Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 05-26-19, Sixth Sunday of Easter

Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved." Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.

The apostles and elders, in agreement with the whole church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers. This is the letter delivered by them:

"The apostles and the elders, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings. Since we have heard that some of our number who went out without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, we have with one accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are sending Judas and Silas who will also convey this same message by word of mouth: 'It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right. Farewell.'"

Responsorial Psalm Ps 67:2-3,5,6,8 R. (4) O God, let all the nations praise you! or: R. Alleluia.

May God have pity on us and bless us; may he let his face shine upon us. So may your way be known upon earth; among all nations, your salvation. R. O God, let all the nations praise you! or: R. Alleluia.

May the nations be glad and exult because you rule the peoples in equity; the nations on the earth you guide. R. O God, let all the nations praise you! or: R. Alleluia.

May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you! May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him! R. O God, let all the nations praise you! or: R. Alleluia.

The angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal. It had a massive, high wall,

with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed and on which names were inscribed, the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites. There were three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west. The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb. The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb.

Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord, and my Father will love him and we will come to him.

Jesus said to his disciples: "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.

"I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe."

https://www.universalis.com/20190526/mass.htm

Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
If the Ascension of the Lord is going to be celebrated next Sunday, the alternative Second Reading and Gospel shown here (which would otherwise have been read on that Sunday) may be used today.

First reading
Acts 15:1-2,22-29 ©
It has been decided by the Spirit and by ourselves not to burden you with any burden beyond these essentials
Some men came down from Judaea and taught the brothers, ‘Unless you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved.’ This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had had a long argument with these men it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the problem with the apostles and elders.
Then the apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; the whole church concurred with this. They chose Judas known as Barsabbas and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them:
‘The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us; and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.’

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 66(67):2-3,5-6,8 ©
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
or
Alleluia!
O God, be gracious and bless us
  and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
  and all nations learn your saving help.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
or
Alleluia!
Let the nations be glad and exult
  for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples,
  you guide the nations on earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
or
Alleluia!
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
  let all the peoples praise you.
May God still give us his blessing
  till the ends of the earth revere him.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
or
Alleluia!
EITHER:
Second reading
Apocalypse 21:10-14,22-23 ©
He showed me the holy city coming down out of heaven
In the spirit, the angel took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
  I saw that there was no temple in the city since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple, and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it.
OR:
Second reading
Apocalypse 22:12-14,16-17,20 ©
Come, Lord Jesus
I, John, heard a voice speaking to me: ‘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.’
  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.
  The one who guarantees these revelations repeats his promise: I shall indeed be with you soon. Amen; come, Lord Jesus.
EITHER:

Gospel Acclamation
Jn14:23
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus said: ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.’
Alleluia!
Gospel
John 14:23-29 ©
A peace the world cannot give is my gift to you
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him and make our home with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my words.
And my word is not my own:
it is the word of the one who sent me.
I have said these things to you while still with you;
but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.
Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you,
a peace the world cannot give,
this is my gift to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me say: I am going away, and shall return.
If you loved me you would have been glad to know that I am going to the Father,
for the Father is greater than I.
I have told you this now before it happens,
so that when it does happen you may believe.’
OR:

Gospel Acclamation
cf.Jn14:18
Alleluia, alleluia!
I will not leave you orphans, says the Lord;
I will come back to you,
and your hearts will be full of joy.
Alleluia!
Gospel
John 17:20-26 ©
Father, may they be completely one
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:
‘Holy Father,
I pray not only for these,
but for those also
who through their words will believe in me.
May they all be one.
Father, may they be one in us,
as you are in me and I am in you,
so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.
I have given them the glory you gave to me,
that they may be one as we are one.
With me in them and you in me,
may they be so completely one
that the world will realise that it was you who sent me
and that I have loved them as much as you loved me.
Father, I want those you have given me
to be with me where I am,
so that they may always see the glory you have given me
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Father, Righteous One,
the world has not known you,
but I have known you,
and these have known that you have sent me.
I have made your name known to them
and will continue to make it known,
so that the love with which you loved me may be in them,
and so that I may be in them.’

21. He that has my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

ALCUIN. By love, and the observance of His commandments, that will be perfected in us which He has begun, viz. that we should be in Him, and He in us. And that this blessedness may be understood to be promised to all, not to the Apostles only, He adds, He that has My commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves Me.

