Catholic Calendar
and Daily Meditation
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/051312.cfm
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
1 John 4:7-10
John 15:9-17
A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:
Last Sunday was Good Shepherd Sunday. Jesus with a lamb in His arms is the most popular image we have of Jesus' caring love. Now on this Sixth Sunday of Easter we honor all mothers as "shepherds" of their little ones. Today's Gospel fits right in, since it's all about Jesus' command that we love one another as He loves us. The parallel between God's love and our mothers' love seems to fit so perfectly.
But first, the shocking events told us this week in the Acts of the Apostles.
Just when the Jewish community was settling in to the idea of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah sent to redeem Israel, the mysterious Holy Spirit of God hits them with a thunderbolt of new teaching. Peter has a noonday trance that disturbs him. A heavenly agent forbids him to call any food unclean that God has made clean! Cornelius, a pagan, is likewise visited by an angel who commands him to summon Peter. Through the resulting encounter, Peter is convinced that the message of salvation he thought applied only to Jews, is meant also for non-Jews. This does not go over well with many Jews back in Jerusalem. Salvation was no longer an exclusive prerogative for the Chosen People. Now, all are chosen! The community peace is shattered!
What saves the new Church? That other "shocker" - the command that Jesus gave in his Farewell Address to His apostles that they are to love one another "as I have loved you." Love is the power unleashed by the Holy Spirit after Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Two thousand years of trial and error has not made any easier this fundamental teaching of our faith. Love! Just think what a dynamic transformation there would be in our world society if all Christians really loved one another!
Think of how much more peaceful the transition would have been after the changes of Vatican II hit the Church in the '60s and '70s. We could have avoided so much hurt and bitterness, if we had just listened a little more to the Holy Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit asks us if we like the idea of love, we respond enthusiastically. But even though the Lord has actually commanded us to love, we balk, make all kinds of excuses and compromises. Yet, the meaning is clear. Love one another and listen to one another! God listens to us a lot! We get in trouble when we fail to listen to God. God loves us unconditionally, and we will never measure up to Jesus' command until we are able to love in the same manner.
Today we honor all mothers. Their love is a sacrificing love, an unconditional love, a love that protects their children from danger and death, that encourages them to grow and become all they can become. Mothers are the living examples of how much God loves us. May their presence in our world help all of us to love others more tenderly, more unselfishly. May God bless them all, living and deceased, this day.
::: Msgr. Paul Whitmore | email: pwhitmore29 (at) yahoo (dot) com
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
See today's Scripture or the Lives of the Saints
This Week's Meditations: Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Look up a meditation in our Archives
Please consider praying online, the Liturgy of the Hours - the official prayer of the Church - complete with audio and text presentations for computer, Android, iPhone, iPad and Podcast. Also, available, either single or four-volume paper versions of the Divine Office, reasonably priced at: http://divineoffice.org/
Would you like to know more about the Catholic Faith? click here!
Back to The Journey Home Page
Copyright © “The Way, The Truth, The Life”
