May 7, 2007 Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter

  2007년 5월 7일 부활 제5주간 월요일

 

 제1독서 사도행전 14,5-18

그 무렵 [이코니온에서는] 5 다른 민족 사람들과 유다인들이 저희 지도자들과 더불어 사도들을 괴롭히고 또 돌을 던져 죽이려고 하였다. 6 바오로와 바르나바는 그 일을 알아채고 리카오니아 지방의 도시 리스트라와 데르베와 그 근방으로 피해 갔다. 7 그들은 거기에서도 복음을 전하였다.
8 리스트라에는 두 발을 쓰지 못하는 사람이 하나 있었는데, 그는 앉은뱅이로 태어나 한 번도 걸어 본 적이 없었다. 9 그가 바오로의 설교를 듣고 있었는데, 그를 유심히 바라본 바오로가 그에게 구원받을 만한 믿음이 있음을 알고, 10 “두 발로 똑바로 일어서시오.” 하고 큰 소리로 말하였다. 그러자 그가 벌떡 일어나 걷기 시작하였다.
11 군중은 바오로가 한 일을 보고 리카오니아 말로 목소리를 높여, “신들이 사람 모습을 하고 우리에게 내려오셨다.” 하고 말하였다. 12 그들은 바르나바를 제우스라 부르고 바오로를 헤르메스라 불렀는데, 바오로가 주로 말하였기 때문이다. 13 도시 앞에 있는 제우스 신전의 사제는 황소 몇 마리와 화환을 문으로 가지고 와서, 군중과 함께 제물을 바치려고 하였다.
14 바르나바와 바오로 두 사도는 그 말을 듣고서 자기들의 옷을 찢고 군중 속으로 뛰어들어 소리를 지르며 15 말하였다.
“여러분, 왜 이런 짓을 하십니까? 우리도 여러분과 똑같은 사람입니다. 우리는 다만 여러분에게 복음을 전할 따름입니다. 여러분이 이런 헛된 것들을 버리고 하늘과 땅과 바다와 또 그 안에 있는 모든 것을 만드신 살아 계신 하느님께로 돌아서게 하려는 것입니다. 16 지난날에는 하느님께서 다른 모든 민족들이 제 길을 가도록 내버려 두셨습니다. 17 그러면서도 좋은 일을 해 주셨으니, 당신 자신을 드러내 보이지 않으신 것은 아닙니다. 곧 하늘에서 비와 열매 맺는 절기를 내려 주시고 여러분을 양식으로, 여러분의 마음을 기쁨으로 채워 주셨습니다.”
18 그들은 이렇게 말하면서 군중이 자기들에게 제물을 바치지 못하도록 겨우 말렸다.

복음 요한 14,21-26

그때에 예수님께서 제자들에게 말씀하셨다.
21 “내 계명을 받아 지키는 이야말로 나를 사랑하는 사람이다. 나를 사랑하는 사람은 내 아버지께 사랑을 받을 것이다. 그리고 나도 그를 사랑하고 그에게 나 자신을 드러내 보일 것이다.”
22 이스카리옷이 아닌 다른 유다가 예수님께, “주님, 저희에게는 주님 자신을 드러내시고 세상에는 드러내지 않으시겠다니 무슨 까닭입니까?” 하자, 23 예수님께서 그에게 대답하셨다.
“누구든지 나를 사랑하면 내 말을 지킬 것이다. 그러면 내 아버지께서 그를 사랑하시고, 우리가 그에게 가서 그와 함께 살 것이다. 24 그러나 나를 사랑하지 않는 사람은 내 말을 지키지 않는다. 너희가 듣는 말은 내 말이 아니라 나를 보내신 아버지의 말씀이다.
25 나는 너희와 함께 있는 동안에 이것들을 이야기하였다. 26 보호자, 곧 아버지께서 내 이름으로 보내실 성령께서 너희에게 모든 것을 가르치시고 내가 너희에게 말한 모든 것을 기억하게 해 주실 것이다.”

