The Institution of the Eucharist
Joos van Wassenhove
1473-75
Oil on wood, 331 x 335 cm
Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino
Posted on 04/20/2015 7:17:54 PM PDT by Salvation
thanks.
| John | |||
| English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
| John 6 |
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| 30. | They said therefore to him: What sign therefore dost thou shew, that we may see, and may believe thee? What dost thou work? | Dixerunt ergo ei : Quod ergo tu facis signum ut videamus et credamus tibi ? quid operaris ? | ειπον ουν αυτω τι ουν ποιεις συ σημειον ινα ιδωμεν και πιστευσωμεν σοι τι εργαζη |
| 31. | Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat. | Patres nostri manducaverunt manna in deserto, sicut scriptum est : Panem de cælo dedit eis manducare. | οι πατερες ημων το μαννα εφαγον εν τη ερημω καθως εστιν γεγραμμενον αρτον εκ του ουρανου εδωκεν αυτοις φαγειν |
| 32. | Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you; Moses gave you not bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. | Dixit ergo eis Jesus : Amen, amen dico vobis : non Moyses dedit vobis panem de cælo, sed Pater meus dat vobis panem de cælo verum. | ειπεν ουν αυτοις ο ιησους αμην αμην λεγω υμιν ου μωυσης δεδωκεν υμιν τον αρτον εκ του ουρανου αλλ ο πατηρ μου διδωσιν υμιν τον αρτον εκ του ουρανου τον αληθινον |
| 33. | For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world. | Panis enim Dei est, qui de cælo descendit, et dat vitam mundo. | ο γαρ αρτος του θεου εστιν ο καταβαινων εκ του ουρανου και ζωην διδους τω κοσμω |
| 34. | They said therefore unto him: Lord, give us always this bread. | Dixerunt ergo ad eum : Domine, semper da nobis panem hunc. | ειπον ουν προς αυτον κυριε παντοτε δος ημιν τον αρτον τουτον |
| 35. | And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. | Dixit autem eis Jesus : Ego sum panis vitæ : qui venit ad me, non esuriet, et qui credit in me, non sitiet umquam. | ειπεν δε αυτοις ο ιησους εγω ειμι ο αρτος της ζωης ο ερχομενος προς με ου μη πειναση και ο πιστευων εις εμε ου μη διψηση πωποτε |
Saint Anselm,
Bishop & Doctor of the Church
Optional Memorial
April 21st
Crowning of the Virgin with Saint Anselm and other saints .
Francesco Francia (v. 1450-1517/18)
Saint Anselm was born in Aosta, Italy, and died in England. He was in the Benedictine monastery of LeBec in Normandy for around thirty years. In 1093, he became the Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of England. He is called the Father of Scholastic Theology. In his defense of the Church he suffered much, including exile. His doctrinal works are among the most noteworthy examples of theology and medieval mysticism.
Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003
Collect:
O God, who led the Bishop Saint Anselm
to seek out and teach the depths of your wisdom,
grant, we pray,
that our faith in you may so aid our understanding,
that what we believe by your command
may give delight to our hearts.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns wiht you in the unity of the Holy Spiri,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.
First Reading: Ephesians 3:14-19
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 7:21-29
"Not every one who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you evildoers.'
"Every one then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
COMMUNIUM RERUM, ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS X ON ST. ANSELM OF AOSTA, Given at Rome at St. Peter's on the Feast of St. Anselm, April 21, 1909, in the eighth year of Our Pontificate.
BENEDICT XVI, GENERAL AUDIENCE, Paul VI Audience Hall, Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Saint Anselm
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Benedictine Abbey of Sant'Anselmo [St Anselm] is located on the Aventine Hill in Rome. As the headquarters of an academic institute of higher studies and of the Abbot Primate of the Confederated Benedictines it is a place that unites within it prayer, study and governance, the same three activities that were a feature of the life of the Saint to whom it is dedicated: Anselm of Aosta, the ninth anniversary of whose death occurs this year. The many initiatives promoted for this happy event, especially by the Diocese of Aosta, have highlighted the interest that this medieval thinker continues to rouse. He is also known as Anselm of Bec and Anselm of Canterbury because of the cities with which he was associated. Who is this figure to whom three places, distant from one another and located in three different nations Italy, France, England feel particularly bound? A monk with an intense spiritual life, an excellent teacher of the young, a theologian with an extraordinary capacity for speculation, a wise man of governance and an intransigent defender of libertas Ecclesiae, of the Church's freedom, Anselm is one of the eminent figures of the Middle Ages who was able to harmonize all these qualities, thanks to the profound mystical experience that always guided his thought and his action.
