|
A LOVE-LY DAY | ||
"As My love has been for you, so must your love be for each other." 뾌ohn 13:34 | ||
Judas had just left the upper room to betray Jesus (Jn 13:31). Jesus knew He would be dead in a matter of hours. He said to His apostles: "My children, I am not to be with you much longer" (Jn 13:33). Then Jesus gave us the new commandment, to love one another as He had loved us (Jn 13:34). Jesus repeated this commandment two more times and said we would be recognized as His disciples because of this unique love (Jn 13:34-35). Within a few hours after saying this, Jesus died on the cross because of His love for us. Jesus has clearly commanded us to crucified, sacrificial, unconditional love. He calls us to love the Judases in our lives. He calls us to lay down our lives (1 Jn 3:16) in love, even for our enemies. This new commandment of love is the essence of salvation, the meaning of life, and the way to the Father. Jesus suffered for thirty-three years of life, three years of public ministry, and over three hours of agony, crucifixion and death because of His love for us. Let us live the new commandment and love one another as Jesus has loved us. | ||
Prayer: Jesus, may I repent and accept Your heart of love for the person I least love. | ||
Promise: "The One Who sat on the throne said to me, 'See, I make all things new!' " 뾕v 21:5 | ||
Praise: Alleluia! Jesus, You have conquered sin and death. You are the Lamb of God Who takes away all our sins (Jn 1:29). Thank You, Jesus! |
Homily from Father James Gilhooley 5 Easter |
Fifth Sunday of Easter - Cycle C John 13:31-35 Do you remember the tale of the dreadful accident on the battleship USS Iowa. It occurred in the spring of 1989. Forty seven young men were killed in a still unexplained explosion in a gun turret. There is much tragedy in the sad story. But also one can find strong threads of glory. The storyteller reminds us the glory belongs, paradoxically perhaps, not to the survivors but to the casualties. The heroes were not the men who may have kept the battleship afloat after the accident. Rather, the heroes were the sailors who died. They shall ever be numbered among the Navy's honored dead. Writes the poet, "They shall not grow old...At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them." As it was for these young men, so it was for Jesus. So can it be for you and me if of course we have spiritual courage and discipline. Today's Gospel takes us back to the Last Supper. We listen to the opening strains of the Teacher's last talk with His closest followers. If you listen even with your hearing aid turned down to low, you will detect no anxiety and no fears in the Christ. Clearly He is not running scared. This is remarkable. Remember He knows of the impending betrayal of one of His own. He sees His fast approaching crucifixion with its dreadful pain. The Teacher is circled in majesty. He is the original Mr Cool. He does not require blood pressure pills. This is not a prisoner sitting in a death cell ready to eat the traditional last meal. Rather, He is a King hosting a sumptuous victory banquet. Let me support my statement with irrefutable proof. In the opening two sentences of today's Gospel, you will find the word glory mentioned an extraordinary five times. Does this sound like a Man who feels He is a loser? Quite the contrary! You would not be surprised to discover this Host pouring aged Napoleon brandy in Baccarat snifters for each of the apostles. Then He would pass around a box of the finest Havanas. No doubt, He would say, "Take a second one for the celebration Sunday." One scholar sums up the situation succinctly. In John's Gospel, the passion, death, and resurrection of the Teacher are not told as distinct tales. Rather, they are part and parcel of one large story. And the thought that runs throughout the narration is supreme glory. The greatest glory in life, says William Barclay, is glory which comes from sacrifice. Following long-standing traditions, the crew members of the USS Iowa will come together for regular reunions. Their first toast will not be to the survivors but always to the fallen forty seven. Whenever we Catholics and Christians come together as today, we salute not the apostles who survived that Good Friday but our Leader who sacrificed Himself for us. John argues today that the more one puts out, the more one will receive in turn. Thus, the generous giver happily finds himself the subject of Bunyan's riddle, "The more he threw away, the more he had." For example, who was the hero of Charles Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities? The beautiful Lucie Manette or Sydney Carton who allowed himself to be guillotined to insure that she might live a life of bliss? Most would answer Mr Carton. Thus, if you and I can somehow break out of the confining envelope of our own selfishness, if we stop hoarding our time, money, and energy, the bigger will the payoff be for our own Christian selves. If we take this Gospel message with the seriousness that John intended, we might well become different men and women. When you grow weary, bring to mind the tested advice of William Ward. "When we are unable, God is able. When we are insufficient, God is sufficient. When we are filled with fear, God is always near." Reflect daily on the dictum which advises Christianity is not just Christ in you but Christ living His life through you. It goes on to say our love for Christ should be faith with working clothes on, So, we must tell everyone about Someone who can save anyone. Your sacrifices will someday bring you much glory. That is both the teaching of history as well as a chief principle in life. |
