The beloved disciple and you

Welcome to my blog. You will find the daily readings from the Bible which the Catholic Church under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit has chosen and provides for our spiritual nourishment. If we use them seriously each day, we will grow in our relationship with God – ‘in whom we live, move and have our being’ – and come to know Jesus who loved us and gave his life for us on the Cross. He gives us life and gives it in abundance.

How to pray with the Bible. 1. Set aside a time each day when alone or in a group, you can in silence listen to God speaking to you. He speaks gently as with Elijah (1 Kings 19:12), Jesus, (Rev 3:20). 2.Sit comfortably where you will not be distracted or disturbed. You are to enter into the presence of God who loves and cares for you. 3.Pray for the Holy Spirit who teaches us how to pray (Rom 8:26-27). Ask Mary to intercede with her Son to send the Spirit upon you. (Luke 11:13). 4. Read slowly in the Spirit who inspired the reading, asking him to speak to you too. Phrases will strike you. “Speak Lord your servant is listening” (1 Sam 3:11). “All Scripture is inspired and profitable for teaching… and instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16”. 5. Pray to Jesus with gratitude for the inspiration he has given you. 6. Go back in the Spirit of Jesus to your ordinary life.

Saturday 30 May 2020

The beloved disciple and you

Acts 1: 14

The disciples devoted themselves with one accord to prayer

with the women, and Mary the Mother of Jesus,

and his brethren, alleluia.

____________________

Father, we pray that we who have celebrated the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, may by your grace become truly Resurrection people, living in love, joy and hope, knowing that one day we too will share physically in your glory through your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.

____________________

First reading

Acts 28:16-20,30-31 ·

In Rome, Paul proclaimed the kingdom of God without hindrance from anyone

On our arrival in Rome Paul was allowed to stay in lodgings of his own with the soldier who guarded him.

After three days he called together the leading Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, ‘Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. They examined me and would have set me free, since they found me guilty of nothing involving the death penalty; but the Jews lodged an objection, and I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation to make against my own nation. That is why I have asked to see you and talk to you, for it is on account of the hope of Israel that I wear this chain.’

Paul spent the whole of the two years in his own rented lodging. He welcomed all who came to visit him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ with complete freedom and without hindrance from anyone.

Prayerful reflection

Paul has now made it to Rome. For people in Palestine, Rome was ‘the end of the world’. It was the centre point of the Roman Empire which spread from Britain to Persia. Paul is able to bear witness to his Lord right in the heart of the Empire. He comes as a prisoner. But whether in Roman chains or not, he is a prisoner. His love and devotion make him a prisoner of Jesus his Lord, wherever he is. Having once understood that Jesus who is God ‘loved him and gave his life for him’, then Paul gave every ounce of his being to proclaiming the One who had captured his soul. Would that we could grasp like him the ‘unbelievable’ truth that God’s Son became a mere human being like us, because he loves each of us. That he emptied himself of all his divine prerogatives, giving his life in a bitter humiliating death on a Cross, so that you and I can live for ever with God! To grasp this is the starting point. This is the message of the life of Paul. In Rome he will crown his life with martyrdom for the one he loved and for whom he gave his life.

Do you know Jesus? How much love do you have for him?

Psalm (Pray the psalm as your response to the Word of God)

Psalm 10(11):4-5,7

The upright shall see your face, O Lord.

The Lord is in his holy temple,

the Lord, whose throne is in heaven.

His eyes look down on the world;

his gaze tests mortal men.

The upright shall see your face, O Lord.

The Lord tests the just and the wicked;

the lover of violence he hates.

The Lord is just and loves justice;

the upright shall see his face.

The upright shall see your face, O Lord.

Col3:1

Alleluia,

Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ,

you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is,

sitting at God’s right hand.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 21:20-25

This disciple is the one who vouches for these things and we know that his testimony is true

Peter turned and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them – the one who had leaned on his breast at the supper and had said to him, ‘Lord, who is it that will betray you?’ Seeing him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘What about him, Lord?’ Jesus answered, ‘If I want him to stay behind till I come, what does it matter to you? You are to follow me.’ The rumour then went out among the brothers that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus had not said to Peter, ‘He will not die’, but, ‘If I want him to stay behind till I come.’

This disciple is the one who vouches for these things and has written them down, and we know that his testimony is true.

There were many other things that Jesus did; if all were written down, the world itself, I suppose, would not hold all the books that would have to be written.

Prayerful reflection

We have now come to the end of John’s Gospel. We have heard about Peter. We know who he is and we know something of the other apostles and of others who loved and served Jesus. But who is the beloved disciple? Many throughout history have tried to figure out who he was and give a name. But in fact, no one knows, nor shall they ever know. This is the intention of the author of the Gospel. The disciple whom Jesus loved is everyone who gives him/herself to Jesus in love. Jesus will love them as the Father loves him, that is in a way we cannot even imagine.

Are you, then, the beloved disciple? Am I?

You can test yourself. We first hear of him at the Last Supper. He rests on the breast of Jesus at the first Holy Eucharist. Do you rest on the breast of Jesus by welcoming him and being in communion with him in the Holy Eucharist?

He stood at the foot of the Cross. Are you faithful to Jesus, under any circumstance?

He took Mary into his home. Do you have a tender devotion for the Mother of Jesus? Have you taken her into your home? Do you love her as Jesus did and as the Beloved Disciple after him?

He came to the tomb and believed. Is your faith in the Resurrection of Jesus the heart of your life?

He recognized Jesus standing on the shore of the Lake of Galilee. Do you recognize him, when he stands in the street, in an old people’s home, in a homeless man or woman, do recognize him wherever he appears in your daily life?

The beloved disciple will remain till Jesus comes. Will you remain, waiting, longing and living for Jesus until he comes for you?

Jn 16: 14

The Holy Spirit will glorify me,

for he will take from what is mine and declare it to you,

says the Lord, alleluia.

Prayer

Father, in your mercy listen to our prayers. You have brought us from our old life to experience the presence of Jesus with us. Grant that with our old way of living left behind, we may embrace the thought patterns of Jesus and so be pleasing to you. We make our prayer through your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.