Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 05-04-16

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 05-04-16 | Revised New American Bible

[Salvation]

Regina Coeli 

Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia. / For He whom you did merit to bear, alleluia.

Has risen, as he said, alleluia. / Pray for us to God, alleluia.

Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia. / For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

Let us pray. O God, who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

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John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 16
12.	I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now.	Adhuc multa habeo vobis dicere, sed non potestis portare modo.	ετι πολλα εχω λεγειν υμιν αλλ ου δυνασθε βασταζειν αρτι
13.	But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth. For he shall not speak of himself; but what things soever he shall hear, he shall speak; and the things that are to come, he shall shew you.	Cum autem venerit ille Spiritus veritatis, docebit vos omnem veritatem : non enim loquetur a semetipso, sed quæcumque audiet loquetur, et quæ ventura sunt annuntiabit vobis.	οταν δε ελθη εκεινος το πνευμα της αληθειας οδηγησει υμας εις πασαν την αληθειαν ου γαρ λαλησει αφ εαυτου αλλ οσα αν ακουση λαλησει και τα ερχομενα αναγγελει υμιν
14.	He shall glorify me; because he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it to you.	Ille me clarificabit, quia de meo accipiet, et annuntiabit vobis.	εκεινος εμε δοξασει οτι εκ του εμου ληψεται και αναγγελει υμιν
15.	All things whatsoever the Father hath, are mine. Therefore I said, that he shall receive of mine, and shew it to you.	Omnia quæcumque habet Pater, mea sunt. Propterea dixi : quia de meo accipiet, et annuntiabit vobis.	παντα οσα εχει ο πατηρ εμα εστιν δια τουτο ειπον οτι εκ του εμου λαμβανει και αναγγελει υμιν

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12. I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13. However when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come.
14. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine and shall show it to you.
15. All things that the Father has are mine; therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it to you.

THEOPHYL. Our Lord having said above, It is expedient for you that I go away, He enlarges now upon it: I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

AUG. All heretics, when their fables are rejected for their extravagance by the common sense of mankind, try to defend themselves by this text; as if these were the things which the disciples could not at this time bear, or as if the Holy Spirit could teach things, which even the unclean spirit is ashamed openly to teach and preach.

But bad doctrines such as even natural shame cannot bear are one thing, good doctrines such as our poor natural understanding cannot bear are another. The one are allied to the shameless body, the other lie far beyond the body. But what are these things which they could not bear; I cannot mention them for this very reason; for who of us dare call himself able to receive what they could not? Some one will say indeed that many, now that the Holy Ghost has been sent, can do what Peter could not then, as earn the crown of martyrdom.

But do we therefore know what those things were, which He was unwilling to communicate; for it seems most absurd to suppose that the disciples were not able to bear then the great doctrines, that we find in the Apostolic Epistles, which were written afterwards, which our Lord is not said to have spoken to them. For why could they not bear then what every one now reads and bears in their writings, even though he may not understand? Men of perverse sects indeed cannot bear what is found in Holy Scripture concerning the Catholic faith, as we cannot bear their sacrilegious vanities; for not to bear means not to acquiesce in.

But what believer or even catechumen before he has been baptized and received the Holy Ghost, does not acquiesce in and listen to, even if he does not understand, all that was written after our Lord's ascension; But some one will say, Do spiritual men never hold doctrines which they do not communicate to carnal men, but do to spiritual?

There is no necessity why any doctrines should be kept secret from the babes and revealed to the grown up believers. Spiritual men ought not altogether to withhold spiritual doctrines from the carnal, seeing the Catholic faith ought to be preached to all; nor at the same time should they lower them in order to accommodate them to the understanding of persons who cannot receive them, and so make their own preaching contemptible, rather than the truth intelligible.

So then we are not to understand these words of our Lord to refer to certain secret doctrines which if the teacher revealed, the disciple would not be able to bear, but to those very things in religious doctrine which are within the apprehension of all of us. If Christ chose to communicate these to us, in the same way in which He does to the Angels, what men, yea what spiritual men, which the Apostles were not now, could bear them? For indeed every thing which can be known of the creature is inferior to the Creator; and yet who is silent about Him?

