A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday & Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 23, n. 24)
Easter Week 5: May 18-24, 2025
(The pastoral tool BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY & WEEKDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy from various perspectives. For the Lectio Divina on the liturgy of the past week: May 11-17, 2025, 2025 please go to ARCHIVES Series 23 and click on Easter Week 4.”
Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY: May 11-17, 2025.)
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May 18, 2025: FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Commands Us to Love One Another”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 14:21-27 // Rv 21:1-5a // Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35): “I give you a new commandment: love one another.”
There is something sacred in the final wish of a dying person. When my dad was about to die, he left an important testament to us, his children. With the dignity of a patriarch, he pronounced his twofold command: “Take care of your mom; love one another.” Whenever I hear the Gospel account of Mary at the foot of the cross, being entrusted by the dying Jesus to the care of his beloved disciple, I feel a great affinity to that saving event. Moreover, whenever I listen to Jesus’ farewell discourse, especially his ultimate command on fraternal love, my heart is touched to the core. Indeed, there is an ineffable quality and an irresistible force in a person’s final testament. This is true in the case of my dad. How much more so for Jesus, our Divine Master-Shepherd and Redeemer!
Today’s Gospel passage (Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35) contains “a new commandment” given by Jesus on the eve of his Passover. He knows that the hour has come for him to pass from this world to the Father and he wants to show his disciples his perfect love for them. According to the editors of the Jerusalem Bible: “Though enunciated in the Mosaic Law, this precept of love is new because Jesus sets the standard so high by telling his followers to love one another as he himself loved them, and because love is to be the distinguishing mark of the new era which the death of Jesus inaugurates and proclaims to the world.” Indeed, what makes the commandment “new” is the awesome standard of love proposed for the Christian disciples – the sacrificial love of the Lord Jesus that knows no bounds.
In accordance with the “new” testament of Jesus, as he was about to offer his life-giving sacrifice on the cross, Christians must live out the call to fraternal charity. Mutual love must be the true mark of discipleship. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 3, assert: “This is the sign of the Christian in the world, the irrefutable, immediately verifiable, proof of Christian identity. For this love appears as a way of life, not only a series of actions, however admirable or even heroic it may be. To walk faithfully in this way is constantly to be a certain way, blossoming from day to day in the peace and joy that nothing can harm; it is to bear fruit for time and eternity. Happy the disciples of Christ, whose charitable life, as Jesus’, gladdens the heart of God and humanity!”
B. First Reading (Acts 14:21-27): “They called the Church together and reported what God has done with them.”
I found Barbara Coyle’s article, “Franciscan Groups Partner with Jamaican Parishes” in St. Anthony Messenger (March 2007, p. 40-45) very interesting. I really enjoyed her report on the life-changing experience of the 13 American students from Roger Bacon High School in their seven-day visit to Jamaica. The nine seniors and four juniors visited the patients in the infirmary and fed the sick; they painted houses, tutored high-school-aged students and repaired fencing; they delivered food to the homebound; and they spent quality time with the poor, giving them comfort and hope. Indeed, God’s transforming grace was at work in them and in those they served. The students had experienced the profound character of the universal Church as deeply involved in everyday struggles of people living in poverty. In their Jamaican mission, the enterprising students from Roger Bacon School in Cincinnati, Ohio had felt the power of Easter and came in contact with the beauty of Christian love translated into life. Indeed, God had done marvels in their young lives.
The enthusiastic experience of these high school students in Jamaica gives us an idea of the warmth and excitement that the apostles, Paul and Barnabas, must have felt when they return to Antioch in Syria. They tell the people of the church gathered there about all that God has done with them and how he opens the way for the Gentiles to believe in Christ, the Crucified and Risen Lord. In today’s Second Reading (Acts 14:21-27) is the heartwarming evidence of a Church that is alive and growing and of the ever-increasing community of Christian believers being confirmed in faith and ministry.
