John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 15
18.	If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated me before you.	Si mundus vos odit, scitote quia me priorem vobis odio habuit.	ει ο κοσμος υμας μισει γινωσκετε οτι εμε πρωτον υμων μεμισηκεν
19.	If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.	Si de mundo fuissetis, mundus quod suum erat diligeret : quia vero de mundo non estis, sed ego elegi vos de mundo, propterea odit vos mundus.	ει εκ του κοσμου ητε ο κοσμος αν το ιδιον εφιλει οτι δε εκ του κοσμου ουκ εστε αλλ εγω εξελεξαμην υμας εκ του κοσμου δια τουτο μισει υμας ο κοσμος
20.	Remember my word that I said to you: The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have kept my word, they will keep yours also.	Mementote sermonis mei, quem ego dixi vobis : non est servus major domino suo. Si me persecuti sunt, et vos persequentur ; si sermonem meum servaverunt, et vestrum servabunt.	μνημονευετε του λογου ου εγω ειπον υμιν ουκ εστιν δουλος μειζων του κυριου αυτου ει εμε εδιωξαν και υμας διωξουσιν ει τον λογον μου ετηρησαν και τον υμετερον τηρησουσιν
21.	But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake: because they know not him who sent me.	Sed hæc omnia facient vobis propter nomen meum : quia nesciunt eum qui misit me.	αλλα ταυτα παντα ποιησουσιν υμιν δια το ονομα μου οτι ουκ οιδασιν τον πεμψαντα με

18. If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.
19. If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20. Remember the word that I said to you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If' they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21. But all these things will they do to you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

CHRYS. Or thus: I have said that I lay down My life for you, and that I first chose you. I have said this not by way of reproach, but to induce you to love one another.

Then as they were about to suffer persecution and reproach, He bids them not to grieve, but rejoice on that account: If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you: as if to say, I know it is a hard trial, but you will endure it for My sake.

AUG. For why should the members exalt themselves above the head? You refuse to be in the body, if you are not willing, with the head, to endure the hatred of the world. For love's sake let us be patient; the world must hate us, whom it sees hate whatever it loves;

If you were of the world, the world would love his own.

CHRYS. As if Christ's suffering were not consolation enough, He consoles them still further by telling them, the hatred of the world would be an evidence of their goodness; so that they ought rather to grieve if they were loved by the world, as that would be evidence of their wickedness.

AUG. He said this to the whole Church which is often called the world; as God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor 5:19). The whole world then is the Church, and the whole world hates the Church. The world hates the world, the world in enmity, the world reconciled, the defiled world, the changed world. Here it may be asked, If the wicked can be said to persecute the wicked; e. g., if impious kings, and judges, who persecute the righteous, punish murderers and adulterers also, how are we to understand our Lord's words, If you were of the world, the world would love his own? In this way; The world is in them who punish these offenses, and the world is In them who love them. The world then hates its own so far as it punishes the wicked, loves its own so far as it favors them. Again, if it be asked how the world loves itself, when it hates the means of its redemption, the answer is, that it loves itself with a false, not a true love, loves what hurts it; hates nature, loves vice. Wherefore we are forbidden to love what it loves in itself; commanded to love what it hates in itself. The vice in it we are forbidden, the nature in it we are commanded, to love. And to separate us from this lost world, we are chosen out of it, not by merit of our own, for we had no merits to begin with, not by nature which was radically corrupt, but by grace: But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

GREG. For the dispraise of the perverse, is our praise. There is nothing wrong in not pleasing those who do not please God. For no one can by one and the same act please God, and the enemies of God. He proves himself no friend to God, who pleases His enemy; and he whose soul is in subjection to the Truth, will have to contend with the enemies of that Truth.

AUG. Our Lord, in exhorting His servants to bear patiently the hatred of their world, proposes to them an example than which there can be no better and higher one, viz. Himself: Remember the word that I said to you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also.

GLOSS. They observed it in order to calumniate it, as we read in the Psalms, The ungodly sees the righteousness .

THEOPHYL. Or thus: If, He says, they have persecuted your Lord, much more will they persecute you; if they had persecuted Him, but kept His commandments they would keep yours also.

CHRYS. As if He said, you must not be disturbed at having to share My sufferings; for you are not better than I.

AUG. The servant is not greater than his lord. Here the servant is the one who has the purified fear, which abides for ever.

CHRYS. Then follows another consolation, viz. that the Father is despised and injured with them: But all these things will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know not Him that sent Me.

AUG. All these things, viz. what He had mentioned, that the world would hate them, persecute them, despise their word. For My Name's sake, i.e., in you they will hate Me, in you persecute Me, your word they will not keep, because it is mine. They who do these things for His name's sake are as miserable, as they who suffer them are blessed: except when they do them to the wicked as well; for then both they who do, and they who suffer, are miserable. But how do they do all these things for His name's sake, when they do nothing for Christ's name's sake, i.e., for justice sake? We shall do away with this difficulty, if we take the words as applying to the righteous; as if it were, All these things will you suffer from them, for My name's sake. If for My name's sake mean this, i.e., My name which they hate in you, justice which they hate in you; of the good, when they persecute the wicked, it may be said in the same way, that they do so both for righteousness' sake, which they love, which love is their motive in persecuting, and for unrighteousness' sake, the unrighteousness of the wicked, which they hate. Because they know not Him that sent Me, i.e. know not according to that knowledge of which it is said, To know you is perfect righteousness (Wisdom 15:3).

Catena Aurea John 15

Martyrdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch

From: Acts 16:1-10

Timothy joins Paul

[1] And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timo-
thy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek.
[2] He was well spoken of by the brethren at Lystra and Iconium. [3] Paul wanted
Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and circumcised him because of
the Jews that were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

A Tour of the Churches of Asia Minor

[4] As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for ob-
servance the decisions which had been reached by the Apostles and elders who
were at Jerusalem. [5] So the churches were strengthened in the faith and they
increased in numbers daily.

[6] And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been for-
bidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. [7] And when they had come
opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not
allow them; [8] so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. [9] And a vision
appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing beseeching him
and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” [10] And when he had seen
the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God
had called us to preach the gospel to them.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

1-3. At Lystra, a city which he evangelized during his first journey (cf. 14:6),
Paul meets a young Christian, Timothy, of whom he had received good reports.
His Jewish mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois were Christians, and Timo-
thy had received the faith from them.

Paul’s apostolic plans for Timothy, and the fact that, despite being Jewish
through his mother, he had not been circumcised, lead him to circumcise him:
everyone in the city knew he was a Jew and those who practised the Mosaic
Law might easily have regarded him as an apostate from Judaism, in which
case he would be unlikely to be an effective preacher of the Gospel to the Jews.

“He took Timothy,” St. Ephraem comments, “and circumcised him. Paul did not
do this without deliberation: he always acted prudently; but given that Timothy
was being trained to preach the Gospel to Jews everywhere, and to avoid their
not giving him a good hearing because he was not circumcised, he decided to
circumcise him. In doing this he was not aiming to show that circumcision was
necessary—he had been the one most instrumental in eliminating it—but to avoid
putting the Gospel at risk” (”Armenian Commentary, ad loc.”).