While in the body we cannot know all the truth, as the Apostle says, We know in part (1 Cor 13); but the Holy Spirit sanctifying us fits us for enjoying that fullness of which the same Apostle says, Then face to face. Our Lord's promise, But when He the Spirit of truth shall come, He shall teach you all truth, or shall lead you into all truth, does not refer to this life only, but to the life to come, for which this complete fullness is reserved. The Holy Spirit both teaches believers now all the spiritual things which they are capable of receiving, and also kindles in their hearts a desire to know more.

DIDYMUS. Or He means that His hearers had not yet attained to all those things which for His name's sake they were able to bear; so, revealing lesser things, He puts off the greater for a future time, such things as they could not understand till the Cross itself of their crucified Head had been their instruction. As yet they were slaves to the types, and shadows, and images of the Law, and could not bear the truth of which the Law was the shadow. But when the Holy Ghost came, He would lead them by His teaching and discipline into all truth, transferring them from the dead letter to the quickening Spirit, in Whom alone all Scripture truth resides.

CHRYS. Having said then, you cannot bear them now, but then you shall be able, and, The Holy Spirit shall lead you into all truth; lest this should make them suppose that the Holy Spirit was the superior, He adds, For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak.

AUG. This is like what He said of Himself above, i.e., I can of My own Self do nothing; as I hear I judge. But that may be understood of Hi m as man; how must we understand this of the Holy Ghost, Who never became a creature by assuming a creature? As meaning that He is not from Himself: The Son is born of the Father, and the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father. In what the difference consists between proceeding and being born, it would require a long time to discuss, and would be rash to define.

But to hear is with Him to know, to know to be. As then He is not from Himself, but from Him from Whom He proceeds, from Whom His being is, from the same is His knowledge. From the same therefore His hearing. The Holy Ghost then always hears, because He always knows; and He has heard, hears, and will hear from Him from Whom He is.

DIDYMUS. He shall not speak of Himself, i.e., not without Me, and Mine and the Father's will: because He is not of Himself, but from the Father and Me. That He exists, and that He speaks, He has from the Father and Me. I speak the truth; i.e., I inspire as well as speak by Him, since He is the Spirit of Truth. To say and to speak in the Trinity must not be understood according to our usage, but according to the usage of incorporeal natures, and especially the Trinity, which implants Its will in the hearts of believers, all of those who are worthy to hear It.

For the Father then to speak, and the Son to hear, is a mode of expressing the identity of their nature, and their agreement. Again, the Holy Spirit, Who is the Spirit of truth, and the Spirit of wisdom, cannot hear from the Son what He does not know, seeing He is the very thing which is produced from the Son, i.e. truth proceeding from truth, Comforter from Comforter, God from God. Lastly, lest any one should separate Him from the will and society of the Father and the Son, it is written, Whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak.

AUG. But it does not follow from hence that the Holy Spirit is inferior; for it is only signified that He proceeds from the Father.

AUG. Nor let the use of the future tense perplex you; that hearing is eternal, because the knowledge is eternal. To that which is eternal, without beginning, and without end, a verb of any tense may be applied. For though an unchangeable nature does not admit of was and shall be, but only is, yet it is allowable to say of It, was and is and shall be: was, because It never began; shall be, because It never shall end; is, because It always is.

DIDYMUS. By the Spirit of truth too the knowledge of future events has been granted to holy men. Prophets filled with this Spirit foretold and saw things to come, as if they were present: And He will show you things to come.

BEDE. It is certain that many filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit have foreknown future events. But as many gifted saints have never had this power, the words, He will show you things to come, may be taken to mean, bring back to your minds the Joys of your heavenly country. He did however inform the Apostles of what was to come, viz. of the evils that they would have to suffer for Christ's sake, and the good things they would receive in recompense.

CHRYS. In this way then He raised their spirits; for there is nothing for which mankind so long, as the knowledge of the future. He relieves them from all anxiety on this account, by showing that dangers would not fall upon them unawares. Then to show that He could have told them all the truth into which the Holy Spirit would lead them, He adds, He shall glorify Me.

AUG. By pouring love into the hearts of believers, and making them spiritual, and so able to see that the Son Whom they had known before only according to the flesh, and thought a man like themselves, was equal to the Father. Or certainly because that love filling them with boldness, and casting out fear, they proclaimed Christ to men, and so spread His fame throughout the whole world. For what they were going to do in the power of the Holy Ghost, this the Holy Ghost says He does Himself.

CHRYS. And because He had said, You have one Master, even Christ (Matt 23:8), that they might not be prevented by this from admitting the Holy Ghost as well, He adds, For He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it to you.