What a transformation since the Easter event! The apostles are boldly proclaiming the Good News not only to the Jews, but also to peoples of various nations and cultures. The apostles are channels through which God’s loving plan of salvation is brought to fulfillment for his greater glory. The apostles’ preaching has grown to a mighty expanse, animated by the incredible power of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of love and the Easter gift. God has blessed the missionary efforts of Paul and Barnabas with success. It is God who has opened the door of faith to the receptive Gentiles, by the power of the Spirit of the Risen Lord and through the instrumentality of the apostles. Under the guidance of the same Spirit, the apostles appoint elders and set up structures and institutions to make the Christian communities viable even after their departure. Indeed, their pastoral solicitude is an expression of the deep love they have for Jesus, the Risen Lord and Good Shepherd.
C. Second Reading (Rv 21:1-5a): “God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
The Easter season is a feast of newness. It is a celebration of a life renewed and infused with hope here on earth. The quality of “newness” is very much felt in the Second Reading (Rv 21: 1-5a). Saint John’s fascinating vision of “a new heaven and a new earth … a new city Jerusalem” is meant to bolster the faith of people living through hard times and to foster confident hope in those facing grief and crisis. The reality that “God will wipe away every tear from their eye” is meant to console. With the saving event of the Lord’s resurrection, a new age has dawned. Faith in the Risen Lord, the victorious Lamb-Shepherd, enables us to see God at work even in the here and now – transforming and renewing all things. The vision of the future “totally renewed” inspires today’s faith community to hope for the day when all signs of death are gone forever and to be themselves agents of cosmic renewal.
I met the Maryknoll missionary, Fr. Douglas Venne in the early 90’s. I was struck by his self-effacing way and gentle demeanor. He worked in the Philippines for some time. He then spent many beautiful years in Bangladesh, incarnating the “renewing” love of Jesus Christ through his ministry of presence. He was diagnosed with leukemia and on December 28, 2009, he passed on to the “new heaven and new earth”, to the “new city Jerusalem”, the eternal dwelling of God. Here are some vignettes of his life (cf. David Aguije, “To Live as Jesus Did” in MARYKNOLL, March 2010, p. 24-27).
The 81-year old missioner, reflective, jovial and deep, says his ministry is one of witness, of presence. “My desire is to be a man of silence and prayer”, says Venne of his ministry of more than 30 years in Bangladesh. Recalling his arrival there in December, the missioner says, “We were a group of Christians traveling on Thai Airways to a Muslim country. I’ll never forget that as the airplane landed in Dhaka, the song that played over the loudspeaker was Amazing Grace.” Inspired by the life of Charles de Foucauld, Venne came to Bangladesh to live a life of poverty among the Muslim and Hindu peasants.
Venne frequently travels to Dhaka to handle administrative details of the three Maryknoll priests, including himself, serving in Bangladesh. Once a month, Venne and Maryknoll Fathers William McIntire and Robert McHill visit with Maryknoll Sisters Miriam Perlewitz and Joan Westhues at the school the Sisters founded and have directed since 2001. There, the small community of Maryknoll missioners share their experiences in ministry, celebrate the Eucharist and enjoy a meal together, “a banquet”, in the priests’ words, that the Sisters prepare with care.
In Pouli, far from the chaos of the city, Venne invites visitors to his home, or shack, as he calls it. The simple hut is hidden among narrow roads flanked by trees that separate fields of crops and the small ponds where fish are raised. “Welcome to my shack”, says Venne. He explains that the 18-by-10-foot dwelling, with its mud floor that has to be repaired every two months, woven bamboo walls and tin roof was built in 1994 on the land of a Muslim neighbor, who doesn’t charge him rent. “My door is always open, except when I’m sleeping or praying”, he says.
Venne keeps his altar in a corner of the shack. His beddings hangs on one of the walls” a small rug, bed spread, sheets and mosquito net. Also hanging on the wall are his kitchen utensils: a frying pan and some small pots. He keeps medicines and children’s toys in two trunks, and spices and food in paint cans. He is thus prepared, he explains, to confront the three enemies that prowl around his house: rats, ants and termites. On another wall, a carton serves as a mural for photos of his family and friends. A shelf hanging from the ceiling holds his small library; he came up with this invention after termites ate through his two bookcases. Two skylights cut into the roof of the hut and covered with plastic keep the shack well lit during the day. An inflated globe hangs from the ceiling, and the missioner says he likes to think “all the people of the world live in my tiny shack with me”.
