Thursday, May 13, 2021

“ A little whie later . . .” †

MorningOffering.com

†Saint Quote
"For there are three ways of performing an act of mercy: the merciful word, by forgiving and by comforting; secondly, if you can offer no word, then pray—that too is mercy; and thirdly, deeds of mercy."
— St. Faustina Kowalska

† MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"We will never be free of trials and temptations as long as our earthly life lasts. For Job has said: 'Is not the life of human beings on earth a drudgery?' (Job 7:1). Therefore, we should always be on our guard against temptations, always praying that our enemy, the devil, 'who never sleeps but constantly looks for someone to devour.' (1 Pet 5:8), will not catch us off guard. No one in this world is so perfect or holy as not to have temptations sometimes. We can never be entirely free from them. Sometimes these temptations can be very severe and troublesome, but if we resist them, they will be very useful to us; for by experiencing them we are humbled, cleansed, and instructed. All the Saints endured tribulations and temptations and profited by them, while those who did not resist and overcome them fell away and were lost. There is no place so holy or remote where you will not meet with temptation, nor is there anyone completely free from it in this life; for in our body we bear the wounds of sin—the weakness of our human nature in which we are born."
— Thomas á Kempis, p. 31
AN EXCERPT FROM
Imitation of Christ

⛪ TODAY'S FEAST DAY

ASCENSION THURSDAY
After Jesus' Resurrection from the dead, He continued to appear to His disciples for a period of 40 days. After this time, with His Apostles gathered around Him on the Mount of Olives, Jesus was taken up bodily into heaven, as recorded in the Gospels. To comfort them in His physical absence, He promised to send them a Consoler and Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to be with them and to guide them into all truth until the end of the world. The Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord is celebrated on the 40th day after Easter Sunday, also called Ascension Thursday. It is a Holy Day of Obligation, and among the oldest and most solemn feasts on the liturgical calendar. In many dioceses the celebration of the feast is transferred to the following Sunday.

† VERSE OF THE DAY
"A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks."
Luke 6:45

click to read more

ST. JULIANA OF NORWICH

St. Julian/Juliana of Norwich (1342–1416) is a Benedictine nun who lived as a recluse in Norwich, England. Little is known of her life with certainty. At the age of 30 she was suddenly struck by a severe illness which almost took her life. During this illness she received a series of visions of Jesus Christ in sixteen separate revelations. When she recovered from her illness the visions stopped. Fifteen years later, Our Lord appeared to her to give her the meaning of her visions. St. Julian wrote her visions down in a book called Revelations of Divine Love, the earliest surviving book in the English language known to have been written by a woman. After these revelations she began to live a solitary life as an anchoress in a little cell built into the wall at the church of St. Julian in Norwich, not far from London. During her life the Church was in schism, and England was caught in a long war with France. The book contains a message of optimism based on the certainty of being loved by God and of being protected by his Providence. She received visitors to her cell and gave them guidance on the spiritual life, becoming a spiritual mother to many. St. Julian is an important medieval mystic whose response to the problem of evil is cited in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Her feast day is May 13th.

Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Lectionary: 294

In Provinces where the celebration of Ascension is transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter, the following readings are used on this Thursday.

Reading I

Acts 18:1-8

Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus,
who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla
because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.
He went to visit them and, because he practiced the same trade,
stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
Every sabbath, he entered into discussions in the synagogue,
attempting to convince both Jews and Greeks.

When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia,
Paul began to occupy himself totally with preaching the word,
testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
When they opposed him and reviled him,
he shook out his garments and said to them,
"Your blood be on your heads!
I am clear of responsibility.
From now on I will go to the Gentiles."
So he left there and went to a house
belonging to a man named Titus Justus, a worshiper of God;
his house was next to a synagogue.
Crispus, the synagogue official, came to believe in the Lord
along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians
who heard believed and were baptized.

Responsorial Psalm

98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

R. (see 2b) The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
or:

R. Alleluia.
Sing to the LORD a new song,

for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,

his holy arm.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD has made his salvation known:

in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness

toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;

break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Alleluia

See Jn 14:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I will not leave you orphans, says the Lord;
I will come back to you, and your hearts will rejoice.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Jn 16:16-20

Jesus said to his disciples:
"A little while and you will no longer see me,
and again a little while later and you will see me."
So some of his disciples said to one another,
"What does this mean that he is saying to us,
'A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me,'
and 'Because I am going to the Father'?"
So they said, "What is this 'little while' of which he speaks?
We do not know what he means."
Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them,
"Are you discussing with one another what I said,
'A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me'?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy."

