Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

April 18, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041824.cfm

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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?”

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The encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian official holds many lessons. For today, we focus on both men’s willingness to build an interdependent faith relationship. Such relationships open us to new wisdom and knowledge. Unless we build them, we remain isolated in a deceptive arrogance that limits our spiritual life.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We pray in thanksgiving for the spiritual guides we have met and for the opportunities we have had to share faith. We teach one another by our spiritual hospitality, humility, and generosity.

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Quote: from Rabindranath Tagore

The main object of teaching

is not to give explanations,

but to knock at the doors of the mind.

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Music: We Believe- Newsboys

I don’t know if Philip sang to the Ethiopian, but if he had it would have been something like this😉.

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

April 17, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041724.cfm

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There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem,
and all were scattered
throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria,
except the Apostles.
Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him.
Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church;
entering house after house and dragging out men and women,
he handed them over for imprisonment.

Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
Thus Philip went down to the city of Samaria
and proclaimed the Christ to them.

Acts 8:1-6

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Those who persecuted the first Christians expected them to be obliterated by the subsequent “scattering “. Instead, like sparks cast widely into dry tinder, the Gospel exploded through the world in Power and Light.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We pray to recognize ourselves and our whole Church as those same sparks cast into the ages for the sake of the Gospel. We are the ongoing fulfillment of the words Jesus spoke in today’s reading:

And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”

John 6:37-38

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Prayer: Thinking about the legacy of faith passed down to us through the centuries, I came across this prayer of St. Alphonsus to St. Teresa of Avila.

O Seraphic virgin, St. Teresa, 
beloved spouse of the Crucified, 
you who burned with such great love of God 
while on earth, 
and now burn with a still purer 
and brighter flame in Heaven; 
you who so greatly desired 
to see God loved by all, 
obtain for me too, I pray,
a spark of that holy fire, 
whereby I may oppose all that opposes God,
and grant that all my thoughts, desires, and affections 
may be ever employed in pursuing, 
whether in the midst of joys or of sufferings, 
the will of the Supreme Good, 
Who deserves our unbounded love and obedience. 
Oh, obtain for me this grace, 
you who are so powerful with God, that, 
like you, I may be all on fire with divine love.   
Amen.

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Music: All Things New – Elaine Hagenberg

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

Apr 16, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041624.cfm

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The crowd said to Jesus:
“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:

He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” …

… Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

from John 6:30-35

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Jesus is present to a crowd demanding a sign in order to believe. He tells them that he is “the Sign” standing right in their midst.

Rather than a sign being a prerequisite for faith, it is faith that must come first in order for us to reverence the signs of God in our lives.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

Jesus lives with us at the center of our lives. We might find it hard to believe that when life is frightening or painful.

Let’s pray today to receive God’s revelatory grace in whatever form it comes to us. Every moment of our lives is an invitation to the Truth.

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Poetry: from Rumi

When His light shines — without a veil — 
neither the sky remains nor the earth, 
not the sun, nor the moon.
God embraces all…there is nothing 
that is not a part of him already.

Remember God! 
His remembrance is the strength 
in the wings of the bird 
that is your soul

The souls of all friends of God 
are connected with one another

You must seek anything 
that you wish to find
Not so with the Friend…
You begin to seek 
after you find him.

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Music: David Lanz – Return to the Heart

Monday of the Third Week of Easter

April 15, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041524.cfm

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When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
they themselves got into boats
and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
And when they found him across the sea they said to him,
“Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jesus answered them and said,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me
not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.

John 6:24-27

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In today’s Gospel, the people come to Jesus because of the food! They come because of the instant miracle! Jesus knows this but he wants them to come in the full commitment of their hearts to life in him.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

God knows all our “becauses”. God sees our heart’s motivations.

But God can crack through our old and deadened self-definitions and hungers to bear eternally surprising life in us.

There is nothing … nothing … that God cannot transform with mercy, forgiveness, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Poetry: Because There Is No Coffee in Heaven – Andrea Potos

What I will miss the most: that rich-
incense scent of morning, nut-brown
ever-so-slightly discernable bitterness
flowing as part tonic, part promise
of good to come,
though also as reminder
that now, this now
of the moment--sip, taste
and swallow--is the only
moment there is.

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Music: Soul Food – Dean Evenson

Third Sunday of Easter

April 14, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041424.cfm

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You denied the Holy and Righteous One
and asked that a murderer be released to you.
The author of life you put to death,
but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.
Now I know, brothers,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
but God has thus brought to fulfillment
what he had announced beforehand
through the mouth of all the prophets,
that his Christ would suffer.
Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.”