In the case of Titus, St. Paul did not have him circumcised (cf. Galatians 2:3-5);
which showed that he did not consider circumcision a matter of principle; it is
simply for reasons of pastoral prudence and common sense that he has Timothy
circumcised. Titus was the son of Gentile parents; to have circumcised him — at
a point when Paul was fighting the Judaizers — would have meant Paul giving up
his principles. However, the circumcision of Timothy, which takes place later, is
in itself something that has no relevance from the Christian point of view (cf.
Galatians 5:6, 15).

Timothy became one of Paul’s most faithful disciples, a most valuable associate
in his missionary work (cf. 17:14ff; 18:5; 19:22; 20:4; 1 Thessalonians 3:2; Ro-
mans 16:21) and the recipient of two of the Apostle’s letters.

4. The text suggests that all Christians accepted the decisions of the Council of
Jerusalem in a spirit of obedience and joy. They saw them as being handed down
by the Church through the Apostles and as providing a satisfactory solution to a
delicate problem. The disciples accept these commandments with internal and
external assent: by putting them into practice they showed their docility. Every-
thing which a lawful council lays down merits and demands acceptance by Chris-
tians, because it reflects, as the Council of Trent teaches, “the true and saving
doctrine which Christ taught, the Apostles then handed on, and the Catholic
Church, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, ever maintains; therefore, no one
should subsequently dare to believe, preach or teach anything different” (”De Ius-
tificatione”, Preface).

John Paul II called on Christians to adhere sincerely to conciliar directives when
he exhorted them in Mexico City to keep to the letter and the spirit of Vatican II:
“Take in your hands the documents of the Council. Study them with loving atten-
tion, in a spirit of prayer, to discover what the Spirit wished to say about the
Church” (”Homily in Mexico Cathedral”, 26 January 1979).

6. In Galatia Paul had the illness which he refers to in Galatians 4:13: “You
know that it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the Gospel to you
at first ...”: his apostolic zeal makes him turn his illness, which prevented him
from moving on, to good purpose.

7. We are not told how the Holy Spirit prevented Paul from going to Bithynia. It
would have been through an interior voice or through some person sent by God.

Some Greek codices and a few translations say simply “Spirit” instead of “Spi-
rit of Jesus”, but really the two mean the same: cf. Philippians 1:19; Romans 8:
9; 1 Peter 1:11.

9. This vision probably took place in a dream: Acts tells us of a number of ins-
tances where God made His will known in that way (cf. 9:10, 12; 10:3, 17; 18:9;
22:17). Paul and his companions were convinced he had received a message
from God.

The vision is quite right to describe the preaching of the Gospel as help for Mace-
donia: it is the greatest help, the greatest benefit, a person or a country could be
given, an immense grace from God and a great act of charity on the part of the
preacher, preparing his listeners, as he does, for the wonderful gift of faith.

10. The conviction that Paul and his companions have about what they must do
is the way every Christian, called as he is at Baptism, should feel about his vo-
cation to imitate Christ and therefore be apostolic.

“All Christians”, John Paul II teaches, “incorporated into Christ and His Church
by baptism, are consecrated to God. They are called to profess the faith which
they have received. By the Sacrament of Confirmation, they are further endowed
by the Holy Spirit with special strength to be witnesses of Christ and shares in
His mission of salvation. Every lay Christian is therefore an extraordinary work
of God’s grace and is called to the heights of holiness. Sometimes, lay men and
women do not seem to appreciate the full dignity and the vocation that is theirs
as lay people. No, there is no such thing as an ‘ordinary layman’, for all of you
have been called to conversion through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As God’s holy people you are called to fulfill your role in the evangelization of the
world. Yes, the laity are ‘a chosen race, a holy priesthood’, also called to be ‘the
salt of the earth’ and ‘the light of the world’. It is their specific vocation and mis-
sion to express the Gospel in their lives and thereby to insert the Gospel as a
leaven into the reality of the world in which they live and work” (”Homily in Lime-
rick”, 1 October 1979).

Now the narrative moves into the first person plural (16:10-17; 20:5-8; 13-15; 21:
1-18; 27:1-28, 16). The author includes himself among St. Paul’s companions,
as an eyewitness of what he reports. Luke must have joined the missionaries at
Troas and then stayed behind in Philippi.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: John 15:18-21

A Hostile World

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [18] “If the world hates you, know that it has hated
Me before it hated you. [19] If you were of the world, the world would love its own;
but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore
the world hates you. [20] Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not
greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you; if they
kept My word, they will keep yours also. [21] But all this they will do to you on
My account, because they do not know Him who sent Me.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

18-19. Jesus states that there can be no compromise between Him and the world,
the kingdom of sin: anyone who lives in sin abhors the light (cf. John 3:19-20).
This is why Christ is persecuted, and why the Apostles will be in their turn. “The
hostility of the perverse sounds like praise for our life”, St. Gregory says, “because
it shows that we have at least some rectitude if we are an annoyance to those who
do not love God; no one can be pleasing to God and to God’s enemies at the same
time. He who seeks to please those who oppose God is no friend of God; and he
who submits himself to the truth will fight against those who strive against truth”
(”In Ezechielem Homiliae”, 9).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mass Readings

First reading	Acts 16:1-10 ©

From Cilicia Paul went to Derbe, and then on to Lystra. Here there was a disciple called Timothy, whose mother was a Jewess who had become a believer; but his father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy, and Paul, who wanted to have him as a travelling companion, had him circumcised. This was on account of the Jews in the locality where everyone knew his father was a Greek.

As they visited one town after another, they passed on the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, with instructions to respect them.

So the churches grew strong in the faith, as well as growing daily in numbers.

They travelled through Phrygia and the Galatian country, having been told by the Holy Spirit not to preach the word in Asia. When they reached the frontier of Mysia they thought to cross it into Bithynia, but as the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them, they went through Mysia and came down to Troas.

One night Paul had a vision: a Macedonian appeared and appealed to him in these words, ‘Come across to Macedonia and help us.’ Once he had seen this vision we lost no time in arranging a passage to Macedonia, convinced that God had called us to bring them the Good News.

Psalm	Psalm 99:1-3,5

Gospel	John 15:18-21 ©

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘If the world hates you,

remember that it hated me before you.

If you belonged to the world,

the world would love you as its own;

but because you do not belong to the world,

because my choice withdrew you from the world,

therefore the world hates you.

Remember the words I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too;

if they kept my word, they will keep yours as well.

But it will be on my account that they will do all this,

because they do not know the one who sent me.’

Saturday, May 28, 2011
Easter Weekday

First Reading:
Psalm:
Gospel:

Acts 16:1-10
Psalm 100:1-3, 5
John 15:18-21

Prayer is the bulwark of chastity.

-- St. Gregory the Great

This prayer, which dates from the twelfth century, is substituted for the Angelus during Easter Season.

The Regina Coeli

In Latin

In English

Regina coeli, laetare, alleluia: Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia. Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia. Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.

V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, Alleluia,

R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.

