marks portrait of the disciple mirrors that of Jesus. How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! In coming to us there he directs us to take the path he wants us to take, just as he directed Paul. What is needed from us is what Jesus called for from Nicodemus, a readiness and willingness to surrender to the movement of the Spirit in our lives. In response, Jesus challenges them to work, not for food that cannot last, but for food that endures to eternal life. Believing in him as the one sent by God will open them up to receive all that he wants to give them. Perhaps we can never know what exactly happened on that day, but the gospel reading is suggesting that the Lord can work powerfully through what are apparently very insignificant resources, a small boy and his few loaves and fish. After Jesus had fed the five thousand, his disciples saw him walking on the water. This faithfulness of the Lord is well expressed in todays gospel reading, the Lord working with them confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it. In todays gospel reading Jesus declares, Whoever comes to me, I shall not turn away. It is the story we find in the Jewish scriptures and in the Christian New Testament. He can give them not just physical food that cannot last, but food that endures to eternal life. It follows that the Lord will never call us to something that would result in a diminishment of life for ourselves or for others. No one group within the church can do everything. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Gods love, a love whose breadth and length and height and depth cannot be fully comprehended. He first of all breathed on them, saying, Receive the Holy Spirit. - 8:00 pm Exposition followed by Conference, Night Prayer, and Confessions. Yet, Nicodemus did not give up on Jesus and the last we see of him in Johns gospel is at Golgotha where, after the death of Jesus, he and Joseph of Arimathea ensure that Jesus has a dignified burial. The sheepfold mentioned in the gospel reading was an enclosed area. She was such a light because of her deeply personal and mystical relationship with Jesus. Jesus struggles to open their eyes. There will always be the kind of tensions or storms within the church that we find in todays first reading. His meeting with Jesus convinced him that Jesus was alive, risen from the dead. For this Liturgical Year: Weekday Reflections for 2019/2020 'The Word of God is Living and Active' available at messenger.ie & 'Journeying with Matthew' ~ Reflections on Sunday Gospel, Year A available at @veritas.ie . We are very familiar with the story from the life of Jesus that we have just read. But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe. Reflections on Daily Readings 2023 - Carmelites She persuaded Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome from Avignon. Looking up, Jesus saw the crowds approaching and said to Philip, Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat? He only said this to test Philip; he himself knew exactly what he was going to do. God gives everything to us by giving us Christ as the good shepherd who gives his life for us. At some deep level, we are unhappy with the direction our lives are taking. Reflections - celticcarmelites.org The story of the Ethiopian shows that if we seek the Lord we will find him, because the Lord is always seeking us. He invites us, as he invited the two disciples, to share with him the story of our lives in all its various hues. This two fold dynamic of prayerful communion with God and loving service of the broken and needy that shaped the life of Jesus also shaped the life of Catherine. Yet, Peter was able to see the working of God in this unexpected development. Our website uses analytical cookies to make it possible to analyze our website and optimize for the purpose of a.o. AnalyticalOur website uses analytical cookies to make it possible to analyze our website and optimize for the purpose of a.o. On his way home from the pilgrimage, he continued to engage in his spiritual quest, reading from the prophet Isaiah. Even if our relationship with the Lord seems tentative at times, Nicodemus encourages us to believe that it can become less so. Jesus identifies himself with the gate of the sheepfold because he too gives people access to security and nourishment, what he calls in todays gospel reading life, life to the full. The fourth evangelist is also clear that Gods initiative needs our response if it is to be effective. He wanted to be with them, as they were. Joseph reminds us that our own personal response to our own calling from God will always have huge consequences for others. Jesus often spoke about day to day realities, like the wind, as a way of talking about more spiritual realities. It is probably true to say that we are all searching for something. We come to the Eucharist to draw life from the Lord, as branches draw life from the vine. 