Coming To You

Minute Meditations Not Always Easy To love someone who doesn't love us... It's not easy! Because if we know that a person doesn't like us, then we also tend to bear ill will. But no! We must love even someone who doesn't love us! Opposing evil with good, with pardon, with sharing, with welcome. — from The Spirit of Saint Francis St. Theophilus of Corte (1676-1740)   If we expect saints to do marvelous things continually and to leave us many memorable quotes, we are bound to be disappointed with St. Theophilus. The mystery of God's grace in a person's life, however, has a beauty all its own. Theophilus was born in Corsica of rich and noble parents. As a young man he entered the Franciscans and soon showed his love for solitude and prayer. After admirably completing his studies, he was ordained and assigned to a retreat house near Subiaco. Inspired by the austere life of the Franciscans there, he founded other such houses in Corsica and Tuscany. Over the years, he became famous for his preaching as well as his missionary efforts. Though he was always somewhat sickly, Theophilus generously served the needs of God's people in the confessional, in the sickroom and at the graveside. Worn out by his labors, he died on June 17, 1740. He was canonized in 1930. Comment: There is a certain dynamism in all the saints that prompts them to find ever more selfless ways of responding to God's grace. As time went on, Theophilus gave more and more singlehearted service to God and to God's sons and daughters. Honoring the saints will make no sense unless we are thus drawn to live as generously as they did. Their holiness can never substitute for our own. Quote: Francis of Assisi used to say, "Let us begin, brothers, to serve the Lord God, for up to now we have made little or no progress" (1 Celano, #193). Saint of the Day Lives, Lessons and Feast By Leonard Foley, O.F.M.; revised by Pat McCloskey, O.F.M.     Daily Prayer - 2015-05-19 Presence I remind myself that I am in your presence O Lord. I will take refuge in your loving heart. You are my strength in times of weakness. You are my comforter in times of sorrow. Freedom God is not foreign to my freedom. Instead the Spirit breathes life into my most intimate desires, gently nudging me towards all that is good. I ask for the grace to let myself be enfolded by the Spirit. 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   Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 20:17-27 From Miletus Paul had the presbyters of the Church at Ephesus summoned. When they came to him, he addressed them, "You know how I lived among you the whole time from the day I first came to the province of Asia. I served the Lord with all humility and with the tears and trials that came to me because of the plots of the Jews, and I did not at all shrink from telling you what was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public or in your homes. I earnestly bore witness for both Jews and Greeks to repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus. But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the Holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me. Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God's grace. "But now I know that none of you to whom I preached the kingdom during my travels will ever see my face again. And so I solemnly declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God." Responsorial Psalm PS 68:10-11, 20-21 R. (33a) Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth. or: R. Alleluia. A bountiful rain you showered down, O God, upon your inheritance; you restored the land when it languished; Your flock settled in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided it for the needy. R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth. or: R. Alleluia. Blessed day by day be the Lord, who bears our burdens; God, who is our salvation. God is a saving God for us; the LORD, my Lord, controls the passageways of death. R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth. or: R. Alleluia. Alleluia Jn 14:16 R. Alleluia, alleluia. I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always. R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Jn 17:1-11a Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. "I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you."     Listen to audio of this reading     Watch a video reflection Some thoughts on today's scripture This is eternal life, to know thee the one true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Islam too knows Allah as the one true God, and recognises Jesus as sent by God. All our life we struggle to know him, through words and parables, and through the world which he has entrusted to us. At no stage can we say that we understand God. St Augustine wrote: He is not what you imagine or think you understand. If you understand him, you have failed. My human mission is to seek him through every means, and to remain a God-seeker until the day when he reveals himself to me face to face. Lord, I relax my body, quieten my mind and focus on my breathing. Then I seek you there, in the silence.   Conversation Jesus, you always welcomed little children when you walked on this earth. Teach me to have a childlike trust in you. To live in the knowledge that you will never abandon me. 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 17:1-11 View NAB Reading at USCCB.org 7th Week of Easter Give glory to your son. (John 17:1) Have you ever seen someone grandstand? You know, trying to grab all the attention for themselves? Some athletes do it after a big game. Some political leaders do it by staging photo ops and giving lengthy speeches to highlight how connected they are with various interest groups. It's funny, though: the more people seek the spotlight, the less credible—and interesting—they become! What Jesus does in today's Gospel reading is the complete opposite of grandstanding. When he prays, "Give glory to your son," he is not asking for his own glory. In the very next line, he says, "So that your son may glorify you" (John 17:1). In everything he did, Jesus sought to be the perfect reflection of his Father's glory. He wasn't interested in celebrity. He wouldn't have submitted to the cross if he were. And yet he is the most famous person who ever lived. All that humility, love, mercy, and selfless giving did not go unnoticed! There is a lesson for us here. We can be so achievement oriented