Oremus: Deus qui per resurrectionem Filii tui, Domini nostri Iesu Christi, mundum laetificare dignatus es: praesta, quaesumus, ut per eius Genetricem Virginem Mariam, perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.

R. Amen.

Queen of Heaven rejoice, alleluia: For He whom you merited to bear, alleluia, Has risen as He said, alleluia. Pray for us to God, alleluia.

V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.

R. Because the Lord is truly risen, alleluia.

Let us pray: O God, who by the Resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, granted joy to the whole world: grant we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may lay hold of the joys of eternal life. Through the same Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

"Aren't you glad your mother didn't have an abortion?"

Office of Readings and Invitatory Psalm

Office of Readings

If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.

Introduction

O God, come to my aid.

O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen. Alleluia.

Hymn

O thou, the heavens’ eternal King,

Creator, unto thee we sing,

With God the Father ever One,

Coequal, coeternal Son.

Thy hand, when first the world began,

Made in thine own pure image man,

And yoked to fleshly form of earth

A living form of heavenly birth.

And when the envy of the foe

Had marred thy noblest work below,

Clothed in our flesh, thou didst restore

The image thou hadst made before.

Once wast thou born of Mary’s womb;

And now, newborn from out the tomb,

O Christ, thou bid’st us rise with thee

From death to immortality.

Redeemer, thou for us didst deign

To hang upon the Cross of pain,

And give to us the lavish price

Of thine own Blood in sacrifice.

Grant, Lord, in thee each faithful mind

Unceasing Paschal joy may find;

And from the death of sin set free

Souls newly born to life by thee.

To thee, once dead, who now dost live,

All glory, Lord, thy people give,

Whom, with the Father, we adore,

And Holy Spirit forevermore.

Psalm 104 (105) The Lord is faithful to his promises

Sing to the Lord; tell all his wonderful works, alleluia.

Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name;

proclaim his works among the peoples.

Sing and make music to him

and reflect on all the wonders he has performed.

Glory in his holy name,

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Seek the Lord in his power,

always seek his face.

Remember the wonders he performed,

his miracles and the judgements he has uttered.

Seed of Abraham, his servants,

children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

The Lord himself is our God,

his rule extends over the whole earth.

He has always remembered his covenant,

that he made to last a thousand generations,

the agreement he made with Abraham,

the oath he swore to Isaac.

He made it a decree for Jacob,

an eternal covenant for Israel, saying

“I will give you Canaan

and measure it out as your inheritance.”

Although they were few in number,

a handful of wanderers,

although they were travelling from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another,

he let no harm come to them,

he rebuked kings in their defence:

“do not touch my anointed ones,

do no harm to my prophets.”

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Sing to the Lord; tell all his wonderful works, alleluia.

Psalm 104 (105)

The Lord did not forget the just man who was sold as a slave: he released him from the power of sinful men. Alleluia.

The Lord called down famine upon the land, he ground away every stick of bread.

He had sent a man to them, Joseph, and he was sold as a slave.

They confined his feet in fetters and put a ring around his neck –

until the Lord’s word came, the Lord spoke and justified him.

The king sent for him and released him – the ruler of the peoples set him free.

He set him to rule over his house, made him lord of all his possessions,

so that he could make the princes as wise as himself and teach wisdom to the elders.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

The Lord did not forget the just man who was sold as a slave: he released him from the power of sinful men. Alleluia.

Psalm 104 (105)

The Lord remembered his holy word, and he brought out his people with joy. Alleluia.

And so Israel passed into Egypt

and Jacob lived in the country of Ham.

The Lord made his people grow enormously

and strengthened them against their enemies.

Then he turned the hearts of men against his chosen people,

so that they hated them and made plots against them.

He sent Moses, his servant,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

He made them prophesy

the signs and prodigies he would work in the land of Ham.

He sent shadows and darkness,

but they would not listen to his words.

He turned their rivers into blood,

killing all the fish.

Frogs ate up the earth,

even in the secret gardens of the palaces.

He summoned flies

and insects throughout the land.

He sent stones of hail and fire

to devastate their land.

He struck their vines and their fig-trees,

broke down the trees of their country.

He spoke, and locusts came,

and worms without number:

they ate all the grain of the land,

consumed all of the fruit.

He struck down the first-born of their land,

the flower of all their strength.

He led his people out with silver and gold;

not a single one of them stumbled.

Egypt rejoiced to see them go,

to see the last of the people they feared.

He sent a cloud to protect them,

and fire to light up their nights.

He led out his people in exultation,

his chosen ones in gladness.

He gave them the territory of the nations,

the fruits of the labours of the peoples.

All this he did

so that they would keep his decrees

and follow his laws.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

The Lord remembered his holy word, and he brought out his people with joy. Alleluia.

God has given us a new birth into living hope, alleluia,

– through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, alleluia.

Reading	Apocalypse 22:10-21 ©

This, too, he said to me, ‘Do not keep the prophecies in this book a secret, because the Time is close. Meanwhile let the sinner go on sinning, and the unclean continue to be unclean; let those who do good go on doing good, and those who are holy continue to be holy. Very soon now, I shall be with you again, bringing the reward to be given to every man according to what he deserves. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Happy are those who will have washed their robes clean, so that they will have the right to feed on the tree of life and can come through the gates into the city. These others must stay outside: dogs, fortune-tellers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone of false speech and false life.’

I, Jesus, have sent my angel to make these revelations to you for the sake of the churches. I am of David’s line, the root of David and the bright star of the morning.

The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ Let everyone who listens answer, ‘Come.’ Then let all who are thirsty come: all who want it may have the water of life, and have it free.

This is my solemn warning to all who hear the prophecies in this book: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him every plague mentioned in the book; if anyone cuts anything out of the prophecies in this book, God will cut off his share of the tree of life and of the holy city, which are described in the book.

The one who guarantees these revelations repeats his promise: I shall indeed be with you soon. Amen; come, Lord Jesus.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen.

Responsory

I am of David’s line, the root of David and the bright star of morning. The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. Everyone who hears this must also say, Come. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus, alleluia!

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters. Come to me and listen to my words. Everyone who hears this must also say, Come. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus, alleluia!

Reading	From a discourse on the psalms by Saint Augustine, Bishop

The Easter alleluia

Our thoughts in this present life should turn on the praise of God, because it is in praising God that we shall rejoice for ever in the life to come; and no one can be ready for the next life unless he trains himself for it now. So we praise God during our earthly life, and at the same time we make our petitions to him. Our praise is expressed with joy, our petitions with yearning. We have been promised something we do not yet possess, and because the promise was made by one who keeps his word, we trust him and are glad; but insofar as possession is delayed, we can only long and yearn for it. It is good for us to persevere in longing until we receive what was promised, and yearning is over; then praise alone will remain.

Because there are these two periods of time – the one that now is, beset with the trials and troubles of this life, and the other yet to come, a life of everlasting serenity and joy – we are given two liturgical seasons, one before Easter and the other after. The season before Easter signifies the troubles in which we live here and now, while the time after Easter which we are celebrating at present signifies the happiness that will be ours in the future. What we commemorate before Easter is what we experience in this life; what we celebrate after Easter points to something we do not yet possess. This is why we keep the first season with fasting and prayer; but now the fast is over and we devote the present season to praise. Such is the meaning of the Alleluia we sing.

