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Message of the Day
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God spoke these words in her soul:
“From now on, don’t look at anything but love. Fix your eyes on love. No matter what happens to you or others — within or without — lean on love alone. And live.”
- Catherine of Genoa
("Love now." This will always bring things back into proper focus.)
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Readings of the Day
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Dt 4:1, 5-9; PS 147:12-13, 15-16,
19-20
Mt 5:17-19
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to
fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken
place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches
these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of
heaven.” USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“Hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.” —Deuteronomy 4:1
If we are to receive the
awesome graces of justice, mercy, and freedom, we must obey the Lord:
- “carefully” (Dt 4:6), that is, in detail, for Jesus has come to fulfill even the smallest part of a letter of the law (Mt 5:18).
- zealously. It is our privilege to obey the Lord, Who for love of us obeyed the Father even to death on the cross (Phil 2:8). We must reject a minimalist aberration of Christian life, for “the written law kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor
3:6).
- joyfully. We delight in obeying the law of the Lord (Ps 40:9). We should give obedience to the Lord cheerfully, for the Lord loves cheerful givers (2 Cor 9:7).
Jesus said: “You will live in My love if you keep My commandments, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and live in His love” (Jn 15:10). Through our love, let us carefully, zealously, and joyfully obey our way into freedom.
Prayer: Father, send the Holy Spirit to teach me
to obey You according to Your standards.
Promise: “Whoever breaks the least significant of these commands and teaches others to do so shall be called least in the kingdom of God.” —Mt 5:19 Presentation Ministries
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Spiritual Reading
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Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011. Part Three, Gift of the Spirit Chapter 3: The Coming of the
Spirit - Selected quotes
In this section, we will continue to reflect on biblical references to the Holy Spirit, focusing now on early accounts of the coming of the Spirit. This is a kind of follow-up to our reflection on Jesus’ teaching in that we are examining how this teaching
actually came to be realized in the early Church.
To begin, we note, again, that before the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost, the followers of Jesus were an impotent group, largely consumed by grief over the crucifixion of Jesus, and wonder concerning their experiences of his resurrection. His parting words to them (according to Luke) were that they would “receive power when
the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Following his ascension, they returned to Jerusalem and the upper room where Jesus had eaten the Passover meal with them before he was crucified. Present were the Apostles, several women, Mary the mother of Jesus and some of his kin. They prayed, had meals in common, supported one another, and waited .
. . for what, I’m sure, they knew not.
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