Daily Reflection

May 23, 2017 Tuesday

6TH WEEK OF EASTER
Psalter: Week 2 / (White)

Ps 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
Your right hand saves me, O Lord.

1^st Reading: Acts 16:22-34

So they set the crowd against them; and the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be flogged. And after inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to guard them safely. Upon receiving these instructions, he threw them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, a severe earthquake shook the place, rocking the prison to its foundations. Immediately, all the doors flew open and the chains of all the prisoners fell off. The jailer woke up to see the prison gates wide open. Thinking that the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword to kill himself, but Paul shouted to him, ”Do not harm yourself! We are all still here.”

The jailer asked for a light, then rushed in, and fell at the feet of Paul and Silas. After he had secured the other prisoners, he led them out and asked, ”Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered, ”Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you, and your household, will be saved.” Then they spoke the word of God to him and to all his household.

Even at that hour of the night, the jailer took care of them and washed their wounds; and he, and his whole household, were baptized at once. He led them to his house, spread a meal before them and joyfully celebrated with his whole household his new found faith in God.

Gospel: Jn 16:5-11

Jesus said to his disciples: ”But now I am going to the One who sent me, and none of you asks me where I am going; instead you are overcome with grief, because of what I have said.

”Believe me, it is better for you that I go away, because as long as I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go away, I will send him to you, and when he comes, he will vindicate the truth before a sinful world; and he will vindicate the paths of righteousness and justice.

”What is the world‘s sin, in regard to me? Disbelief. What is the path of righteousness? It is the path I walk, by which I go to the Father; and you shall see me no more. What is the path of justice? It is the path on which the prince of this world will always stand condemned.”

REFLECTION:

The earth is not the end of our destination but the starting point of our journey. That is why Jesus could not stay on earth forever. He has to move on in order to complete His itinerary. He has to go back to His Father in heaven, back where it all begun. It is back to the Father who sent His only Son to the world to redeem it. But His disciples could not even ask Him where He is going. They were locked up in their grief. They focused on their loss and not on what they could gain when Jesus continues on in His journey.

It‘s funny that sometimes we focus on the drama rather than on the bigger picture. We so like to wallow in tears and self-pity. But Jesus will have none of it. The role of the Spirit will not unfold in human history if He stays. And so, there are things that need to be done no matter what the cost because it will usher something that will be for the greater good. Drama is good, but we need a certain dose of reality sometimes.

Daily Gospel ® is a product Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.

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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL

With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

DAILY GOSPEL ® 2017
Readings and Reflections
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May 22, 2017 Monday

6TH WEEK OF EASTER
Psalter: Week 2 / (White)
St. Rita of Cascia, religious

Ps 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a & 9b
The Lord takes delight in his people.

1^st Reading: Acts 16:11-15

So, we put out to sea from Troas and sailed straight across to Samothrace Island; and the next day, to Neapolis. From there, we went inland to Philippi, the leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. We spent some days in that city.

On the Sabbath, we went outside the city gate, to the bank of the river, where we thought the Jews would gather to pray. We sat down and began speaking to the women who were gathering there. One of them was a God-fearing woman, named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth.

As she listened, the Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. After she had been baptized, together with her household, she invited us to her house, ”If you think I am faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us to accept her invitation.

Gospel: Jn 15:26—16:4a

Jesus said to his disciples: ”From the Father, I will send you the Spirit of truth. When this Helper has come from the Father, he will be my witness, and you, too, will be my witnesses, for you have been with me from the beginning.

”I tell you all this to keep you from stumbling and falling away. They will put you out of the synagogue. Still more, the hour is coming, when anyone who kills you will claim to be serving God; they will do this, because they have not known the Father or me. I tell you all these things now so that, when the time comes, you may remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you about this in the beginning, because I was with you.”

REFLECTION:

He will not leave them behind with nothing. Thus Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to those whom He considers friends. They will not feel orphaned. This Spirit will be His and the Father‘s abiding presence in their hearts. This tells us a lot about the Holy Spirit, the one least known among the Persons in the Trinity. We get to know that the Spirit is a helper and a witness of the Godhead. The Spirit will not teach anything new but will deepen our understanding of the teachings of Jesus.

