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Message of the Day
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The reason we can hope to find God is that He is here, engaged all the time in finding us. Every gleam of beauty is a pull toward Him. Every pulse of love is a tendril that draws us in His direction. Every verification of truth links the finite mind up into a Foundational Mind that undergirds us. Every deed of good will
points toward a consummate Goodness which fulfills all our tiny adventures in faith. We can find Him because in Him we live and move and have our being. - Rufus M. Jones (1863-1948), Pathways to the Reality of God
Be still. Let God find you. |
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Readings of the Day
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Acts 4:23-31
Psalm 2:1-3, 4-7a, 7b-9 John 3:1-8 Jesus showed himself again to
the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias, and it happened like this: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said, ‘I’m going fishing.’ They replied, ‘We’ll come with you.’ They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night.
It was light by now and there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. Jesus called out, ‘Have you
caught anything, friends?’ And when they answered, ‘No’, he said, ‘Throw the net out to starboard and you’ll find something.’ So they dropped the net, and there were so many fish that they could not haul it in. The disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord.’ At these words ‘It is the Lord’, Simon Peter, who had practically nothing on, wrapped his cloak round him and jumped into the water. The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net and the fish; they were only about a
hundred yards from land.
As soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there, and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. Jesus said, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore, full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of there being so many the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, ‘Who are you?’; they knew
quite well it was the Lord. Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish. This was the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after rising from the
dead. USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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Nicodemus “came to [Jesus] at night.” —John 3:2 When you’re in the darkness of the tomb rather than in the light of the risen Son, you need to see the light (see Jn 1:4-5). This guiding light often comes in the form
of a prophecy or a revelation. For example, Sts. Peter and John were in a terrible situation. They had been arrested and spent the night in jail (Acts 4:3). A persecution was beginning to rage that would ultimately result in the brutal murder-martyrdom of several believers. How was the early Church to come out of the darkness of fear and violence? They gathered together for prayer, and the Lord gave them a prophecy to reassure them (Acts 4:25-26; Ps 2:1-2). Then they were
given a specific intercessory prayer: “Grant to Your servants, even as they speak Your words, complete assurance by stretching forth Your hand in cures and signs and wonders to be worked in the name of Jesus, Your holy Servant” (Acts 4:29-30). They had obviously received divine enlightenment, for “the place where they were gathered shook as they prayed. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God’s word with confidence” (Acts 4:31). When nothing’s going
right, when darkness is overshadowing the light, seek the light of prophecy and revelation. Prophecy will encourage and guide you. A revelation will focus your prayer on a specific intention. The Spirit will move and the Word will be proclaimed with “complete assurance” (Acts 4:29). Prayer: Jesus, risen Light, shine on me. Promise: “I solemnly assure you, no one can enter into God’s kingdom without being begotten of water and Spirit.” —Jn
3:5 Presentation Ministries
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Spiritual Reading
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Dilexi Te: On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ, by Pope Francis (completed by Pope Leo XIII), 2025.
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/20241024-enciclica-dilexit-nos.html
CHAPTER THREE
THIS IS THE HEART THAT HAS LOVED SO GREATLY
48. Devotion to the heart of Christ is not the veneration of a single organ apart from the Person of Jesus. What we contemplate and adore is the whole Jesus Christ, the Son
of God made man, represented by an image that accentuates his heart. That heart of flesh is seen as the privileged sign of the inmost being of the incarnate Son and his love, both divine and human. More than any other part of his body, the heart of Jesus is “the natural sign and symbol of his boundless love”. [28]
A Love That is Tangible
61. Since the heart continues to be seen in the popular mind as the affective centre of each human being,
it remains the best means of signifying the divine love of Christ, united forever and inseparably to his wholly human love. Pius XII observed that the Gospel, in referring to the love of Christ’s heart, speaks “not only of divine charity but also human affection”. Indeed, “the heart of Jesus Christ, hypostatically united to the divine Person of the Word, beyond doubt throbbed with love and every other tender affection”. [36]
62. The Fathers of the Church,
opposing those who denied or downplayed the true humanity of Christ, insisted on the concrete and tangible reality of the Lord’s human affections. Saint Basil emphasized that the Lord’s incarnation was not something fanciful, and that “the Lord possessed our natural affections”. [37] Saint John Chrysostom pointed to an example: “Had he not possessed our nature, he would not have experienced sadness from time to time”. [38] Saint Ambrose stated that “in taking a soul, he took on the passions of
the soul”. [39] For Saint Augustine, our human affections, which Christ assumed, are now open to the life of grace: “The Lord Jesus assumed these affections of our human weakness, as he did the flesh of our human weakness, not out of necessity, but consciously and freely... lest any who feel grief and sorrow amid the trials of life should think themselves separated from his grace”. [40] Finally, Saint John Damascene viewed the genuine affections shown by Christ in his humanity as proof that he
assumed our nature in its entirety in order to redeem and transform it in its entirety: Christ, then, assumed all that is part of human nature, so that all might be sanctified. [41] 63. Here, we can benefit from the thoughts of a theologian who maintains that, “due to the influence of Greek thought, theology long relegated the body and feelings to the world of the pre-human or sub-human or potentially inhuman; yet what theology did not resolve in theory, spirituality resolved
in practice. This, together with popular piety, preserved the relationship with the corporal, psychological and historical reality of Jesus. The Stations of the Cross, devotion to Christ’s wounds, his Precious Blood and his Sacred Heart, and a variety of Eucharist devotions... all bridged the gaps in theology by nourishing our hearts and imagination, our tender love for Christ, our hope and memory, our desires and feelings. Reason and logic took other directions”.
[42] |
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