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Tuesday 9 April
2013
Readings at Mass
____________________
First reading
Acts
4:32-37
The whole group of believers was united,
heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as
everything they owned was held in common.
The
apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great
power, and they were all given great respect.
None
of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would
sell them, and bring the money from them, to present it to the apostles; it was
then distributed to any members who might be in need.
There
was a Levite of Cypriot origin called Joseph whom the apostles surnamed
Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’). He owned a piece of land and he
sold it and brought the money, and presented it to the apostles.
As we read Acts we see the model Christian community. Jesus gave us only one
command and that is to love. He who loves, St. Paul tells us, fulfils the whole
Law. We are to love God and in loving him we will love the whole of creation. In
fact it is only through loving creation and every person in it that we can love
God.
Psalm
Psalm
92:1-2,5
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed;
the Lord has robed himself with might,
he has girded himself with power.
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.
or
Alleluia!
The world you made firm, not to be
moved;
your throne has stood firm from of old.
From all eternity, O Lord, you are.
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.
or
Alleluia!
Truly your decrees are to be trusted.
Holiness is fitting to your house,
O Lord, until the end of time.
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.
or
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
cf.Rv1:5
Alleluia, alleluia!
You, O Christ, are the faithful witness,
the First-born from the dead,
you have loved us and have washed away
our sins with your blood.
Alleluia!
Or
Jn3:15
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Son of Man must be lifted up
so that everyone who believes in him
may have eternal life.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
John
3:7-15
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
‘Do not be surprised when I say:
You must be born from above.
The wind blows wherever it pleases;
you hear its sound,
but you cannot tell where it comes from
or where it is going.
That is how it is with all who are born
of the Spirit.’
‘How can that be possible?’ asked
Nicodemus. ‘You, a teacher in Israel, and you do not know these things!’
replied Jesus.
‘I tell you most solemnly,
we speak only about what we know
and witness only to what we have seen
and yet you people reject our evidence.
If you do not believe me when I speak
about things in this world,
how are you going to believe me when I
speak to you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who came down from
heaven,
the Son of Man who is in heaven;
and the Son of Man must be lifted up
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
desert,
so that everyone who believes may have
eternal life in him.’
Jesus gives us the
Life of God
The life we have from
our parents, though God’s gift, is natural and fit only for this world. Human
parents cannot give ‘eternal life with God’. Only God can give this. To receive
it we ‘must be born from above’. Jesus gives this life to us through his
Spirit. It is God’s life just as our natural life is our parents’ life. Herein lays
our dignity as believers in Jesus. Through our faith, supreme gift of God,
Jesus gives us the power through his Spirit to become the children of God. Born
of God we already have this divine life within us. Through it, we will live forever
with God, as God is. “We will be like him”. Have you experienced that you are
God’s beloved child? If you have, you will be at peace with God, long to live
forever with him Do you pray for this experience?
Wednesday 10
April 2013
Readings at Mass
____________________
First reading
Acts
5:17-26
The high priest intervened with all his
supporters from the party of the Sadducees. Prompted by jealousy, they arrested
the apostles and had them put in the common gaol.
But
at night the angel of the Lord opened the prison gates and said as he led them
out, ‘Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new Life.’
They did as they were told; they went into the Temple at dawn and began to
preach.
When
the high priest arrived, he and his supporters convened the Sanhedrin –
this was the full Senate of Israel – and sent to the gaol for them to be
brought. But when the officials arrived at the prison they found they were not
inside, so they went back and reported, ‘We found the gaol securely locked and
the warders on duty at the gates, but when we unlocked the door we found no one
inside.’ When the captain of the Temple and the chief priests heard this news
they wondered what this could mean. Then a man arrived with fresh news. ‘At
this very moment’ he said, ‘the men you imprisoned are in the Temple. They are
standing there preaching to the people.’ The captain went with his men and
fetched them. They were afraid to use force in case the people stoned them.
Looking at the Apostles we are
amazed at what the Holy spirit can do for those who willingly abandon
themselves to him. Peter the coward and denier is now a bold witness and
channel for the healing love of Jesus. We can be the same.
Psalm
Psalm
33:2-9
This poor man called and the Lord heard
him.
or
Alleluia!
I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its
boast.
The humble shall hear and be glad.
This poor man called and the Lord heard
him.
or
Alleluia!
Glorify the Lord with me.
Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
from all my terrors he set me free.
This poor man called and the Lord heard
him.
or
Alleluia!
Look towards him and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called, the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all his distress.
This poor man called and the Lord heard
him.
or
Alleluia!
The angel of the Lord is encamped
around those who revere him, to rescue
them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
He is happy who seeks refuge in him.
This poor man called and the Lord heard
him.
or
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen and shone upon us
whom he redeemed with his blood.
Alleluia!
Or
Jn3:16
Alleluia, alleluia!