Both these periods are represented and demonstrated for us in Christ our head. The Lord’s passion depicts for us our present life of trial – shows how we must suffer and be afflicted and finally die. The Lord’s resurrection and glorification show us the life that will be given to us in the future.

Now therefore, brethren, we urge you to praise God. That is what we are all telling each other when we say Alleluia. You say to your neighbour, “Praise the Lord!” and he says the same to you. We are all urging one another to praise the Lord, and all thereby doing what each of us urges the other to do. But see that your praise comes from your whole being; in other words, see that you praise God not with your lips and voices alone, but with your minds, your lives and all your actions.

We are praising God now, assembled as we are here in church; but when we go on our various ways again, it seems as if we cease to praise God. But provided we do not cease to live a good life, we shall always be praising God. You cease to praise God only when you swerve from justice and from what is pleasing to God. If you never turn aside from the good life, your tongue may be silent but your actions will cry aloud, and God will perceive your intentions; for as our ears hear each other’s voices, so do God’s ears hear our thoughts.

Responsory

You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy, alleluia.

You will weep while the world rejoices, but your sorrow will turn into joy, alleluia.

Let us pray.

Almighty, ever-living God,

you gave us the life of heaven

by the new birth of baptism;

you implanted in us the seed of eternity

by your gift of grace.

Lead us, in your providence,

to the fulness of glory.

[We make our prayer] through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

Amen

Diviine Intimacy Devotional

The Action of the Holy Spirit

Presence of God

O Holy Spirit, make me realize Your action in my soul; teach me to recognize it and correspond with it.

Meditation

1. Just as the Holy Spirit dwelt in the most holy soul of Christ in order to bring it to God, so He abides in our souls for the same purpose. In Jesus He found a completely docile will, one that He could control perfectly, whereas in us He often meets resistance, the fruit of human weakness; therefore, He desists from the work of our sanctification because He will not do violence to our liberty. He, the Spirit of love, waits for us to co-operate lovingly in His work, yielding our soul to His sanctifying action freely and ardently. In order to become saints, we must concur in the work of the Holy Spirit; but since effective concurrence is impossible without an understanding of the promoter's actions, it is necessary for us to learn how the divine Paraclete, the promoter of our sanctification, works in us.

We must realize that the Holy Spirit is ever active in our souls, from the earliest stages of the spiritual life and even from its very beginning, although at that time in a more hidden and imperceptible way. However, His very precious action was there, and it consisted especially in the preparing and encouraging of our first attempts to acquire perfection. By giving us grace, without which we could have done nothing to attain sanctity, the Holy Spirit inaugurated His work in us: He elevated us to the supernatural state. Grace comes from God; it is a gift from all three Persons of the Blessed Trinity: a gift created by the Father, merited by the Son in consequence of His Incarnation, Passion and death, and diffused in our souls by the Holy Spirit. But is to the latter, to the Spirit of love, that the work of our sanctification is attributed in a very special manner. When we were baptized, we were justified "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"; nevertheless, Sacred Scripture particularly attributes this work of regeneration and divine filiation to the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself pointed out to us that Baptism is a rebirth "of … the Holy Spirit" (John 3,5), and St Paul stated: "For in one Spirit were we all baptized" and "the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God" (1 Corinthians 12, 13 — Romans 8,16). Therefore, it is the Holy Spirit who has prepared and disposed our souls for the supernatural life by pouring forth grace in us.

2. Besides this, in order to enable us to perform the supernatural acts, the Holy Spirit comes to strengthen our powers — the intellect and the will — by the infused virtues: charity, together with the other theological virtues of faith and hope, and the moral virtues. Thus, through His intervention, we become capable of performing supernatural acts. But the Holy Spirit does not stop there; like a good teacher, He continues to help us in our work, urging us to do good and sustaining our efforts. He invites us by His interior inspirations, as well as by exterior means, especially Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church. Sacred Scripture is the word of God, written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is the divine Paraclete who speaks to us therein, enlightening our intellects with His light and spurring our wills by His motions; hence, meditation on the sacred texts is somewhat like "attending the school" of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit continually teaches us and stimulates us to do good by the living word of the Church, since all those in the Church who have the mission to teach are under His influence when they expound sacred doctrine to the faithful. If we listen to the inspirations of the divine Paraclete, and accept His invitations, He unites Himself to us, aiding us by actual graces, so that we are able to perform virtuous acts. It is clear, therefore, that even when the spiritual life is in its first stages, and is concentrated on the correcting of faults and acquiring of virtues, the activity of the soul is entirely permeated and sustained by the action of the Holy Spirit. We give too little attention to this truth and therefore, in practice, we tend to ignore the constant work of the divine Spirit in our souls. Let us give thought to this, lest His inspirations and impulses go unheeded. "By the grace of God, I am what I am" said St Paul, and he could add: "His grace in me hath not been void." (1 Corinthians 15,10).

Colloquy

"O Holy Spirit, divine Guest of our souls, You are the noblest and most worthy of all guests! With the agility of Your goodness and love for us, You fly rapidly to all souls who are disposed to receive You. And who can tell the wonderful effects produced by you when you are welcomed? You speak, but without noise of words, and Your sublime silence is heard everywhere. You are always motionless, yet always in movement, and in Your mobile immobility, You communicate Yourself to all. You are always at rest, yet ever working; and in Your rest You perform the greatest, worthiest and most admirable works. You are always moving, but You never change Your place. You penetrate, strengthen and preserve all. Your immense, penetrating omniscience knows all, understands all, penetrates all. Without listening to anything, You hear the least word spoken in the most secret recesses of our hearts.

"O Holy Spirit, You stay everywhere unless You are driven out, because You communicate Yourself to everyone, except to sinners who do not want to rise from the mire of their sins; in them You can find no place to rest, nor can You endure the evil emanating from a heart which obstinately persists in wrongdoing. But You remain in the creatures who, by their purity, make themselves receptive to Your gifts. And You rest in me by communication, operation, wisdom, power, liberality, benignity, charity, love, purity; Your creature, You Yourself prepare him suitably to receive You." (St Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi)

Prayer of the Week:

ACT OF FAITH

O MY GOD, I firmly believe that Thou art one God in Three Divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I believe that Thy Divine Son became Man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, Who canst neither deceive nor be deceived.

Catholic

Almanac:


Saturday, May 28
Liturgical Color: White
Today St. Bernard a 10th century priest is remembered. He ministered to the people in the Alps, aiding stranded travelers and pilgrims passing through to Rome. The St. Bernard dog breed is named after him for his efforts.

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: May 28, 2011
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Loving Father, through our rebirth in baptism you give us your life and promise immortality. By your unceasing care, guide our steps toward the life of glory. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

ACTIVITIES

PRAYERS

28th

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter Old Calendar: St. Augustine of Canterbury, archbishop and confessor; St. Bernard of Montjoux, priest (Hist)

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury. He was sent by St. Gregory the Great to the Anglo-Saxons and is the great Apostle of England and the first Archbishop of Canterbury. He died in 604. His feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on May 27.

