May, 2018

The Holy Father's Prayer Intention

Evangelization: The Mission of the Laity, That the lay faithful may fulfill their specific mission, by responding with creativity to the challenges that face the world today.

Wednesday of the Sixth week of Easter

Commentary of the day
Symeon the New Theologian (c.949-1022), Greek monk, saint of the Orthodox churches
Catechesis, 33 ; SC 113 (trans. ©Friends of Henry Ashworth)

"When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth"

What is the key to knowledge if not the grace of the Holy Spirit conferred by faith? Its illumination truly gives knowledge, divine knowledge, and opens our closed and veiled minds, as we frequently experience with regard to many parables and figures, to say nothing of clearer demonstrations. Pay careful attention, therefore, to the spiritual meaning of the word. If the key does not open the door - for Scripture says, to him the doorkeeper opens - it remains unopened; and if the door is not opened, no one enters the Father's house. As Christ says: "No one comes to the Father except through me" (Jn 14:6).
Now the fact that it is the Holy Spirit who first opens our minds and teaches us about the Father and the Son is again stated by Christ himself: "When the Spirit of truth comes, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me and he will lead you to the whole truth" (Jn 15:26; 16:13). Do you not see how through the Spirit, or rather in the Spirit, the Father and the Son come to be known inseparably?...

The Holy Spirit is called the key because it is through him and in him that we first receive spiritual illumination, and being purified, are enlightened with the light of knowledge, and baptized from above, and born again, and called children of God. As Paul says: "The Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groans" (Rm 8:26); and again, "God has given his Spirit to our hearts and he cries out, 'Abba, Father' " (Gal 4:6). It is the Spirit, therefore, who shows us the door which is light, and the door teaches us that he who inhabits the dwelling is himself also light inaccessible.

'If you wish to become a disciple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, you must conform yourself to His divine maxims and be meek and humble like Him.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

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.

Saint of the Day — Saint John of Avila!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3552271/posts?page=4

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Information: St. Pachomius

Feast Day: May 9

Born: 292, Thebes, Egypt

Died: 9 May 348, Egypt

Holy Spirit Interactive Kids: A Saint a Day

Blessed Nicholas Albergati

Feast Day: May 09
Born: 1375 :: Died: 1443

Blessed Nicholas was born in Bologna, Italy. When he grew up, he studied law at the university. But after a few years, he decided not to become a lawyer. Instead, at the age of twenty, Nicholas joined the Carthusian order.

When he was about thirty-five Nicholas was chosen to be bishop of his native diocese. He reluctantly agreed but could not believe it could be God's will. His superiors assured him it was.

People liked Bishop Nicholas. Like them, he lived in a small, plain house and he often visited the people of his diocese. He went to the poorest families first. He blessed their homes, talked with them and helped them with their needs. The people were very grateful.

This wise and holy Bishop was made a cardinal in 1426. He helped maintain peace between Pope Martin V and the emperor. He also acted as peacemaker between Pope Eugene IV and the French king. These popes asked him for advice about important Church matters.

Blessed Nicholas is named the patron of learning and he wrote many books to encourage people to learn about their faith. He died in 1443 while on a visit to Siena, Italy. Pope Eugene IV had his body brought back to Bologna. The pope himself participated in the funeral Mass and burial.

CATHOLIC ALMANAC

Wednesday, May 9

Liturgical Color: White

Pope Paul V canonized St. Frances of Rome on this
day in 1608. Many trials in her life, including the loss
of her husband, son and family property, only served
to increase her devotion to God.

Catholic Culture

Easter: May 9th

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

MASS READINGS

May 09, 2018 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that, as we celebrate in mystery the solemnities of your Son's Resurrection, so, too, we may be worthy to rejoice at his coming with all the Saints. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Old Calendar: St. Gregory Nazianzen, bishop, confessor and doctor; St. Pachomius (Hist)

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Gregory Nazianzen. He was educated at Athens in all the sciences with St. Basil the Great. He became bishop of Nazianzen and his profound knowledge earned for him the title of Doctor and Theologian, titles confirmed by the Church. He died in 389. His feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated January 2.