Acts 3:14-18

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In our first reading, Peter excuses the ignorance of his listeners and invites them to repentance.

Our Gospel describes a certain kind of “ignorance” in the Emmaus disciples who are unable to see Jesus because of their worried agitation.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We don’t like to think of ourselves as “ignorant “, but we are. There is so much we don’t know about ourselves, others, and certainly about God. Yet sometimes we choose to act, or fail to act, out of our ignorance.

But just as with the Emmaus couple, Jesus does walk with us, offering the bright grace of recognition and repentance to us, over and over again.

And as with them, that grace comes through prayer, reflection, community, service, and sacrament.

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Poetry: Emmaus Journey – Irene Zimmerman, OSF

All was chaos when he died.
We fled our separate ways at first,
then gathered again in the upper room
to chatter blue-lipped prayers
around the table where he’d talked
of love and oneness. On the third day Cleopas and I
left for the home we’d abandoned
in order to follow him.
We wanted no part of the babble
the women had brought from the tomb.
We vowed to get on with our grieving. On the road we met a Stranger
whose voice grew vaguely familiar
as he spoke of signs and suffering.
By the time we reached our village,
every tree and bush was blazing
and we pressed him to stay the night. Yet not till we sat at the table
and watched the bread being broken
did we see the Light.

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Music: Oh, I Want to Know You – Steve Green

Saturday of the Second Week of Easter

April 13, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041324.cfm

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It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.
When they had rowed about three or four miles,
they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat,
and they began to be afraid.
But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.”
They wanted to take him into the boat,
but the boat immediately arrived at the shore
to which they were heading.

John 6:17-21

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Today’s reading packs in all the elements of a crisis: darkness, unknowing, resistance, shock, fear, powerlessness. We can imagine the disciples caught in the whirlwind and suddenly tossed up on shore astounded!

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

Life’s like that sometimes, isn’t it? Our reading tells us how to make the passage through such storms: listen for the voice that loves you unreservedly, and do not be afraid. It is then that we might find the miracle which the storm hides.

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Poetry: from Rumi

Be empty of worrying
Think of who created thought

Why do you stay in prison
When the door is wide open?

Move outside the tangle of fear thinking.
Live in silence.

Flow down and down in always
Widening rings of being.

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Music: Be Not Afraid – Bob Dufford

Friday of the Second Week of Easter

April 12, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041224.cfm

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(Gamaliel said to the Sanhedrin)

So now I tell you,
have nothing to do with these men, and let them go.
For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin,
it will destroy itself.
But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them;
you may even find yourselves fighting against God.”

Acts 5:38-39

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Gamaliel is one of the most mysterious characters of the Christian Testament. After his wise intervention on behalf of the Apostles, he becomes an indistinct flicker in early Christian history. He is venerated as a saint in Eastern Rites. Tradition suggests he became a Christian but there is no real evidence.

No matter the way his life played out, Gamaliel teaches us what courage, wisdom, patience, and respectful judgment looks like in a highly critical situation.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We ask God to deepen in us the gifts of holy courage and wisdom that we may patiently judge the realities of our lives in order to find the grace they carry.

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Prose: from Pirkei Avot 1:18

Gamaliel is a highly honored teacher in the Jewish tradition. He is quoted in the following text from the Pirkei Avot.

Pirkei Avot, which translates to English as Chapters of the Fathers, is a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims from Rabbinic Jewish tradition.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel used to say: on three things does the world stand: On justice, on truth and on peace, as it is said: “execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates” (Zechariah 8:16).

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Music: Heaven’s Window – Peter Kater

Memorial of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr April 11, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041124.cfm

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For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,

John 3:33-36

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In Acts today, the Apostles are ordered to stop preaching. The suggestion is that if they lie low – ration their enthusiasm – they will not be bothered about their faith.

But our Gospel assures us that this was not Jesus’s way. He did not ration God’s gift. Jesus gave it all. We are called to imitate his faithful self-donation.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

It’s hard to live our Christian life on full power. It’s hard to live the Works of Mercy in every circumstance. It’s hard to fully pattern our life on the Gospel. It would be so much easier to ration our commitment to Christ’s call.

Let’s pray to give God the full flow of our love, not rationed droplets of pretense. God did not ration love for us, but has filled us with the Holy Spirit. Let’s not mince that incredible gift by an uncourageous, ungenerous life!