St Anselm was born in 1033 (or at the beginning of 1034) in Aosta, the first child of a noble family. His father was a coarse man dedicated to the pleasures of life who squandered his possessions. On the other hand, Anselm's mother was a profoundly religious woman of high moral standing (cf. Eadmer, Vita Sancti Anselmi, PL 159, col. 49). It was she, his mother, who saw to the first human and religious formation of her son whom she subsequently entrusted to the Benedictines at a priory in Aosta. Anselm, who since childhood as his biographer recounts imagined that the good Lord dwelled among the towering, snow-capped peaks of the Alps, dreamed one night that he had been invited to this splendid kingdom by God himself, who had a long and affable conversation with him and then gave him to eat "a very white bread roll" (ibid., col. 51). This dream left him with the conviction that he was called to carry out a lofty mission. At the age of 15, he asked to be admitted to the Benedictine Order but his father brought the full force of his authority to bear against him and did not even give way when his son, seriously ill and feeling close to death, begged for the religious habit as a supreme comfort. After his recovery and the premature death of his mother, Anselm went through a period of moral dissipation. He neglected his studies and, consumed by earthly passions, grew deaf to God's call. He left home and began to wander through France in search of new experiences. Three years later, having arrived in Normandy, he went to the Benedictine Abbey of Bec, attracted by the fame of Lanfranc of Pavia, the Prior. For him this was a providential meeting, crucial to the rest of his life. Under Lanfranc's guidance Anselm energetically resumed his studies and it was not long before he became not only the favourite pupil but also the teacher's confidante. His monastic vocation was rekindled and, after an attentive evaluation, at the age of 27 he entered the monastic order and was ordained a priest. Ascesis and study unfolded new horizons before him, enabling him to rediscover at a far higher level the same familiarity with God which he had had as a child.
When Lanfranc became Abbot of Caen in 1063, Anselm, after barely three years of monastic life, was named Prior of the Monastery of Bec and teacher of the cloister school, showing his gifts as a refined educator. He was not keen on authoritarian methods; he compared young people to small plants that develop better if they are not enclosed in greenhouses and granted them a "healthy" freedom. He was very demanding with himself and with others in monastic observance, but rather than imposing his discipline he strove to have it followed by persuasion. Upon the death of Abbot Herluin, the founder of the Abbey of Bec, Anselm was unanimously elected to succeed him; it was February 1079. In the meantime numerous monks had been summoned to Canterbury to bring to their brethren on the other side of the Channel the renewal that was being brought about on the continent. Their work was so well received that Lanfranc of Pavia, Abbot of Caen, became the new Archbishop of Canterbury. He asked Anselm to spend a certain period with him in order to instruct the monks and to help him in the difficult plight in which his ecclesiastical community had been left after the Norman conquest. Anselm's stay turned out to be very fruitful; he won such popularity and esteem that when Lanfranc died he was chosen to succeed him in the archiepiscopal See of Canterbury. He received his solemn episcopal consecration in December 1093.
Anselm immediately became involved in a strenuous struggle for the Church's freedom, valiantly supporting the independence of the spiritual power from the temporal. Anselm defended the Church from undue interference by political authorities, especially King William Rufus and Henry I, finding encouragement and support in the Roman Pontiff to whom he always showed courageous and cordial adherence. In 1103, this fidelity even cost him the bitterness of exile from his See of Canterbury. Moreover, it was only in 1106, when King Henry I renounced his right to the conferral of ecclesiastical offices, as well as to the collection of taxes and the confiscation of Church properties, that Anselm could return to England, where he was festively welcomed by the clergy and the people. Thus the long battle he had fought with the weapons of perseverance, pride and goodness ended happily. This holy Archbishop, who roused such deep admiration around him wherever he went, dedicated the last years of his life to the moral formation of the clergy and to intellectual research into theological topics. He died on 21 April 1109, accompanied by the words of the Gospel proclaimed in Holy Mass on that day: "You are those who have continued with me in my trials; as my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom..." (Lk 22: 28-30). So it was that the dream of the mysterious banquet he had had as a small boy, at the very beginning of his spiritual journey, found fulfilment. Jesus, who had invited him to sit at his table, welcomed Anselm upon his death into the eternal Kingdom of the Father.