 

 

 

 

 

 May 7, 2007

 Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter

 Reading 1
Acts 14:5-18

There was an attempt in Iconium
by both the Gentiles and the Jews,
together with their leaders,
to attack and stone Paul and Barnabas.
They realized it,
and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe
and to the surrounding countryside,
where they continued to proclaim the Good News.

At Lystra there was a crippled man, lame from birth,
who had never walked.
He listened to Paul speaking, who looked intently at him,
saw that he had the faith to be healed,
and called out in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet.”
He jumped up and began to walk about.
When the crowds saw what Paul had done,
they cried out in Lycaonian,
“The gods have come down to us in human form.”
They called Barnabas “Zeus” and Paul “Hermes,”
because he was the chief speaker.
And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city,
brought oxen and garlands to the gates,
for he together with the people intended to offer sacrifice.

The Apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their garments
when they heard this and rushed out into the crowd, shouting,
“Men, why are you doing this?
We are of the same nature as you, human beings.
We proclaim to you good news
that you should turn from these idols to the living God,
who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them.
In past generations he allowed all Gentiles to go their own ways;
yet, in bestowing his goodness,
he did not leave himself without witness,
for he gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons,
and filled you with nourishment and gladness for your hearts.”
Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds
from offering sacrifice to them.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 115:1-2, 3-4, 15-16

R. (1ab) Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name give glory
because of your mercy, because of your truth.
Why should the pagans say,
“Where is their God?”
R. Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Our God is in heaven;
whatever he wills, he does.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the handiwork of men.
R. Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
May you be blessed by the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
Heaven is the heaven of the LORD,
but the earth he has given to the children of men.
R. Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel
Jn 14:21-26

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him,
“Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.

“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name(
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.”

 

 

 Commentary

 

 Paul and Barnabas heal a cripple (the same as Peter has done). The people think they are gods and want to offer sacrifice to them. They both preach and speak of the good news of the living God now coming to the Gentiles, but oftentimes healings get in the way of hearing the Word of God.

Do we hear the Word? Jesus tells us that if we obey the commands that we have been given in the Word then we love God, and the Father will love us, and Jesus will reveal God to us. If we love, then we are true to God's Word. The gift of the Spirit, the Paraclete (one who stands right at our side) both teaches us and helps us to be true to the Word that has been seeded in us and reminds us of all that Jesus has taught. What is the Word of the Lord saying to the Church today and will we make it become reality in our world?

 

 

 Not surprisingly, a most frequently occurring word in today’s gospel reading is the word “love”, a key word especially in John’s narrative of Jesus’ last hours before his passion, death and resurrection. Somehow, however, our culture has managed to cheapen the use and meaning of that word, as in “love scenes” or “Love Boat”. Love talk is easy and the word “love” can become a handy marketing label.

In my hospital experience I have been witness to many ｅxpressions of profound love toward patients, particularly toward those who were losing their battle for recovery. I have seen the tears, the anxiety, the long hours at the patient’s bed side, without the word “love” being even mentioned. But the deeds of love were so eloquently clear, that the word was neither needed nor missed. In the Spiritual Exercises [230] Ignatius of Loyola reminds us that love is shown in deeds better than in words.

During my teaching years I had in class an engineering student who liked to write poetry, some of which was published. Being a young man, his poems often pivoted on love and in one of them he had two verses that have stayed with me ever since I read them:

Though hard to show,
love’s even harder to hide.

Love deeds do give us away, do they not?.

So, how do we know that we love God? In today’s gospel reading Jesus is insistent that the one who loves him will keep his word: deeds. That is how we know. Are our deeds and our lives deeds and lives of love? As the saying goes, love is about walking the walk, not about talking the talk. My favorite quotation from Ralph W. Emerson bears repeating here: “what you do speaks so loudly, that it does not let me hear what you say”. Maybe that is why love is harder to hide when we do love.