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. - 7:15 pm Orientation. Rather, the more Jesus increases in us, the more we become our true selves, our Christ selves, the person God is calling us to be. AdvertisingOur website places advertising cookies to show you 3rd party advertisements based on your interests. These cookies are necessary to let our website work. At the end of yesterdays gospel reading, we heard that Jesus, having fed the multitude in the wilderness, withdrew to the mountain by himself. The large gates you find in our rural landscape come to mind. It is significant that the two disciples said, Stay with us and not stay with me. We are very dependent on each other on this communal journey. The claims of the gospel reading about Jesus and about what he offers us take time to absorb, so striking and powerful are these claims. It was in response to that initiative of theirs that he joined them at table. We can all be a little bit like the disciples before the challenges that life throws up. The Black Death prowled the land; armies fought each other on behalf of their client-cities; the Pope had left Rome for Avignon. Jesus said to the crowds: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. www.carmelite.com Catholic Voice - Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn Youtube channel with Masses, reflections and more. 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. 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. 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. New book for 2021 'You Have the Words of Eternal Life' ~ Weekday Reflections for Liturgical Year 2020/21 at messenger.ie & @veritas.ie Fr. In todays gospel reading, the stranger is the risen Lord. Catherine stood out as a beacon of light in a dark time. 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. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. Most of us are slow to open up to strangers, arent we? He was reconciling them to himself, displaying his faithfulness to them, in spite of how they had failed him. The Lectio is a part of their daily spiritual life. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? Was it not ordained, he asked, that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory? As the stranger told his story, something happened within the two disciples. There are forces in the world that seek to undermine that relationship and even destroy it. unless a man is born from above, As the wind moves a sailing boat along towards its destination, so the Spirit moves and shapes our lives in ways that allow us to reach our final destination. However, he also wants to bring us life here and now. She spent the last two years of her life in Rome in prayer, pleading on behalf of the cause of Pope Urban VI and the unity of the Church. To look upon the flesh of Jesus, his human life, is to look upon God. All of a sudden it is bright beyond 7.00 pm. We might highlight the tragic dimension of what happened, but fail to see the signs of hope that are there as well. It leads him to ask questions which eventually results in his receiving baptism into the church at the hands of Philip. He eventually surrendered to the God who was drawing him. It was presumably the Spirit who prompted the Ethiopian to read the passage of Scripture that so intrigued him. To enter through Jesus the gate is to respond to his call, the very personal call that he addresses to each one of us. The bread of the word prepares us for the bread of the Eucharist. Are they working for food that cannot last or for food that endures to eternal life? Jesus has entered fully into our human condition. There is a very early tradition in the church, which first surfaced in the early part of the second century, according to which Mark was a companion of Peter. For God sent his Son into the world 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. A contemplative, her life of prayer expressed itself in the loving service of those in need. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares that all who come to him have been drawn to him by the Father, No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me. The Sanhedrin were the influential group of Jewish leaders most opposed to Jesus, but Gamaliel, a respected member of that group, shows a degree of openness to the preaching of the apostles that was not typical of the group as a whole. This was what Paul came to realize when the risen Lord appeared to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Yet, the Lord had great plans for this persecutor of the church, but first he had to endure a period of blindness, during which this proud man was completely dependent on others, they had to lead him into Damascus by the hand. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. The Father loves me, I am the good shepherd; This content is blocked. There is a time for every matter under heaven, according to the Book of Ecclesiastes. That is what Jesus was asking of Nicodemus when he called upon him to be born of water and the Spirit. The story of Pauls conversion in the first reading has captivated artists down the centuries. click to accept all cookiesAccept %CC% cookies. Barnabas features in this mornings first reading. Easter 3rd Week : Wednesday 26th April, 2023 Jesus said to the crowd: 'I am the bread of life. In one of his encyclicals, Faith and Reason, Pope John Paul II stated that the church remains profoundly convinced that faith and reason mutually support each other they offer each other a purifying critique and a stimulus to pursue the search for a deeper understanding. The general call of baptism to be the Lords disciple, which is addressed to us all, is then lived out in particular ways in response to the Lords very personal, daily call. In the gospel reading this