that we miss the grace that is present for us by simply welcoming the Lord into our everyday lives. If we accomplish something that is recognized as important, that's when we feel important. If we don't, we can end up feeling unappreciated or worth less than someone else. But our true glory is in God, just as it was for Jesus. It isn't in what we accomplish or how much recognition we receive for our faithfulness. It's in nothing less than the great privilege of knowing the Lord, being loved by him, and having him make his home in our hearts. What will that look like for you today? You probably have some very routine tasks to perform—things that you've done countless times and have received little recognition for. Maybe it's making breakfast for the kids or making sure the bills get paid on time. As you do these mundane, thankless jobs, ask Jesus to be with you. Let them become acts of love for your family and worship for him. Even if you seem invisible to the people around you, know that Jesus sees you. Know that you are glorifying him by your love and faithfulness. "Lord, help me find your peace, your joy, and your love in all that I do. Let me bring glory to your name!"   Acts 20:17-27; Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21   going4th-20150519080521.mp3 my2cents:   Today's 5minutos (let me translate for you):   "Paul passed through many difficulties, but remained faithful to his mission.....In a backstreet in Rome one could hear the hammerings and the grinding of steel on rock.  They are sculptors that work and are named:  Claudio, Nicostrato, Sinforiano, Castorio, Simplicio.  They work in open air because the marble blocks are huge.  The ground is covered in pieces of marble; they work hardly speaking, for they want to finish their assignment, which are many.  Every once in a while, they can hear a commentary respecting the last decree of the emperor that orders to imprison the Christians who deny to give cult to idols.  "Not even if they kill me", (Ni aunque me mate), said Claudio.  In that precise moment someone came in part of the emperor.  'Your fame as good sculptors has reached including the palace.  I have an order from the proper emperor.  From this marble block there should come out a statue of the god "Esculapio", the one who heals all sicknesses.  The colleagues looking to Claudio asked "and now?", and the reply was firm: "I'm sorry, we can not."  "What do you mean you can't? Leave your jobs aside and give preference to the asking of the emperor."  'It is not a question of time nor attention, it is a question of religion.  We believe in only one God, the one and true.  We can not fabricate idols.'  The emperor did not like the response.  They were arrested, tortured, stuffed in a box and thrown into the water..." The story is true today, especially when governments around the world aim to persecute Christians.  Luckily, we have never been without sufferings for our Lord...until lately...people don't want to suffer for the Lord.  They don't see results and success and leave the Lord.  Faithfulness goes out the window.  Why is it that we want to give up on God all the time?  Whatever happened to our commitmment made in the Holy Sacraments?  What if they all ended with our vow "until death do us part"?  Because that is the role of a saint, and we are all called to be saints.   Jesus came for the world but not everyone is responding.  Therefore, not everyone will get into Heaven, even though some seminaries teach that everyone will enter without lifting a finger or saying a prayer.  Sad lies.  Lies confuse people, and lies separate people.  So what of the truth?  Why is it abandoned?  Because the truth is the Lord!  Until death do us part....right?  I'm saying this because I'm speaking of people I've met this week.  One brother said he wanted to leave a ministry, and yesterday another said the same, and I even joined the bandwagon "yeah, I don't feel I'm doing justice for the people in filling in for the choir " and I feel I don't need to continue with all the stress it brings and time consuming activities (we don't have any musicians for our english choir).  And this is the feeling I get from the Spirit of Truth (which hurts) "what's the matter, you don't want to surrender your life?"  EEEEShh.  Why is there an air of "giving up".  It's like the devil luring people away.  The devil causing fights, the devil causing people to give up on hope.  Party pooper.  LOL.  And so I find myself being the encouragement that I need to see...just like I continue to say "be what you want to see". I read another spanish reflection ( a huge long text I receive as a group text that I didn't ask to be on LOL) which I still read LOL.  Today's had a quick reflection that said "...There was a story that talks about two little puppies that were lost on the properties of an old fair...the first, a growler and bad tempered, entered the house of mirrors and found himself in a great room surrounded by many little dogs...he looked...and saw they they looked at him intently, with a frown, challenging him, he felt threatened by their attitude...he growled at them and they growled back at him. When he finally got out, he thought that was a horrible place to which he would never go back to...the second puppy also entered the great room and also found himself surrounded by many little dogs...but this one, contrary to his partner, was a happy and playful little dog...and so he started to shake his little tail and jump with joy...the other little doggies did the same jumping happily...when he got out, he thought that place was marvelous and without doubt he would come back... The story is shared to compare the human beings, we reflect what is in our hearts...if we have cultivated our relationship with the Lord we walk His way, shining the light of Christ"   I hope you leave this reading uplifted, becuase it is our Lord who will lift you up.  Because if you don't have faith, it's because something took it away.  If you don't have faith, it is because you haven't asked God for faith.  If you don't have faith, someone else has led you astray.  I want your faith to grow.  I'm surrendering my life to the Father.  This is faith.  Will you follow the Way to Christ?  Until death do us part   adrian Subscribe to the Going4th mailing list.    http://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HQ0qG99s

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