DIDYMUS. To receive must be taken here in a sense agreeable to the Divine Nature. As the Son in giving is not deprived of what He gives, nor imparts to others with any loss of His own, so too the Holy Ghost does not receive what before He had not; for if He received what before He had not, the gift being transferred to another, the giver would be thereby a loser.

We must understand then that the Holy Ghost receives from the Son that which belonged to His nature, and that there are not two substances implied, one giving and the other receiving, but one substance only. In like manner the Son too is said to receive from the Father that wherein He Himself subsists. For neither is the Son any thing but what is given Him by the Father, nor the Holy Ghost any substance but that which is given Him by the Son.

AUG. But it is not true, as some heretics have thought, that because the Son receives from the Father, the Holy Ghost from the Son, as if by gradation, that therefore the Holy Ghost is inferior to the Son. He Himself solves this difficulty, and explains His own words: All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it to you.

DIDYMUS. As if He said, Although the Spirit of truth proceeds from the Father, yet all things that the Father has are Mine, and even the Spirit of the Father is Mine, and receives of Mine. But beware, when you hear this, that you think not it is a thing or possession which the Father and the Son have. That which the Father has according to His substance, i.e. His eternity, immutability, goodness, it is this which the Son has also.

Away with the evils of logicians who say, therefore the Father is the Son. Had He said indeed, All that God has are Mine, impiety might have taken occasion to raise its head; but when He said, All things that the Father has are Mine, by using the name of the Father, He declares Himself the Son, and being the Son, He usurps not the Paternity, though by the grace of adoption He is the Father of many saints.

HILARY. Our Lord therefore has not left it uncertain whether the Paraclete be from the Father, or from the Son; for He is sent by the Son, and proceeds from the Father; both these He receives from the Son. You ask whether to receive from the Son and to proceed from the Father be the same thing.

Certainly, to receive from the Son must be thought one and the same thing with receiving from the Father; for when He says, All things that the Father has are Mine, therefore said I, that He shall receive of Mine, He shows herein that the things are received from Him, because all things which the Father has are His, but that they are received from the Father also. This unity has no diversity; nor does it matter from whom the thing is received; since that which is given by the Father is counted also as given by the Son.

Catena Aurea John 16

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The Sermon of St Stephen

Vittore Carpaccio

1514
Tempera on canvas, 152 x 195 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

[Salvation]

Information: St. Godehard of Hildesheim

Feast Day: May 4

Born: 960, Reichersdorf, Bavaria

Died: May 4, 1038

Canonized: 1131, Rheims by Innocent II

Patron of: ravelling merchants; invoked against fever, dropsy, childhood sicknesses, hailstones, the pain of childbirth, and gout; invoked by those in peril of the sea

[Salvation]

Holy Spirit Interactive Kids: A Saint a Day

St. Judith of Prussia

Feast Day: May 05
Died: 1260

St. Judith was born at Sangerhausen in Thuringia which is now central Germany. Her family was rich but she wanted to follow the example of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. In St. Judith's time, many Christian women were influenced by her inspiring example.

When she was just fifteen, Judith was married to a wealthy young nobleman. She tried to be a good Christian wife and was very generous with the poor. Her husband was a good man, but he was happy with his rich and comfortable life.

He also wanted his wife to dress and live like a rich woman so that people would respect them. But Judith gently made him realize that they would have more to give to people less fortunate than themselves if they lived and dressed more simply.

Then Judith's husband died suddenly while he was on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. As a young widow Judith raised her children alone. When the children grew up and didn't need her help any longer, Judith finally gave in to a longing that had been hidden in her heart even during the busy, happy days of her life.

She sold everything she had and moved to Prussia where people would not know that she was from a wealthy family. There she lived as a hermit in a little hut and spent her time praying and taking care of weary travelers who passed by.

She prayed especially for nonbelievers to come to Jesus in faith. She prayed also for the newly baptized Christians to be true to their faith.

"Three things can lead us close to God," she once said. "They are painful physical suffering, being in exile in a foreign land, and being poor by choice because of love for God."

St. Judith died of fever in 1260 at Kulmsee in Prussia. She was named the patroness of Prussia.