For us Jesuits, one of the deeds that reveal to us whether we do love is the deed of remaining available to the Lord for mission, as the Lord’s desire is mediated to us through our religious Superiors. So, much as I have valued contributing to the Daily Reflections over the last five plus years, a new assignment away from Creighton makes this present reflection my last one and I trust that my availability for a new mission is a deed of love. As I bring this one dimension of my ministry to closure, I want to thank Maureen Waldron, who talked me into contributing to the series, and also the many of you, whose feedback I have found quite affirming.

 

 by
Luis Rodriguez, S.J.
Creighton University Medical Center

 

 

 The word ‘abide’ is used repeatedly in the part of John's gospel that we are reading at Mass these times (10 times in verses 1 - 10 of chapter 15).  It is variously translated as ‘live’ and ‘remain’ and 'make your home'.  It is a beautiful word.  It was a word much beloved of Meister Eckhart, the 14th-century German mystic.  He wrote, “It is not right to love God for his heaven's sake nor for the sake of anything at all, but we should love God for the goodness that God is. For whoever loves God for anything else does not abide in him, but abides in the thing he is loving him for.  If, therefore, you want to abide in God, you must love him for nothing but himself.” 

    That's how a person behaves at home: we love the people there for their own sakes, not for what we can get from them.  Some saint said he would like to close down both heaven and hell, so that people would do good for its own sake, not because of greed or fear,  and love God for God's own sake.  That would be ‘abiding in God.’ 

Equally, God abides in us.  "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (today’s reading, v. 23).  He promised too to send the Holy Spirit.  This means that the Trinity lives in us.  And we in the Trinity. 

    How did we get the idea that God was distant from us?  I suppose it was because many people spoke to us about God and neglected to mention that “God is love”; and because many had no love for us themselves.  Love brings near.  Fear separates, it makes you want to run away.  How terrible that we run away from our very Source like frightened animals!  How terrible that we feel like strangers and exiles from our own home, our abode.  Even when we try to make ourselves distant from God, God remains close to us.  Meister Eckhart again: “You need not seek Him here or there, He is no further than the door of your heart; there He stands patiently awaiting whoever is ready to open up and let Him in. No need to call to Him from afar: He can hardly wait for you to open up.  He longs for you a thousand times more than you long for Him.” 

    ‘Abide’.  It is a word we might use to describe what we are doing in contemplation: we are abiding, we are making you home in Christ, we are within his mind.  We are in God and God is in us.  We are in our true home. 

 

 

“If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him” 

 Do you know the love that surpasses all, that is stronger than death itself (Song of Songs 8:6)? In Jesus' last supper discourse he speaks of the love he has for his disciples and of his Father's love. He prepares his disciples for his imminent departure to return to his Father by exhorting them to prove their love for him through their loyalty and obedience to his word. He promises them the abiding instruction and consolation of the Holy Spirit. Saint Augustine says the Lord loves each of us as if there were only one of us to love. God’s love for each of us is as real and tangible as the love of a mother for her child and the love of a lover who gives all for his beloved. God made us for love — to know him personally and to grow in the knowledge of his great love for us. How can we know and be assured of the love of God? The Holy Spirit helps us to grow in the knowledge of God and his great love.  The Spirit enables us to experience the love of God and to be assured of the Lord’s abiding presence with us (see Romans 8:35-39). The Holy Spirit also opens our ears to hear and understand the word of God.  Do you listen attentively to God's word and believe it?  Ask the Holy Spirit to inflame your heart with the love of God and his word.

"Lord, in love you created me and you drew me to yourself. May I never lose sight of you nor forget your steadfast love and faithfulness. And may I daily dwell upon your word and give you praise in the sanctuary of my heart, You who are my All."

Psalm 115:1-6

1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to thy name give glory, for the sake of thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness!
2 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?"
3 Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.

 

THE 'AX' OF THE APOSTLES

'A move was made by Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to abuse and stone them.' Acts 14:5

The Acts of the Apostles begins with the Holy Spirit and healing. But then there's imprisonment, the murder of Stephen and James, and the attempted murder of Peter. And this is only the beginning.