|
Homily from Father Joseph Pellegrino http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html 5 Easter |
Holy Thursday: The Sacrament of Holy Orders Again, I want to welcome you to this very special and very solemn liturgy. There are many actions only found at this celebration. We witnessed the presentation of the oils; soon we will have the washing of the feet, and later on the entire congregation will join the procession to the chapel as we place the Blessed Sacrament in reposition in our own creation of the Garden of Olives. By presenting the oils that were consecrated at the chrism Mass on Tuesday, we demonstrate our union with the entire Church at the most significant moments of our lives. The oil of catechumens is put on babies, children and adults coming into the faith as we pray that they be open to the mystery of Christ in their lives. But this is not just the prayer of our parish, it is the prayer of the Bishop, priests, deacons and the entire diocese when the oil is blessed and sent to the parish to welcome those seeking Baptism. The oil of the sick also demonstrates that those who are anointed are anointed not just with the prayers of the parish, but with the prayers of the Bishop, priests, deacons and entire diocese for their healing in body and soul. The sacred chrism reminds us that those who have their status in the Church elevated to full initiation through confirmation or who receive the sacrament of Holy Orders, do so through the prayers of the Bishop, priests, deacons and entire diocese. The sacraments are never a local event. They are a celebration of the universal Church. The washing of the feet is a symbolic action teaching us the demands of the Eucharist. To be a Eucharistic people, we must reach out and serve others. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and then said, “What you have seen me do, you must do.” Since the sacrament of Holy Orders is one of the main thrusts of this liturgy, I want to speak about this sacrament with you this evening. First of all, the sacrament is called “Holy Orders,” not “Holy Order.” It refers to the three levels of orders: diaconate, priesthood and episcopacy. The sacrament is bestowed on those chosen and qualified to mediate the presence of the Lord to the people through Word and Sacrament. The deacons, whether they are preparing for the priesthood or not, are called to serve the Lord by caring for His people particularly in evangelization and charitable outreach. That is why deacons give homilies, witness marriages, officiate at communion services, baptisms and funerals. Deacons who are ordained to the second level of Holy Orders, the priesthood, still remain deacons. Fr. Kevin, Fr. Sojan and I are priests. But we are also deacons. In the same way, priests who become bishops, remain deacons and priests. Many bishops will symbolize the fullness of orders by wearing a deacon vestment, dalmatic, under a priest vestment, the chasuble, as well as the miter, the symbol of the bishop. The sacrament of Holy Orders occasions an ontological change in the recipient. A person who is ordained a deacon, priest or bishop, always remains a deacon, priest or bishop, even if that person should receive a dispensation from exercising Holy Orders. That is why there really is no such creature as a former priest. A priest may be laicized, that is moved to the group of laity, and consequently allowed to marry, but he still remains a priest. Should he come upon someone who is dying, and there is no time to locate a priest with the faculties to care of the dying, the laicized priest can hear the person’s confession and anoint him or her with the sacrament of the sick. Now I used the term ontological change. What do we mean by that? The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that ordination “confers an indelible spiritual character” which “cannot be “repeated or conferred temporarily” (CCC#1583). “The vocation and mission received on the day of his ordination mark him permanently” (CCC#1583). Ordination is done once and for all as are Baptism and Confirmation. For example, once we are baptized we are always baptized. Even if we commit serious sin and destroy our relationship with God, even if we are excommunicated for striking the Pope are giving Fr. Joe the flu, we are still baptized and are therefore always able to return to the community of the Church. Holy Orders places one in a position in the community, not a better or more privileged place, but a place from which one is called to spend one’s life exclusively in service of the people of God. Therefore, in the Catholic Church Holy Orders effects a change in the person for the entire Church. What we do is a manifestation of whom we were called to be, not a job. What really irritates me is that many priests will often refer to their ministry as a job, with set hours just as the careers of so many of the laity have set hours. That is wrong. We are always priests. We don’t stop being priests when we leave the office or the altar. When a priest takes a day off or a vacation, he takes one from administration and other forms of ministry, but not from the priesthood. The priest, as