carmelite daily reflection
In this mornings gospel reading, the Jews ask the question, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Far from pulling back in response to that dismissive question, Jesus goes on to speak of the need not only to eat his flesh but to drink his blood as well. Barnabas saw that the new development in Antioch was a great opportunity for Paul to use his gifts and he obviously saw that the church in Antioch could greatly benefit from Pauls gifts. Another member of the church there, Ananias had a vision of the Lord in which the Lord asked him to go to Saul and to heal Sauls blindness. He stood among them in all the power of his risen life. November 28th to December 4th, 2021 . As the gate, he calls out to us to keep passing through him to find that fullness of life which alone can satisfy the deepest longings of our heart. A large set of gates prevents all non-residents from entering the enclosure. The last we see of Nicodemus in Johns gospel is at the foot of the cross, helping to arrange a dignified burial for Jesus; he had allowed himself to be drawn to Jesus more fully; he had opened himself to the Spirit a little more. It only compounded their grief. The gospel reading says that they were talking together about all that happened. Gates have become more of a feature of our urban landscape than they used to be. Jesus speaks both as a mystic and as one who serves those who are overburdened. That is our calling too. Sometimes, we seem to hear that call more loudly than at other times. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; The suggestion is that Jesus needed to be in communion with God in prayer. Jesus exclaimed, I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. The second stage is meditatio (reflection) where we think about the text we have chosen and ruminate upon it so that we take from it what God wants to give us. In the first reading we have an Ethiopian returning home from his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Listening to Gods word prepares us, disposes us, to recognize and receive the Lord who comes to us in the Sacraments. All of these experiences of loss are life-draining and debilitating. The gospel was perhaps intended as a word of encouragement to the church, assuring them that just as they had travelled and were still travelling the way of the cross, Jesus had travelled that way before them. The importance of Josephs role in providing the relatively secure environment in which Jesus could grow to maturity as a human being is probably underestimated. In todays first reading, Gamaliel, a leading Pharisee, spoke wisely when he said with regard to the early church, If this enterprise, this movement of theirs, is of human origin it will break up of its own accord; but if it does in fact come from God you will not only be unable to destroy them, but you might find yourselves fighting against God. Gates can be understood as both barring the way and opening up a way. Two grieving disciples walk along, talking together about all that had happened. Now I mean that in the best possible way. According to the reading, when the risen Lord appeared to Paul, there came a light from heaven all around him. Yet, whereas the wind is an impersonal force, the Spirit is a personal force. He is not saying, in other words, I am a gate, but, rather, I am the gate. We recognize in the words of todays gospel reading that he is above all others, including all human authority, be it religious or political. The light which shone from the risen Lord and from the preaching of the Easter gospel could not be extinguished by the powers of darkness. That same early tradition places Mark in the church of Rome, the city where Peter was crucified, the city where the church experienced the first real persecution lead by the Roman state. When Jesus says in todays gospel reading that, as the good shepherd, I lay down my life for my sheep, he is saying that he lays down his life for each one of us individually. Through his life, death, resurrection, he has befriended us and he calls out to us to entrust our lives to him as we would to a friend, including the pieces and fragments of our sometimes shattered lives. Gamemaker Studio 2 Tutorial Drag And Drop,
Is Whistling Rude In Uk,
Jefferson Parish Arrests March 2021,
Frank Somerville Porsche,
Articles C |
|
carmelite daily reflection