† Daily Quote "For He became man that we might become divine; and He revealed Himself through a body that we might receive an idea of the invisible Father; and He endured insults from men that we might inherit incorruption." — St. Athanasius of Alexandria Today's Meditation "I realize as never before that the Lord is gentle and merciful; He did not send me this heavy cross until I could bear it. If He had sent it before, I am certain that it would have discouraged me . . . I desire nothing at all now except to love until I die of love. I am free, I am not afraid of anything, not even of what I used to dread most of all . . . a long illness which would make me a burden to the community. I am perfectly content to go on suffering in body and soul for years, if that would please God. I am not in the least afraid of living for a long time; I am ready to go on fighting." —St. Therese of Lisieux, p. 122 Daily Verse But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you." — Luke 6:27-31 | St. Athanasius Of Alexandria St. Athanasius (296-373 A.D.) was born in Alexandria, Egypt, to noble Christian parents. He received an excellent education in theology, philosophy, rhetoric, and law, which he directed to the service of God. He made great progress in both wisdom and virtue, and made a spiritual retreat in the Egyptian desert with St. Anthony the Great. St. Athanasius became the Bishop of Alexandria and served in that role for 46 years. He tirelessly and courageously devoted most of his life to defeating the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. When the majority of his fellow bishops were Arian heretics, which threatened the integrity of the whole Church, Athansius stood firmly and almost single-handedly against their error using his philosophical knowledge, theological wisdom, rhetorical skill, and strength of spirit. Despite having the support of several popes, he suffered great trials, scandals, and persecutions at the hands of his doctrinal enemies, and spent much of his life in exile. He was a participant in the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. and did much of the theological work which supported the condemnation of the Arian heresy and the formulation of the Nicene Creed. St. Athanasius is known as one of the greatest champions of Catholic doctrine to have ever lived, earning the title, "Father of Orthodoxy." St. Athanasius was later declared a Doctor of the Church. His feast day is celebrated on May 2nd. | Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 Acts 15:7-21 After much debate had taken place,
Peter got up and said to the Apostles and the presbyters,
"My brothers, you are well aware that from early days
God made his choice among you that through my mouth
the Gentiles would hear the word of the Gospel and believe.
And God, who knows the heart,
bore witness by granting them the Holy Spirit
just as he did us.
He made no distinction between us and them,
for by faith he purified their hearts.
Why, then, are you now putting God to the test
by placing on the shoulders of the disciples
a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?
On the contrary, we believe that we are saved
through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they."
The whole assembly fell silent,
and they listened
while Paul and Barnabas described the signs and wonders
God had worked among the Gentiles through them. After they had fallen silent, James responded,
"My brothers, listen to me.
Symeon has described how God first concerned himself
with acquiring from among the Gentiles a people for his name.
The words of the prophets agree with this, as is written: After this I shall return
and rebuild the fallen hut of David;
from its ruins I shall rebuild it
and raise it up again,
so that the rest of humanity may seek out the Lord,
even all the Gentiles on whom my name is invoked.
Thus says the Lord who accomplishes these things,
known from of old. It is my judgment, therefore,
that we ought to stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God,
but tell them by letter to avoid pollution from idols,
unlawful marriage, the meat of strangled animals, and blood.
For Moses, for generations now,
has had those who proclaim him in every town,
as he has been read in the synagogues every sabbath." Responsorial Psalm PS 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 10 R. (3) Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
or:
R. Alleluia. Alleluia Jn 10:27 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep know my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Jn 15:9-11 Jesus said to his disciples:
"As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father's commandments
and remain in his love. "I have told you this so that
my joy might be in you and
your joy might be complete."