AUG. He that has them in , and keeps them in life; he that has them in words, and keeps them in works; he that has them by hearing, and keeps them by doing; he that has them by doing, and keeps them by persevering, he it is that loves Me. Love must be strewn by works, or it is a mere barren name.

THEOPHYL. As if He said, You think that by sorrowing, as you do, for my death you prove your affection; but I esteem the keeping of My commandments the evidence of love. And then He shows the privileged state of one who loves: And he that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him.

AUG. I will love him, as if now He did not love him. What means this? He explains it in what follows: And will manifest Myself to him, i.e. I love him so far as to manifest Myself to him; so that, as the reward of his faith, he will have sight. Now He only loves us so that we believe; then He will love us so that we see. And whereas we love now by believing that which we shall see, then we shall love by seeing that which we have believed.

AUG. He promises to show Himself to them that love Him as God with the Father, not in that body which He bore upon earth, and which the wicked saw.

THEOPHYL. For, as after the resurrection He was to appear to them in a body more assimilated to His divinity, that they might not take Him then for a spirit, or a phantom, He tells them now beforehand not to have misgivings upon seeing Him, but to remember that He shows Himself to them as a reward for their keeping His commandments; and that therefore they are bound ever to keep them, that they may ever enjoy the sight of Him.

22. Judas said to him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?
23. Jesus answered and said to him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him.
24. He that loves me not keeps not my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
25. These things have I spoken to you, being yet present with you.
26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said to you.
27. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives, give I to you.

AUG. Our Lord having said, A little while, and the world sees Me no more: but you shall see Me: Judas, not the traitor named Iscariot, but he whose Epistle is read among the Canonical Scriptures, asks His meaning: Judas said to Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that you will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?

Our Lord in reply explains why He manifests Himself to His own, and not to aliens, viz. because the one love Him, the other do not. Jesus answered and said to him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words.

GREG. If you would prove your love, show your works. The love of God is never idle; whenever it is, it does great things: if it do not work, it is not.

AUG. Love distinguishes the saints from the world: it makes men to be of one mind in an house; in which house the Father and the Son take their abode; who give that love to those, to whom in the end they will manifest themselves. For these is a certain inner manifestation of God, unknown to the ungodly, to whom there is no manifestation made of the Father and the Holy Spirit, and only could be of the Son in the flesh; which latter manifestation is not as the former, being only for a little while, not for ever, for judgment, not for joy, for punishment, not for reward.

And We will come to him: They come to us, in that we go to Them; They come by succoring, we go by obeying; They come by enlightening, we go by contemplating; They come by filling, we go by holding: so Their manifestation to us is not external, but inward; Their abode in us not transitory, but eternal. It follows, And will make Our abode with him.

GREG. Into some hearts He comes, but not to make His abode with them. For some feel compunction for a season and turn to God, but in time of temptation forget that which gave them compunction, and return to their former sins, just as if they had never lamented them. But whoever loves God truly, into his heart the Lord both comes, and also makes His abode therein: for the love of the Godhead so penetrates him, that no temptation withdraws him from it. He truly loves, whose mind no evil pleasure overcomes, through his consent thereto.

AUG. But while the Father and the Son make Their abode with the loving, soul, is the Holy Spirit excluded? What means that which is said of the Holy Spirit above: He dwells with you, and shall be in you, but that the Spirit makes His abode with us? Unless indeed a man be so absurd as to think that when the Father and the Son come, the Holy Spirit departs, as if to give place to His superiors.

Yet even this carnal thought is met by Scripture, in that it says, Abide with you for ever. He will therefore be in the same abode with Them for ever. As He did not come without Them, so neither They without Him. As a consequence of the Trinity, acts are sometimes attributed to single persons in it: but the substance of the same Trinity demands, that in such acts the presence of the other Persons also be implied.

GREG. In proportion as a man's love rests upon lower things, in that proportion is he removed from heavenly love: He that loves Me not, keeps not My sayings. To the love then of our Maker, let the tongue, mind, life bear witness.