Historically today is the feast of St. Bernard of Montjoux, an Italian churchman, founder of the Alpine hospices of Saint Bernard. His life was spent working among the people of the Val d'Aosta. He is the patron of mountaineers.

St. Bernard of Montjoux
Bernard may have been the son of Count Richard of Menthon. It seems more likely though that he was of Italian birth. Nothing is really known of his parentage and early life.

Tradition reports that a marriage was being arranged for young Bernard and he fled so as to be free to give his life to God. We do know that he was ordained to the priesthood and that he was appointed Vicar General of the diocese of Aosta, Italy. For approximately forty-two years he traveled throughout the country, visiting the remotest Alpine villages. He would sometimes extend his missionary journeys into the neighboring dioceses of Geneva, Novara and Tarentaise. Bernard had the reputation for enforcing clerical discipline and he built several schools.

He is probably most famous for the hospices he built on the summits of passes over the Alps. Many pilgrims from France and Germany would travel over the Alps on their way to Rome, but it was always a possibility that one would die from freezing along the way. In the 9th century a system of hospices had been attempted, but had lapsed long before Bernard's time. Bernard's hospices in the 11th century were placed under the care of clerics and laymen and were well equipped for the reception of all travelers. Eventually these caretakers became Augustinian a monastery was built close by, still exists today

At some point in time Bernard traveled to Rome to receive formal recognition of the hospices and community and to obtain permission to accept novices. Bernard lived to the age of eighty-five and is believed to have died on May 28, 1081 at St. Lawrence Monastery in Novara, Italy.

A now-famous breed of dogs, known for its endurance in high altitude and cold, was named in honor of this saint. Bernard's life has been the focus of many romantic plays and stories. Many of us may remember childhood stories of St. Bernard dogs coming to the rescue of stranded or injured victims on Alpine slopes. The dogs almost always seem to have a cask of Brandy attached to their collars and when the victims were revived by a good drink the dogs would lead them to safety.

However romance was not what Bernard's life was about. He was strongly committed to the ideals taught by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. Bernard dedicated his life to bring the message of Christ to all and to correct the abuses of clerical life which he saw. He was deeply concerned for the care of the poor and disadvantaged. Living his life in the Alps he knew the dangers present and did what he could to relieve them. He is a model, not of romance, but of deep love and compassion, in imitation of God whom he loved and served with all his heart.reprimanded.

— Excerpted from Christ in the Desert

Patron: Alpinists; mountain climbers; mountaineers; skiers; travelers in the mountains.

Symbols: Man in a mountain setting holding a bishop's crozier; white dog.

Things to Do:

Read History of the Grand St Bernard pass for background.
If you like dogs you might find this history of the Saint Bernard Dog interesting.

Lauds -- Morning Prayer

Morning Prayer (Lauds)

If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.

Introduction

O God, come to my aid.

O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen. Alleluia.

Hymn

Light’s glittering morn bedecks the sky,

Heav’n thunders forth its victor cry:

The glad earth shouts her triumph high,

And groaning hell makes wild reply.

While he, the King of sovereign might,

Treads down death’s strength in death’s despite,

And trampling hell by victor’s right,

Brings forth his sleeping saints to light.

Fast barred beneath the stone of late,

In watch and ward where soldiers wait,

Now shining in triumphant state,

He rises victor from death’s gate.

Hell’s pains are loosed and tears are fled:

Captivity is captive led:

The angel, crowned with light, hath said:

‘The Lord is risen from the dead.’

Author of all, be thou our guide

In this our joy of Eastertide;

Whene’er assaults of death impend,

Thy people strengthen and defend.

To thee who, dead, again dost live,

All glory, Lord, thy people give:

All glory, as is ever meet,

To Father and to Paraclete.

Psalm 118 (119): 145-152

In your love, give me life, O Lord. Alleluia.

I call on you with all my heart –

answer me, Lord.

I will obey your laws.

I call on you –

save me

so that I can keep your decrees.

At first light I cry to you,

I put all my hope in your word.

In the night I keep watch,

pondering your sayings.

In your mercy, Lord, hear my voice;

in your justice, give me life.

My persecutors come to do me harm:

they are far from your law.

But you, Lord, are near to me,

and you are trustworthy in all your precepts.

From the beginning I have known your decrees,

how you have made them to last for ever.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

In your love, give me life, O Lord. Alleluia.

Canticle	Exodus 15

Hymn of victory after crossing the Red Sea

For the victors, theirs is the song of God’s servant Moses, theirs is the song of the Lamb. Alleluia.

I will sing to the Lord, for his triumph is glorious. Horse and rider he has cast into the sea.

The Lord is my support and my strength, and he has saved me.

This is my God, and I will give him glory

This is my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

The Lord is a warrior – ‘The Lord’ is his name!

Pharaoh’s chariots and army he has thrown into the sea.

Your storm raged, and the waters were piled high,

the flowing waters were a rampart, the sea-bed was exposed.

The enemy said: “I will follow and surround them;

I will divide their spoils,

have my fill of booty,

draw my sword and kill them all.”

Your wind blew,

and the sea covered them,

they sank like lead in the raging waters.

What god is like you, O Lord?

What god is like you,

so great in your holiness,

a worker of miracles,

terrible and worthy of praise?

You stretched out your hand and the earth swallowed them.

In your mercy you led your people whom you had redeemed,

in your strength you brought them to your dwelling-place.

You will lead them in and establish them

on the mountain that is your inheritance,

your solid dwelling-place, which you made, Lord;

your sanctuary, Lord, which your hands made firm.

The Lord will reign, to eternity and beyond!

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

For the victors, theirs is the song of God’s servant Moses, theirs is the song of the Lamb. Alleluia.

Psalm 116 (117) Praise of the merciful Lord

Strong is his love for us, alleluia.

Praise the Lord, all nations; all peoples, praise him.

For his mercy is strong over us and his faithfulness is for ever.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Strong is his love for us, alleluia.

Short reading	Romans 14:7-9 ©

The life and death of each of us has its influence on others; if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord. This explains why Christ both died and came to life, it was so that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Short Responsory

The Lord has risen from the tomb, alleluia, alleluia.

– The Lord has risen from the tomb, alleluia, alleluia.

He who hung on the tree for our sake, alleluia, alleluia.

– The Lord has risen from the tomb, alleluia, alleluia.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

– The Lord has risen from the tomb, alleluia, alleluia.

Canticle	Benedictus

The Messiah and his forerunner

Christ died for this and rose from the dead for this: to rule over the living and the dead. Alleluia.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption.

He has raised up the sign of salvation

in the house of his servant David,

as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones,

his prophets through the ages:

to rescue us from our enemies

and all who hate us,

to take pity on our fathers,

to remember his holy covenant

and the oath he swore to Abraham our father,

that he would give himself to us,

that we could serve him without fear

– freed from the hands of our enemies –

in uprightness and holiness before him,

for all of our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High:

for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path,

to let his people know their salvation,

so that their sins may be forgiven.