well as the deacon and bishop, can validly say, “Priesthood, Diaconate, Episcopacy is not what I do. It is who I am. At the same time, the “who I am,” the ontological change in the deacon, priest and bishop is not for himself, but for the People of God. The people need deacons, be they also priests and bishops or not, to preach the Word with the special inspiration of the Holy Spirit occasioned by the ontological change due to orders. The people need priests, be they also bishops or not, to say Mass, to make the Lord present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Sick, and Penance, as well as even confirmation in special circumstances like we had here a few years back when I confirmed 120 of our young people standing in for our ailing bishop. The people need bishops to provide the charism of the apostles to them, as well as to ordain those to serve the People in Holy Orders, etc. As I was hearing confessions the other day, and praying with one of you, I felt overwhelmed by the honor conferred upon me to be so close to you in the deeply spiritual moments of your lives. You come to me to be forgiven. Who am I? Just a sinner, like you, yet changed to make Christ’s forgiveness real for you. You come to Mass to renew the celebration of the Last Supper, the Cross, and Easter, to renew the paschal offering of Jesus Christ. You have the faith to recognize the action of God through me despite my humanity. You call upon me to celebrate your moments of joy, marriage and baptisms, as well as your moments of sadness, sickness and death, trusting in the Holy Spirit’s presence in the Church to work through me. I cannot express to you how deeply the deacon, priest and bishop, are honored and humbled, when you call upon us to be whom we have been ordained to be for you. Holy Orders is under attack right now. It has always been under attack and always will be under attack. Historically, the first actions against the Church have always included attacks on the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Every Spring, as Lent comes to a conclusion, and Catholic fervor grows, the anti-Catholic, and atheistic elements of the media counter attack the spirituality of the Catholic faithful by attacking their priests, usually for immoral actions that took place decades earlier. Their efforts to destroy the people’s trust in the Sacrament of Holy Orders is definitely diabolical, the work of the devil. At the same time, Satan cannot and will not prevail. He is not more powerful than Jesus Christ. The Sacrament of Holy Orders was instituted by the Lord who conferred His Spirit upon his disciples and empowered them to confer His Spirit upon others. The fact is that the Church is not just Holy and Catholic, it is Apostolic. Deacons, priests and bishops are ordained to continue the work of the work of Jesus entrusted to the apostles. On April 16th I will celebrate the 36th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. So what does priesthood mean to me? It means everything. It means being whom God has ordained me to be to serve Him by serving you. Some of you think that priests are a gift. No, you are gifts. The diaconate, priesthood, and episcopacy would not exist without you. We are who we are so you can be all that God calls you to be. What a blessing this is. What a blessing the Sacrament of Holy Orders is. What a blessing you are to us the ordained. |
|
Homily from Father Phil Bloom http://stmaryvalleybloom.org/ * available in Spanish - see Spanish homilies 5 Easter |
The Greatest Good (April 28, 2013) Message: Love is to will the good of the other - that he will become a citizen of the New Jerusalem. Jesus says, "I give you a new commandment: love one another." We hear a lot about love, but we often do not know what the word really means. We tend to think of love as good feelings toward others. For sure, love includes positive emotions - and it harnesses them. But love - as Jesus describes it - involves much more than feelings. Love resides in the will. St. Thomas Aquinas defined love as "to will the good of the other."* Love means to desire what is best for the other person. Your nieghbor - your spouse, your child, your co-worker - might need a lot of things, but what the best, what is the greatest thing you can will for your neighbor? We have the answer in today's reading from Revelation. St. John envisions a day when this world will be no more. All the houses, stores, universities, hospitals, theaters - they will all vanish. At that moment, John says, "I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem come down out of heaven." That city, unlike Monroe or Seattle or New York, will last forever. I want to belong to that city and I want you with me. That's the greatest good I can wish for you: to belong to the new Jerusalem. Everything on earth pales in comparison to the new Jerusalem. The best image we have is the beauty of a bride. That's why St. John says the heavenly Jerusalem will be like "a bride adorned for her husband." The physical beauty of the bride should to point to inner beauty. That's what all of us strive for by making our lives, our homes, our society beautiful. We do it here in the parish by keeping up our buildings and grounds. We want them to attract and inspire - so we can become beautiful inside, by God's grace. Something similar applies as we join with other parishes in Western Washington - which is a good lead-in to the Annual Catholic Appeal and our parish renovation project. They are expressions of love: willing the good of the other that they will belong to the Church in heaven - the New Jerusalem. Amen. ************ *Quoted in the Catechism: "To love is to will the good of another." All other affections have their source in this first movement of the human heart toward the good. Only the good can be loved. Passions "are evil if love is evil and good if it is good." (#1766) |
