Quote of the Day "Go forth and set the world on fire." — St. Ignatius of Loyola Today's Meditation "Man will not consent to drive away the money-changers from the temple of his soul until he realizes that it is a Holy of Holies—not a house of traffic, but in very truth the house of God. We thus reach two striking conclusions: There cannot be entire dependence upon the Holy Spirit's guidance, which is the true meaning of living in Christ, without complete self-renunciation. There cannot be complete self-renunciation without the constant underlying spirit of faith, without the habit of interior silence, a silence where God is dwelling. Many do not see the connection between thoughts about the King and the service of the King; between the interior silence ... and the continual detachment ... If we look closer, it will be seen that there is a strong, close, unbreakable link between the two. Find a recollected person, and he will be detached; seek one who is detached, and he will be recollected. To have found one is to have discovered the other ... Anyone who tries, on a given day, to practice either recollection or detachment cannot ignore the fact that he is doing a double stroke of work." —Raoul Plus, S.J., p. 39-40 An excerpt from How to Pray Always Daily Verse "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." — Romans 8:38-39 | St. William Of Rochester St. William of Rochester (d. 1201), also known as St. William of Perth, was born in Perth, Scotland. He was a wild youth who matured into a devoted man of God. He became a baker, and out of his charity he would always set aside bread to feed the poor. One day, while walking into the church for Mass, he found an abandoned baby boy on the church steps. He adopted the child, raised him, and taught him his trade. Years later St. William made a vow to visit the sacred sites of Our Lord's life on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, along with his adopted son. The two set out on their journey. While traveling through England his son deceived him, slit his throat, and stole the money he had saved for their pilgrimage. William's abandoned body was discovered and mourned over by a mentally deranged woman. She made a crown of flowers and placed it on the head of William's murdered corpse, then afterwards put the garland on her own head. Upon doing this, she was immediately cured of her mental illness. The local monks learned of this miracle and carried William's body to the Rochester cathedral to give him the proper burial of a saint. His shrine later attracted many pilgrims. St. William of Rochester is the patron of adopted children. His feast day is May 23rd. | Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 15:22-31 The Apostles and presbyters, in agreement with the whole Church,
decided to choose representatives
and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.
The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas,
and Silas, leaders among the brothers.
This is the letter delivered by them:
"The Apostles and the presbyters, your brothers,
to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia
of Gentile origin: greetings.
Since we have heard that some of our number
who went out without any mandate from us
have upset you with their teachings
and disturbed your peace of mind,
we have with one accord decided to choose representatives
and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So we are sending Judas and Silas
who will also convey this same message by word of mouth:
'It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us
not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities,
namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols,
from blood, from meats of strangled animals,
and from unlawful marriage.
If you keep free of these,
you will be doing what is right. Farewell.'" And so they were sent on their journey.
Upon their arrival in Antioch
they called the assembly together and delivered the letter.
When the people read it, they were delighted with the exhortation. Responsorial Psalm Psalm 57:8-9, 10 and 12 R. (10a) I will give you thanks among the peoples, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
My heart is steadfast, O God; my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and chant praise.
Awake, O my soul; awake, lyre and harp!
I will wake the dawn. R. I will give you thanks among the peoples, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O LORD,
I will chant your praise among the nations.
For your mercy towers to the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the skies.
Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
above all the earth be your glory! R. I will give you thanks among the peoples, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia. Alleluia John 15:15b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I call you my friends, says the Lord,
for I have made known to you all that the Father has told me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.- Gospel John 15:12-17 Jesus said to his disciples:
"This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one's life for one's friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another."
| Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! | Daily Meditation: John 15:12-17 You are my friends if you do what I command you. (John 15:14) Hold on a minute! How does obedience make us friends of the Lord Jesus and not servants or employees? A boss gives his employees tasks to do, and the employees check them off one by one. If they work hard enough, they might even be able to take a break before receiving the next assignment. But the "command" Jesus gives us to obey is of a different nature entirely. "This I command you: love one another" (John 15:17, emphasis added). Loving is not a set of tasks we can do and be finished with. It's an attitude, an outlook that underlies everything we do. It's our lifelong mission to learn how to love as Jesus loves, to cooperate with grace and become like him. We obey this command of Jesus not by imitating him from afar but by deepening our relationship with him, by loving him and letting him love us. How? We spend time with him in prayer, at Mass, or in Adoration. We turn our hearts to him during the day. We look for his presence and listen for his words in the people around us. When we let Jesus love us this way, our hearts change. We begin putting other people ahead of ourselves as he did. In each situation that arises, we ask, "What is the most loving thing I can say or do—or refrain from saying or doing?" In the end, it's our relationship with Jesus—his love for us and our love for him—that moves us to become more loving to the people around us. It's our deepening experience of his presence and his companionship—however we receive it—that softens our hearts and makes us more able to obey his command to love one another as fully and unconditionally as he loves us. And as St. John once said, "his commands are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3). Not because they're always easy, but because they are born out of love—and because we have become Jesus' friends! "Jesus, thank you for calling me your friend. I want to grow closer and closer to you so I can love as you love." Acts 15:22-31
Psalm 57:8-10, 12 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Hear AI Read it for u | From today's Holy Gospel: "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one's life for one's friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you." | This commandment from our Lord is a COMMAND, it is not a suggestion: LOVE ONE ANOTHER, and not just like the world teaches you to love, but to love like HE said: "AS I LOVE YOU", He said.
How has He loved us? With righteousness. Yes. With mercy? Totally. With open arms? Just look at the crucifix.
With all His heart?
Just look at the blood dripping from His side!
With all His mind? Look at the thorns!
With every step of His life on earth, look at His feet.
With the hands He caressed the face of His children, now look at His pierced hands!
But what about a wound that nobody hardly sees or mentions?
A wound that our Lord revealed to a saint once, that was the MOST painful of all...the shoulder that bore the wood, that pierced his skin, yes, but it was rubbing on his bones. OUCH! Imagine walking and rubbing a rough cross beam on your bone as you are bleeding out on the street? That would bring one to their knees.
Yet, this is the kind of love He calls us to?
Wow.
Who loves like that this day in age?
We don't even like someone being negative towards us and we turn away...from the cross.
We don't let anyone strike our cheek, so we don't have to turn the other.
We don't want any rough part of the cross to touch our feeble skin.
But, our Lord did. And told us to do the same.
OUCH!
Who's ready to love like that? Who's ready for the cross?
Boy, I been feeling the cross lately, for ministries. Frustrating, but the battle of love is on. Who will truly love?
Love will win, if we let HIM. |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Psalm 68:19 [Psalm 68] 19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
