May 8, 2021 Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
2021년 5월 8일 부활 제5주간 토요일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
<마케도니아로 건너와 저희를 도와주십시오.>
사도행전. 16,1-10
그 무렵 1 바오로는 데르베를 거쳐 리스트라에 당도하였다.
그곳에 티모테오라는 제자가 있었는데,
그는 신자가 된 유다 여자와 그리스인 아버지 사이에 태어난 아들로서,
2 리스트라와 이코니온에 있는 형제들에게 좋은 평판을 받고 있었다.
3 바오로는 티모테오와 동행하기를 원하였다.
그래서 그 고장에 사는 유다인들을 생각하여
그를 데려다가 할례를 베풀었다.
그의 아버지가 그리스인이라는 것을 그들이 모두 알고 있었기 때문이다.
4 바오로 일행은 여러 고을을 두루 다니며,
예루살렘에 있는 사도들과 원로들이 정한 규정들을
신자들에게 전해 주며 지키게 하였다.
5 그리하여 그곳 교회들은 믿음이 굳건해지고 신자들의 수도 나날이 늘어 갔다.
6 성령께서 아시아에 말씀을 전하는 것을 막으셨으므로,
그들은 프리기아와 갈라티아 지방을 가로질러 갔다.
7 그리고 미시아에 이르러 비티니아로 가려고 하였지만,
예수님의 영께서 허락하지 않으셨다.
8 그리하여 미시아를 지나 트로아스로 내려갔다.
9 그런데 어느 날 밤 바오로가 환시를 보았다.
마케도니아 사람 하나가 바오로 앞에 서서,
“마케도니아로 건너와 저희를 도와주십시오.” 하고 청하는 것이었다.
10 바오로가 그 환시를 보고 난 뒤,
우리는 곧 마케도니아로 떠날 방도를 찾았다.
마케도니아 사람들에게 복음을 전하도록
하느님께서 우리를 부르신 것이라고 확신하였기 때문이다.
복음
<너희는 세상에 속하지 않을 뿐만 아니라 내가 너희를 세상에서 뽑았다.>
요한. 15,18-21
그때에 예수님께서 제자들에게 말씀하셨다.
18 “세상이 너희를 미워하거든
너희보다 먼저 나를 미워하였다는 것을 알아라.
19 너희가 세상에 속한다면
세상은 너희를 자기 사람으로 사랑할 것이다.
그러나 너희가 세상에 속하지 않을 뿐만 아니라
내가 너희를 세상에서 뽑았기 때문에,
세상이 너희를 미워하는 것이다.
20 ‘종은 주인보다 높지 않다.’고 내가 너희에게 한 말을 기억하여라.
사람들이 나를 박해하였으면 너희도 박해할 것이고,
내 말을 지켰으면 너희 말도 지킬 것이다.
21 그러나 그들은 내 이름 때문에
너희에게 그 모든 일을 저지를 것이다.
그들이 나를 보내신 분을 알지 못하기 때문이다.”
May 8, 2021
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
Paul reached also Derbe and Lystra
where there was a disciple named Timothy,
the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer,
but his father was a Greek.
The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him,
and Paul wanted him to come along with him.
On account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised,
for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
As they traveled from city to city,
they handed on to the people for observance the decisions
reached by the Apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem.
Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith
and increased in number.
They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian territory
because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit
from preaching the message in the province of Asia.
When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia,
but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them,
so they crossed through Mysia and came down to Troas.
During the night Paul had a vision.
A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words,
“Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
When he had seen the vision,
we sought passage to Macedonia at once,
concluding that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (2a) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.
Remember the word I spoke to you,
‘No slave is greater than his master.’
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me.”
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
As I prayed on these texts and the other rich offerings of the Easter Season I have been struck again by how important the Church is, not only to handing on the Good News of God’s saving love, but on the gift of the Spirit embodied in the life and compassion of the Church. We are not just a human association that helps us along, but confirmed together by God’s Spirit we together are the Body of Christ called to touch and challenge, comfort and heal the world the way that Jesus served his own community and time. We have been given the power of Jesus to accomplish this.
In today’s first reading about the Disciple Timothy who assisted Paul in preaching the Good news throughout Greece and the world we hear that the Church, knowing the needs of the world they were going to, had this Greek (Pagan) believer circumcised so as to not cause scandal with the Jewish communities where they would stay on their preaching tour. Then we hear of Paul and Timothy reporting on decisions of the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem. Even this early in Church history every local Church was being bound to all the others in Obedience to Apostolic witness and decisions. This sense of being stones in one building or branches of one plant is from the very foundation and root of Jesus’s ministry in the Father through the power of the Spirit.
God sends Paul a dream to serve the peoples of Macedonia in Europe, a part of the world the Good News had not yet penetrated (this is prior to Peter’s move to Rome) and thus began the great effort to bring all Western humanity to know how deeply God desires our participation in the Divine life – even while we are here on earth. What makes this possible is the unity and charity of the Church also called to Catholicity – a worldwide openness to the truth of God’s Creative mercy embedded in some ways in every culture and time.