morning, Jesus calls on the crowd to hear the teaching of the Father, and to learn from it. Sometimes the wind will be at our back and will help us along as we walk. These days when we are deprived of the Eucharist can sharpen our awareness of the many other ways the Lord is always coming to us. Like Saint Paul, we can find ourselves saying, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Tag cloud One thing we can be sure of is that, whatever the Lords call to me is, it will always be a call towards life. It was only after listening carefully to the two disciples that the stranger spoke. From that moment he knew that Jesus was calling to announce this message to all, especially to the pagans. He is always driven by God the Fathers will that all should see the Son and believe in him and so have eternal life. Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News. The same risen Lord who stood among his disciples on that first Easter morning stands among us on in this Easter time, with all its anxiety and uncertainty. 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. Seeing that they were in need of food, he asked Philip where food could be bought to give them something to eat. He comes to recreate us through the Holy Spirit. To use another image in that gospel reading, he is the gate, the gateway, to a full life. The risen Lords story continues to speak powerfully to us today. Come to me, Jesus says, and through me come to the Father. Syria has been in the news for some time because of the unrest there and Damascus, the capital, has been mentioned more than once. There will always be an element of unease about our faith, some restlessness that moves us to keep seeking the Lord. as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, It is quite usual just to have an opening in the front wall, for a car to park. It is written in the prophets: Having listened to the Lords story from the Scriptures, they pressed him to stay with them, because he appeared to be going on, It is nearly evening they said and the day is almost over. Jesus often used images drawn from the life of the people to talk about himself and his message. All he asks is that we keep listening to his voice and keep trying to follow him. In a sense, it condemns the wrong doer. We remember this morning these young girls who are soon to make their first Holy Communion. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world. Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone. As they prayed, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and in the strength of that Spirit they proclaimed the word of God courageously. God has given his Son to us; it falls to us to give ourselves to Gods Son. Yet, whereas the wind is an impersonal force, the Spirit is a personal force. The leaders of the church in Jerusalem had to discern whether this new development in Antioch was the work of the Holy Spirit, or just a human aberration. Our relationship with the Lord is no different. Then they said to each other, Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us? So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon! Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread. From our baptism we are all called to follow Jesus as his disciples, to take our lead from him. In the words of todays second reading, he is the shepherd and guardian of your souls. The Lord may not be calling on us to take on some particular work but he may be calling on us to encourage someone else to take it on, as Barnabas encouraged Paul. They declared to the other members of the church that as the leaders they should be devoting themselves to prayer and to the service of Gods word. The Lords unique call to each one of us is with a view to our being fully alive. The strangers story ended not in death but in glory. It is based on the presumption that light is the enemy of anyone who might want to break into the premises. What doesnt pass away, because it is of God, is Jesus capacity to work powerfully through humble human resources in the service of Gods people, such as feeding a large crowd with five barley loaves and two fish. She was deeply involved in what was happening in Europe and in the church in her time. Jesus is concerned when people are physically hungry, when their basic physical needs are not being met, but he always leads us beyond the level of the physical, the material, to more ultimate realities. Todays gospel reading assures us that the Lord understands a doubting, questioning, faith. I am struck by that line in the gospel reading, Jesus came and stood among them. Just as the gospel reading is clear about why Jesus has come, it is also clear about what we must do. We have all been born of water and the Spirit through baptism but we need to keep opening ourselves ever more completely to the presence of the Spirit within us. 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. In this mornings gospel reading, the risen Lord keeps faith with them, sending them out to proclaim the gospel to the whole world. At the meal that followed they recognised the strangers true identity in the breaking of bread. It is important that people feel safe in their own homes, but all the security can leave us a little bit more cut off from our neighbours and friendly visitors than we would like. In the morning, the shepherd would come back, the gate keeper would let him into the sheepfold, and the shepherd would call his own sheep by name and lead them out of the sheepfold to a place of pasture, where they could feed for the day. