Properly understood, prayer is a mature activity indispensable to the fullest
development of personality—the ultimate integration of our highest faculties. Only in prayer do we achieve that complete and harmonious assembly of body, mind and spirit which gives the frail human reed its unshakable strength.
- Alexis Carrel (1873-1944), Prayer is Power (One more good reason to spend time in
prayer.)
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Acts
5:17-26
Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 John 3:16-21 Jesus said to Nicodemus: ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who
believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.
No one who believes in him will be condemned;
but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already,
because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son.
On these grounds is sentence pronounced:
that though the light has come into the world
men have shown they prefer darkness to the
light
because their deeds were evil.
And indeed, everybody who does wrong
hates the light and avoids it,
for fear his actions should be exposed;
but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light,
so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.’
Reflection on the Scriptures
This verse reminds us that God has always loved the world and every human person. It is easy for us to imagine a God who waits to punish us when we stray, disobey, or rebel. But it is much harder to truly believe, deep in our hearts, that
each one of us matters to God—despite our brokenness, our sins, and our failures. Today’s Gospel assures us that God is a loving Father who longs for his wandering children to come back to him. The Gospel also reveals how vast and inclusive God’s love is. God loved the whole world—not just a particular religion, group, or nation. He loved all, and so he gave his only Son. His love
reaches the unlovable, the forgotten, those who have no one, those who think of God and those who do not. It reaches those who accept his love and those who reject it. No one is outside the reach of this love. As St. Augustine beautifully reminds us, “God loves each one of us as if there was just one of us to love.” Rev. Anish Kochanichottil, SJ
The Imitation of Christ, Thomas A. Kempis https://amzn.to/40FrikB Paperback and Kindle versions available BOOK
ONE: Thoughts Helpful in the Life of a Soul
The Twentieth Chapter: The Love of Solitude and Silence SEEK a
suitable time for leisure and meditate often on the favors of God. Leave curiosities alone. Read such matters as bring sorrow to the heart rather than occupation to the mind. If you withdraw yourself from unnecessary talking and idle running about, from listening to gossip and rumors, you will find enough time that is suitable for holy meditation. Very many great saints avoided
the company of others wherever possible and chose to serve God in retirement. "As often as I have been among people," said one writer, "I have returned less a person." We often find this to be true when we take part in long conversations. It is easier to be silent altogether than not to speak too much. To stay at home is easier than to be sufficiently on guard while away. Anyone, then, who aims to live the inner and spiritual life must go apart, with Jesus, from the crowd.
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