Looking For Me

Minute Meditations Purpose in Life St. Francis and Pope Francis do share a common vision: You can find meaning, purpose, and passion in life, and the way to do that is through friendship with God. — from Saint Francis, Pope Francis St. Hilary of Arles (400-449) It's been said that youth is wasted on the young. In some ways, that was true for today's saint. Born in France in the early fifth century, Hilary came from an aristocratic family. In the course of his education he encountered his relative, Honoratus, who encouraged the young man to join him in the monastic life. Hilary did so. He continued to follow in the footsteps of Honoratus as bishop. Hilary was only 29 when he was chosen bishop of Arles. The new, youthful bishop undertook the role with confidence. He did manual labor to earn money for the poor. He sold sacred vessels to ransom captives. He became a magnificent orator. He traveled everywhere on foot, always wearing simple clothing. That was the bright side. Hilary encountered difficulty in his relationships with other bishops over whom he had some jurisdiction. He unilaterally deposed one bishop. He selected another bishop to replace one who was very ill--but, to complicate matters, did not die! Pope St. Leo the Great kept Hilary a bishop but stripped him of some of his powers. Hilary died at 49. He was a man of talent and piety who, in due time, had learned how to be a bishop. Saint of the Day Lives, Lessons and Feast By Leonard Foley, O.F.M.; revised by Pat McCloskey, O.F.M.  Presence "Be still and know that I am God." Lord, Your words lead us to the calmness and greatness of Your Presence. Freedom Lord, you created me to live in freedom. May your Holy Spirit guide me to follow you freely. Instil in my heart a desire To know and love you more each day. Consciousness I remind myself that I am in the presence of the Lord. I will take refuge in His loving heart. He is my strength in times of weakness.  He is my comforter in times of sorrow. The Word of God Reading 1 acts 6:8-15 Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyreneans, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they instigated some men to say, "We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God." They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, accosted him, seized him, and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They presented false witnesses who testified, "This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him claim that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us." All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel. Responsorial Psalm ps 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30 R. (1ab) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord! or: R. Alleluia. Though princes meet and talk against me, your servant meditates on your statutes. Yes, your decrees are my delight; they are my counselors. R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord! or: R. Alleluia. I declared my ways, and you answered me; teach me your statutes. Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds. R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord! or: R. Alleluia. Remove from me the way of falsehood, and favor me with your law. The way of truth I have chosen; I have set your ordinances before me. R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord! or: R. Alleluia. Gospel jn 6:22-29 [After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.] The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus answered them and said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal." So they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent." Conversation How has God's Word moved me? Has it left me cold? Has it consoled me or moved me to act in a new way? I imagine Jesus standing or sitting beside me, I turn and share my feelings with him. Conclusion Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Meditation: John 6:22-29 Subscriber? Login to view archives. 3rd Week of Easter Rabbi, when did you get here? (John 6:25) Think for a minute about the number of questions you ask in a typical day. It's probably a lot! "How are you? What are you doing? When are you coming home? What's for dinner?" The questions almost pour out of our mouths! But it's not just the mundane activities that require questions. When you are first introduced to someone, most of the conversation is a give-and-take of questions and answers as you get a sense of who this person is. In today's Gospel story, Jesus and the crowd are in just such a moment of getting to know each other. So Jesus uses this opportunity to help the people come to know him better. The people began the conversation by trying to figure out how and when Jesus had slipped away. Instead of giving an answer they were probably expecting, he told them to work for "the food that endures for eternal life" (John 6:27). Then he told them that the only way to accomplish this "work" is to believe in him (6:29). Now, imagine if, before this conversation, even before the miracle of the bread, Jesus had told them that the "work of God" is to believe. They would not possibly have been able to understand what he was saying. Instead, he used the physical sign of the miracle, as well as their eagerness to receive more of this bread, to teach them what it means to be spiritually nourished by God. This passage shows us that Jesus doesn't mind questions. In fact, he likes them, because when we ask questions, it shows that we want to know him. But Jesus doesn't always give the answers we are looking for. Sometimes, he replies by asking us questions! And sometimes, he remains puzzlingly silent. Whatever his response, his strategy is always the same: to leave us hungry for more; to provoke us to keep seeking him and his grace. He promised that those who ask, seek, and knock will be satisfied. The best part is that the more we seek, the more we find. May we never tire of asking questions! May we never stop looking for more from the Lord! "Lord, help me to seek you today."   