Through the bottomless mercy of our God,

one born on high will visit us

to give light to those who walk in darkness,

who live in the shadow of death;

to lead our feet in the path of peace.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Christ died for this and rose from the dead for this: to rule over the living and the dead. Alleluia.

Prayers and Intercessions

Christ is the bread of life, and on the last day he will raise up those who have shared the feast of his body and blood. Therefore with joy we pray:

– Lord, give us peace and joy.

You are the Son of God – raised from the dead, you are the Lord of life:

bless and sanctify us and all our brethren.

– Lord, give us peace and joy.

You give peace and joy to all who believe in you:

let us walk as children of light and rejoice in your victory.

– Lord, give us peace and joy.

Give your help to your Church in her pilgrimage on earth:

help her to bear witness to your resurrection.

– Lord, give us peace and joy.

Having suffered much, you entered into the Father’s glory:

look upon those who mourn and turn their sadness into rejoicing.

– Lord, give us peace and joy.

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Almighty, ever-living God,

you gave us the life of heaven

by the new birth of baptism;

you implanted in us the seed of eternity

by your gift of grace.

Lead us, in your providence,

to the fulness of glory.

[We make our prayer] through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

Amen.

May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life.

AMEN

The Word Among Us

Meditation: John 15:18-21

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. (John 15:20)

Poised on the precipice of an agonizing death, Jesus was thinking of what his followers—including us—would face in the times ahead. Hatred, rejection, and persecution might be in store, as they had been for him. Amazing! Jesus was facing a painful end to his life, but he remained focused on the people around him. His entire farewell discourse was other-centered: I love you. I will not leave you alone. I want to keep you from falling away. I will send you another, who will guide you in all truth (John 15:9–16:13).

The writer of Hebrews assures us: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (13:8). Just as Jesus cared on the night before he died, he cares now. He cares about the difficulties that arise for his faithful followers. He knows what is in store for you. He cares about the things you face. Rejection. Exclusion. Gossip and misunderstanding. Nothing that happens in your day comes as a surprise to him. And none of it is out of his power to protect or comfort or empower you to deal with. He has already seen it!

Best of all, he knows you. He knows how much you can bear. He will never allow more to come to you than you can handle. At the same time, he is able to do immeasurably more than you will ever ask or imagine. He knows what you need in every situation and has promised his Holy Spirit to provide it.

Jesus cares for you! And you can know it. You can experience that care and concern right now. This is what he was trying to tell the disciples at the Last Supper, and it’s what he tells us at every Mass. The Holy Spirit who is coming—who has already come to us—wants to guide and teach and comfort everyone, even you. So take some time today to sit quietly with God. Tell him the things that hurt you right now, and ask for his comforting presence. Sit still, and wait for him to give you the peace that only he can give. Expect him to strengthen and encourage you in whatever you’re facing.

“Jesus, I believe that you care about every circumstance of my life, including the difficult ones. Help me to experience your love and reassuring presence as I face them today.”

Acts 16:1-10; Psalm 100:1-3,5

Marriage = One Man and One Woman

Daily Marriage Tip for May 28, 2011:

Never say “always” or “never.” You’ll always be wrong because your spouse can always find an exception. You’ll never solve a disagreement this way. Over generalizing is always dangerous.

Vultus Christi

Benedict XVI at Saint Mary Major

By

Father Mark

on May 28, 2011 2:06 AM |

My Musings

Returning to Sepicciano, where the church bells ring out the quarter hour and the parish church is truly the heart of the village; where the presence of the Mother of God, of the angels and of the saints, is inextricably bound up with every moment of daily life; where to be a human person is to be un cristiano; where people enjoy a simple familiarity in the house of God without any loss of the awe that the Thrice-Holy Presence of the Divine Majesty inspires -- all of these things convince me that while the Catholic faith generates culture and gives shape to all of life, that same Catholic culture is indispensable to a community's spiritual health and growth in the Faith. Here, even those who do not regularly practice the Faith are steeped in it and would never think of denying it.

So much of life happens out of doors here. Boys kick a ball around the little piaza in front of the church. Old ladies sit on their bench nearby, exchanging news and greeting passers-by. The parish priest drives by -- fully vested -- on his way to do Paschal house blessings, accompanied by a server! Just inside the vestibule of the church is a plan for the elaboration of a new community garden over which a recently commissioned statue of Saint Padre Pio will preside. In the evening nearly everyone in the village is outside walking (la passeggiata), talking, living the "community" that American Catholics find so elusive and yet so fascinating. This is a culture that Protestantism could never have produced.

This is also, I fear, something that Suburban American Catholicism with its parking lots and programs can never achieve. Formerly, when there were still urban neighbourhoods held together by a parish church, particularly if the the parish church had an ethnic identity, there remained something of a Catholic culture.

I can only envision the Church of tomorrow in terms of communities that will have embraced a truly Catholic culture in all its dimensions. Quite possibly this will mean the relocation of families around a monastery or the conscious rebuilding of neighbourhoods around a parish church.

On Thursday, 26 May, the Holy Father prayed the Holy Rosary with the bishops of Italy gathered in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, and addressed them:

Where Spirituality and Art Come Together

Venerable and dear brothers,

You have come to this splendid basilica -- a place where spirituality and art come together in a centuries-old union -- to share an intense moment of prayer, by which we entrust to the maternal protection of Mary, Mater Unitatis, the whole Italian nation, 150 years after the political union of the country. It is significant that this initiative was prepared by similar meetings in the dioceses: also in this way you express the solicitude of the Church in making herself close to the destiny of this beloved nation.

Dedicating May to Marian Devotion

We, in turn, feel in communion with every community, including the smallest, in which the tradition of dedicating May to Marian devotion is alive. This tradition is expressed in many signs: shrines, chapels, works of art and, above all, in the prayer of the holy rosary, with which the People of God give thanks for the good they receive incessantly from the Lord, through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, and pray to her for their many needs.

Leaving Space for God

Prayer -- which has its summit in the liturgy, whose form is guarded by the living tradition of the Church -- is always leaving space for God: his action makes us participants in the history of salvation. This afternoon, in particular, in the school of Mary we have been invited to share in Jesus' steps: to go down with him to the Jordan River, so that the Spirit will confirm in us the grace of baptism; to sit at the banquet of Cana, to receive from him the "good wine" of the celebration; to enter the synagogue of Nazareth, as poor ones to whom is addressed the joyful message of the Kingdom of God; also to go up Mount Tabor, to receive the cross in the paschal light; and finally, to participate in the Cenacle in the new and eternal sacrifice that, anticipating the new heavens and the new earth, regenerates the whole of creation.

Christ: Man's Most Profound Truth

This basilica is the first dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God in the West. On entering it, my thoughts went back to the first day of the year 2000, when Blessed John Paul II opened the Holy Door, entrusting the Jubilee Year to Mary, so that she would watch over the path of all those who acknowledged themselves pilgrims of grace and mercy. We ourselves today do not hesitate to feel like pilgrims, desirous of crossing the threshold of that Most Holy Door that is Christ, and we want to ask the Virgin Mary to support our path and to intercede for us. As he is Son of God, Christ is the form of man: He is man's most profound truth, the sap that gives life to a history that otherwise would be irremediably impaired.