CHRYS. Or thus Judas thought that he should , see Him, as we see the dead in sleep: How is it, that you will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world? meaning, Alas, as you art to die, you will appear to us but as one dead. To correct this mistake, He says, I and My Father will come to him, i.e. I shall manifest Myself, even as My Father manifests Himself. And will make our abode with Him; which is not like a dream. It follows, And the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's which sent Me; i.e. He that hears not My words, inasmuch as he loves not Me, so loves he not My Father. This He says to show that He spoke nothing which was not the Father's, nothing beside what seemed good to the Father.

AUG. And perhaps there is a distinction at bottom, since He speaks of His sayings, when they are His own, in the plural number; as when He says, He that loves Me not, keeps not My sayings: when they are not His own, but the Father's, in the singular, i.e. as the Word, which is Himself. For He is not His own Word, but the Father's, as He is not His own image, but the Father's, or His own Son, but the Father's.

CHRYS. These things have I spoken to you, being yet present with you. Some of these things were obscure, and not understood by the disciples.

AUG The abode He promised them hereafter is altogether a different one from this present abode He now speaks of. The one is spiritual and inward, the other outward, and perceptible to the bodily sight and hearing.

CHRYS. To enable them to sustain His bodily departure more cheerfully, He promises that that departure shall be the source of great benefit; for that while He was then in the body, they could never know much, because the Spirit would not have come: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you.

GREG. Paraclete is Advocate, or Comforter. The Advocate then intercedes with the Father for sinners, when by His inward power He moves the sinner to pray for himself. The Comforter relieves the sorrow of penitents, and cheers them with the hope of pardon.

CHRYS. He often calls Him the Comforter, in allusion to the affliction in which they then were.

DIDYMUS. The Savior affirms that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father, in His, the Savior's, name; which name is the Son. Here an agreement of nature and propriety, so to speak, of persons is strewn. The Son can come in the Father's name only, consistently with the proper relationship of the Son to the Father, and the Father to the Son.

No one else comes in the name of the Father, but in the name of God, of the Lord, of the Almighty, and the like. As servants who come in the name of their Lord, do so as being the servants of that Lord, so the Son who comes in the name of the Father, bears that name as being the acknowledged only-begotten Son of the Father. That the Holy Spirit then is sent in the Son's name, by the Father, shows that He is in unity with the Son: whence He is said too to be the Spirit of the Son, and to make those sons by adoption, who are willing to receive Him.

The Holy Spirit then, Who comes in the name of the Son from the Father, shall teach them, who are established in the faith of Christ, all things; all things which are spiritual, both the understanding of truth, and the sacrament of wisdom. But He will teach not like those who have acquired an art or knowledge by study and industry, but as being the very art, doctrine, knowledge itself. As being this Himself, the Spirit of truth will impart the knowledge of divine things to the mind.

GREG. Unless the Spirit be present to the mind of the hearer, the word of the teacher is vain. Let none then attribute to the human teacher, the understanding which follows in consequence of his teaching: for unless there be a teacher within, the tongue of the teacher outside will labor in vain. Nay even the Maker Himself does not speak for the instruction of man, unless the Spirit by His unction speaks at the same time.

AUG. So then the Son speaks, the Holy Spirit teaches: when the Son speaks we take in the words, when the Holy Spirit teaches, we understand those words. The whole Trinity indeed both speaks and teaches, but unless each person worked separately as well, the whole would be too much for human infirmity to take in.

GREG. But why is it said of the Spirit, He shall suggest all stings to you: to suggest being the office of an inferior? The word is used here, as it is used sometimes, in the sense of supplying secretly. The invisible Spirit suggests, not because He takes a lower place in teaching, but because He teaches secretly.

AUG. Suggest, i.e. bring to your remembrance. Every wholesome hint to remember that we receive is of the grace of the Spirit.

THEOPHYL. The Holy Spirit then was both to teach and to bring to remembrance: to teach what Christ had forborne to tell His disciples, because they were not able to bear it; to bring to remembrance what Christ had told them but which on account of its difficulty, or their slowness of understanding, they were unable to remember.

CHRYS. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you: He says this to console His disciples, who were now troubled at the prospect of the hatred and opposition which awaited them after His departure.

AUG. He left no peace in this world; in which we conquer the enemy, and have love one to another: He will give us peace in the world to come, when we shall reign without an enemy, and where we shall be able to avoid disagreement. This peace is Himself, both when we believe that He is, and when we shall see Him as He is. But why does He say, Peace I leave with you, without the My, whereas He puts in My in, My peace 1 give to you? Are we to understand My in the former; or is it not rather left out with a meaning?