Acts 6:8-15; Psalm 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30 my2cents: The spanish reflection said today:   "After the 2nd World War, a young English pilot tested a fragile single engine airplane on a dangerous adventure across the world.  After departing from a small and improvised airfield in India, he heard a strange sound behind his seat and found out it was a rat on board and if it tore the canvas, it could destroy his fragile airplane.  He could return to the airport to free himself of the discomforting danger.  Suddenly he remembered that rats cannot stand higher elevations.  Flying ever higher, little by little the sounds that put the voyage in danger, stopped.  It could be that there are situations or obstacles that are putting in danger your spiritual life, DON'T allow this to take you down, FLY HIGHER..!!  Elevate to the presence of God, He will make you fly and fly high, very high, and from the top you will see your problems as insignificant and in His presence they will perish, and this is why one asks for a faith that resists, a faith that consists, that insists and resists, a faith that sustains.  And how does one prepare for this? One prepares by praying and telling God: "I surrender all before I ask you for it, that is the secret. And that is how God gives to us, because He does not know how to give without giving fully; The One who gave Himself completely to us, will grant us to repsond with a Yes similar to His Love"   Later in Acts chapter 7, we will read "Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.m 53 You received the law as transmitted by angels, but you did not observe it."  And instead of observing it, they attempted to kill the message by killing the messenger.  What kills the message?  We do.  We baptized our baby boy on Saturday.  Father's Homily struck hard "...you wake up at early hours every morning to wake your kids to go to school, but come Sunday morning you sleep in and they sleep in...what message are you giving to your children?  That school is important but God is not?"  In essence, one could say 'the earthly law is more important than the laws of God', if you live this way.  Wrong.  God's laws are more important, because worldly laws are now allowing children to be murdered before they are born.  God's laws are more important.  What's more, the day you quit trying to be Holy is the day evil won a battle, but not the war, because the war has been won, and Jesus is the victor.  Which leaves us to fly higher.  We read today the prayer in Psalms " Remove from me the way of falsehood, and favor me with your law. The way of truth I have chosen; I have set your ordinances before me. R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord! The law of the Lord is good. His ways lead to eternity.  This past Friday we had Holy Hour, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Body of Christ, the consecrated bread, Jesus.  We went to adore before going to a MercyMe concert here in our little town.  A sister in law joked "ya'll can drop us off a the concert first", I said "no, there is nothing more important than adoring God..we can party later" and she said she was joking, and funny thing is, her and her husband were touched by God during the Hour as were we all.  We experienced a closeness to the Father of us all, and then saw many giving praise, I especially felt touched during a song that I sing a funeral vigils for people "I Can Only Imagine".  It was good to see many young people praising and singing, but I couldn't see them that well in the dark.  My hopes would be that the same people do this in the light of day, giving praise and honor and glory all day, not just in private.  Alas, the bread, we come back for more don't we?  I know I do.  I need holiness.  I need His power, I live and work for it.  I take to the work that others will not do.  But, I am a cry-baby.  This weekend they asked me to take the place of a director of a cursillo.  This is not a position I have ever sought but am placed.  I said Ok.  Then, they said they were moving the date, which fell on the date of our Church Festival, which I am a director of, and that's when I complained like a little baby.  Well, during the breaking of the bread in Holy Mass, it was revealed to me in many ways how this honor of serving is for God and that I had nothing to worry about.  Peace came.  Notice though, that it happened at the providing of the bread, the Body of Christ.  An ex protestant worker once said something peculiar "we broke bread together" which he meant the broke open the bible from what I gather.  Jesus is the Word, and the Tru bread.  As Catholics, we have a pulpit, for the Word, and a table, an altar of sacrifice that makes a miracle a reality, the Word Becomes Flesh, the Body Of Jesus Christ through the power of God through the priests as has been granted for 2,000 years.  A major reason people that fall away, and then come back is because they experienced a hunger to receive the Eucharist again.  This is filling, and fulfilling what was read today in your presence.   Jesus Instituted the Mass, the Eucharist, and the Way to live, with Him being the center of the Universe, and Him providing the Life and even the Nourishment, and the air, and what we thirst for, and what we desire adrian Subscribe

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