It is therefore funny how some sects used the Spirit as justification to their unusual teaching and appeals to the Holy Spirit to legitimize their presently made up beliefs. The Spirit is not a spirit of division. It does not seek to demolish what Jesus had already taught or even bring new teachings coming from its own. If we have the Spirit, following Jesus is easy. Because the Spirit is a witness of Jesus. It automatically recognizes Jesus‘ own.

Daily Reflection

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL

With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

May 21, 2017 Sunday

6TH SUNDAY OF EASTER
Psalter: Week 2 / (White)

Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

1^st Reading: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

Philip went down to a town of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. All the people paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him, and saw the miraculous signs that he did. For, in cases of possession, the unclean spirits came out shrieking loudly. Many people, who were paralyzed or crippled, were healed. So there was great joy in that town.

Now, when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. They went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for he had not as yet come down upon any of them, since they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So Peter and John laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

2^nd Reading: 1 Pt 3:15-18

But bless the Lord Christ in your hearts. Always have an answer ready, when you are called upon, to account for your hope, but give it simply and with respect. Keep your conscience clear, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your upright, Christian living. Better to suffer for doing good, if it is God‘s will, than for doing wrong.

Remember how Christ died, once, and for all, for our sins. He, the just one, died for the unjust, in order to lead us to God. In the body, he was put to death, in the spirit, he was raised to life

Gospel: Jn 14:15-21

Jesus said to his disciples: ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments; and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he is with you, and will be in you.

”I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you. A little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me, because I live and you will also live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

”Whoever keeps my commandments is the one who loves me. If he loves me, he will also be loved by my Father; I too shall love him and show myself clearly to him.”

REFLECTION:

Read: The Samaritans receive the Good News and are baptized. Peter preaches about witnessing to the Gospel by one’s conduct in the world. Love of God is proved by one’s faithfulness to God’s commandments.

Reflect: Living in Christian fidelity, when the world invites us to go the other way, is no easy task. One cannot do it by oneself; one needs a helper. Thus, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit as the indwelling helper to see us through the Christian mandate. Where does my allegiance lay and to whom do I lean – the Spirit of the world or the indwelling Spirit of God? And Why?

Pray: Ask God to keep you ever connected to His indwelling presence.

Act: Do an examination of conscience over the commandments and the beatitudes. What does it tell of your love of God?

Daily Reflection

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL

With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

May 20, 2017 Saturday

5TH WEEK OF EASTER
Psalter: Week 1 / (White)
St. Bernardine of Siena, priest

Ps 100:1b-2, 3, 5
Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

1^st Reading: Acts 16:1-10

Paul traveled on, to Derbe and then to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy lived there, whose mother was a believer of Jewish origin but whose father was a Greek. As the believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him, Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him. So he took him and, because of the Jews of that place, who all knew that his father was a Greek, he circumcised him.

As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, for the people to obey. Meanwhile, the churches grew stronger in faith, and increased in number, every day.

They traveled through Phrygia and Galatia, because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia. When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to do this. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

There, one night, Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and begged him, ”Come over to Macedonia and help us!” When he awoke, he told us of this vision; and we understood that the Lord was calling us, to give the Good News to the Macedonian people.

Gospel: Jn 15:18-21

Jesus said to his disciples: ”If the world hates you, remember that the world hated me before you. This would not be so if you belonged to the world, because the world loves its own. But you are not of the world, since I have chosen you from the world; because of this the world hates you.

”Remember what I told you: the servant is not greater than his master; if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours as well. All this they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know the One who sent me.”

REFLECTION:

Friends share a lot in common. Even their other friends and enemies are sometimes shared too. Ultimately, whatever your friends have will ultimately rub on you. That is why Jesus prepared His friends for the persecutions ahead that will happen. He knows that it is but a matter of time before the world will turn its attention towards His friends.

And so we are truly Jesus‘ friends if we stand by Him at the cost of the world‘s hatred. Standing by with Him in good times is not hard. The benefits sustain our goodwill. It‘s the other way around when one feels the pinch of persecution because of one‘s association with a particular friend. This is where options are made and what is important is identified. If we stand with Jesus, it is an act of faith. It is believing that no matter what happens here, the Lord‘s promise of a good future remains fresh and valid.

Daily Reflection

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL

With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

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