God loved the world so much that he gave
his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal
life.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
John
3:16-21
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
‘Yes, 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.’
God so loves the world
That God so loves
the world is the hidden mystery behind everything. He loves all his creation. That
is why he made it and his love is eternal, unconditional, and infinite. To love
someone is to see them as valuable and precious, worth living for and worth
dying for. God sees his world like this. It is the way he sees you. We were
enemies because of our sins but rather than see us lost he sent his Son to live
among us and bring us all the blessing of the heavenly places. Even though
wicked men killed his Son, they could not kill his love for us and he still
calls us to Salvation in Jesus. We can only be lost if we knowingly reject
Jesus. Have you given up the works of darkness and do you live in the light of
Christ by keeping his Commandments?
Thursday 11
April 2013
Readings at Mass
____________________
First reading
Acts
5:27-33
When the officials had brought the
apostles in to face the Sanhedrin, the high priest demanded an explanation. ‘We
gave you a formal warning’ he said ‘not to preach in this name, and what have
you done? You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and seem determined to
fix the guilt of this man’s death on us.’ In reply Peter and the apostles said,
‘Obedience to God comes before obedience to men; it was the God of our
ancestors who raised up Jesus, but it was you who had him executed by hanging
on a tree. By his own right hand God has now raised him up to be leader and
saviour, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins through him to Israel. We
are witnesses to all this, we and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those
who obey him.’
This
so infuriated them that they wanted to put them to death.
Peter tells us clearly we must
obey God even in the face of man’s opposition. Those whose only fear is to
displease God are the ones who will build his Church
Psalm
Psalm
33:2,9,17-20
This poor man called and the Lord heard
him.
or
Alleluia!
I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
He is happy who seeks refuge in him.
This poor man called and the Lord heard
him.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord turns his eyes to the just
and his ears to their appeal.
They call and the Lord hears
and rescues them in all their distress.
This poor man called and the Lord heard
him.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those whose spirit is crushed he will
save.
Many are the trials of the just man
but from them all the Lord will rescue
him.
This poor man called and the Lord heard
him.
or
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen, he who created all
things,
and has granted his mercy to men.
Alleluia!
Or
Jn20:29
Alleluia, alleluia!
‘You believe, Thomas, because you can
see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and
yet believe.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
John
3:31-36
John the Baptist said to his disciples:
‘He who comes from above is above all
others;
he who is born of the earth is earthly
himself
and speaks in an earthly way.
He who comes from heaven
bears witness to the things he has seen
and heard,
even if his testimony is not accepted;
though all who do accept his testimony
are attesting the truthfulness of God,
since he whom God has sent
speaks God’s own words:
God gives him the Spirit without
reserve.
The Father loves the Son
and has entrusted everything to him.
Anyone who believes in the Son has
eternal life,
but anyone who refuses to believe in the
Son will never see life:
the anger of God stays on him.’
God’s Life in us
Jesus is like us in all
things but sin, yet he is so different too. He has come from God. He has
experiences far beyond ours. He does not belong here. He is in the world but he
belongs to the world of God. Those who belong to this world will not accept
him. They want to kill him. Those who accept Jesus are aliens in this world.
They live by other values. They are lead by the Spirit of God because they live
by the life of God in them. They are the true human beings as Jesus is. We do
not have God’s Life by right nor can we earn it. It is God’s gift to all who
accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Such people are born from above. We already
have this life now. Have you received it? Do you live a transformed life?
Friday 12 April
2013
Readings at Mass
____________________
First reading
Acts
5:34-42
One member of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee
called Gamaliel, who was a doctor of the Law and respected by the whole people,
stood up and asked to have the apostles taken outside for a time. Then he
addressed the Sanhedrin, ‘Men of Israel, be careful how you deal with these
people. There was Theudas who became notorious not so long ago. He claimed to
be someone important, and he even collected about four hundred followers; but
when he was killed, all his followers scattered and that was the end of them.
And then there was Judas the Galilean, at the time of the census, who attracted
crowds of supporters; but he got killed too, and all his followers dispersed.
What I suggest, therefore, is that you leave these men alone and let them go.
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.’
His
advice was accepted; and they had the apostles called in, gave orders for them
to be flogged, warned them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.
And so they left the presence of the Sanhedrin glad to have had the honour of
suffering humiliation for the sake of the name.
They
preached every day both in the Temple and in private houses, and their
proclamation of the Good News of Christ Jesus was never interrupted.
The Apostles are now true
disciples of Jesus. They love and respect their Master to the point of
rejoicing to be found worthy to suffer for him. The threats of the Jews will
not prevent them from preaching. How far are we true disciples?
Psalm
Psalm
26:1,4,13-14
There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to
live in the house of the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink?
There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to
live in the house of the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
There is one thing I ask of the Lord,
for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord,
all the days of my life,
to savour the sweetness of the Lord,
to behold his temple.