Historically today is the feast of St. Pachomius, founder of the cenobitical life, born near Esneh, Egypt; died at Phebôou c.346. After spending some time with the hermit Palemon, he withdrew to Tabennisi where he introduced community life among the hermits who gathered around him. Before he died he had established nine monasteries for men and two for women. His order continued until the 11th century. Represented in hermit's garb, or crossing the Nile on the back of a crocodile.

St. Gregory Nazianzen
Gregory, surnamed the "Theologian" by the Greeks, was born at Nazianz in Cappadocia in 329. He was one of the "Three Lights of the Church from Cappadocia." To his mother, St. Nonna, is due the foundation for his saintly life as an adult. He was educated at the most famous schools of his time — Caesarea, Alexandria, Athens. At Athens he formed that storied bond of friendship with St. Basil which was still flaming with all the fervor of youthful enthusiasm when he delivered the funeral oration at the grave of his friend in 381.

Gregory was baptized in 360, and for a while lived the quiet life of a hermit. In 372 he was consecrated bishop by St. Basil. In 381 he accepted the see of Constantinople, but grieved by the constant controversies retired again to the quiet life he cherished so highly and dedicated himself entirely to contemplation.

During his life span the pendulum was continually swinging back and forth between contemplation and the active ministry. He longed for solitude, but the exigencies of the times called him repeatedly to do pastoral work and to participate in the ecclesiastical movements of the day. He was unquestionably one of the greatest orators of Christian antiquity; his many and great accomplishments were due in great measure to his exceptional eloquence. His writings have merited for him the title of "Doctor of the Church."

— Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Things to Do:

We too must harmoniously combine the two phases of spiritual life, the contemplative which tends to solitude and the active or pastoral which responds to the need of the times and the good of souls.

St. Pachomius
St. Pachomius can justifiably be called the founder of cenobitic monasticism (monks who live in community). Even though St. Antony the Great was the first to go into the desert to live a life of seclusion pursuing evangelical perfection, he lived an eremitic life, that is, a primarily solitary life.

Pachomius first started out as a hermit in the desert like many of the other men and women in the third and fourth centuries who sought the most radical expression of Christian life and he developed a very strong bond of friendship with the hermit Palemon. One day he had a vision during prayer in which he was called to build a monastery, and was told in the vision that many people who are eager to live an ascetic life in the desert, but are not inclined to the solitude of the hermit, will come and join him. His hermit friend Palemon helped him to build the monastery and Pachomius insisted that his cenobites were to aspire to the austerity of the hermits.

However, he knew that his idea was a radical one, in that most of the men who came to live in his monastery had only ever conceived of the eremitic lifestyle; his great accomplishment was to reconcile this desire for austere perfection with an openness to fulfilling the mundane requirements of community life as an expression of Christian love and service. He spent most of his first years as a cenobitic doing all the menial work on his own, knowing that his brother monks needed to be gently inducted into serving their brothers in the same manner. He therefore allowed them to devote all their time to spiritual exercises in those first years. At his death, there were eleven Pachomian monasteries, nine for men and two for women.

The rule that Pachomius drew up was said to have been dictated to him by an angel, and it is this rule that both St. Benedict in the west and St. Basil in the east drew upon to develop their better known rules of cenobitic life.

— Catholic News Agency

Things to Do:

Read this longer life of St. Pachomius on the EWTN website.

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Acts 17:15, 22–18:1

6th Week of Easter

We should like to hear you on this some other time. (Acts 17:32)

Some other time. How often do you say it? “Care to join us?” Some other time, thanks. You mean, of course, that you might like to, sometime in the future, maybe, but possibly not. You just don’t want to commit yourself at the moment.

Neither did the Athenians. What Paul preached to them was interesting, apparently, but possibly nothing more. Maybe it was so different from their long-held beliefs that it bore more consideration—later, maybe. Regardless of the reason, they missed what God was doing at that moment.

