Message of 5-6-11
Published: Fri, 04/29/11
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Man (and woman, of course) still retains within himself the need to
love a perfect object that will never disappoint him and to be
himself loved totally and unconditionally. These needs can be met
only in a relationship with God Himself. Otherwise, we go on
demanding unattainable absolutes from human beings.
- Tom Marshall
(Do you do this?)
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LECTIONARY READINGS FOR THE DAY
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Acts 5:34-42; Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14; Jn 6:1-15
R. (see 4abc) One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life's refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
One thing I ask of the LORD
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
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MEDITATION ON THE SCRIPTURES
- from
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
"All day long" as the first reading tells us, the disciples "did
not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus." How did that
come about? Today's Gospel is John's version of the multiplication
of the loaves of bread, and it serves as a prelude to Jesus'
discourse on His being the bread of life (which will be the focus
of the Gospel readings for the next week). It's worth recalling
that John's version of the Last Supper does not contain the
institution narrative that we find in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Instead, John focuses more on other meal contexts, particularly
this one, as the model of Eucharist. In John, this marvelous event
is presented not so much as a miracle but as an instance, a
foretaste, of what sharing Jesus' life means. When Jesus says that
He gives us His flesh to eat, we need to understand that "flesh"
here is Semitic form for "life". Jesus gives us His life. That's
what empowered the disciples to teach and proclaim, nonstop.
That job which they did in first century Palestine was not a
one-time event. The Church is continually being formed, shaped, and
built, and it is the job of every Christian today - because we are
disciples - to teach and proclaim, as did the first disciples. We
are empowered to do so precisely by Jesus' sharing His life with us.
- by Robert P. Heaney, Ph.D.
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SPIRITUAL READING
- Fenelon's "Maxims of the Saints"
We find again other forms of expression, which it is proper to
notice. The union between God and the soul is sometimes described
by them as an "essential" union, and sometimes as a "substantial"
union, as if there were a union of essence, substance, or being, in
the literal or physical sense. They mean to express nothing more
than the fact of the union of pure love, with the additional idea
that the union is firm and established; not subject to those breaks
and inequalities, to that want of continuity and uniformity of love
which characterize inferior degrees of experience.
- Article 42
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