His peace is such peace as He has Himself; the peace which He left us in this world is rather our peace than His. He has nothing to fight against in Himself, because He has no sin: but ours is a peace in which we still say, Forgive us our debts (Matt 6:12). And in like manner we have peace between ourselves, because we mutually trust one another, that we mutually love one another. But neither is that a perfect peace; for we do not see into each other's minds. I could not deny however that these words of our Lord's may be understood as a simple repetition.

He adds, Not as the world gives, give I unto you: i.e. not as those men, who love the world, give. They give themselves peace, i.e. free, uninterrupted enjoyment of the world. And even when they allow the righteous peace, so far as not to persecute them, yet there cannot be true peace, where there is no true agreement, no union of heart.

CHRYS. External peace is often even hurtful, rather than profitable to those who enjoy it.

AUG. But there is a peace which is serenity of thought, tranquillity of mind, simplicity of heart, the bond of love, the fellowship of charity. None will be able to come to the inheritance of the Lord who do not observe this testament of peace; none be friends with Christ, who are at enmity with the Christians.

28. You have heard how I said to you, I go away, and come again to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
29. And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that, when it is come to pass, you might believe.

CHRYS. After saying, Peace I leave with you, which was like taking farewell, He consoles them: Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid: the two feelings of love and fear were now the uppermost in them.

AUG. Though He was only going for a time, their hearts would be troubled and afraid for what might happen before He returned; lest in the absence of the Shepherd the wolf might attack the flock: you have heard how I said to you, I go away, and come again to you. In that He was man, He went; in that He was God, He stayed.

Why then be troubled and afraid, when He left the eye only, not the heart? To make them understand that it was as man that He said, I go away, and come again to you; He adds, If you loved Me you would rejoice, because I said, I go to My Father; for My Father is greater than I. In that the Son then is unequal with the Father, through that inequality He went to the Father, from Him to come again to judge the quick and dead: in that He is equal to the Father, He never goes from the Father, but is everywhere altogether with Him in that Godhead, which is not confined to place.

Nay, the Son Himself, because that being equal to the Father in the form of God, He emptied Himself, not losing the form of God, but taking that of a servant, is greater even than Himself: the form of God which is not lost, is greater than the form of a servant which was put on. In this form of a servant, the Son of God is inferior not to the Father only, but to the Holy Ghost; in this the Child Christ was inferior even to His parents; to whom we read, He was subject. Let us acknowledge then the twofold substance of Christ, the divine, which is equal to the Father, and the human, which is inferior.

But Christ is both together, not two, but one Christ else the Godhead is a quaternity, not a Trinity. Wherefore He says, If you loved Me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father; for human nature should exult at being thus taken up by the Only Begotten Word, and made immortal in heaven; at earth being raised to heaven, and dust sitting incorruptible at the right hand of the Father. Who, that loves Christ, will not rejoice at this, seeing, as he does, his own nature immortal in Christ, and hoping that He Himself will be so by Christ.

HILARY. Or thus: If the Father is greater by virtue of giving, is the Son less by confessing the gift? The giver is the greater, but He to whom unity with that giver is given, is not the less.

CHRYS. Or thus: The Apostles did not yet know what the resurrection was of which He spoke when He said, I go, and come again to you: or what they ought to think of it. They only knew the great power of the Father. So He tells them: Though you fear I shall not be able to save Myself, and do not trust to My appearing again after My crucifixion; yet when you hear that I go to My Father, you should rejoice, because I go to one greater, one able to dissolve and change all things. All this is said in accommodation to their weakness: as we see from the next words:

And now I have told you before it comes to pass; that when it does come to pass, you may believe.

AUG. But is not the time for belief before a thing takes place? Is it not the praise of faith, that it believes what it does not see? according to w hat is said below to Thomas: Because you have seen, you has believed. He saw one thing, believed another: what he saw was man, what he believed was God. And if belief can be talked of with reference to things seen, as when we say that we believe our eyes; yet it is not mature faith, but is merely preparatory to our believing what we do not see.

When it has come to pass, then He says, because after His death they would see Him alive again, and ascending to His Father; which sight would convince them that He was the Christ, the Son of God; able as He was to do so great a thing, and to foretell it. Which faith however would not be a new, but only an enlarged faith; or a faith which had failed at His death, and been renewed by His resurrection.