| Daily Meditation: John 15:9-11 Remain in my love. (John 15:9) Have you ever heard of Swedish death cleaning? It's a practice among elderly Scandinavians who intentionally let go of many of their possessions. The primary goal is to ensure that they leave behind as few items as possible for their children and grandchildren to sort through once they have passed away. But those who follow this practice often find something far more meaningful happening in the process. Going through all their belongings sparks serious reflection on what is important in their lives. And once they have parted with so much, they are free to enter their final years with a clearer mind and a lighter heart. When Jesus tells us, "Remain in my love," we can receive it as an invitation to do a spiritual version of Swedish death cleaning. We can ask whether there are other loves—false loves—that are distracting us, burdening us, or preventing us from fully remaining in the love of Jesus. What are some of these false loves? There's the selfish "love" we feel from gaining more and more possessions. There's the insecure "love" that comes from seeking the world's approval. There's also the vindictive "love" we feel when we see our enemies suffer—or when we hurt them ourselves. As we let go of these false loves, we are freer to remain rooted in the love that Jesus has for us. We also become freer to treat one another with the same kind of selfless, unencumbered love. Where do you feel burdened? Can you identify any false loves that are weighing you down? Ask Jesus to help you let them go. Tell him you want only his love to remain—the most selfless, the most all-encompassing, and the most healing love you could ever experience. Tell him that this is the love you want to abide in every day. Jesus promised that as we remain in his love, his joy will be in us and our joy will "be complete" (John 15:11). Like the people who practice Swedish death cleaning but on a much deeper level, our hearts will be lighter and our minds will be clearer. "Jesus, your love is all I need! Help me to remain in that love." Acts 15:7-21
Psalm 96:1-3, 10 |  try to hear it read by AI | Reflections with Brother Adrian: | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"I have told you this so that
my joy might be in you and
your joy might be complete."......" end quote. | . From Bishop Barron today;
"Friends, the two most important words in our Gospel today are joy and commandments. "I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete." And, "If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love." These are not terms that we readily juxtapose. We usually associate commandments with the carrying out of duty and responsibility or with moral rectitude, and that normally seems opposed to joy.
However, in Thomas Aquinas' treatment of human behavior, the first question raised is not about law or virtue, but rather joy. Thomas wonders what the nature of true happiness is. What all of us seek, whether we are young or old, Christian or non-Christian, male or female, rich or poor, is joy. The whole point of the moral life is to make us happy. So how do we become happy? Thomas' answer, which is in line with the great tradition, is through the proper ordering of one's desire, through learning how to desire the right things and in the right way. And that's precisely what Jesus commands us to do.
......" End quote Bishop Barron.
Growing up, you meet all sorts of people. And there is this weird Christian type of people I kind of noticed, they seemed to be happy. I just went on, just noticed it was strange and just kept living life as my surroundings allowed. They personify this in a small way in the Simpsons cartoons, with the neighbor "Ned Flanders". Then they try to belittle him as they would make fun of our Lord too which turned me away from the series after a while and growing up with the show. But good old Ned seemed happy, and his kids seemed very sheltered. And the world sees this as very bad, and religious people as a very bad thing. But the ruler of the world is the one portraying religions as bad. What's more, the very word "religion", simply means "a set of beliefs". That's it! And so everything then, hinges on the Creed.
And this Creed is what today's Saint Athanasius fought for. And our beliefs are important! If you believe the world is falling apart, it means that you believe that you are falling apart along with it, hopeless! But if you believe in hope, then there is hope. If you believe in love, then you will have love. But I would take it a step further. Your beliefs have to be made the ideal, and the very God you live for.
In the case of us Christ followers, Jesus is the Hope, the Way to live and die for, and the very life of everything. Jesus is God. We cannot separate Him from the Father or the Holy Spirit. And this is what Saint Athanasius always disputed, almost costing him his head!
And so today, our Lord says things about joy and remaining in His love.
"As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father's commandments
and remain in his love."
What are His commandments? The ten commandments? Yes but more. Our Lord says that we should love God our Father above all with all we got and then our neighbors the same.
That is a tall order. My neighbors don't seem to want to follow God! What do I do? Why do I need to love them the same as God in Heaven!
They don't seem to deserve all my love and attention! They seem to despise it when I speak to them about God!
Love them anyway, says Mother Teresa's favorite poem. Do it anyway.
Even if all you are building is to fall to pieces, build the bridge anyway.
Love will find a way to connect us, and it would be better that love connects through us now.
This effort, this self sacrificing effort is called love. To will the good of the other, no matter the cost.
This is the message from our Lord from the Cross.
And the joy? It's not what we fight for, the joy is the result of working in God's Divine Will, it just happens because you are in His Love as He is in love working with you and in you, through us all.
Wouldn't it be amazing to amaze Heaven with our Love? |  Click for Audio | Today's Random Bible Verse
Acts 2:38 38 And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