The Dispositions of Mary's Heart

Prayer helps us to recognize in him the center of our life, to remain in his presence, to conform our will to his, to do "what he tells us" (John 2:5), certain of his fidelity. This is the essential task of the Church, crowned by him as Mystical Bride, as we contemplate her in the splendor of the apse. Mary constitutes her model: she is the one who presents to us the mirror in which we are invited to recognize our identity. Her life is a call to turn from what we are to hear and accept the Word, being able in faith to proclaim the greatness of the Lord, before which our only possible greatness is that expressed in filial obedience: "Be it done unto me according to thy word" (Luke 1:38). Mary trusted: she is the "blessed one" (cf. Luke 1:42), who is blessed for having believed (cf. Luke 1:45), to the point of having been clothed in Christ to such a degree that she enters in the "seventh day," a participant in God's rest. The dispositions of her heart -- listening, acceptance, humility, fidelity, praise and waiting -- correspond to the interior attitudes and to the gestures that mold Christian life. The Church is nourished by them, conscious that they express what God expects from her.

The Council of Ephesus: the Theotokos

Engraved on the bronze of this basilica's Holy Door is a representation of the Council of Ephesus. The building itself, whose original nucleus dates back to the 5th century, is linked to that ecumenical summit held in the year 431. In Ephesus the united Church defended and confirmed for Mary the title Theotokos, Mother of God: a title with Christological content, which refers to the mystery of the Incarnation and which expresses the unity of the human nature with the divine in the Son. Moreover, it is the person and the experience of Jesus of Nazareth that illumines the Old Testament and Mary's face itself. Understood clearly in her is the unitary design that intertwines the two Testaments. In her personal life is the synthesis of the history of a whole nation, which places the Church in continuity with ancient Israel. Within this perspective individual histories receive meaning, beginning with those of the great women of the Old Covenant, in whose life is represented a humiliated, defeated and deported people. However, they are also the same ones who personify hope; they are the "holy remnant," a sign that God's plan does not remain an abstract idea, but finds correspondence in a pure answer, in a liberty that gives itself without holding anything back, in a yes that is full acceptance and perfect gift. Mary is the highest expression of it. Upon her, Virgin, descends the creative power of the Holy Spirit, the same who "in the beginning" hovered over the shapeless abyss (cf. Genesis 1:1) and thanks to which God called being from nothing; the Spirit gives life to and molds creation. Opening to his action, Mary engenders the Son, the presence of God who comes to inhabit history and opens it to a new and definitive beginning, which is the possibility for every man to be reborn from on high, to live in the will of God and thus to be completely fulfilled.

The Word of the Gospel: Source of Civilization

Faith, in fact, is not alienation: the experiences that contaminate man's dignity and the quality of social coexistence [are not the experiences of faith]! In every historical period the encounter with the ever new Word of the Gospel was a source of civilization; it built bridges between peoples and enriched the fabric of our cities, expressing itself in culture, in the arts and, not last, in the thousand forms of charity. No wonder Italy, celebrating the 150 years of its political unity, can be proud of the presence and action of the Church. She does not pursue privileges or desire to substitute the responsibilities of the political institutions; respectful of the legitimate secularity of the state, she is attentive in supporting the fundamental rights of man. Among these are first of all the ethical demands and, therefore, openness to transcendence, which are values that precede any state jurisdiction, inasmuch as they are inscribed in the very nature of the human person. In this perspective, the Church -- strong because of collegial reflection and because of direct experience on the spot -- continues offering her own contribution to the building of the common good, reminding each one of his duty to promote and protect human life in all its phases and to support the family with deeds; the family continues to be, in fact, the first reality in which free and responsible persons can grow, formed in those profound values that open to fraternity and which also enable one to address the adversities of life. Not in the last place, there is today difficulty in accessing full and fitting employment; hence, I join all those who appeal to politics and to the business world to make every effort to surmount the widespread precariousness of labor, which in young people compromises the serenity of a plan for family life, with grave harm to an authentic and harmonious development of society.

The Qualities of the South: Welcome and Hospitality

Dear brothers, the anniversary of the founding event of the unitary state has found you diligent in recalling fragments of a shared memory, and sensible in pointing out the elements of a future perspective. Do not hesitate to stimulate the lay faithful to overcome every spirit of narrow-mindedness, distraction and indifference, and to participate personally in public life. Encourage initiatives of formation inspired in the social doctrine of the Church, so that whoever is called to political and administrative responsibilities is not a victim of the temptation to exploit his position for personal interests or because of thirst for power. Support the vast network of aggregations and associations that promote endeavors of a cultural, social and charitable character. Renew the occasions of encounter, in the sign of reciprocity, between North and South. Help the North to recover the original motivations of that vast cooperative movement of Christian inspiration which animated a culture of solidarity and economic development. Likewise, invite the South to put in circulation for the benefit of all the resources and qualities it possesses and those features of reception and hospitality that characterize it. Continue cultivating a spirit of sincere and loyal cooperation with the state, knowing that this relationship is beneficial both for the Church as well as for the whole country. May your words and action be encouragement and thrust for all those called to manage the complexity that characterizes the present time. It is a time when an appeal arises ever more strongly for solid spiritual references; be able to articulate to all what is peculiar to the Christian experience: God's victory over evil and death, as a horizon that casts a light of hope on the present. Assuming education as the theme of the pastoral commitment of this decade, you wished to express the certainty that Christian existence -- the good life of the Gospel -- is precisely the demonstration of a fulfilled life. On this path you ensure not only a religious and ecclesial but also a social service, contributing to build the city of man. Therefore, courage! Despite all the difficulties, "nothing is impossible for God" (Luke 1:37), for him who continues doing "great things" (Luke 1:49) through all those who, like Mary, are able to give themselves to him with unconditional availability.

Maria, Mater Unitatis

We place the whole Italian nation under the protection of the Mater Unitatis, so that the Lord will grant it the inestimable gifts of peace and fraternity and, hence, of development in solidarity. May she also help the political forces to live the anniversary of unity as an occasion to reinforce the national bond and to surmount every harmful opposition: may the various and legitimate sensibilities, experiences and perspectives come together again in a wider picture to seek together what truly contributes to the good of the country. May Mary's example open the way to a more just, mature and responsible society, capable of rediscovering the profound values of the human heart. May the Mother of God encourage young people, sustain families, comfort the sick, implore upon each one a renewed effusion of the Spirit, helping us to recognize and also to follow the Lord in this time, who is the true good of life, because he is Life itself.

From my heart I bless you and your communities.

Vespers -- Evening Prayer

Vespers (Evening Prayer)

Introduction

O God, come to my aid.

O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen. Alleluia.

Hymn

The Lamb’s high banquet we await,

In snow-white robes of royal state;

And now, the Red Sea’s channel past,

To Christ our Prince we sing at last.

Upon the altar of the Cross

His body hath redeemed our loss;

And tasting of his scarlet blood,

Our life is hid with him in God.

Now Christ our paschal Lamb is slain,

The Lamb of God that knows no stain,

The true oblation offered here,

Our own unleavened bread sincere.