Catena Aurea John 14

https://zenit.org/articles/archbishop-follo-listening-welcoming-loving/

Archbishop Follo: Listening, Welcoming, Loving
With the invitation to be more and more aware that we are the temple of God where He dwells: this is the Paradise.
May 24, 2019 00:54Francesco FolloSunday Readings
Roman Rite
Sixth Sunday of Easter- Year C- May 26, 2019
Acts 15,1-2.22-29; Ps 145; Rev 21,10-14.22-23; Jn 14.23-29
Ambrosian Rite
Acts 21-40b-22.22; Ps 66; Heb7,17-26; Jn 16.12-22
A Presence to be listened to and accepted: to be loved.
                  To the apostle Judas Thaddeus (not the Iscariot), who asked to understand better how Jesus would be manifested to his followers and not to the world (Jn 14.22), Jesus replies: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him “(Jn 14:23). The Greek verb used in this sentence to say “to love” is agapao, which expresses “a love that remains faithful, the characteristic love of God. Whoever loves Jesus with this faithful love is recognizable because he will observe the Word of Jesus Christ. This observing also means guarding and maintaining the word. This verb suggests the style with which we must treat the Word: it is not just keeping it under lock and key like a precious treasure, but looking at it often, gazing at it, and pondering it in one’s heart. It is a gift of the One we love, and we can never tire of looking at it and listening to it, meditating it, and pondering it.
Whoever devotes himself to this love of Jesus and to the keeping of his word, will be loved by the Father. This happens not so much because the Father does love also the others. On the contrary, his love, in any case, is prior to that of man and is not conditioned by it in any sense. Whoever loves the Son will be loved by the Father in the sense that, in listening to the word and in the desire to be united with God, he will understand this love that is poured out on him and he can rejoice in it. His love makes him welcome. He opens his heart to the Father and to the Son who can take up residence with him. This aspect of the dwelling was very important to the people of Israel. The Lord had promised several times that he would come to live among them (Cfr. Ez 37.26-27; Zech 2.14) and Solomon himself was surprised how God had accepted to take up residence in the Temple of Jerusalem (1 Kings 8, 27). Now, thanks to the incarnation, the human heart is capable of welcoming God (2 Cor 6:16; Eph 3:17).
Furthermore, loving Jesus means living like him, in the love of the Father and the brothers. Leaving us, Jesus does not leave us orphans: he sends us his Spirit, which allows us to love like him. If before it was with us, from now on he will be in us. The one who loves is the home of the beloved: he carries it in his heart as his life. We have always been in God, who loves us with eternal love. If we love him, he is in us like us in him.
To obey is to listen to the Beloved and observe his word.
            Pope Francis teaches: “What does it mean to obey God? Does that mean we have to be like slaves, all tied up? No, because those who obey God are free, they are not slaves! And how is this done? I obey, I don’t do my will and am I free? It seems a contradiction. It is not a contradiction “. In fact, «to obey comes from the Latin, and it means to listen, to feel the other. To obey God is to listen to God, to have an open heart to go on the road that God shows us. Obedience to God is listening to God. And this makes us free “(April 11, 2013).
In the passage of the Gospel of this Sixth Sunday of Easter, Jesus links the love for Him with the observance of His word: “If one loves me, he will keep my word” (“to keep my word” here means both guarding and putting into practice).
Why is it so important to obey God? Why does God want so much to be obeyed? For sure, it is not for the sake of control. He is a Father who wants children and not slaves. These children are called to love Him through obedience, because love is really an affirmation of another, of the Other: it is obedience practiced as an affirmation of a presence as a criterion of life.
Obedience to God is important because, while we are obeying Him, we do his will of goodness and perfection and we want the same things that He wants. By doing this we fulfill our original vocation that is to be “in his own image”. We are in truth, in light and, as a consequence, in peace like the body when it reaches its state of quiescence. Dante Alighieri managed to gather all this in one of the most beautiful verses of the whole Divine Comedy: “e ’n la sua volontate è nostra pace” (Dante Alighieri, Heaven, 3,85), which means literally “in His will is our peace”.
To understand that Christ’s word is not an order nor an imposition but a law of loving freedom, we must ask the Lord to make us understand that love is not to give what we have, but what we are. Then, we want what others are and not only what others own. Giving our things to others is not love, love is giving ourselves to others. It i not a case that in the Holy Bible love is identified as obedience, because obedience is the giving of oneself. “Whoever loves me will keep my word…Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me” said Jesus during his Last Supper[1].
Christian obedience is, first of all, an attitude of love. It is that particular kind of listening that exists between close friends, enlightened by the certainty that a friend who gives his life for his friend has only good things to say and to give to his friends. It is a listening, full of confidence that makes us welcoming Christ’s will, and make us sure that it will be for the good.
Obedience to God is the path toward growth and, therefore, the path of one’s freedom because it allows the acceptance of a plan or a will other than our own. It is a path that not only does mortify or diminish but is indeed the foundation of human dignity.

