6th Sunday of Easter (Year A) May 25, 2014 WEEKLY REFLECTIONI. GOSPEL READING (John 14: 15-21) Jesus said to his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” Points for Reflection 1. Someone else is coming. After telling us last Sunday that he and the Father dwell within us, Jesus now tells us that the Holy Spirit will also come to us. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth” (Jn 14:16-17). This completes the divine indwelling, the fruit of his Death and Resurrection, restoring back to us the great plan of God that was temporarily suspended because of the Original Sin (Adam and Eve’s disobedience). 2. Our spiritual union with the Risen Lord deepens. Introducing the Holy Spirit in this gospel reading is not meant to preempt our celebration of Pentecost two weeks from now. It is, rather, intended to explain the divine indwelling. Jesus came not only to reveal to us how to live a fully human life, but also to show us how his own life can be lived in us. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, we will not simply be following an ethical system or a path to God. Something much more dynamic is in store for us: “On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you” (Jn. 14:20). The Holy Spirit will enlighten us with the knowledge of how God wants us to live for our own happiness and will give us the power to actualize what we believe. 3. In the Resurrection, we possess a completely new life. Jesus assured the apostles that to love him means to live as he had taught them: “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me” (Jn. 14:21). But, love for Jesus means not just a new way of living but a completely new life: “Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him” (Jn. 14:21). With the gift of the Holy Spirit, we will possess the life we see in him that attracts us so much to him. Pope Benedict XVI summed this up well in his book, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week where he wrote: “This essential dynamic of gift, through which he now acts in us and our action becomes one with his, is seen with particular clarity in Jesus’ saying: ‘He who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father’ (Jn. 14:12). This expresses exactly what is meant by his words - ‘I have given you an example’ - from the account of the washing of the feet. Jesus’ action becomes ours, because he is acting in us.” 4. More than being good, we are called to be like Jesus and to live as he did. Being a Christian is not merely trying to be a good person, or to live as we think Jesus would want. Rather, being a Christian means Jesus living his life in us. The other readings help us explore how this happens. - In the First Reading (Acts 8:5-8, 14-17), we hear how the persecution in Jerusalem did not silence the preaching of the Good News. The dispersion of the believers even paved the way for the spread of the faith. Philip, a companion of Stephen, escaped to Samaria and “proclaimed Christ” (Acts 8:5). What enabled him to be fearless in doing the very thing that had gotten him run out of town in Jerusalem? The Holy Spirit gave him the wisdom and power to courageously do what Jesus had done: preach the Gospel without counting the cost. - In the Second Reading (1 Pt. 3:15-18), Peter exhorts us to live in the fullness of the truth that Jesus lives his life in us: “Be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope” (1 Pt. 3:15). Christians should live in such a way that would make other people curious about what makes us tick - which is none other than our conviction of faith in Jesus, “put to death in the flesh, but brought to life in the Spirit” (1 Pt. 3:18). That same Spirit now animates us to live his life, where we become willing “to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil” (1 Pt. 3:17). II. OUR LADY’S MESSAGE: You Will Be Consoled” (Message 149) March 3, 1978 First Saturday a. Beloved sons, look to your Mother. Enter into the refuge which her love has prepared for you. Rest in my Immaculate Heart. b. How great is the toilsome work which you must complete! You are treading a path which, from day today, becomes rougher and more difficult. c. Often you are tempted to stop because of weariness, aridity and the obstacles you encounter. Never must you stop. Let yourselves be led always by the hand of your heavenly Mother. d. You are journeying today along the difficult path of purification. e. Is there still a long way to go? When will it end? Must we suffer much? What will happen to each of us, and who will reach the finish-line? f. These are the questions you often ponder. g. Yes, sons, the most painful part of the journey is still ahead of you, and it will still be some time before all is accomplished. h. To avoid becoming exhausted, take refuge in my Immaculate Heart. It is the garden which the Trinity has prepared for Itself and for you. For Itself, because in it is reflected its most pure light, and it is the place where God is most glorified. For you, because you have need of this delightful garden, especially in these times in which you are living. i. You have need of it: j. For your rest: Beloved sons, enter into this rest. I myself will then bind up your wounds, mend your tattered garments, prepare you the food that will restore you, and help you to grow stronger; k. For your consolation: You are the littlest of children whom I am now gathering from all parts of the world and who, with great generosity, are answering my call to suffering and to the cross. Do not become sad if your suffering has to become even greater. In my arms and in my Immaculate Heart, you will be consoled. And you will be given by me that which others will not be able to understand or taste. l. For your immolation: Grow each day according to my motherly plan, as I heap my tenderness upon you and embellish you with my own virtues. m. My work is silent and hidden, but it is transforming you interiorly and drawing down upon you the good pleasure of the Lord. n. When you are ready, I will then gather you up and bring you to adorn the garden of God with the angels and the saints. How many of you I have already brought up here to paradise, and they form a most beautiful crown of glory about my Immaculate Heart! Points for Reflection 1. You will be consoled. Our Lady is very assuring in her message. In this difficult period where we face the pervasive influence of secularism and materialism, she invites us to enter into her Immaculate Heart; the garden which the Trinity has prepared for us for our rest and consolation. It is the garden which the Trinity has prepared for Itself and for you. For Itself, because in it is reflected its most pure light, and it is the place where God is most glorified. For you, because you have need of this delightful garden, especially in these times in which you are living. (149 h) 2. Refuge in the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Thus, in order for us to avoid becoming exhausted, she invites us to consecrate ourselves to her Immaculate Heart, our refuge in this very difficult time that we are living. - For our rest: I myself will then bind up your wounds, mend your tattered garments, prepare you the food that will restore you, and help you to grow stronger. (149 j) - For our consolation: You are the littlest of children whom I am now gathering from all parts of the world and who, with great generosity, are answering my call to suffering and to the cross. Do not become sad if your suffering has to become even greater. In my arms and in my Immaculate Heart, you will be consoled. And, you will be given by me that which others will not be able to understand or taste. (149 k) - For our immolation: Grow each day according to my motherly plan, as I heap my tenderness upon you and embellish you with my own virtues. (149 l) 3. The Silent and Hidden Work “My work is silent and hidden, but it is transforming you interiorly and drawing down upon you the good pleasure of the Lord.” (149 m) - What happens in our interior is “silent and hidden,” because it is the Holy Spirit who works through Our Lady: “The Holy Spirit is the only Gardener within my enclosure. He overshadowed me with his light of love; He filled me with all his gifts; He embellished me with his grandeur and has made me his Spouse” (Message 131 g). - After our consecration, because of the Holy Spirit, we are transformed interiorly, even without us noticing it. “In my Immaculate Heart, this divine prodigy has taken place. My garden is his exclusive property: it is the Holy Spirit who waters it and gives it light; it is He who causes the most beautiful flowers to spring up; it is He who gives them their color and fragrance; it is He who brings therein whom He wills.” (Message 131 h-i). 4. The Most Beautiful Crown of Glory “When you are ready, I will then gather you up and bring you to adorn the garden of God with the angels and the saints. How many of you I have already brought up here to paradise, and they form a most beautiful crown of glory about my Immaculate Heart!” (149 n) Our consecration to the Immaculate Heart brings us to live in fullness the life in God, which the Risen Lord has given us. It also prepares us for the fulfillment of what he prayed and taught us: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Let us continue to live our consecration daily. “If you but knew the gift you have received by consecrating yourselves to my Immaculate Heart! (131 k) God bless you all! Yours in the Immaculate Heart, Fr. Omer
Posted on: Sat, 24 May 2014 09:36:21 +0000
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