|
Homily from Father Andrew M. Greeley http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html 5 Easter |
April 28th 2013 A.D. Fifth Sunday of Easter Jn 13-14 "Love each other as I have loved you" Background: The last supper discourse of Jesus to his apostles is a mix of many consoling things Jesus had said to them in the course of their time together so that they might be sustained in hope after he had returned to the Father-in-Heaven. The consolation today is mixed with a challenge – a new commandment which sounds nice but which turns out to be very difficult. For as we know from the experience of our lives it is very had to love everyone, especially those who are closest to us, our colleagues, our families, our close friends, the people next door. Story: Once upon a time an older woman live next door to strange neighbors. Why is it that neighbors are always strange? Anyway these people were noisy, rude, and vulgar. Their televisions were always on full blast way into the night. They fought with one another at the top of their voices. Their kids played baseball in the yard and football on the street and ran over her lawn and flowers – and cursed a lot too, even the girls, though that is very had to believe. All the other neighbors complained, called the police, threatened to get court orders. The loud crowd just laughed at them. Their daddy was a lawyer and he boasted he cold beat any complaint in a court of law. WELL, everyone else in the neighborhood refused to speak them. The lady we’re talking about was always polite and friendly. She had treats ready at Halloween, and cookies at Christmas, and she often salvaged their newspaper from the rain or snow. One night a little girl – the one who always had a runny nose – rang the doorbell about midnight. Our Mommy is dying and our daddy is out of town. Please help us. Well, the woman went over to the house and called 911and stayed their till the ambulance came (the mommy had an allergic reaction to some medicine) and stayed there until the daddy came home, and calmed the children down and told them there mother would be fine and got them all into bed. And they all became very good friends. |
|
Homily from Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe,Pa http://www.saintvincentarchabbey.org/sunday_homily 5 Easter |
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle B Sunday, April 28, 2013 April 28, 2013 John 13:31-33a, 34-35 Gospel Summary Jesus tells his disciples in this passage from the Last Supper Discourse that now he is glorified, and God is glorified in him and will soon glorify him further. Jesus says that he will be with them only a little while longer. Then Jesus gives them a new commandment: "As I have loved you, so you also should love one another." This is the sign whereby people will be able to recognize disciples of Jesus - their love for one another. Life Implications The word "glory" appears about 375 times in the Old Testament and about 175 times in the New. The key to grasping its elusive meaning is to understand that, like a sacramental sign, its purpose is to create or to deepen personal relationship. "The heavens declare the glory of God...the whole earth is full of his glory" (Ps 19:2 and Is 6:3). It is possible, however, for an individual to express deep awe in the presence of the beauty of the heavens and the earth, yet not recognize the beauty as a gift of God's glory. For its inter-personal meaning to be realized, glory (like a sacrament) must at the same time be objectively given and subjectively received. To recognize the glory of divine presence in gratitude - now doubling the meaning of the term - is to give glory to God. The Gospel according to John tells the good news that Jesus is the complete, human manifestation of God's presence among us: he is the glory or sacramental sign of the divine presence. John structures his gospel around seven major signs or expressions of divine glory: changing water to wine at the wedding feast ("Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him" [Jn 2:11]); cure of the noble's son; cure of the paralytic; feeding the multitude with bread; showing power over the sea; giving sight to the blind man; raising Lazarus from death. Through these signs some began to recognize the divine presence in him. Others, however, remained blind and did not perceive these events as the presence of God's glory. In his farewell address, Jesus speaks of the eighth event that will be the summary and climax of the seven previous signs. This will happen when he is lifted up for all to see, giving himself in love even to death on a cross. This sign is the ultimate revelation that God is love -- the complete expression of God's glory. God is thus manifested or glorified in him. Jesus on the cross declares the supreme glory of God to be love. God then glorifies him through resurrection. The Last Supper context of today's passage reminds us that