When the Church sends out missionaries (Acts 13:3), all hell breaks loose. The first missionary journey begins with a monumental confrontation in Paphos. Riots break out in Antioch of Pisidia and Iconium. Vigilante parties from these two cities hunt Paul down and catch up with him in Lystra. Paul is then attacked by a mob, which smashes stones against his skull and literally beats him to the point of death (Acts 14:19). Miraculously, Paul is either raised from the dead or brought out of a coma (Acts 14:20). Then he goes back to Lystra and continues to proclaim the good news of Jesus' kingdom.

Read on, if you dare. The Acts of the Apostles describes a persecuted Church, so in love with Jesus that it will suffer anything to serve Him. Does this describe you and your church? Get your 'acts' together this Easter season.

Praise: Inspired by the movement of the Holy Spirit found in Acts, Regina prays for new Pentecost after new Pentecost.
Prayer: Jesus, may I love You so much that I will choose to suffer for You and Your kingdom.
Promise: 'Anyone who loves Me will be true to My word, and My Father will love him; We will come to him and make our dwelling place with him.' Jn 14:23 

 

 

«The Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have told you»

Today, Jesus shows us his immense desire for us to share his plenitude. United with him, we live into the stream of divine life that is the Holy Trinity. «God is with you. In your soul filled with grace, lives the Blessed Trinity. —This is why, you, despite all your misery, may and must be in steady conversation with the Lord» (Saint Josemaria).

Jesus assures us He will be present with us in the divine intimacy of the soul through grace. Thus, we Christians are no longer orphans. He loves us so much that, though He does not need us, He does not want to prescind from us.

«Whoever keeps my commandments is the one who loves me. If he loves me, he will also be loved by my Father; I too shall love him and show myself clearly to him» (Jn 14:21). This thought helps us to have presence of God. And those desires or thoughts which, eventually, are wasting our time and preventing us from abiding by the divine will, will have no room any more on our minds. This is an advice from saint Gregory the Great: «Let us not be seduced by the flattery of prosperity, because it is a stupid traveler he who sees, during his journey, delightful prairies but forgets where he was heading for».

God's presence in our heart will help us discover and carry out in this world those designs the Divine Providence may have planned for us. The Spirit of the Lord will arouse initiatives in our heart to be placed on top of all human activities and, thus, make Christ stand out over and above all of us. If we manage to have this intimacy with Jesus we shall end up by being good sons of God and will always and everywhere feel as his friends: whether in the street, amidst our daily chores or within our family life.

All light and fire of divine life will fall upon each one of the faithful who are willing to receive the gift of divinity living in our soul. God's Mother will intercede for us —as our own mother that she also is— to deeply enter into this covenant with the Holy Trinity.
 

 

 "Why, O Lord, are you not more manifest to the world?"  That question constantly haunts us in our prayer. You manifest yourself to us in prayer, but we don't see you as readily in the world.  Of course, there is an answer that theologians give with their theory of the "anonymous Christian."  Christ is manifest in a hidden way in all the good consciences shown in loving behavior.  Yes, but that's not what we experience in our contemplative prayer.  Jesus is not anonymous.  He is our life, our light, our love, the way, the truth.  He is the very substance of our substance through participation in the divine life in grace.  That is what we yearn for in our prayer that Jesus be known and loved explicitly by all individuals.  Will not that be the final condition of the cosmos: All restored in Christ for the Father?  Yes.  Amen.  Jesus gives no answer in this Gospel directly to the question.  That is not ours to know.  The Holy Spirit holds us in remembrance that is the divine presence and it penetrates every fiber of our being.  If it is not experienced yet visibly among all peoples it is our prayer.  What we receive is the invitation and the command.  The invitation is to love and to abide.  The command is to be faithful.  It is more than a command .  It is our life.  To live consciously in Christ in the Father through the Spirit is our all as it will be the All for all eternity.