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My father had never lost his temper with us, never beaten us, but we had for him that feeling often described as fear, which is something quite different and far deeper than alarm. It was that sense which, without irreverence, I have thought to find expressed by the great evangelists when they speak of the fear of God. One does not fear God because He is terrible, but
because He is literally the soul of goodness and truth, because to do Him wrong is to do wrong to some mysterious part of oneself, and one does not know exactly what the consequences may be. - Joyce Cary (1888-1957), “Except the Lord”
(What does “fear of the Lord” mean to you?)
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ACTS 25:13B-21; PS 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20AB
JN 21:15-19
After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them,
he said to Simon Peter,
"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
He said to him, "Tend my sheep."
He said to him the third time,
"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time,
"Do you love me?" and he said to him,
"Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."
Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go."
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me."
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"Peter was hurt because He had asked a third time, 'Do you love Me?' So he said to Him: 'Lord, You know everything. You know well that I love You.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed My sheep.' " —John 21:17
If we love Jesus, we will feed His sheep, that is, we will feed God's people with God's Word, for "not on bread alone is man to live but on every utterance that comes from the mouth of God" (Mt 4:4; Dt 8:3). Peter showed his love for Jesus by standing up on the first Pentecost Sunday, proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah, and leading three-thousand people to Jesus and the life in the Spirit (Acts 2:14ff). If we love Jesus, we will stand up this Pentecost 2019 and lead people to Jesus and the
Spirit.
We may not have the opportunity to speak to thousands as Peter did, but we will receive phone calls, send text messages and e-mails, and have conversations. We will have opportunities to share Pentecost with a spouse, children, relatives, co-workers, neighbors, and friends. We will have a lampstand to let the light of Pentecost shine for all in the house (Lk 11:33). If we are not willing to proclaim the Spirit on
the streets, we will not receive the Spirit in the upper room. All Christians are called to live Pentecost, to evangelize, according to the particular calling God has given them in their state of life.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, give me the love that will result in evangelization. May I share the Gospel with at least three people in the next three days.
Promise: "Instead they differed with him over issues in their own religion, and about a certain Jesus Who had died but Who Paul claimed is alive." —Acts 25:19
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
CHAPTER II. THE DIVINE ACTION WORKS UNCEASINGLY FOR THE SANCTIFICATION OF SOULS.
SECTION XI. Everything is Supernaturalised by the Divine Action
The divine action incites souls to aim at the most eminent sanctity; all that is required on the part of the soul is abandonment to this action.
You say you would be delighted to find an opportunity of dying for God, and would be completely satisfied with some such action, or with a life leading to the same result. To lose all, to die forsaken, to sacrifice your life for others, these are indeed charming ideas! But as for me, Lord, I glorify in all things the might of Your will in which I find all the happiness of martyrdom, austerities, and good works
for others. Your will is enough, and I am content to live and to die as it decrees. In itself it is more pleasing to me than all the attributes of the instruments of which it makes use, or than their effects, because it pervades all, makes all divine, and changes all into itself. It is all heavenly to me, and every one of my moments is a genuine divine action, and living or dying I shall always be satisfied with it. Yes, divine Love, I shall no longer single out times or ways, but shall welcome
You always and in any fashion. It seems to me, O divine Will, as if You had revealed Your immensity to me; I will therefore take no steps save in the bosom of Your infinity, You who are the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. The unceasing torrent of graces has its rise in You. It is from You that it flows, is carried on, and made active. Therefore it is not within the narrow limits of a book, or the life of a saint, or in some sublime idea that I ought to seek You. These are but drops of that
ocean which is poured out over every creature and in which they are all immersed. They are mere atoms that disappear in this deep abyss. I will no longer seek this action in the thoughts of spiritual persons. I will no longer beg my bread from door to door, nor pay court to creatures, but I will live as the child of an infinitely good, wise, and powerful father whom I desire to please, and to make happy. I wish to live according to my faith, and since the divine action is applied by every single
thing and at every moment for my perfection, I will live on this immense fortune, this certain income, and in the most profitable manner.
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