From that shack, the priest, who lost an eye in a car accident in 1968 while serving in the Philippines, carries on his ministry of presence. “I’m now something like the village grandfather”, says Venne, who for years worked shoulder to shoulder with local farmers, his only purpose to live and serve the poor as Jesus did in Nazareth, he explains.
Venne also visits neighboring villages, where he offers literacy classes, in Bengali, to women. The missioner, a Maryknoll priest for 50 years, is concluding a six-month course with a group of women that has gone on for four years. His friends, the Taize Brothers, who live in neighboring Mymensingh, say the important thing is that Venne is there, building relationships. Venne also serves as spiritual guide for two L’Arche communities in Mymensingh founded by the Taize Brothers. L’Arche communities are small communities in which people of faith live together with those who have developmental disorders.
Although he has gained the affection and appreciation of his neighbors, being the only Christian in Pouli has not been easy for Venne. Once, when he was working in the fields, the chief of a local village asked him, “Are you a Jesuit?” Venne answered no, but that he was something like a Jesuit. “Are you here to convert our people?” the man asked. “As far as I can remember, our prophet Jesus told us to go out and help the poor, and I have chosen to do that, and if someone draws nearer to Allah because I am working among them, then that is why I have come”, the missioner replied. “I can accept that”, said the man, who has remained Venne’s friend ever since.
Because of his option, Venne lives, dresses and eats like the poor in Bangladesh. “My aim is to help people with my own two hands, not by way of projects or subsidies; it is to be among the people as their brother; it is to want them to become better Muslims”, he says with humility. “My life is a life of prayer. I’m not very good at it, but I keep on trying.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
What are the emotions evoked in us by Christ’s Farewell Discourse and his testament of love? Do we fulfill in our daily lives Christ’s new command: “Love one another as I have loved you”? Do we strive to attain mutual charity, the true mark of discipleship? How?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
you glorified your Son Jesus,
who suffered and died for us,
by raising him to new life.
Jesus loved us with a perfect love.
Fill us with the Holy Spirit, the Easter gift,
that we may perceive the depths
of Christ’s renewing love.
Let us be ready to reach out
with a healing and helping hand
to the wounded, the grieving, and the needy.
May the love of Christ
be the mark of our faith and discipleship.
May the world come to believe in your life-giving Son
and acknowledge that we love him,
in accordance with the Divine Master’s words:
“This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.”
We love you, dear Father, and honor you,
now and forever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“I give you a new commandment: love one another.” (Jn 13:34)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Today, perform three good deeds within your family or community with the intention of carrying out Christ’s holy command of fraternal love.
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May 19, 2025: MONDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (5)
“JESUS SAVIOR: His Command Is to Love … He Calls Us to Turn to the Living God”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 14:5-18 // Jn 14:21-26
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 14:21-26): “The Advocate whom the Father will send will teach you everything.”
(Gospel Reflection by Sr. Mary Cecilia Payawal, pddm; Illustrative Story prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret, pddm)
On this fifth week of Easter, we are invited to a continuous reading, and to reflect upon the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters of the Gospel of John. To help us in our reflection, we need to situate ourselves in the context of these two chapters. First, these chapters are found in the third part of the Gospel of John - The Book of Glory, the part wherein Christ will face and experience the “glory”, the fulfillment of His mission on earth, the culmination of His journey in this world, and journey towards the “glory”- communion with the Father. Second, it may help to situate us in the scene of this part of the Gospel of John, that is, the moment when Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples.
Considering these points, we are now ready to reflect on and experience more deeply the message of the Gospel for today. Some repeated words may be significant to note. For example, love and word. It is also important to notice the words: commandment, home, Father, Holy Spirit, teach and remembrance. We may allow the meaning of these words to sink into our whole being. Imagine how these words were uttered by Jesus to his disciples before leaving them.
Putting myself into the scene of the Gospel, I cannot help but imagine Jesus as someone who is telling his “habilin” (last words of someone who is about to leave or die) to his disciples. Jesus allowed them to experience the depth and height of his love. Thus he asked them to keep his commandment: “love one another” (Jn 13:34), the measure of which is his love for them: “As I have loved you” (Jn 13:34).