For many things, “some other time” is a perfectly reasonable response. But it’s not a good way to respond to God. As the saying goes, “If you’re too busy for God, you’re too busy.” When God speaks, you don’t want to miss it. It’s important to listen and take hold of what he says. He has good things to say to you, to teach you, to encourage and guide you, to shower you with grace. He knows what you need, and it is his greatest desire that you hear and respond to his voice today, not some other time.

This is why prayer is so important: so that we don’t miss what the Spirit is trying to tell us. Setting aside time in the morning for prayer allows us to hear God’s voice and to let it shape our hearts.

Hearing God’s voice, though—what on earth does that mean? Well, you might not “hear” it like you hear a human voice; you might not even hear it expressed in words. But you might experience hearing God’s voice through a thought that comes to mind as you pray, through a conviction in your conscience, or as you recall a comment someone made. Maybe a verse from Scripture or something you heard in a homily or a hymn at church strikes you in a new way. God speaks in all these ways.

So listen for the voice of the Lord today. And when you sense what God is saying, try not to just give it a nod and tell yourself that you’ll come back to it later, as the Athenians seem to have done. Treasure it. Try to respond to it. Now is the acceptable time.

“Holy Spirit, help me to make time to hear you today.”

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

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

Daily Marriage Tip for May 9, 2018:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid…I am going away and I will come back to you.” (John 14: 27-29) Separations like business trips or military deployments can strain a marriage. Plan a daily way to reconnect, even if it is something as simple as picking a common time to pray for each other.

Regnum Christi

May 9, 2018 – Nothing But the Truth

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Father John Doyle, LC

John 16:12-15

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Homily of the Day

May 9, 2018

Today’s Gospel reading speaks of the role of the Holy Spirit: “he will guide you into the whole truth.”

Jesus was speaking at his farewell discourse to his Apostles on the night before he died: when he spoke about the sending of the Holy Spirit, were the Apostles reassured? Jesus told them he would leave them but the Spirit will come to them: “From the Father I will send you the Spirit of truth. When the Helper comes from the Father, he will be my witness” (Jn 15: 26) “It is better for you that I go away, because as long as I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you.” (Jn 16: 7)

Though seemingly abstract at times, the Holy Spirit is indeed present in our lives. The descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles on the first Pentecost turned the frightened apostles into courageous preachers of the Good News of the risen Jesus.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is manifested by the gifts of the Holy Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy and peace, patience, understanding of others, kindness and fidelity, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal 5: 22 – 23) Such virtues spring from the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

One Bread, One Body

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<< Wednesday, May 9, 2018 >>

Acts 17:15, 22�18:1
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Psalm 148:1-2, 11-14

John 16:12-15
Similar Reflections

HOW MUCH MORE WILL YOU WANT?

"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now." �John 16:12

We need the Pentecost Novena, which starts in two days, because we are not ready to hear what Jesus desires to tell us. No matter how close we are to the Lord, He always has "much more" for us (Jn 16:12) � more ministry, more peace, more stretching.

We may already be stretched as far as we think possible. Like a woman in the last month of pregnancy, we may not think it's possible to be stretched any further. Yet the woman wakes up the next morning to discover she has stretched even more. She knows that in the days to come, she will keep stretching.

You might not see how you could possibly forgive the person who hurt you. You are so busy with the kids, how could you find time and energy for one more thing? So in that sense, you may not be ready to hear the "much more" that Jesus has to tell you.

This is why the Church, in her wisdom, takes the time for the coming Pentecost Novena. If we're too busy to pray, we're too busy. If we're too busy for the Holy Spirit, we're too busy. Clear your calendar. Ask the Lord during the Pentecost Novena for the grace to receive the Holy Spirit.

Prayer: Father, open me, stretch me, enlarge me to receive the Holy Spirit.

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

Praise: Fr. Allen went from "good" to the Best at Pentecost. His parishioners then kept commenting on how his homilies touched them in exactly the areas in which they were hurting the most.

Pro-life advocates question Planned Parenthood practices.