[Salvation]

Wednesday

May 4, 2016

A Tiny Spark

“If a tiny spark of God’s love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out. Keep the stove tightly shut so that it will not lose its heat and grow cold. In other words, avoid distractions as well as you can. Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter.” St. Charles Borromeo

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Year of Mercy Calendar for Today: “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this life is to see what you believe.” St. Augustine

[Salvation]

CATHOLIC ALMANAC

Wednesday, May 4

Liturgical Color: White

Today the Church honors St John
Houghton, priest, and one of the
Martyrs of England. John was one of
the first English Catholics killed for
refusing to sign King Henry VIII’s
Act of Supremacy which made the
king supreme head of the Church of
England.

[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Easter: May 4th

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

MASS READINGS

May 04, 2016 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that, as we celebrate in mystery the solemnities of your Son's Resurrection, so, too, we may be worthy to rejoice at his coming with all the Saints. 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.

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Recipes (1)

• Tea Scones

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Activities (3)

• Marian Hymn: ’Tis Said of Our Dear Lady
• Marian Hymn: Bring Flowers of the Fairest
• May, the Month of Mary

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Prayers (4)

• Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven)
• May Pilgrimages
• Easter Season II Table Blessing 3
• Prayers for the Easter Season

  Old Calendar: St. Monica, widow; St. Florian (Hist)

  According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, this was the feast of St. Monica, widow, Third Class. Her feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on August 27.

  Historically today is the feast of St. Florian, a Roman military officer stationed at Noricum (Austria) who openly declared himself a Christian during the persecution of co-Emperor Diocletian.

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  St. Florian
  The St. Florian commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on May 4th, was an officer of the Roman army, who occupied a high administrative post in Noricum, now part of Austria, and who suffered death for the Faith in the days of Diocletian. His legendary "Acts" state that he gave himself up at Lorch to the soldiers of Aquilinus, the governor, when they were rounding up the Christians, and after making a bold confession, he was twice scourged, half-flayed alive, set on fire, and finally thrown into the river Enns with a stone around his neck. His body, recovered and buried by a pious woman, was eventually removed to the Augustinian Abbey of St. Florian, near Linz. It is said to have been at a later date translated to Rome, and Pope Lucius III, in 1138, gave some of the saint's relics to King Casimir of Poland and to the Bishop of Cracow. Since that time, St. Florian has been regarded as a patron of Poland as well as of Linz, Upper Austria and of firemen. There has been popular devotion to St. Florian in many parts of central Europe, and the tradition as to his martyrdom, not far from the spot where the Enns flows into the Danube, is ancient and reliable. Many miracles of healing are attributed to his intercession and he is invoked as a powerful protector in danger from fire or water.

  Patron: Austria and Poland; firefighters.

  Things to Do:

  • Read more about St. Florian here.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Acts 17:15, 22–18:1

6th Week of Easter

What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. (Acts 17:23)

In the opening paragraph of his encyclical Faith and Reason, Pope John Paul II wrote: “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself.” Today’s first reading depicts the Athenians as a people who earnestly desired to rise to that contemplation of truth, and it tells us how Paul offered them the good news as a way to strengthen their “faith wing.”

In the time of Paul, the city of Athens was full of temples and shrines to various deities. Using human reason, the Greeks came to the correct, but incomplete, conclusion that there was a vast spiritual realm that we can’t fully see or comprehend. Their society was built on the idea that a people would thrive so long as they kept the gods happy and be punished if they did not. So a sense of fear became a built-in part of their spirituality. They were so anxious about keeping every single god happy that they erected a shrine—probably several, according to archaeologists—to an “Unknown God,” in case they had left anyone out (Acts 17:23).

Notice how gracious Paul is—and how smart. Instead of accusing the Greeks of idolatry, he commends their search for the truth. Then he uses their concept of an unknown god to introduce a new idea: this god has made himself known—and he is the one true God! Not only that, but he has stepped out of the shadows to walk with us.

Recalling this story highlights the miracle of the Incarnation, the miracle of God making himself known to us in a personal way. God saw our longing for the truth, so he sent Jesus to come be with us and to show us the truth. He is no longer unknown. In everything he said and did, especially in his cross and resurrection, Jesus revealed the invisible, all-powerful God. And wonder of wonders, he showed us that God is our Father, our Redeemer, and our Friend!

“Thank you, Jesus, for showing me the face of God. Help me know how close you are today.”

Psalm 148:1-2, 11-14
John 16:12-15

[Salvation]

Marriage = One Man and One Woman Until Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for May 4, 2016:

May is the month of Our Lady. Make this month an opportunity to increase your family’s devotion to her – pray a Hail Mary or a decade of the Rosary together each day.