Obeying is living in freedom.
             As long as there is no love, one obeys “forced” by different rules more or less rigid and more or less numerous. When there is love, one listens to the loved one’s will and he is happy to put it into practice. Christian obedience is free and makes one’s free because this obedience to God coincides also with “the true goodness of Man”, of every man. For a Christian, loving God implies obviously the obedience to His will for a supreme good: peace and friendship with God and with men (see the “law of Beatitudes” given by Jesus during His Sermon on the Mount).
The Virgin Mary is, after Christ, the greatest example of obedience, love, and freedom. She welcomed the Word of God with supreme freedom. She has faithfully “kept the word” (= guarded and put into practice) the gift of God’s Love, which, thanks to her obedient yes was incarnated and has come to live in us and among us. She obeyed to the supreme law of love. With her free yes, she has let the truth and the love of God enter into her heart and into the heart of every human being who like her says yes to the gift of God. Then God places his home in the human heart.
He is not just any God: He is the living God, who is Love, who creates freedoms in His own image, who delivers from death by the cross of Easter, who opens to man, in the Holy Spirit, the infinite space of true freedom.
Believing in this God is not to adhere to a theory, and it is not to have an opinion on the divine and the human. To believe is to recognize a Presence who loves us. In fact, “faith comes from the impact of the love of Jesus with the heart of man. Faith is the initiative of the love of Jesus Christ into man’s heart.” (Benedict XVI).
Love is happiness.
               An Augustinian monk, who has remained anonymous, has written: “Friendship is a virtue, but being loved is not a virtue, it is happiness”. We need to be loved, then we can love. We need to be happy to be loved, then we can communicate this love full of joy to others, observing the commandment of love.
The love for Christ is the free and complete answer to the original choice that He has made, an answer that cannot be a vague feeling, but it comes through an attentive listening to the word of truth that Christ has told us, the word of life, the saving word, the word welcomed, cultivated in the heart and then lived.
Whoever truly loves the Lord listens to Him, follows Him, lets God guide him because he knows that obeying Him is not something onerous, but it is a sign of love that talks about desire, affection, friendship, and belonging. Moreover, today, in the short passage from the Gospel, love is also the place of the meeting with the Father, the place where the Father and the Son, Jesus, put their home: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him”. The Gospel of charity asks to build houses of charity, a community of living charity, which is a tangible sign of the newness of Christ in history and humble but fruitful yeast in our individualistic and conflictual society. The hearts of these communities are the consecrated Virgins. These women testify that love is self-giving, and the giving of oneself has proof in this: you cannot own anything since you do not own yourself. They have gladly given all to Love and they diffuse this Love gladly.
Furthermore, with their existence given entirely to God the consecrated Virgins show the profound truth of this affirmation of Christ: “Whoever accepts my commandments and observes them, this is he who loves me. Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father and I will also love him and manifest myself to him “(Jn 14:21).
As Saint Ambrose said: “The consecrated virgins are in the world a sign of true beauty”. The beauty of consecrated life is also the underlying theme of the post-synodal Exhortation Vita Consecrata, extensively developed starting from the icon of the Transfiguration. “How beautiful it is to stay with you, Lord, to dedicate ourselves to you, to focus our existence exclusively on you!” In fact, whoever has received the grace of this special communion of love with Christ, feels himself enraptured by his splendor: he is “the most beautiful of the sons of man” (Ps 45 [44], 3) “(15).

