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April 19, 2018

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

“The Father draws.” Attraction to God is a great mystery. Why are some drawn to Him and others not? Why do we sometimes feel attracted to God, sometimes repulsed in general by spirituality? Do I have any control over my attraction to God? Does God simply not bother attracting some people? What if God attracts my mind but not my heart?

We know that even if God somehow mysteriously does the attracting and the drawing, we have the freedom to go along with it or not. Jesus has opened the way for us to God, butHe reveals that we wouldn’t listen to Him if the Father Himself wasn’t causing our hearts to open to what He has to say and what He does. The love of God is so pure and holy that its seed is planted within us hidden from what we can experience with our senses. We can either be frustrated at not being able to feel, sense, or understand our attraction to God, or we can begin to cooperate with it by believing in it. Believing in our attraction to God actually opens our hearts to love much more deeply than if we understood or felt an attraction to God. As St. Therese said, “I believe because I want to believe.” read more

April 18, 2018

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

We are familiar with Jesus’ speeches on the bread of life, but we can too quickly conclude that He is just talking about the Eucharist. Exegetes are divided about this point, some proposing that Jesus is teaching exclusively about wisdom, others exclusively about the Eucharist, others see the first part of the discourse as about wisdom, the later part about the Eucharist. Andre Feuillet, a well known Catholic Exegete of profound faith, espouses the “both and” position. If we follow his intuition it should profoundly expand our contemplation of the mystery. Christ is “the bread of life,” but also – as He says – the “living bread” and the “true bread.” These titles don’t mean exactly the same thing. The Word of God is the Father’s bread – that is the meaning of the “true bread.” An image so visceral about the relationship between the Father and the Son is astonishing and is certainly more adapted to the mystery of Divine Love than to dogmatic theology. read more

April 17, 2018April 17, 2018

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

Ephrem the Syrian:

He captivated us with these things, which bring pleasure to the palate, in order to draw us to that which brings life to [our] souls. For this reason, he hid the sweetness in the wine he made, so that they might know what treasure is hidden in his life-giving blood.”

Tertullian:

And so, in petitioning for “daily bread,” we ask for perpetuity in Christ and indivisibility from his body. But, because “bread” is admissible in a carnal sense too, it cannot be so used without the religious remembrance of spiritual discipline. For the Lord commands that bread be prayed for which is the only food necessary for believers. read more

Daily Readings

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
by USCCB on April 18, 2024 at 8:30 am
Reading 1 Acts 8:26-40 The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip,“Get up and head south on the roadthat goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.” So he got up and set out. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch,a court official of the Candace,that is, the queen of the Ethiopians,in charge of her entire treasury,who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home.Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.The Spirit said to Philip,“Go and join up with that chariot.” Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said,“Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied,“How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him. This was the Scripture passage he was reading:Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,so he opened not his mouth.In his humiliation justice was denied him.Who will tell of his posterity?For his life is taken from the earth.Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply,“I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this?About himself, or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this Scripture passage,he proclaimed Jesus to him.As they traveled along the roadthey came to some water,and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” Then he ordered the chariot to stop,and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water,and he baptized him. When they came out of the water,the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away,and the eunuch saw him no more,but continued on his way rejoicing. Philip came to Azotus, and went about proclaiming the good newsto all the towns until he reached Caesarea. Responsorial Psalm Ps 66:8-9, 16-17, 20 R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.or:R. Alleluia.Bless our God, you peoples,loudly sound his praise;He has given life to our souls,and has not let our feet slip.R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.or:R. Alleluia.Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declarewhat he has done for me.When I appealed to him in words,praise was on the tip of my tongue.R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.or:R. Alleluia.Blessed be God who refused me notmy prayer or his kindness!R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.or:R. Alleluia. Alleluia Jn 6:51 R. Alleluia, alleluia.I am the living bread that came down from heaven,says the Lord;whoever eats this bread will live forever.R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Jn 6:44-51 Jesus said to the crowds:"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,and I will raise him on the last day.It is written in the prophets:They shall all be taught by God.Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.Not that anyone has seen the Fatherexcept the one who is from God;he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you,whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;this is the bread that comes down from heavenso that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven;whoever eats this bread will live forever;and the bread that I will giveis my Flesh for the life of the world." - - -Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

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