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Saturday, April 23rd, 2016, 7:00 AM
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"
In Deo Speramus
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(In God We Hope)
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This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another."
(Jn 13:35)
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Oremus pro invicem
(Let us pray for one another)
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As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
Christ,
let us live out
your "one thing necessary":
the treasure of gaining and giving your love.
Not fair-weather love, not hearts-and-flowers,
but your own radical no-limits kind.
Make us yours,
giving
all we have:
all our wealth,
our body and blood,
our hearts and our souls,
hands and hopes,
our precious
time.
Show us that
our one thing necessary
is to accept and to give your love.
Amen
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First Reading
After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news
to that city
and made a considerable number of disciples,
they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.
They strengthened the spirits of the disciples
and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,
"It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the kingdom of God."
They appointed elders for them in each church and,
with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord
in whom they had put their faith.
Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.
After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.
From there they sailed to Antioch,
where they had been commended to the grace of God
for the work they had now accomplished.
And when they arrived, they called the church together
and reported what God had done with them
and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
The Word of the Lord
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Discussion Questions
1.
Paul and Barnabas traveled through the lands and they opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. According to them, who was responsible for letting in the Gentiles? Who is in charge of your ministry? How deep is your belief about that?
2. Acts refers to its author "undergoing some hardships." Could these be connected to the "new commandment" about love that Jesus gives in Sunday's Gospel? And what about you? Have you discovered hardships in your life connected to loving your neighbor? Even though God opened the doors to Gentiles, what still must take place before faith is received?
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Second Reading
Then I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth.
The former heaven and the former earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more.
I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race.
He will dwell with them and they will be his people
and God himself will always be with them as their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain,
for the old order has passed away."
The One who sat on the throne said,
"Behold, I make all things new."
The Word of the Lord
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Discussion Questions
1.
What is the connection between the holy city in the reading and God's dwelling with the human race?
2.
God and human persons dwell together. Where is this visible? Is it in the Lord's legacy of selfless love? "He will wipe every tear from their eyes." Can God wipe away a few tears in you?
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Alleluia
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JN 13:34
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I give you a new commandment, says the Lord:
love one another as I have loved you.
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Alleluia, alleluia
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Gospel
When Judas had left them, Jesus said,
"Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him,
God will also glorify him in himself,
and God will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another."
The Gospel of the Lord
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Discussion Questions:
1.
Did Jesus give us edicts, rubrics and canons? What one rule did he give us over and over? What teaching of the Church do you think will bring all people to Christ? Do you recognize saintly people by how hard they work and the money and time they give, or how much they love others? Or both? Does God love the world through us if we let it happen
2.
"As I have loved you, so should you love one another." According to Pope Francis, how do we show that we "love one another" in our words or in our actions?
Christian love is always "concrete." Love, then, consists more in actions than in words, more in giving than in receiving.
Love is not a kind of romanticism: either it is a selfless and solicitous love which rolls up its sleeves and looks to the poor, preferring to give rather than to receive; or it has nothing to do with Christian love.
"If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us." (1 John 4:12) The experience of faith is found in this double "remaining."
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| For what are we born if not to aid one another? Ernest Hemingway "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then we'll have peace." By: Jimi Hendrix "My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right." Abraham Lincoln If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is brought to perfection in us.
1 John 4:12
Deus fit homo ut homo fieret Deus God became human so that humans might become God (Catholicism, Page 2 by Fr. Robert Barron) "The Glory of God is a human being fully alive." Meyers, Robin R. (2009-02-19). Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus (Kindle Location 639). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
God "dwells in us."
God's love is not meant for us alone;
we must give it away.
Do small things today and for many tomorrows,
with a generous heart.
Give God Away Today!
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Help us then, Lord,
to be so united with the paschal mystery of Jesus,
that through Him the world can become a better place to dwell.
You promise us much for this life
and for our eternal presence with You;
may we live into that promise
each day.
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An interesting thought:
The birth of St. John is celebrated on June 24th, in the moment of the summer solstice. From that point onward, daylight begins to reduce. On the other hand, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is celebrated on December 25th, during the winter solstice. From that point onward, daylight begins to grow, to get longer.
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