O thou, from whom hell’s monarch flies,

O great, O very Sacrifice,

Thy captive people are set free,

And endless life restored in thee.

To thee who, dead, again dost live,

All glory, Lord, thy people give:

All glory, as is ever meet,

To Father and to Paraclete.

Psalm 118 (119): 105-112

The man who lives by the truth comes into the light. Alleluia.

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet,

a light for my journey.

I have firmly sworn to keep your just laws.

Lord, I am greatly afflicted:

revive me as you have promised.

Lord, accept the vows I make,

and teach me your judgements.

I hold my life in my hands,

I remember your laws.

The wicked placed a trap for me,

but I did not wander from your commandments.

Your decrees are my inheritance for ever,

they are the joy of my heart:

my heart is set on carrying them out,

for ever, until the end.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

The man who lives by the truth comes into the light. Alleluia.

Psalm 15 (16) The Lord, my inheritance

Freed from the pangs of death, the Lord arose from the grave. Alleluia.

Preserve me, Lord,

I put my hope in you.

I have said to the Lord

“You are my Lord,

in you alone is all my good.”

As for the holy and noble men of the land,

in them is all my delight.

But for those who run to alien gods,

their sorrows are many.

I will not share in their libations of blood.

I will not speak their names.

You, Lord, are my inheritance and my cup.

You control my destiny,

the lot marked out for me is of the best,

my inheritance is all I could ask for.

I will bless the Lord who gave me understanding;

even in the night my heart will teach me wisdom.

I will hold the Lord for ever in my sight:

with him at my side I can never be shaken.

Thus it is that my heart rejoices,

heart and soul together;

while my body rests in calm hope.

You will not leave my soul in the underworld.

You will not let your chosen one see decay.

You will show me the paths of life,

the fullness of joy before your face,

and delights at your right hand until the end of time.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Freed from the pangs of death, the Lord arose from the grave. Alleluia.

Canticle	Philippians 2

Christ, God's servant

Was it not necessary that Christ should suffer thus and so enter into his glory? Alleluia.

Jesus Christ, although he shared God’s nature,

did not try to seize equality with God for himself;

but emptied himself, took on the form of a slave,

and became like a man:

not in appearance only,

for he humbled himself by accepting death,

even death on a cross.

For this, God has raised him high,

and given him the name that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bend,

in heaven, on earth, and under the earth,

and every tongue will proclaim

“Jesus Christ is Lord,”

to the glory of God the Father.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Was it not necessary that Christ should suffer thus and so enter into his glory? Alleluia.

Short reading	1 Peter 2:9-10 ©

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people at all and now you are the People of God; once you were outside the mercy and now you have been given mercy.

Short Responsory

From the rising of the sun to its setting, great is the name of the Lord.

– From the rising of the sun to its setting, great is the name of the Lord.

The glory of the Lord is high above the heavens.

– From the rising of the sun to its setting, great is the name of the Lord.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

– From the rising of the sun to its setting, great is the name of the Lord.

Canticle	Magnificat

My soul rejoices in the Lord

I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you for ever. Alleluia.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God, my salvation.

For he has shown me such favour –

me, his lowly handmaiden.

Now all generations will call me blessed,

because the mighty one has done great things for me.

His name is holy,

his mercy lasts for generation after generation

for those who revere him.

He has put forth his strength:

he has scattered the proud and conceited,

torn princes from their thrones;

but lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things;

the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel,

he has remembered his mercy as he promised to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you for ever. Alleluia.

Prayers and Intercessions

Christ, by rising from the dead, destroyed death and renewed life itself. Let us cry out to him:

– Ever-living Christ, listen to us.

You, the stone the builders rejected, have become the cornerstone:

use us, as living stones, to build your Church.

– Ever-living Christ, listen to us.

You, the first-born from the dead, are a true and faithful witness:

make your Church bear witness to you always.

– Ever-living Christ, listen to us.

Like Eve from Adam’s rib, the Church, your bride, grew from your wounded side.

Let us be witnesses at the solemnisation of your marriage.

– Ever-living Christ, listen to us.

You, the first and the last, were dead and now live:

make the baptized be faithful until death, make them win the crown of victory.

– Ever-living Christ, listen to us.

You are the true light, the lamp of God’s holy city:

shine on our dead, let them be part of your kingdom forever.

– Ever-living Christ, listen to us.

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Almighty God,

give us the grace of an attentive love

to celebrate these days of joy

devoted to the honour of the Risen Lord.

Teach us to hold fast in our actions

to the mystery we recall in worship.

[We make our prayer] through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

Amen.

May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life.

AMEN

Regnum Christi

The Master and the Slave

INTERNATIONAL | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter (May 28, 2011)

May 28, 2011
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Father Patrick Langan, LC

John 15: 18-21

Jesus said to his disciples: "If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, ´No slave is greater than his master.´ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank you for granting me the opportunity to be with you. There are things in life, Lord, that attract me, but you attract me more. I hope in you, and I love you. Maybe I don’t really understand what it means to love, and maybe I don’t love the way I should, but I do love you.

Petition: Lord, help me to embrace my cross joyfully.

1. Bearing the Burden: “The world hated me first.” This is the incredible story of the Gospels. Christ came and the culture was against him. As the story of Christ in the Gospel progresses, the forces of antagonism get worse: The dangers increase with the turning of every page. This was a real burden for Christ, the burden of a parent whose children turn against him. Perhaps I, too, feel that burden. Perhaps I experience that rejection from those who love me or from those who don’t believe.

2. Loving Acceptance: Christ courageous and lovingly accepted that burden. He did not complain. Perhaps he asked his Father for an easier way. It is the same in our lives. I often face problems, even when I want to do good. There comes a moment in life when I must accept my limitations and the limitations imposed on me by others. This is a memorable moment in life—the moment I accept my cross, like Christ did. That acceptance isn’t easy, but at the same time it fills my heart with a deep peace and sometimes even joy.

3. Seeking Solutions: After I accept my cross, I experience a new courage, and my imagination fires up. Love always looks for solutions: Christ never stopped searching for ways to get through to the culture. I must do the best I can to evangelize, even though I may encounter opposition. With Christ’s help, no obstacle is too great. He will help me to overcome all the problems I may encounter. The important thing is that I keep focused on the fulfillment of his will out of love. He will take care of the rest.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, you know my burden. You know what makes me lose sleep, what I wake up worrying about. Help me to accept it, as you accepted your cross.

Resolution: I will stop complaining and see what I can do to alleviate the burdens and sufferings of others.

Mass Readings

In Latin

In English

Office of Readings

The Action of the Holy Spirit

Presence of God

Meditation

Colloquy

Daily Readings for: May 28, 2011(Readings on USCCB website)

ACTIVITIES

PRAYERS

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter Old Calendar: St. Augustine of Canterbury, archbishop and confessor; St. Bernard of Montjoux, priest (Hist)

Morning Prayer (Lauds)

AMEN

Meditation: John 15:18-21

Benedict XVI at Saint Mary Major

Vespers (Evening Prayer)

AMEN

Daily Readings for: May 28, 2011
(Readings on USCCB website)