Today’s Gospel invites us to realize that aspects of culture will also reject the goodness of mercy of God and will hate the messengers of God’s love. The believers in the Church must be constantly on guard and being renewed in the Spirit to discern what is of God in every culture, and what opposes God’s desire for humanity and the world. This discernment is no easy task. The Spirit of God filling the Church and binding it in love makes it possible to discern, but it takes time and slow conversion of heart to truly know and follow what God wants within each pattern of human life. The heart of the Christian faith is this desire to dwell in God and in God’s desire, but the world will try to seduce us into believing in our own desire and especially our desire to be independent of the authority of faith. If any of us desires the consolation of God’s mercy, we are challenged to listen to Jesus’ voice in the Church, even if the human sin of leaders makes it difficult to hear.
Paul and Timothy had their conflicts with other disciples and apostles in the Church in Jerusalem, some of them never seemed to trust Paul. None-the-less, the leaders confirmed the mission of Paul and Timothy, and the two missionaries confirmed the authority of the leaders. All of them sought to be ruled by Jesus’ assertion that no slave is greater than the master and all must be obedient (listening) to the Father’s Will.
In my own heart this is often a challenge. I want to pick and choose which leader (or no leader?) I will attend to in faith – but that is the way of the world who hates Jesus. I must be about prayer, attention, and humility. God will bring the Divine Will to fruition, and it is my heart’s deepest desire to be in union with that Will so that God’s work will be done in me and in us together, the living Church. There is no Christian Spirituality (life in God’s Spirit) that is not anchored in the Church as it lives its authentic mission.
In this Easter Season let us give thanks for the Church as institution and community. We could not hear the Good News apart from God’s love made present in her.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
RESISTANCE TRAINING
“Through all this, the congregations grew stronger in faith.” —Acts 16:5
There is a form of exercise called resistance training. Physical endurance and muscle tone is built through encountering resistance and persevering in the exercise despite that resistance. When the person finds it easier to do the exercise, the amount of resistance is then increased until the person can overcome that level as well.
Just as exercises build strength through overcoming resistance, so the resistance of persecution can make us stronger disciples of Christ. As the kingdom of darkness increases its resistance to our discipleship efforts, we ask the Lord for strength to overcome. Gradually our spiritual “muscles” grow stronger.
When we step out in ministry and it seems the answer to our efforts is a “No,” it could be that God is actually using the resistance to strengthen us for future ministry (see Acts 16:5-10). The world, the flesh, and the devil (1 Jn 2:16) will always resist our efforts to serve the Lord. Even so, like the physical resistance exercises, the experience of spiritual perseverance despite opposition can strengthen our spiritual “muscles,” drawing us closer to Jesus. “Resist [Satan], solid in your faith” (1 Pt 5:9). “Resist the devil and he will take flight” (Jas 4:7).
Prayer: Father, though I am weak, You are strong (2 Cor 12:9). I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me (Phil 4:13).
Promise: “If you find that the world hates you, know it has hated Me before you.” —Jn 15:18
Praise: Bob overcame addiction to pornography by retraining his will. He prays: “Not my will but Yours be done” (see Mt 26:39).
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
What does Jesus mean when he says "you are not of this world"? The world in Scripture refers to that society of people who are hostile towards God and opposed to his will. The world rejected the Lord Jesus and treated him with contempt, and his disciples can expect the same treatment. The Lord Jesus leaves no middle ground for his followers. We are either for him or against him, for his kingdom of light and truth or for the kingdom of darkness and deception. The prophet Isaiah warned that people who separate themselves from God because of their rebellious pride and spiritual blindness would end up calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
"Those who kept my word" (John 15:20)
If we want to live in the light of God's truth, how can we rightly distinguish good from evil and truth from deception? True love of God and his ways draw us to all that is lovely, truthful and good. If we truly love God then we will submit to his truth and obey his word. A friend of God cannot expect to be a friend of the world because the world is opposed to God's truth and way of righteousness.
"I chose you out of the world" (John 15:18)
Jesus' demand is unequivocal and without compromise. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15). We must make a choice either for or against God. Do you seek to please God in all your intentions, actions, and relationships? Let the Holy Spirit fill your heart and mind with the love and truth of God (Romans 5:5).
Lord Jesus, may the fire of your love fill my heart with an eagerness to please you in all things. May there be no rivals to my love and devotion to you who are my all.
Psalm 100:1-5
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the lands!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the LORD is God! It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him, bless his name!
5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures for ever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Those who suffer with Christ reign with Christ, by Cyril of Alexandria, 375-444 A.D.
"It is just as if Jesus said, 'I, the creator of the universe, who have everything under my hand, both in heaven and on earth, did not bridle their rage or restrain ... their inclinations. Rather, I let each one choose their own course and permitted all to do what they wanted. Therefore, when I was persecuted, I endured it even though I had the power of preventing it. When you too follow in my wake and pursue the same course I did, you also will be persecuted. You're going to have to momentarily endure the aversion of those who hate you without being overly troubled by the ingratitude of those whom you benefit. This is how you attain my glory, for those who suffer with me shall also reign with me.'" (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10.2)
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