There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to
live in the house of the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I am sure I shall see the Lord’s
goodness
in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord!
There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to
live in the house of the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
We know that Christ is truly risen from
the dead:
have mercy on us, triumphant King.
Alleluia!
Or
Mt4:4
Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the
mouth of God.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
John
6:1-15
Jesus went off to the other side of the
Sea of Galilee – or of Tiberias – and a large crowd followed him,
impressed by the signs he gave by curing the sick. Jesus climbed the hillside,
and sat down there with his disciples. It was shortly before the Jewish feast
of Passover.
Looking
up, Jesus saw the crowds approaching and said to Philip, ‘Where can we buy some
bread for these people to eat?’ He only said this to test Philip; he himself
knew exactly what he was going to do. Philip answered, ‘Two hundred denarii
would only buy enough to give them a small piece each.’ One of his disciples,
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, ‘There is a small boy here with five
barley loaves and two fish; but what is that between so many?’ Jesus said to
them, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass there, and as many
as five thousand men sat down. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and
gave them out to all who were sitting ready; he then did the same with the
fish, giving out as much as was wanted. When they had eaten enough he said to
the disciples, ‘Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing gets wasted.’ So
they picked them up, and filled twelve hampers with scraps left over from the
meal of five barley loaves. The people, seeing this sign that he had given,
said, ‘This really is the prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, who
could see they were about to come and take him by force and make him king,
escaped back to the hills by himself.
Five
Loaves for Five Thousand
There were five thousand people. The
disciples proclaimed their inability to feed them. Andrew makes the seemingly
ridiculous suggestion, “There is a boy with five loaves and two fish!” In the
hands of Jesus, this is not ridiculous. With them, he feeds them all with
twelve baskets of scraps remaining. With nothing in hand, Jesus can feed his
people abundantly. Here is a deep lesson for us. Jesus promised, “Seek first
the Kingdom of heaven and God’s justice and all these things will be given to
you”. If you seek Jesus wholeheartedly and rid yourself of all else, then he
will provide for you too. You must have no other desire than to know, love and
serve Jesus. This is by prayer, the Word of God, and reflection. Do you have
the desire to make Jesus your life? Do you have absolute trust in him to solve
your problems?
Saturday 13
April 2013
Readings at Mass
____________________
First reading
Acts
6:1-7
About this time, when the number of
disciples was increasing, the Hellenists made a complaint against the Hebrews:
in the daily distribution their own widows were being overlooked. So the Twelve
called a full meeting of the disciples and addressed them, ‘It would not be
right for us to neglect the word of God so as to give out food; you, brothers,
must select from among yourselves seven men of good reputation, filled with the
Spirit and with wisdom; we will hand over this duty to them, and continue to
devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.’ The whole assembly
approved of this proposal and elected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the
Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and
Nicolaus of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these to the
apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
The
word of the Lord continued to spread: the number of disciples in Jerusalem was
greatly increased, and a large group of priests made their submission to the
faith.
There were two groups among the
Christian converts. The one group were the Hebrew or Aramaic speaking converts.
These had a great reverence for the Temple. The other group were Greek speaking
Jews from throughout the Roman Empire. Not being residents of the Palestine,
they may not have had such a reverence for the Temple and the Temple worship. When
the dispute arose the Apostles safeguarded the unity and fellowship of the
whole group and so made the new arrangement for their group with their own
leaders. In the early Church the unity of fellowship among believers was
paramount.
Psalm
Psalm
32:1-2,4-5,18-19
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we
place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you
just;
for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.
Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,
with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we
place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
For the word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his love.
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we
place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord looks on those who revere him,
on those who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine.
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we
place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Rm6:9
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ, having been raised from the
dead, will never die again.
Death has no power over him any more.
Alleluia!
Or
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen, he who created all
things,
and has granted his mercy to men.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
John
6:16-21
In the evening the disciples went down
to the shore of the lake and got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other
side of the lake. It was getting dark by now and Jesus had still not rejoined
them. The wind was strong, and the sea was getting rough. They had rowed three
or four miles when they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming towards the
boat. This frightened them, but he said, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid.’ They were
for taking him into the boat, but in no time it reached the shore at the place
they were making for.
Do not Fear in Your
Darkness
It is night. The disciples are hard pressed rowing on a
rough sea. Jesus is not present but he is concerned about them. Like Yahweh,
Jesus too treads the waves (Psalm 77:19). Like Moses, he brings his people
across the sea to safety. John is encouraging his communities and all Christian
communities throughout the ages. Jesus may appear absent but he cares for his
Church and he cares for each member in it. It may be dark and the wind and
waves against us – a time of persecution, but he will come to us. He gives us
his assurance, “Do not be afraid”. As the disciples journey in the night so may
we, but let us take courage: Jesus is with us. He will never abandon us.
However, we may abandon him. Who is Jesus for you? Is he your life?
Alternatively, have you other desires apart from him?
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