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Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Father Steven Reilly, LC

John 14:7-14

Jesus said to his disciples: "If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him." Philip said to him, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ´Show us the Father´? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it."

Introductory Prayer: Father, how empty is the life that doesn’t know the joy of Jesus your Son. I have come to this prayer today to know you and your Son better, to love you more and to imitate your perfections. Thank you for this time of prayer.

Petition: Father, help me to be aware of your presence in my soul.

1. The Father and Jesus Are One: The liturgy gives us a second look at this Gospel passage. The great truth that Jesus is sharing with Philip is that as the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus and the Father are one – they are inseparable. We worship Christ. We don’t merely honor him as the best of men; he is the God-man whom we adore. What Jesus is by nature we are empowered to be by grace. With our baptism, we became adopted children of God. Brought into the family of the Trinity, the divine persons dwell in our soul as in a temple. Do we realize the dignity we have been given?

2. Doing the Same Works As Jesus: Herein lies the possibility of doing the works of Jesus. If he lives in us, he can work through us. What an opportunity to cooperate with grace! When we are loving, kind and disciplined, we aren’t merely being good. These good deeds are more than just good; they have an eternal value. After all, they are the “works of Jesus.” We receive the reward for his works. Such is the generosity of the Master whom we serve!

3. Ask and You Shall Receive: The name of Jesus is powerful. He commands us to ask in his name for the things we need so that in granting them to us, the Father may be glorified. When we kneel before the tabernacle, we must approach the Lord with total and absolute confidence. He knows that our faith will grow when we experience his power in action: “Ask and you shall receive!” (Matthew 7:7-9).

Conversation with Christ: Lord, what a consoling thought is it that the Holy Trinity dwells in my soul. I am a child of God! Help me to do the works of God! I ask this in your name.

Resolution: Because God dwells in my soul I will try to treat others as he would treat them.

One Bread, One Body

<< Saturday, April 27, 2013 >>

Acts 13:44-52
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Psalm 98:1-4

John 14:7-14

WILL YOU RECEIVE THE SPIRIT?

"The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit." —Acts 13:52, our transl.

Jesus promised that we who believe in Him can do even greater things than He did (Jn 14:12). We have such power because whatever we ask in Jesus' name will be given us (Jn 14:14). We can pray in Jesus' name, that is, we can know and want His will because of the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16-17). The Holy Spirit will convict us of worldly ways (Jn 16:8), give us the mind of Christ (see 1 Cor 2:16), and help us to pray in our weakness (Rm 8:26). Then we will do greater works than Jesus did. We will change the world for Jesus not by our might or power but by the Holy Spirit (Zec 4:6).

Three weeks from tomorrow will be Pentecost. We have been preparing for this for over seventy days. The Lord wants to give us the greatest Pentecost of our lives and to renew the face of the earth (Ps 104:30). Will we be receptive to such a radical, life-changing outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Will we let the Lord make us much more receptive in the next three weeks? Will we receive power from on high (Lk 24:49) to pray in Jesus' name and to do greater works than Jesus did?

Prayer: Father, let it be done to me according to Your word (Lk 1:38).

Promise: "The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this and responded to the word of the Lord with praise. All who were destined for life everlasting believed in it. Thus the word of the Lord was carried throughout that area." —Acts 13:48-49

Praise: Randall, a young teenager, prepared to commit suicide, but the gun was mysteriously knocked out of his hand several times. A few weeks later, he was invited to a Life in the Spirit seminar. He received the Holy Spirit so powerfully that he didn't lower his upraised arms for a half-hour.