"I pray, O God, to know you, to love you, that I may rejoice in you. And if I cannot attain to full joy in this life may I at least advance from day to day, until that joy shall come to the full" (Proslogion, chapter 14). This prayer enables us to understand the mystical soul of this great Saint of the Middle Ages, the founder of scholastic theology, to whom Christian tradition has given the title: "Magnificent Doctor", because he fostered an intense desire to deepen his knowledge of the divine Mysteries but in the full awareness that the quest for God is never ending, at least on this earth. The clarity and logical rigour of his thought always aimed at "raising the mind to contemplation of God" (ibid., Proemium). He states clearly that whoever intends to study theology cannot rely on his intelligence alone but must cultivate at the same time a profound experience of faith. The theologian's activity, according to St Anselm, thus develops in three stages: faith, a gift God freely offers, to be received with humility; experience, which consists in incarnating God's word in one's own daily life; and therefore true knowledge, which is never the fruit of ascetic reasoning but rather of contemplative intuition. In this regard his famous words remain more useful than ever, even today, for healthy theological research and for anyone who wishes to deepen his knowledge of the truths of faith: "I do not endeavour, O Lord, to penetrate your sublimity, for in no wise do I compare my understanding with that; but I long to understand in some degree your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe, that unless I believed, I should not understand" (ibid., 1).
Dear brothers and sisters, may the love of the truth and the constant thirst for God that marked St Anselm's entire existence be an incentive to every Christian to seek tirelessly an ever more intimate union with Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life. In addition, may the zeal full of courage that distinguished his pastoral action and occasionally brought him misunderstanding, sorrow and even exile be an encouragement for Pastors, for consecrated people and for all the faithful to love Christ's Church, to pray, to work and to suffer for her, without ever abandoning or betraying her. May the Virgin Mother of God, for whom St Anselm had a tender, filial devotion, obtain this grace for us. "Mary, it is you whom my heart yearns to love", St Anselm wrote, "it is you whom my tongue ardently desires to praise".
Source: Vatican Website
Feast Day: April 21
Born: 1033 at Aosta, Piedmont, Italy
Died: 21 April 1109 at Canterbury, England
Canonized: 1492 by Pope Alexander IV
Major Shrine: Canterbury Cathedral
St. Anselm
Feast Day: April 21
Born: 1033 :: Died: 1109
Anselm was born at Aosta, Piedmont in Italy to wealthy parents. He could see the Alpine Mountains from his home. As a child he was taught how to be holy and study well. When he was fifteen, Anselm tried to join a monastery in Italy but his father would not let him.
Then Anselm became sick. Soon after he got better, his mother died. He was still young and rich and clever and began to think only of having good times. He had forgotten God. But soon Anselm became bored and wanted something better, something more important.
He argued with his father and ran away to France. There he visited the holy Abbot Lanfranc of the famous monastery of Bec. Anselm became Lanfranc's very close friend and the abbot brought him to God. Then at the age of twenty-seven, Anselm decided to become a Benedictine monk.
Anselm was a warm-hearted man who loved his brother monks dearly. Even those who first disliked him soon became his friends. When he was forty-five years old he was made the abbot of Bec.
He finally had to leave Bec to become archbishop of Canterbury in England, but he told the monks that they would always live in his heart. The people of England loved and respected Anselm. But King William II treated him badly.
Anselm had to leave the country and flee into exile in 1097 and again in 1103. King William even refused to let Anselm go to Rome to see the pope for advice. But Anselm went anyway. He stayed with the pope until the king died. Then he went back to his parish in England.
