Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 04-19-18

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 04-19-18 | Revised New American Bible

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April, 2018

The Holy Father's Prayer Intention

Universal – For those who have Responsibility in Economic Matters: That economists may have the courage to reject any economy of exclusion and know how to open new paths.

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Daily Gospel Commentary

Thursday of the Third week of Easter

Commentary of the day
Vatican Council II
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium), 47-48 (c. Libreria Vaticana Editrice)

"The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

     At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is eaten, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.

     The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration. They should be instructed by God's word and be nourished at the table of the Lord's body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer themselves; through Christ the Mediator, they should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each other, so that finally "God may be all in all" (1Cor 15,28).

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“If you say the Rosary faithfully unto death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins, ‘you will receive a never-fading crown of glory’ (1 St. Peter 5:4).”

Saint Louis de Montfort

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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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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3545970/posts

Saint of the Day — Giana Berrata Molla

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3545970/posts

Saint of the Day — Gianna Berretta Molla

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Prepare to be amazed! The 2nd miracle of St. Gianna Molla

Daughter of St. Gianna Molla to Visit U.S. for the First Time
A Holy Couple Reunited in Heaven—Death of Pietro Molla, Husband of St. Gianna Beretta Molla ....
Catholic Health Center for Women Opens in Manhattan (Gianna Center)
Daughter of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla Attends US March for Life
A patron saint for life (Gianna Beretta Molla)
Pope Canonizes Gianna Molla; Secular Media at a Loss
Bl. Gianna Beretta Molla
Gianna Beretta, Who Died for Her Unborn Child, to Be Canonized (She Refused Cancer Treatment)
Gianna Beretta Molla Offered Life For Her [Unborn]Child
Blessed Gianna[Gianna Beretta Molla]

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Information: St. Leo IX

Feast Day: April 19

Born: 21 June 1002 at Egisheim, Alsace

Died: 19 April 1054 in Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy

Canonized: 1082

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Holy Spirit Interactive Kids: A Saint a Day

Blessed James Duckett

Feast Day: April 19
Died: 1602

James Duckett was born at Gilfortrigs, Westmorland in Englad. He lived at a time when Elizabeth I was Queen of England. As a young man he became an apprentice (trainee) printer in London. There he came across a book called The Firm Foundation of the Catholic Religion.

He studied the book carefully and believed that the Catholic Church was the true Church. In those days, Catholics were ill-treated in England. James decided that he wanted to be a Catholic anyway and would bravely face any trouble that came his way.

The priest from his previous church came to look for him because James had been a regular church goer. James refused to go back. He was sent to prison twice for his stubbornness and both times the owner of the printing press he worked for, helped free him. But then the man asked James to find himself another job.

James Duckett knew there was no turning back and was able to find a disguised Catholic priest in the Gatehouse prison. The old priest, "Mr. Weekes," taught him about the Catholic faith and soon Duckett was received into the Catholic Church. He married a Catholic widow and their son became a Carthusian monk.

Blessed Duckett never forgot that it was a book that had changed his life. He made it his duty to provide his neighbors with Catholic books as he knew these books would help encourage and teach them about the faith and the Catholic Church.

So dangerous was this "work" that he was in prison for nine years out of the twelve that he was married. Finally, he was condemned to death by one man’s witness. Peter Bullock, a book binder testified that he had bound Catholic books for Blessed Duckett, a very "serious crime." Peter Bullock turned traitor because he himself was sent to prison for a crime and hoped to be set free.

But he was not set free. Instead, both men were sent to die on the same day. Before they were hanged, Blessed Duckett told Bullock that he was forgiven. He kept encouraging the man as they were dying to accept the Catholic faith. Then the ropes were placed around their necks. Blessed Duckett was martyred and died for his faith in 1602.

Reflection: Today we pray for all those who work in the media that God may guide them always.

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CATHOLIC ALMANAC

Thursday, April 19

Liturgical Color: White

Pope St. Leo IX died on this day in
1054. Known as the pilgrim pope,
he traveled across Europe ensuring
reforms he instituted in the Church
were implemented in the individual
dioceses and parishes.

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Catholic Culture

Easter: April 19th

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

MASS READINGS

April 19, 2018 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

Almighty ever-living God, let us feel your compassion more readily during these days when, by your gift, we have known it more fully, so that those you have freed from the darkness of error may cling more firmly to the teachings of your truth. 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)

• Fillet of Flounder in Tomato Sauce

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Activities (1)

• Words of Affirmation

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Prayers (2)

• Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven)
• Prayers for the Easter Season

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» Enjoy our Liturgical Seasons series of e-books!