http://www.catholicculture.org/

Easter: May 26th

Sixth Sunday of Easter

MASS READINGS

May 26, 2019 (Readings on USCCB website)
COLLECT PRAYER

Grant, almighty God, that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion these days of joy, which we keep in honor of the risen Lord, and that what we relieve in remembrance we may always hold to in what we do. 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: Fifth Sunday after Easter
“Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” We are not alone or without help in the life that we have embraced. The Church strengthens our faith and feeds our souls “with the pure milk of her teaching, with the bread of the Eucharist; she makes us witnesses of Christ’s resurrection and of the victory which He won over the forces of evil.”
Click here for commentary on the readings in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Sunday Readings

The first reading is taken from the Acts of the Apostles 15:1-2, 22-29 and concerns the Council of Jerusalem which falls in the middle of the book of Acts and describes the turning point for the Church when the council officially recognized the evangelization of the Gentiles. This evangelization had been initiated by Sts. Peter, Barnabas and Paul. Thus, the Christian church broke away from the Mosaic rules while maintaining its roots in the rich theology and traditions of the chosen people.

The second reading is from the Book of Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23 and continues the description of the Heavenly Jerusalem. In the heavenly Jerusalem there is no longer any need for God to have a dwelling-place, because God the Father himself and the Lamb are always present. The Godhead does not need to be brought to mind by the temple (the symbol of his invisible presence), because the blessed will always see God face to face. This sight of God is what causes the righteous to be forever happy.

The Gospel is from John 14:23-29. In the first reading at today’s Mass, we were given the story of the first General Council ever held by the Church authorities. There we saw that a vital decision was reached through the guidance and assistance of the Holy Spirit. “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and ours” (Acts 15:28) was how the authorities announced the conclusion they had reached. In this Gospel which we have just read, Christ promised his Apostles, the night before his death, that when he returned to the Father, the Holy Spirit would be sent to them. He would teach them all things and recall to their minds all that Christ had taught them. In other words, the Church, through the Apostles, was promised the direct assistance of the Holy Spirit in preserving and interpreting what we call “the deposit of faith” or the sum total of the divine revelation given to us for our sanctification.

That promise was fulfilled in a very solemn way within twenty years of our Lord’s resurrection at the Council of Jerusalem. It has been fulfilled again and again down through the history of the Church. And this has been the case not only on the solemn occasions of General Councils, or when definitions concerning faith and morals were given ex cathedra by the Pope, but in many circumstances of less solemnity.

The Holy Spirit “breathes where he wills.” He assists the local authorities in the Church. He inspires individual Christians if they call on him in their need. He inspires young people of both sexes to offer their lives to the service of the Church and their neighbor. He has inspired founders of orders and congregations to form institutes which would help the spread of the faith. He is at work today among us and among the separated brothers of the Church, helping and inspiring them towards that unity for which Christ prayed.

There are moments of crisis in all our lives, moments when a vital decision has to be made. If that decision is wrongly made it may not only seriously interfere with our earthly welfare, but more important still jeopardize our eternal salvation. We should call on the Holy Spirit to help us daily, but we should call for his assistance especially when we have a serious decision to make.

His role in the Church and in the lives of all Christians is to preserve and protect the revelation that God has given us. There are times in the lives of many of us when we are tempted to doubt about what we are called on to believe, or to hesitate with regard to what we are called on to do. It is on such occasions that the help of the Holy Spirit is especially necessary. He will not fail us if we turn to him earnestly and sincerely.

Excepted from The Sunday Readings, Fr. Kevin O’Sullivan, O.F.M.

https://achristianpilgrim.wordpress.com/2019/05/25/to-love-all-people/

TO LOVE ALL PEOPLE
(A biblical refection on THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER [YEAR C] – 26 May 2019)