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained., Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. Reflections on Daily Readings December 21 - Carmelites In the verse just before this gospel reading begins, John the Baptist had said of Jesus, He must increase, but I must decrease. It is my Father's will that whoever sees the Son should have eternal life. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. He was a Pharisee, a member of that group who are consistently hostile to Jesus in Johns gospel. The phenomenon of theft is much more common than it used to be. All others who have come If the group is comfortable with silence, more time could be spent resting in the Word. The basis physical needs of people were very important for him. Jesus said: I am the good shepherd. She insisted that the Popes place was beside the bones of the martyrs. The real answer to the question addressed to Jesus, Where do you come from? is that Jesus comes from heaven or from God. In group prayer, much will depend on the type of group. since he whom God has sent He is not a stranger to his flock nor are they strangers to him. When the gospel reading says that the light has come into the world, the reference is clearly to Jesus. We have compiled a comprehensive set of reflections on the readings, covering the entire year. As he said earlier, No one has greater love than this, to lay down ones life for ones friends. Jesus identified himself, body and blood, flesh and blood, with the elements of bread and wine. Jesus was looking beyond the group of Jewish disciples he had gathered. Believing in him is the one work that is required if that deeper hunger in our lives is to be satisfied, the hunger for a love that is unconditional, for forgiveness, for truth, for justice, for peace, ultimately, our hunger for God. A Reflection for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Here indeed is a light that darkness cannot overcome, a love that human sin cannot extinguish. These cookies may track your personal data. In that opening scene of todays gospel reading, none of the disciples are named. Daily Reflection Archives - Ordinary Time Weeks 9-16 - Creighton University It is the attractiveness of God whose love is beyond human comprehension. Todays gospel reading gives us an insight into the prayer of Jesus, I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth We can become limp before it all. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. In the first reading we have a good example of someone who bears witness to Jesus by his works. The earliest Christian art is to be found in the Catacombs in Rome. It was Saint Augustine who said that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. In the world of Jesus, there were no sheepdogs to do the shepherds work for him. The gospel reading suggests that even when we might cut ourselves off from others, we do not cut ourselves off from the Lord. With the rapid expansion of new means of communication in recent decades we can be made much more aware of these various calls on us. We hear that bigger story, Gods story, in the Scriptures. Jesus went off to the other side of the Sea of Galilee or of Tiberias and a large crowd followed him, impressed by the signs he gave by curing the sick. His reading of the passage gave rise to a question for him that he sought an answer to from Philip, Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else? When Philip then proclaimed the gospel to him, the Ethiopian took a further initiative on his spiritual quest, again in the form of a question, Look, there is some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptized? Having been baptized by Philip, the Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing. The church in Jerusalem needed to check out this new and unforeseen development, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. The religious leaders may have wanted to put a lid on what was happening but they discovered that, in the words of Jesus to Nathanael in the gospel reading, the Spirit, like the wind, blows where it pleases. Given my very particular circumstances, the relationships and commitments I have at this time, the unique set of gifts and limitations that are mine, what is the Lord asking of me now? What is important is that we allow the particular story that we tell to be filled out and to be enriched by the very different story about the same events that people who are strangers to us have to tell. After the question Jesus went on to speak not only of eating his flesh but of drinking his blood, which would have sounded even more shocking. We reach out towards the Lord who journeys with us in the context of the church, in the company of our fellow pilgrims, those who are stumbling along the path of discipleship with us. they are forgiven; It only compounded their grief. However, that doesnt seem to have been true of the conversation the two disciples were having on the road to Emmaus. He was a pioneer, someone who blazed a trail, soon to be followed by the evangelists we know as Matthew, Luke and John. Todays gospel reading assures us that the Lord comes to us in those difficult and threatening moments.