Even though he had many duties that kept him very busy, St. Anselm always found time to write important books of philosophy and theology. He also wrote down the many wonderful instructions he had given the monks about God.
They were very happy about that. He used to say: "Would you like to know the secret of being happy in the monastery? Forget the world and be happy to forget it. The monastery is a real heaven on earth for those who live only for Jesus."
St. Anselm died on April 21, 1109. He was declared a great teacher or Doctor of the Church.
Tuesday, April 21
Liturgical Color: White
Today is the optional memorial of St.
Anselm, bishop and Doctor. St. Anselm
refused to recognize power of the king of
England within the Church for which he
suffered many years in exile. He was finally
allowed to return to his diocese in 1106
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14 King Herod heard of it; for Jesus' s name had become known. Some said, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in him." 15 But others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." 16 But when Herod heard of it he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised." 17 For Herod had sent and seized John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodi-as, his brother Philip's wife; because he had married her. 18 For John said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 19 And Herodi-as had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodi-as' daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it." 23 And he vowed to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." 24 And she went out, and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist." 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
Your brother's wife: John the Baptist was imprisoned and executed for publicly repudiating the illicit union of Herod Antipas and Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Philip. According to Lev 18:16 and 20:21, the Mosaic Law forbids the union of a man with his brother's wife when the brother is still living. Since Philip was alive and well, the marriage between Antipas and Herodias was no marriage at all - it was adultery.
Whatever you ask me: Herod's oath recalls a similar banquet scene in Esther 5-7. Queen Esther was giving a feast for the Persian King Ahasuerus when he promised to grant her any request, even half of his kingdom (Esther 7:1-2). Esther then requested that the king spare the life of the Jews throughout the Persian empire (Esther 7:3-4). This OT scenario is the mirror opposite of Mark's narrative: unlike righteous Esther, the sinful Herodias seizes the opportunity to bid for the execution of a righteous Jew.
Daily Readings for:April 21, 2015
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: O God, who led the Bishop Saint Anselm to seek out and teach the depths of your wisdom, grant, we pray, that our faith in you may so aid our understanding, that what we believe by your command may give delight to our hearts. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
ACTIVITIES
o Religion in the Home for Preschool: April
o Religious Scrapbook for Preschool Children
PRAYERS
o Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven)
o Prayers for the Easter Season
o Novena to St. Catherine of Siena
LIBRARY
o Anselm Agonistes: the Dilemma of a Benedictine Made Bishop | Paschal Baumstein O.S.B.
o Communium Rerum (On St. Anselm Of Aosta) | Pope Pius X
o St. Anselm of Canterbury: Scholarship Rooted in Prayer | John P. Bequette
· Easter: April 21st
· Optional Memorial of St. Anselm, bishop & doctor
Old Calendar: St. Anselm
St. Anselm (1033-1109) was born in Aosta, Italy, and died in Canterbuy, England. St. Anselm's services to the Church are principally the following: First, as Archbishop of Canterbury he defended the rights and liberties of the Church against the encroachments of the English kings, who plundered the Church's lands, impeded the Archbishop's communications with the Holy See, and claimed the right to invest prelates with ring and crosier, symbols of the Church's spiritual jurisdiction. Second, as a philosopher and theologian he developed a method of reasoning which prepared the way for the great thinkers of the Middle Ages. Third, he had a great devotion to Our Lady and was the first to establish the feast of the Immaculate Conception in the West.