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

Nothing But the Truth

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

May 4, 2016 - Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Father John Doyle, LC

John 16:12-15

Jesus said to his disciples: "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, as I begin this prayer I offer you my whole self: my thoughts, desires, decisions, actions, hopes, fears, weaknesses, failures and petty successes. I open my entire being to you, aware that you know everything already. I’m certain of your mercy and of the purifying power of your penetrating, loving gaze.

Petition: Lord, allow me to be sincerely and truthfully yours.

1. My Truth Before God: Jesus tells his apostles he has many more things to tell them, but it seems that they are not yet ready to accept the truth. They were not ready, for one thing, to acknowledge the fact that in a few short hours all of them would flee before the prospect of the Cross, leaving Christ quite alone. I, too, may find it hard to see, or to accept, a realistic picture of my relationship with Christ or my state of soul. I may justify myself or my indifference with any number of psychological consolations. I might convince myself that I am not quite as bad off as so-and-so. Perhaps I put up an excellent external show, living all the motions, but with little true conviction and sincerity.
   

2. Cheap Deceptions: In our consumer-oriented world, first impressions often seem to count more than the goodness or evil of a thing. Opinion polls appear to set the standard for right and wrong, and a false idea of tolerance is a highly held ideal. Truth can be seen as bluntly offensive, and so it is repackaged in a more appealing way. However, none of these attempts by the “spirit of the world” can ever succeed in the end, just as no amount of darkness can ever stop the smallest beam of light. The Holy Spirit is at work in the world declaring the truth loud and clear in the depths of the human soul. Only the truth -- which comes from Christ -- has the power to bring true peace and joy to the human heart when all illusions are shown up as such.
   

3. Living in the Truth: As Christians we must be on guard against the spirit of insincerity. No one who lives outside the truth can claim to be a disciple of Christ. Little falsehoods in our lives are utterly destructive to the action of the “Spirit of Truth” in our souls. Our Savior never spoke out so strongly against anything as he did against the pretended righteousness of the leaders of his time. How many things have I done recently just to be praised by others? How many good things have I done which are known to God alone? Am I capable of standing firm to my convictions in the face of misunderstanding or ridicule?
   

Conversation with Christ: Jesus, the example of your life and death is one of complete honesty. Empower me through the “Spirit of Truth” to be sincere in all that I do before God and others.

Resolution: I will ask forgiveness in the sacrament of reconciliation at the first available opportunity for any insincerity in my life.

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Espa�ol

All Issues > Volume 32, Issue 3

<< Wednesday, May 4, 2016 >>

Acts 17:15, 22�18:1
View Readings

Psalm 148:1-2, 11-14

John 16:12-15
Similar Reflections

PRAYER OR FAILURE

"When they heard about the raising of the dead, some sneered." �Acts 17:32

"With power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great respect was paid to them all" (Acts 4:33). Paul, the least of the apostles (1 Cor 15:9), also witnessed with power for the risen Christ except when he preached at Athens. There, while a few believed, others sneered at Paul (Acts 17:32), called him a "magpie" (Acts 17:18), and refused to take him seriously. At Athens, Paul seemed to have lost his power, his anointing from the Spirit.

Like Paul, we may see less power in our prayer, ministry, marriage, family, or witnessing. We're at the Athens in our lives. Others don't seem to take our Christian lives seriously. We feel like failures. We need the Spirit fanned into flame in our lives (2 Tm 1:6).

Friday, we begin nine days of prayer, just as did the disciples at the first Christian Pentecost. We must pray for our Confirmations to be renewed. We must stifle the flesh and be stirred up in the Spirit, instead of the opposite (Gal 5:17). If we don't pray to receive a new Pentecost now, we will continue in the futility of Athens. Mary, the other saints, and the angels are praying for us to receive the Holy Spirit. Let's join them and pray in these next days as never before. Jesus promises: "If you, with all your sins, know how to give your children good things, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" (Lk 11:13). Come, Holy Spirit!

Prayer: Jesus, teach me to pray (see Lk 11:1) for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Promise: "When He comes, however, being the Spirit of truth, He will guide you to all truth." �Jn 16:13

Praise: Although Patrick had been living in the Spirit for years, he prayed for a new outpouring and received new graces to minister in holiness and power.

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