Daily Meditation: John 16:16-20

You will grieve, but your grief will become joy. (John 16:20)

The apostles were probably confused when Jesus told them that their grief would turn to joy (John 16:20). After all, he had just informed them that he would soon be leaving them (16:5). But just as Jesus prophesied, their grief at his crucifixion turned to joy when they encountered him as the risen Christ.

What Jesus says here also applies to us. We might grieve as we see the evil still at work in the world, but one day, at the Second Coming, our grief will also turn to joy. That's when the present world will pass away and all will be made right in the kingdom of God. Just think: no more broken relationships with family or friends, no more poverty or racism or abortion, no more illness or pain of any kind.

And yet we don't have to wait for the Second Coming to experience foretastes of that kingdom. That's because the risen Christ is still here with us. He is present and at work every time a parent and a child resolve their differences and reconcile. When a friend is healed of cancer, it's because Jesus is there as the source of all healing. When a woman in a crisis pregnancy receives support that will help her to care for her baby, Jesus is walking with her and giving her strength. In good times and in bad, the kingdom of God will continue to break through because Jesus hasn't abandoned us this side of heaven.

Yes, this life is a mixture of light and shadows. But Jesus knows what it's like to walk through both. And he lets his disciples—all of us—know ahead of time that we will face our own ups and downs. But he also tells us it's not the end. If the grief that he experienced in his passion and death did not have the final word, neither will our own.

So today, whatever might be troubling you, hold fast to Jesus' promise. Believe that the glimpses of the kingdom of heaven that you see and experience in this life are only a pale reflection of the joy that awaits you!

"Jesus, I will hold fast to your promise of eternal joy."

Acts 18:1-8
Psalm 98:1-4

clickable

The qualities which spring to our mind when we think of [Jesus]—how did we come by them? By meeting Him in the Gospels for ourselves, or only by hearing great sermons about Him and looking at pictures by great masters?
— Frank Sheed
from his book To Know Christ Jesus

Recordings go out minutes after writing is emailed!

CLICK TO HEAR IT READ!

my2cents:
"From now on I will go to the Gentiles" said St. Paul.
And the plan of our Lord is executed. The Gentiles accepted our Lord and were baptized. This is what happens with the word, and I've seen it happen. The people you wish would believe, perfect candidates, won't accept the invitation, and those who you wouldn't believe would accept the Lord actually take. So, what's up with that? Lord knows! You just keep being and spreading the word.

We pray in the Psalms:
"The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power."
So, was the house of Israel just the Jews in the old Testament? Basically, yes. But our Lord Jesus extended the house to the world when He extends His arms on the cross. This message is for everybody. This message is for you and me, the family of God. His household.

Our Lord said: "A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me."
What is a little while to our Lord? How long is a little while? Wouldn't you like to know? Doesn't it feel like a while back, not too long ago, you were a young kid? What will happen in a little while more? This life passes by fast, doesn't it?
So let's consider the waste we are doing. Not environmentally, but spiritually. Once you get the Spirit in order, the environment comes into play. That's the essence of the Pope's talks. Why waste? Why not charity? Why are we not listening like the time St. Paul was rejected by the Jews and our Lord too? It is the Lord's message! Handle it with care...
Care for His Word, like Mother Mary cares for our Lord in Heaven. A sweet, SWEET mother tending her child's every beckoning need. Because she loves so much.
Last night we had our baby at the emergency room, took her late in the night, and only one parent was allowed in the room, and I had to part ways and let the mother tend to our child. I had to trust, and I had to pray. Our one year old had a bit of Pneumonia and double earache infection, still battling at this hour as I write, and now, we tend to the needs of the child, as we are to tend the needs of the Church, the very Body of Christ!

Let us pray:

Lord, I want to stay with you this while, and the next, both now and forever, please help me and my loved ones, our Church, your very body! So precious, so sweet, so humble and kind, so deserving of our every bit of our Love!

from your brother in Christ our Lord,
adrian