Gospel Reading: John 14:23-29
First Reading: Acts 15:1-2,22-29; Psalms: Psalm 67:2-3,5-6,8; Second Reading: Revelation 21:10-14,22-23
The Scripture Text
Jesus answered him, “If a man loves Me, he will keep My words, and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard Me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.” (John 14:23-29 RSV)
Two people who love each other naturally want to make each other happy. A husband who knows his wife likes freshly cut flowers will occasionally surprise her with a dozen red roses. If he knows she gets furious when he watches football games all weekend, he tries to limit his time sitting in front of the television set so he can spend more time with her. She, for her part, will try not to wake him on a Saturday morning because she knows he likes to sleep in. She’ll prepare his favorite meal once in a while, just because.
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As if in a married relationship with God, we should base that relationship on love. Just as a husband and wife communicate their likes and dislikes to each other, we communicate our likes and dislikes to God, and God communicates His likes and dislikes to us.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says that if we love Him we will be true to His word and that the person who does not love Him will not keep His word. In this passage, Jesus tells us how to show our love for Him, revealing what pleases and displeases Him. The key to this passage, then, is in understanding what it means to be true to Jesus’ word.
When we take a good look at what Jesus said and did, we find a single motivation behind every one of His words and actions. Loving all people, even those who are not lovable, is at the heart of Jesus’ life and message. Therefore, we should understand being true to Jesus’ word to mean we must love others like Jesus loves them. That sounds simple but in reality it’s not always easy.
Knowing that loving others may sometimes be difficult, Jesus promises in today’s Gospel to send us a Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. A paraclete is someone who stands beside someone else. When we have to do something difficult or scary, it helps to have someone at our side with whom we can share our fears and anxieties, someone who will encourage us and give us support. Jesus sends us His Spirit because peer pressures and fears about what others will think about us may make it difficult for us to be the loving individuals He wants us to be. The Holy Spirit helps us to love when love is not easy.
(Adapted from Jerome J. Sabatowich, Cycling Through the Gospels – Gospel Commentaries for Cycles A, B, and C, pages 268-269.)
Prayer: Come Holy Spirit, remind me of one person in my life whom I find difficult to love. Please help me. O Paraclete, to change my attitude about this person. Help me also to love even those who are not lovable. Amen.

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John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 14
23.	Jesus answered, and said to him: If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him.	Respondit Jesus, et dixit ei : Si quis diligit me, sermonem meum servabit, et Pater meus diliget eum, et ad eum veniemus, et mansionem apud eum faciemus ;	απεκριθη ιησους και ειπεν αυτω εαν τις αγαπα με τον λογον μου τηρησει και ο πατηρ μου αγαπησει αυτον και προς αυτον ελευσομεθα και μονην παρ αυτω ποιησομεν
24.	He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words. And the word which you have heard, is not mine; but the Father's who sent me.	qui non diligit me, sermones meos non servat. Et sermonem, quem audistis, non est meus : sed ejus qui misit me, Patris.	ο μη αγαπων με τους λογους μου ου τηρει και ο λογος ον ακουετε ουκ εστιν εμος αλλα του πεμψαντος με πατρος
25.	These things have I spoken to you, abiding with you.	Hæc locutus sum vobis apud vos manens.	ταυτα λελαληκα υμιν παρ υμιν μενων
26.	But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you.	Paraclitus autem Spiritus Sanctus, quem mittet Pater in nomine meo, ille vos docebit omnia, et suggeret vobis omnia quæcumque dixero vobis.	ο δε παρακλητος το πνευμα το αγιον ο πεμψει ο πατηρ εν τω ονοματι μου εκεινος υμας διδαξει παντα και υπομνησει υμας παντα α ειπον υμιν
27.	Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.	Pacem relinquo vobis, pacem meam do vobis : non quomodo mundus dat, ego do vobis. Non turbetur cor vestrum, neque formidet.	ειρηνην αφιημι υμιν ειρηνην την εμην διδωμι υμιν ου καθως ο κοσμος διδωσιν εγω διδωμι υμιν μη ταρασσεσθω υμων η καρδια μηδε δειλιατω
28.	You have heard that I said to you: I go away, and I come unto you. If you loved me, you would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father: for the Father is greater than I.	Audistis quia ego dixi vobis : Vado, et venio ad vos. Si diligeretis me, gauderetis utique, quia vado ad Patrem : quia Pater major me est.	ηκουσατε οτι εγω ειπον υμιν υπαγω και ερχομαι προς υμας ει ηγαπατε με εχαρητε αν οτι ειπον πορευομαι προς τον πατερα οτι ο πατηρ μου μειζων μου εστιν
29.	And now I have told you before it comes to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe.	Et nunc dixi vobis priusquam fiat : ut cum factum fuerit, credatis.	και νυν ειρηκα υμιν πριν γενεσθαι ινα οταν γενηται πιστευσητε