St. Anselm
As prior and abbot, Anselm made the Benedictine monastery of Bec the center of a true reformation in Normandy and England. From this monastery he exercised a restraining influence on popes, kings, the worldly great, and entire religious orders. Raised to the dignity of Archbishop of Canterbury and primate of England, he waged a heroic campaign in defense of the rights and liberties of the Church. As a result he was deprived of goods and position and finally banned from the country. He journeyed to Rome, and at the Council of Bari supported Pope Urban II against the errors of the Greeks. His writings bear eloquent testimony to his moral stature and learning, and have earned for him the title of "Father of Scholasticism."— The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
St. Anselm exhibited remarkable versatility in his life; a combination of contemplation, prayer, study, writing, and external activity. This was partly the result of the extraordinary talent that God gave him, but it was likewise the fruit of Anselm's faithful exercise of his talent in the study of natural and supernatural truths. But his chief merit lay in his earnest, conscious effort to live in accordance with what he had learned from the study of divine truths. By this means he was able to ascend to the heights of a life of faith and union with God. There is very much that we can learn from this great teacher. "Lord, I do not presume to fathom the depths of your truths, for my understanding is not equal to the task. Nevertheless, I desire to learn Your truths in some measure—those truths that I believe and love. I do not seek to gain knowledge so that I can believe; rather, I believe so that I may gain knowledge. No matter how persistently my soul gazes, it still beholds nothing of Your beauty; my soul listens intently, and yet it hears nothing of the learning of Your Being; my soul wants to breathe in Your fragrance, and yet perceives none of it. What are You, Lord? Under what image can my heart recognize You? Truly, You are life; You are truth; You are Goodness; You are Holiness; You are eternity; You are everything good! O man, why do you roam about so far in search of good things for soul and body? Love the one Good, in whom all goods are contained, and that will satisfy you!" (St. Anselm.)
Symbols: Benedictine monk admonishing an evildoer; archbishop; ship; with Our Lady appearing before him; with a ship.
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Born to the Italian nobility. After a childhood devoted to piety and study, at age 15 Anselm wanted to enter religious life, but his father Gondulf prevented it, and Anselm became rather worldly for several years. Upon the death of his mother, Ermenberge, Anselm argued with his father, fled to France in 1056, and became a Benedictine monk at Bec, Normandy in 1060. He studied under and succeeded Lanfranc as prior of the house in 1063. Abbot of the house in 1078.
Because of the physical closeness and political connections, there was frequent travel and communication between Normandy and England, and Anselm was in repeated contact with Church officials in England. He was chosen as reluctant Archbishop of Canterbury, England in 1092; officials had to wait until he too sick to argue in order to get him to agree.
As bishop he fought King William Rufus’s encroachment on ecclesiastical rights and the independence of the Church, refused to pay bribes to take over as bishop, and was exiled for his efforts. He travelled to Rome, Italy and spent part of his exile as an advisor to Pope Blessed Urban II, obtaining the pope‘s support for returning to England and conducting Church business without the king‘s interference. He resolved theological doubts of the Italo-Greek bishops at Council of Bari in 1098.
In 1100 King Henry II invited Anselm to return to England, but they disputed over lay investiture, and Anselm was exiled again only to return in 1106 when Henry agreed not to interfere with the selection of Church officials. Anselm opposed slavery, and obtained English legislation prohibiting the sale of men. He strongly supported celibate clergy, and approved the addition of several saints to the liturgical calendar of England.
Anselm was one of the great philosophers and theologians of the middle ages, and a noted theological writer. He was far more at home in the monastery than in political circles, but still managed to improve the position of the Church in England. Counsellor to Pope Gregory VII. Chosen a Doctor of the Church in 1720 by Pope Clement XI.
Born
Additional Information
Readings
O God, let me know you and love you so that I may find joy in you; and if I cannot do so fully in this life, let me at least make some progress every day, until at last that knowledge, love and joy come to me in all their plenitude. While I am here on earth let me know you fully; let my love for you grow deeper here, so that there I may love you fully. On earth then I shall have great joy in hope, and in heaven complete joy in the fulfillment of my hope. O, Lord, through your Son you command us, no, you counsel us to ask, and you promise that you will hear us so that our joy may be complete. Give me then what you promise to give through your Truth. You, O God, are faithful; grant that I may receive my request, so that my joy may be complete. - Saint Anselm
No one will have any other desire in heaven than what God wills; and the desire of one will be the desire of all; and the desire of all and of each one will also be the desire of God.” - Saint Anselm, Opera Omnis, Letter 112
O Lord, we bring before you the distress and dangers of peoples and nations, the pleas of the imprisoned and the captive, the sorrows of the grief-stricken, the needs of the refugee, the impotence of the weak, the weariness of the despondent, and the diminishments of the aging. O Lord, stay close to all of them. Amen. - prayer for all classes of people by Saint Anselm
O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire Thee with our whole heart; that, so desiring, we may seek, and, seeking, find Thee; and so finding Thee, may love Thee; and loving Thee, may hate those sins from which Thou hast redeemed. Amen. - Saint Anselm
Saint Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. (John 6:32)
Have you ever seen a horse wearing blinders? Drivers use them so that the horse looks straight ahead and is not distracted by what’s going on around it. But if the blinders were never removed, the horse would have a very narrow view of life. In some ways, this is what Jesus was trying to do with the people seeking bread: he wanted to remove their blinders.