Old Calendar: St. Leo IX, pope (Hist); St. Alphege, archbishop & martyr (Hist)

Historically today is the feast of St. Leo IX, a cousin of the emperor Conrad the Salie, born in Alsace, and baptized Bruno. He was made bishop of Toul in 1026 and constrained to accept the papal office in 1048. He took his spiritual adviser, Hildebrand, the future Gregory VII, to Rome and began the reform of the Roman curia. Leo combated simony, condemned Berengarius, and strove to prevent the schism between the Eastern and the Western churches then being engineered by the emperor Michael Coerularius. While at Benevento, a city belonging to the Holy See, he was taken prisoner by the Normans. He was released, but shortly after died before the high altar in St. Peter's.

It is also the historical feast of St. Alphege, also known as Elphege. Archbishop of Canterbury in 1006, he was imprisoned when the city fell for exhorting the pillaging Danes to desist from their murdering and looting. He refused to pay a ransom for his release and was put to death.

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St. Leo IX
Before becoming Pope, St. Leo IX was known as Bruno. He was bitten by a poisonous reptile when a boy, but St. Benedict appeared to Bruno and cured him. In 1026, Bruno, then a deacon, commanded troops in Italy under the Emperor. The Bishop of Toul died during this time, and upon Bruno's return, he was made Bishop of Toul, where he remained for twenty years. After the death of Pope Damasus II in 1048, Bruno was elected to succeed him. As Pope, he denounced simony and began many needed reforms, traveling extensively to ensure their enforcement. For this reason he was given the title Peregrinus Apostolicus, Apostolic Pilgrim. St. Leo condemned the doctrines of Berengarius, who denied Transubstantiation. He increased the papal territory, though he was criticized by St. Peter Damian when he went to battle to defend it. He opposed the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius; this began the complete separation of Rome from the Eastern Church. Within 40 days of St. Leo's death, there were 70 cures through his intercession.

Excerpted from Saints Calendar and Daily Planner by Tan Books

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St. Alphege
St. Alphege was born in the year 954, of a noble Saxon family. He first became a monk in the monastery of Deerhurst, near Tewkesbury, England, and afterwards lived as a hermit near Bath, where he founded a community under the rule of St. Benedict, and became its first abbot.

At thirty years of age he was chosen Bishop of Winchester, and twenty-two years later he became Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1011, when the Danes landed in Kent and took the city of Canterbury, putting all to fire and sword, St. Alphege was captured and carried off in the expectation of a large ransom. He was unwilling that his ruined church and people should be put to such expense, and was kept in a loathsome prison at Greenwich for seven months.

While so confined some friends came and urged him to lay a tax upon his tenants to raise the sum demanded for his ransom. "What reward can I hope for," said he, "if I spend upon myself what belongs to the poor? Better give up to the poor what is ours, than take from them the little which is their own." As he still refused to give ransom, the enraged Danes fell upon him in a fury, beat him with the blunt sides of their weapons, and bruised him with stones until one, whom the Saint had baptized shortly before, put an end to his sufferings by the blow of an axe.

He died on Easter Saturday, April 19, 1012, his last words being a prayer for his murderers.

His body was first buried in St. Paul's, London, but was afterwards translated to Canterbury by King Canute. A church dedicated to St. Alphege still stands upon the place of his martyrdom at Greenwich.

Excerpted from The Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

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The Word Among Us

Meditation: Acts 8:26-40

3rd Week of Easter

Do you understand what you are reading? (Acts 8:30)

Notice how Philip starts his conversation: with a question. That leads the Ethiopian official to respond with a question of his own. Soon enough, a natural conversation begins, and Philip is telling this fellow about Jesus. Something had been stirring beneath the surface, and Philip’s one innocent question opened the floodgates of grace.

If only it were that simple, we may think. Sharing about our faith can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. It can start with asking one friendly question. As he did for Philip, God goes ahead of us, sight unseen. He prepares people’s hearts by prompting the kinds of questions the Ethiopian official was undoubtedly asking. Our job, then, is to connect with them so that God can use us. How? Like Philip, we can care, ask, and listen.

First, care: Philip was ready to go wherever God led him to share the good news of Jesus. You may not receive visions directing you as Philip did, but the Spirit can help you notice the people God sends into your path. He can help you care about them and find the time to make contact with them. Even if it’s just by smiling and looking them in the eye, you are telling them that they matter to you. And that can make a world of difference.

Next, ask: Just ask a question. Many people live isolated lives. They may be delighted when you take an interest in them, their family, their concerns. You can find out what is going on in their heart. Remember, you’re not the only one who likes to talk about himself; everyone does!

Finally, listen: Don’t try to convince; just try to connect. Listen to what they have to say. Your job isn’t to persuade them; it’s to walk beside them on the way to their own encounter with Jesus. Many lasting relationships—and conversions—have begun over friendly conversations about God.

Talking about God doesn’t have to be complicated. Start small: care, ask, and listen. As he did with Philip, the Holy Spirit will give you opportunities to share your faith—at just the right time.

“Lord, help me to open my mouth, but first, help me to open my heart to care and my ears to listen.

Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20
John 6:44-51

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

Daily Marriage Tip for April 19, 2018:

When you’re parenting, life can be swamped with endless errands, overtime work, and precious little sleep. It’s tempting to want to give up in those moments. Take each task as it comes, simplify what you can, and remember: you and your spouse are a team!

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Regnum Christi

April 19, 2018, Bread for Eternity

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
Father Daniel Ray, LC

John 6: 44-51

Jesus said to the crowds: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are present here and now as I turn to you in prayer. I trust and have confidence in your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank you for your love, thank you for your immense generosity toward me. I give you my life and my love in return.

Petition: Lord Jesus, help me value more the gift of yourself in the Eucharist.

1. A Gift from the Loving Father: The Father is the one who sent him and who will draw souls to him. “No one can come to me unless the Father draw him.” So, those individuals who heard Christ’s words and were drawn to him that day were doing so because of a gift of faith from the Father. If we today have faith in Christ, it also is a gift from the Father, who wants to draw us to his Son. If we have doubts or weakness in faith, we should ask the Father to draw us nearer to his Son and to help us believe with our whole heart and mind.

2. The Word Was Made Flesh: Christ’s birth took place in the town of Bethlehem, which in Hebrew (bêth-lehem), means “house of bread.” He was also laid in a manger, where food for animals would normally be placed. Before becoming bread, which would be our food, Christ first became man. Merely giving us some specially blessed bread would not be nearly as significant as giving himself. That is how God always loves: by giving himself completely and without reserve.

3. His Flesh Was Made Bread: The Gospel accounts of Christ multiplying the loaves report he did so out of compassion for the crowd: “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way” (Matthew 15:32). This same compassion moves him to give himself as our bread in the Eucharist. He does not want us to die for lack of spiritual nourishment. Christ—in the greatest gesture of humility—became man like us, the same in every way except sin. But in an even greater gesture of humility, he descended further still to become our spiritual food.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, how can I not trust in you? You have already become human just like me. Then you descend to an even humbler state of service to become food for my soul. Help me to receive you in the Eucharist with gratitude, fully aware of your loving presence.

Resolution: I will start preparing my heart today to attend Mass this Sunday and receive Christ lovingly in Communion.

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Homily of the Day

April 19, 2018

“Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16) This verse is said to be the bible within the bible. “Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life” (John 6:47) and this one is the succinct formulation of our belief. And here is one of Jesus’ many ‘I AMs.’ “I am the Bread of Life.” “I am the Living Bread.”

Bread in the family life and culture in those days is a staple as rice is to us now. So when Jesus claims ‘I AM the Bread of Life, the Living Bread,’ he is giving the imprint of ordinariness, the availability in daily life, the ease to identify if not relate to him. Yet it provides the families then of the deeper meaning of God’s provision in the desert of the Manna, of the provision to prepare the Passover meal with the unleavened bread! So this I AM of the Blessed Lord Jesus evokes so much deeper meaning and significance in that setting.

How do we now relate or even associate ourselves with this particular I AM of Jesus, the Bread of Life and the Living Bread? It is often said one becomes what one eats, but with the Bread of Life and the Living Bread, one receives and becomes more like JESUS! Let us not starve ourselves through infrequent reception of the Eucharist. Let us approach the Banquet of Love to partake often and become an imprint of the Bread of Life, the Living Bread, Jesus Christ!

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One Bread, One Body

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All Issues > Volume 34, Issue 3

<< Thursday, April 19, 2018 >>

Acts 8:26-40
View Readings

Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20

John 6:44-51
Similar Reflections

FULL-PHIL-MENT

"The Spirit said to Philip, 'Go and catch up with that carriage.' Philip ran ahead and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah. He said to him, 'Do you really grasp what you are reading?' 'How can I,' the man replied, 'unless someone explains it to me?' " �Acts 8:29-31

Before we recognize the risen Christ, we need our hearts to burn as the Scriptures are interpreted for us (Lk 24:32). Jesus interprets the Scriptures for us not only by calling us to read the Bible but also by sending into our lives people like the deacon Philip to explain the Bible (see Acts 8:31). No matter how intelligent and educated we may be, we cannot understand well some major revelations in the Scriptures, for the Lord hides things from the learned and the clever (Lk 10:21). The Lord has set up His Body, the Church, so that even the most learned will need the less learned in order to sufficiently understand the Scriptures (see 1 Cor 12:20-21; see also Acts 18:24-28). Therefore, we need:

• the Church,
• Christian community, and
• humility and docility.

The Lord has graciously sent many Philips into my life in order to make me a Philip for you so that you will be Philips for others. "The things which you have heard from me through many witnesses you must hand on to trustworthy men who will be able to teach others" (2 Tm 2:2). We need each other and are needed by others to understand the Scriptures and meet the risen Christ. Listen to the Philips; be a Philip.

Prayer: Father, teach me in any way and through anyone.

Promise: "They shall all be taught by God." —Jn 6:45

Praise: It took Dennis sixty years, but he finally acknowledged Jesus as Lord.

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