now in every time and place, the Risen Lord extends the eighth sign of divine love through the Eucharist. The bread and wine do not hide, but express the glory of Christ -- the sacrament of his giving himself to us out of love just as he gave himself to us on the cross. Only through the seeing of faith can we recognize the glory manifested as Jesus gives himself on the cross and now gives himself to us as bread and wine. It is no surprise to discover that Jesus asks all who believe in him to do what he has done to manifest God's glory. If we love others as he has loved us, if we become bread and wine for others, what we say and what we do become expressions of divine glory and signs of the divine presence. Through love that we give, people will know that we are disciples of Jesus. And perhaps in our age of disbelief, through the miracle of love, people may begin to believe in the divine presence, though heretofore they had not perceived the heavens and the whole earth to be filled with divine glory. Campion P. Gavaler, O.S.B. |
|
Homily from Father Cusick http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html Meeting Christ in the Liturgy 5 Easter |
FIFTH Sunday of Easter, B Acts 9, 26-31; Psalm 22; 1 John 3, 18-24; John 15, 1-8 Alleluia! Christ is risen! "Jesus says, 'I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (Jn 15:5) "The fruit referred to in this saying is the holiness of a life made fruitful by union with Christ. When we believe in Jesus Christ, partake of his mysteries, and keep his commandments, the Savior himself comes to love, in us, his Father and his brethren, our Father and our brethren. His person becomes, through the Spirit, the living and interior rule of our activity. 'This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.' (Jn 15:12)" (CCC 2074) The branches exist to draw life from the vine so as to bear fruit. Failing to do so they are useless: cut down, thrown out, good only for fueling the flames of a fire. "If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned." (Jn 15: 6) So that we may live as fruitful branches in intimate union with Christ, the true vine, he has given us the Church, his true body in the world. "The mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the Church, which is the Body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit. This joint mission henceforth brings Christ's faithful to share in his communion with the Father in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit prepares men and goes out to them with his grace, in order to draw them to Christ. The Spirit manifests the risen Lord to them, recalls his word to them and opens their minds to the understanding of his Death and Resurrection. He makes present the mystery of Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them into communion with God, that they may 'bear much fruit.' (Jn 15: 8,16)" (CCC 737) The Church is not a way to Christ, as simply one choice among others, but the way to Christ. "Thus the Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity." (CCC 738) St. Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria (d. 444), teaches why our communion with the Triune God happens in the fullest and most perfect way in this life in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church: "All of us who have received one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended together with one another and with God. For if Christ, together with the Father's and his own Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us, though we are many, still the Spirit is one and undivided. He binds together the spirits of each and every one of us,...and makes all appear as one in him. For just as the power of Christ's sacred flesh unites those in whom it dwells into one body, I think that in the same way the one and undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into spiritual unity." (CCC 738) Seek the opportunity for daily participation in the liturgy; draw from the Eucharistic sacrifice the life-blood of Christ the vine that you may bear fruit that will last: heart, mind, soul and strength aflame with God's love unto life eternal! Let us pray: God our Father, look upon us with love. You redeem us and make us your children in Christ. Give us true freedom and bring us to the inheritance you promised. (From opening prayer for today's liturgy.) I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy" -Father Cusick (Publish with permission.) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/ |
|
Homily from Father Alex McAllister SDS http://www.catholicwealdstone.org 5 Easter |
Fifth Sunday of Easter Posted on April 23, 2013 by admin This Sunday the Church invites us to look back at the Last Supper to the words Jesus spoke to the Apostles after Judas had left the room. The words he uses are words of warmth, tenderness and affection. He calls them little children; an expression which has a very gentle and endearing tone to it. Presumably he means that in comparison to his own complete knowledge of how things really are the Apostles only have a hesitant and partial knowledge of what is actually going on. This concept of being like innocent little children in the face of an experienced adult is a good analogy for our relationship with God. We are children who are only beginning to understand how things really are and who remain in a position of dependency; while God is like a parent who has complete knowledge of the world and who protects his children and gradually unfolds the nature of the world to them. In these verses of scripture Jesus talks about love. In the context of his great love for them he tells the Apostles that they should love one another and points out that it is the depth of their love for one another which will allow all the other people in the world to recognise that they are his disciples. Here we are at the Last Supper, at the most crucial point in the whole story of salvation, and Christ uses this most important occasion to stress to his Apostles that love is what he is all about. As St Julian of Norwich so beautifully expressed it, ‘Love was his meaning.’ If we are to understand anything at all about God then we must understand that his driving force is nothing else other than love. Love is what God is all about and there could be no greater sign of this than the fact that Christ gave his life on the Cross of Calvary for our salvation. This is not human love; this is not emotional sentimentality; this is not attraction or infatuation. No, this is love in its truest and deepest and fullest sense. Our human love can only ever be a faint shadow of the tremendousness of God’s love. If we could only begin to appreciate just what love means to God it would take us far beyond anything we could possibly comprehend. For us love means freely giving our whole selves to another, and this finds its best expression in marriage where we normally find the couple living their lives in mutual and lasting fidelity to each other. But for God love, which finds its source in the great mystery of the Trinity, goes far beyond what the human mind can comprehend. It is deeper, wider, vaster that anything that we could possibly understand. This means that it is only by living lives wholly committed to love that we can ever grow in our appreciation and knowledge of God. It is only by deeply devoting ourselves to our partners in marriage and by finding ways to express our love for the whole of humanity that we can ever even begin to understand what Christ means when he talks about love. Christ tells his Apostles at the Last Supper that it is only by demonstrating their love for each other that outsiders will begin to come to know and appreciate God. He tells them that this is the best way that they can preach the Gospel. Not to use words but simply to love one another. This is Good News because we know that it is only in living lives of love that we can ever find our true fulfilment in life. We see around us people who are bitter and twisted, people who are turned in on themselves, people who are materialistic and superficial. There are plenty of people like this living all around us. We see such people and instinctively we realise that to live our lives in these ways would mean that we were heading for disaster. We understand very well that the only wholesome way of living is given to us in the pages of the New Testament and through the words of Jesus. We recognise that it is only by pursuing such things as goodness, truth and beauty that we can live truly worthy lives; lives which bring real fulfilment and satisfaction. The obvious conclusion for anyone who takes the words of Jesus seriously is that if we want to be his followers then we have to acquire the virtues. Among the virtues we find things such as kindness, generosity, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, patience, perseverance, courage and so on. In theological terms charity, which is another word for love, is the greatest of all the virtues and anyone who regards themselves as a Christian would assiduously acquire this virtue. The virtue of love has two aspects: the love of God and the love of man which includes the love of neighbour and oneself. We therefore need to cultivate this virtue of love in these two areas. Most obviously the best way to express and deepen our love for God is to pray. This provides us with an open line of communication between us and God. A good way to think about the various aspects of prayer is to compare it with how we would communicate with a lover. The person in love expresses a whole range of attitudes towards their beloved. They praise the one they love, they tell them how grateful they are to even know them, they immediately apologise for every trivial offence they may have caused, they listen carefully to them, they are constantly offering gifts and so on. In relation to our communication with God all these things constitute the various aspects of prayer. In fact you can see all these different types of prayer in the mass. At the Penitential Rite we say sorry, at the Readings we listen, at the Intercessions we make requests, at the Offertory we present gifts, in the Eucharistic Prayer we offer praise and thanks, and the Communion becomes a consummation of all that went before. We should then think of the Mass as a microcosm of our entire relationship with God, for all the modes of our communication with him are present in it. It is the best place therefore to express our love for God and, of course, also the best place to deepen our relationship with him. By constantly celebrating the Mass, by participating in the Eucharist, we are able to deepen, widen, strengthen and open up our relationship with the supreme being in the most intimate way imaginable. |
[출처] April 28, 2013 Fifth Sunday of Easter |작성자 진주
|