April 23, 2020 Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
2020년 4월 23일 부활 제2주간 목요일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
사도행전. 5,27-33
그 무렵 17 대사제가 자기의 모든 동조자 곧 사두가이파와 함께 나섰다.
그들은 시기심에 가득 차 18 사도들을 붙잡아다가 공영 감옥에 가두었다.
19 그런데 주님의 천사가 밤에 감옥 문을 열고 사도들을 데리고 나와 말하였다.
20 “가거라. 성전에 서서 이 생명의 말씀을 모두 백성에게 전하여라.”
21 그 말을 듣고 사도들은 이른 아침에 성전으로 들어가 가르쳤다.
한편 대사제와 그의 동조자들은 모여 와서
최고 의회 곧 이스라엘 자손들의 모든 원로단을 소집하고,
감옥으로 사람을 보내어 사도들을 데려오게 하였다.
22 경비병들이 감옥에 이르러 보니 사도들이 없으므로 되돌아가 보고하였다.
23 “저희가 보니 감옥 문은 굳게 잠겨 있고 문마다 간수가 서 있었습니다.
그런데 문을 열어 보니 안에는 아무도 없었습니다.”
24 성전 경비대장과 수석 사제들은 이 말을 듣고
일이 앞으로 어떻게 될 것인가 하며, 사도들 때문에 몹시 당황해하였다.
25 그때에 어떤 사람이 와서 그들에게 보고하였다.
“여러분께서 감옥에 가두신 그 사람들이
지금 성전에 서서 백성을 가르치고 있습니다.”
26 그러자 성전 경비대장이 경비병들과 함께 가서 사도들을 데리고 왔다.
그러나 백성에게 돌을 맞을까 두려워 폭력을 쓰지는 않았다.
복음
요한. 3,31-36
16 하느님께서는 세상을 너무나 사랑하신 나머지 외아들을 내주시어,
그를 믿는 사람은 누구나 멸망하지 않고 영원한 생명을 얻게 하셨다.
17 하느님께서 아들을 세상에 보내신 것은, 세상을 심판하시려는 것이 아니라
세상이 아들을 통하여 구원을 받게 하시려는 것이다.
18 아들을 믿는 사람은 심판을 받지 않는다.
그러나 믿지 않는 자는 이미 심판을 받았다.
하느님의 외아들의 이름을 믿지 않았기 때문이다. 19 그 심판은 이러하다.
빛이 이 세상에 왔지만, 사람들은 빛보다 어둠을 더 사랑하였다.
그들이 하는 일이 악하였기 때문이다.
20 악을 저지르는 자는 누구나 빛을 미워하고 빛으로 나아가지 않는다.
자기가 한 일이 드러나지 않게 하려는 것이다.
21 그러나 진리를 실천하는 이는 빛으로 나아간다.
자기가 한 일이 하느님 안에서 이루어졌음을 드러내려는 것이다.
April 23, 2020
Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
When the court officers had brought the Apostles in
and made them stand before the Sanhedrin,
the high priest questioned them,
“We gave you strict orders did we not,
to stop teaching in that name.
Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching
and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
But Peter and the Apostles said in reply,
“We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,
though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior
to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
We are witnesses of these things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
When they heard this,
they became infuriated and wanted to put them to death.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
Many are the troubles of the just man,
but out of them all the LORD delivers him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel
The one who comes from above is above all.
The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.
But the one who comes from heaven is above all.
He testifies to what he has seen and heard,
but no one accepts his testimony.
Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God remains upon him.
http://evangeli.net/gospel/tomorrow
«Whoever believes in the Son lives with eternal life»
Fr. Melcior QUEROL i Solà
(Ribes de Freser, Girona, Spain)
Today, the Gospel invites us to cease being so “worldly”, to stop being men who can only speak about mundane things, to speak and behave instead as «he who comes from above» (Jn 3:31), who is Jesus. In this text we see —once more— that in evangelic radicalism there is no happy medium. We must always strive to follow God's thinking, endeavor to share Christ's feelings and aim at seeing men and their circumstances with the same spirit of the Word made flesh. If we behave as “he who comes from above” we shall discover the multitude of positive things happening all the time around us, for God's love is a continued action in favor of man. If we come from above we shall love everybody without exception, and our life will be an open invitation for others to do the same.
«He who comes from above is above all» (Jn 3:31). This is why He can be so helpful to every man and woman where they need help; furthermore «the one who comes from heaven speaks of the things he has seen and heard» (Jn 3:32). And his service costs nothing. This attitude of service without expecting anything in return, without needing a reply from the others, creates a profoundly human and respectful ambiance towards each person's free will; this is a contagious attitude that freely impels others to respond and behave in very much the same way.
Service and testimony go always together, they identify one another. Our world needs authenticity: and what can be more authentic than God's words? what is there more authentic than He who «gives the Spirit without measure» (Jn 3:34)? This is why «whoever does receive his testimony acknowledges the truthfulness of God» (Jn 3:33).
“Believing in the Son” means to have eternal life; it also means that Judgement day is not hanging over believers because they have already been judged and received a favorable sentence; on the other hand, «he who will not believe in the Son will never know life and always faces the justice of God» (Jn 3:36)... until he believes.
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
The one who comes from above is above all. John 3:31
Recently, I was listening to a podcast on Saint Thomas Aquinas. Included in the program was an anecdote about an experience that he had near the end of his life. In short, this experience - a revelation - compelled Thomas to abandon his work of completing his Summa Theologiae. In fact, he came to characterize his writings as 'straw' in comparison to what he had seen in this revelation. Though Thomas was an intellectual giant as a theologian, this was infinitesimally small when placed against what he saw.