We shouldn’t think badly of the people who were following Jesus looking for bread. They were relying on their past experience: Jesus had fed them when they were hungry in the past; they were hungry now, so they assumed he would feed them once again. They believed he could provide for them. They even compared this miracle to the way God miraculously fed the Israelites in the desert.
But their sights were set too low; their horizon was too narrow. It was as if they had blinders on. Jesus had so much more in store for them than ordinary bread! He didn’t just want to solve their immediate problem of hunger; he wanted them never to be hungry again. He wanted to give them his very self so that they would be profoundly nourished.
Let’s remove our blinders today! Let’s not succumb to narrow vision. Yes, we trust Jesus and know that he has worked in our lives, but sometimes we don’t expect anything deeper.
Maybe you are struggling today and just want to see Jesus smooth things out for you. But what if he wants to do more? Maybe he wants to lift your spirit above your struggles or show you how to deal with them once and for all. Maybe you’re planning on going to Confession but just want to “get it over with.” What if Jesus wants this to be the best confession of your life? Maybe he wants to give you deep freedom over a sin pattern or confidence in his unfailing love.
When you read the Scriptures or pray today, expect something great. Don’t shy away from the ways he may be trying to give you awesome gifts from his Spirit. Give him the freedom to go deeper than you asked!
“Lord Jesus, I want more than mere bread. I want never to be hungry again! Lift my eyes to expect from you the life you want to give me!”
Acts 7:51–8:1; Psalm 31:3-4, 6-8, 17, 21; John 6:35-40
| The Unbearable Sign | ||
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April 21, 2015. Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
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John 6: 30-35
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April 21, 2015
Today’s Gospel reading is about our Lord as “the bread of life.” Jesus’ discourse on the bread of life was given in the context of the Jews asking Jesus for a “sign” that they “may see and believe in him.”
Signs. At some point in our lives, we have most probably asked for the “proverbial sign,” have we not? We have asked for a sign so that we can be assured that our prayer was heard or better yet, that we will be answered in the manner that we hope to be answered or even just to prove to us that God is real, especially when we begin to falter in our faith.
We have asked for signs that are hopefully uncommon so that if and when we see them, we will know that we have been answered by God: a rose, a dove, or something just as unexpected so that there can be no mistake when you see the “sign.”
Why do we ask for such “signs”? The simple answer is because we want reassurance that our prayers have been heard. We want to know in advance, if we will be answered according to our hopes and prayers. So what causes us to ask for signs again? We ask for signs because we lack faith in God.
Maybe we believe that we have unshakeable faith in God, and maybe we do. But what normally gets us to worry or doubt or even wonder if we’ve been heard, much less, answered is our own impatience. Maybe we don’t doubt God so much as wish that he would answer us right away.
What would it take for you to “believe” that, regardless of the “when,” our prayers will be answered according to what is best for us and that the answer will be “on time”?
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All Issues > Volume 31, Issue 3
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To my unborn child,
what I wish to give you in times to come,
happiness, and wisdom,
a life filled with fun,
to explore all adventures of your curious mind,
to become knowledgeable of what you'll find,
as I await your arrival and the presence of newborn cries,
I picture how you'll look when I open up my eyes.
I feel your movements every time I wake each day,
letting mommy know that you're okay,
obstacles I hope you'll overcome,
education I know you'll get done,
I stay up late reading to you,
talking to my stomach,
a feeling I never knew,
hungry all the time
'No doubt you're a son of mine',
You make me feel happy even when I'm sad,
because the formation of another life makes me glad.
Proud of you I am,
I already know how you'll be,
a smart 'lil' man for mommy to see,
no worries from me a mom to be,
to a special baby boy I can't wait to see.
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