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Poetry: To Live in the Mercy of God – Denise Levertov

To lie back under the tallest

oldest trees. How far the stems

rise, rise

               before ribs of shelter

                                           open!

To live in the mercy of God. The complete

sentence too adequate, has no give.

Awe, not comfort. Stone, elbows of

stony wood beneath lenient

moss bed.

And awe suddenly

passing beyond itself. Becomes

a form of comfort.

                      Becomes the steady

air you glide on, arms

stretched like the wings of flying foxes.

To hear the multiple silence

of trees, the rainy

forest depths of their listening.

To float, upheld,

                as salt water

                would hold you,

                                        once you dared.

                  .

To live in the mercy of God.

To feel vibrate the enraptured

waterfall flinging itself

unabating down and down

                              to clenched fists of rock.

Swiftness of plunge,

hour after year after century,

                                                   O or Ah

uninterrupted, voice

many-stranded.

                              To breathe

spray. The smoke of it.

                              Arcs

of steelwhite foam, glissades

of fugitive jade barely perceptible. Such passion—

rage or joy?

                              Thus, not mild, not temperate,

God’s love for the world. Vast

flood of mercy

                      flung on resistance.

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Music: Take, Lord, Receive – John Foley, SJ

Wednesday of the Second Week Easter
April 10, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041024.cfm

The high priest rose up and all his companions,
that is, the party of the Sadducees,
and, filled with jealousy,
laid hands upon the Apostles and put them in the public jail.
But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison,
led them out, and said,
“Go and take your place in the temple area,
and tell the people everything about this life.”

Acts 5:17-20

In today’s readings from Acts, we find the Apostles brave and confident that God is with them and will show them the way.

Whether or not they expected angels as their deliverers, we can’t be certain.

As Christians, we too hope for our faith to be fully unlocked from any fear, doubt, or hesitation. We ask the same Trinitarian Power that freed the Apostles to free us for mission in our time. And if it happens to be with angels, all the better!

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Poetry: The Imprisoned Soul – Walt Whitman

AT the last, tenderly, 

From the walls of the powerful, fortress’d house, 

From the clasp of the knitted locks—from the keep of the well-closed doors, 

Let me be wafted.  

Let me glide noiselessly forth;         

With the key of softness unlock the locks—with a whisper 

Set ope the doors, O soul!  

Tenderly! be not impatient! (Strong is your hold, O mortal flesh! 

Strong is your hold, O love!)

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Music: Now I’m on My Way – Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

Once I was lost, I was deep in despair (Oh-oh-oh-oh)

Satan had me bound in my mind, everywhere (Oh-oh)

Jesus brought me out, turned my life around

Now I’m on my way

Once I was lost, I was deep in despair (Oh-oh-oh-oh)

Satan had me bound in my mind, everywhere (Oh-oh)

Jesus brought me out, turned my life around

Now I’m on my way

Now I’m on my way

Now I’m on my way

Now I’m on my way

Now I’m on my wa-a-a-ay

Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter
April 9, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040924.cfm

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Jesus said to Nicodemus,
“Do not marvel that I said to you,
‘You must be born again.’
The wind[b] blows where it wishes,
and you hear its sound,
but you do not know
where it comes from
or where it goes.
So it is with everyone
who is born of the Spirit.”

John 3: 7-8

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Nicodemus comes to Jesus with a flickering hope. He thinks that his life is written in stone, unable to be changed. But in that stone, there is the smallest crack where hope reaches through to the power of Jesus.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

Have you ever messed something up to the point that you long to be able to start over again? Have you ever missed the point of your reality so badly that you pray for the chance to re-launch?

Those moments are your “Nicodemus Moments”. And Easter tells us that, with God, we have an infinite reservoir of chances to grasp the grace of rebirth in the Spirit. Infinite!

Again, and again, and again – as long as we live – God invites us to the next release – the next update – of the beautiful person we are created to be.

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Poetry: Nicodemus – Malcolm Guite

This is the gospel of the primal light,

The first beginning, and the fruitful end,

The soaring glory of an eagle’s flight,

The quiet touch of a beloved friend.

This is the gospel of our transformation,

Water to wine and grain to living bread,

Blindness to sight and sorrow to elation,

And Lazarus himself back from the dead!

This is the gospel of all inner meaning,

The heart of heaven opened to the earth,

A gentle friend on Jesus’ bosom leaning,

And Nicodemus offered a new birth.

No need to search the heavens high above,

Come close with John, and feel the pulse of Love

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Music: Born Again – Bethel Music