In the history of Christianity, so much has been written on God. So much thought and discussion on God's nature, God's will, God's love, humanity's place in God's plan. This desire to know God is right and proper and Thomas was among the best the Church has ever known in writing about God. Still, what was revealed to him - while not necessarily negating what he had written - relegated his towering work to mere straw. Reflecting on today's scripture, this story of Thomas is what came to mind because, just as Thomas' previous work was dwarfed by what he saw, the Sanhedrin's ire is dismissed by the Apostles precisely because what they had experienced - Jesus' resurrection - eclipsed whatever admonishment the Sanhedrin could deliver. They could not be swayed from their resolve in carrying out Jesus' directive.
Unlike the Apostles, we did not see Jesus resurrected. What a gift that must have been. Yet, we are called to share their resolve in proclaiming Jesus as Lord and sharing the Gospel with our whole lives. For this, Jesus said we are blessed. This requires not the intellectual prowess of Thomas Aquinas. In fact, we have heard from him how little that matters anyway. Let us, instead, lean on our faith in Jesus and share the love that is God with one another.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
the meal of love
"Taste and see how good the Lord is." —Psalm 34:9
At each Mass, Jesus offers us His Body and Blood in the Eucharistic feast. The Church, through the voice of the psalmist, invites us to taste and see how good the Eucharistic Lord is (Ps 34:9). At the first Eucharist, the Last Supper, Jesus told His apostles and each of us: "I have greatly desired to eat this Passover with you" (Lk 22:15). The Mass is a marriage between heaven and earth, and the Eucharist is our wedding banquet (see Rv 19:7).
We approach the altar of the Lord as His spouse. In a very real sense, the Eucharist is a kiss from the Lord's lips to ours. The opening verse of the biblical book of the Song of Songs reads: "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth" (Sg 1:2). Have you ever approached the Eucharist with that verse on your lips? The Song of Songs is a book about the passionate love shared between the bride and groom. Jesus is the Groom, and we, the members of the Church, are His bride (see Mk 2:19; Eph 5:25; Rv 19:7). Too many times in my own life, my attention has been elsewhere as I receive the Body and Blood of my Spouse, the Lord Jesus, Who loves me with the deepest desire.
Jesus "greatly desires" to give each one of us a Eucharistic kiss. Let us receive Him with devotion and committed love, and return the kiss by our complete devotion, gratitude, trust, and obedience.
Prayer: Father, may my love for Your Son always exceed the love of any newlywed for their spouse on their wedding day.
Promise: God "does not ration His gift of the Spirit." —Jn 3:34
Praise: As bishop of Prague, St. Adalbert instituted clerical reforms. Those who resisted his efforts were successful in exiling him — twice. After his second exile he won a martyr's crown.
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life"
Do you hunger for the true and abundant life which God offers through the gift of his Holy Spirit? The Jews understood that God gave a certain portion of his Spirit to his prophets. When Elijah was about to depart for heaven, his servant Elisha asked for a double portion of the Spirit which Elijah had received from God (2 Kings 2:9).
The Holy Spirit opens our minds to understand God's word of truth
Jesus tells his disciples that they can believe the words he speaks because God the Father has anointed him by pouring out his Spirit on him in full measure, without keeping anything back. The function of the Holy Spirit is to reveal God's truth to us. Jesus declared that "when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13). When we receive the Holy Spirit he opens our hearts and minds to recognize and understand God's word of truth.
Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) said, "I believe in order to understand; and I understand the better to believe." Faith opens our minds and hearts to receive God's word of truth and to obey it willingly. Do you believe God's word and receive it as if your life depended on it?
God gives us the freedom to accept or reject what he says is true. But with that freedom also comes a responsibility to recognize the consequences of the choice we make - either to believe what he has spoken to us through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, or to ignore, reject, and chose our own way apart from God. Our choices will either lead us on the path of abundant life and union with God, or the path that leads to spiritual death and separation from God.
Love the Lord, cling to him, and you will have life
God issued a choice and a challenge to the people of the Old Covenant: "See I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. ...I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him" (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). And God issues the same challenge to the people of the New Covenant today. Do you weigh the consequences of your choices? Do the choices you make lead you towards life or death - blessing or cursing?
If you choose to obey God's voice and to do his will, then you will know and experience that abundant life which comes from God himself. If you choose to follow your own way apart from God and his will, then you choose for death – a spiritual death which poisons and kills the heart and soul until there is nothing left but an empty person devoid of love, truth, goodness, purity, peace, and joy. Do your choices lead you towards God or away from God?
"Lord Jesus Christ, let your Holy Spirit fill me and transform my heart and mind that I may choose life - the abundant life you offer to those who trust in you. Give me courage to always choose what is good, true, and just and to reject whatever is false, foolish, and contrary to your holy will."
Psalm 34:2, 9, 17-20
2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.
9 O fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want!
17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones; no one of them is broken.
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Always bless the Lord! by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"When are you to 'bless the Lord?' When he showers blessings on you? When earthly goods are plentiful? When you have a plethora of grain, oil, wine, gold, silver... - while your mortal body remains healthy, uninjured and free from disease; while everything that is born on your estate is growing well, and nothing is snatched away by untimely death; while every kind of happiness floods your home and you have all you want in profusion? Is it only then that you are to bless the Lord? No, but 'at all times.' So you are to bless him equally when from time to time, or because the Lord God wishes to discipline you, these good things let you down or are taken from you, when there are fewer births or the already-born slip away. These things happen, and their consequence is poverty, need, hardship, disappointment and temptation. But you sang, 'I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be in my mouth always,' so when the Lord gives you these good things, bless him, and when he takes them away, bless him. He it is who gives, and he it is who takes away, but he does not take himself away from anyone who blesses him. (excerpt from EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 34.3)
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