Following Jesus is never easy. Particularly, following his commandment of love is never easy. We may easily say that we love Jesus, yet have difficulty in “loving one another”, in loving our neighbor. We may experience deep within us the depth and height of God’s love for us in the person of Jesus, as well as our love for him, yet have more difficulty in experiencing this love in the persons around us. The Gospel for today presents a challenge, an invitation to us: “Let us love one another, as Christ has loved us.” In this way, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we may be led to our “home”, to our Father who loves us, in and through the person of Christ. Only through this are we able to proclaim with the disciples: “The Lord is Risen!”
Illustrative Story: The following account, circulated on the Internet, illustrates how a child puts this command of love into practice.
A four-year-old child’s next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy just said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”
B. First Reading (Acts 14:5-18): “We proclaim to you Good News that you should turn from these idols to the living God.”
The First Reading (Acts 14:5-18) says that the persecution of the Christian disciples results in the word of God being spread abroad. The evangelization of Iconium ends with the same reaction toward Paul and Barnabas as that of Antioch in Pisidia. The unbelieving Jews and Gentiles attempt to attack and stone them. The apostles flee to Lystra where they continue to proclaim the Good News. A cripple, lame from birth, listens to Paul. The Good News makes a deep impression on him. Seeing that the cripple has faith, Paul orders him to stand up. The man springs up and begins to walk. The miracle provokes astonishment. The people, led by the priest of the temple, bring oxen and garlands. They intend to offer sacrifice to the two “miracle” workers, mistaking them for the Greek gods “Zeus” and “Hermes”. The apostles try to dissuade them from offering sacrifice to them since they are mere human beings. Paul endeavors to turn them away from false idols and to call them to serve the true and living God, whose goodness is revealed in the bounty of creation. He tries to make them understand that the healing of the cripple is a sign of the goodness of God, to whom glory is due. But Paul and Barnabas can hardly contain the enthusiasm of the crowd. The human heart, however, is fickle. Instigated by the people from Antioch and Iconium, the people of Lystra will soon turn against the apostles.
The fickleness and whims of those who reject the Good News that the apostles proclaim could be gleaned, with a comic touch, from the following story (cf. “Choosing a Good Minister” in Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul, ed. Jack Canfield, et. al., Deerfield Beach: Health Communications, Inc., 1997, p.323-324).
One of the toughest tasks a church faces is choosing a good minister. A member of an official board undergoing this painful process finally lost patience. He’d just witnessed the pastoral relations committee reject applicant after applicant for some minor fault … real or imagined. It was time for a bit of soul searching on the part of the committee. So he stood up and read this letter purported to be from an applicant.
Gentlemen: Understanding your pulpit is vacant, I should like to apply for the position. I have many qualifications. I’ve been a preacher with much success and also have had some successes as a writer. Some say I’m a good organizer. I’ve been a leader most places I’ve been.
I’m over 50 years of age and have never preached in one place for more than three years. In some places, I have left town after my work caused riots and disturbances. I must admit I have been in jail three or four times, but not because of any real wrongdoing.
My health is not too good, though I still accomplish a great deal. The churches I have preached in have been small, though located in several large cities.
I’ve not gotten along well with religious leaders in the towns where I have preached. In fact, some have threatened me, and even attacked me physically. I am not too good at keeping records. I have been known to forget whom I have baptized.
However, if you can use me, I promise to do my best for you.”
The board member turned to the committee and said, “Well what do you think? Shall we call him?”
The good church folks were appalled! Consider a sickly, troublemaking, absent-minded ex-jailbird? Was the board member crazy? Who signed the application? Who had such colossal nerve?
The board member eyed them all keenly before he replied, “It’s signed, ‘The Apostle Paul’.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do I really make an effort to be a true disciple of Jesus by knowing his word and keeping his love command? // What do I do to help people turn to the living God and embrace him?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Divine Master,
you are our saving Lord who loved us to the end.
Teach us to love you
by being compassionate to those around us
and by serving the poor and vulnerable in our midst.
Send us the Holy Spirit, the promised Advocate.
He will teach us everything
and remind us of all that you told us,
especially your farewell command of mutual love.
You are the Lord of Easter glory,
whom we proclaim to the nations,
now and forever.
Amen, alleluia.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“Whoever loves me will keep my word.” (Jn 14:23) // “We proclaim to you good news that you should turn from these idols to the living God.” (Acts 14:15)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for that the mass media and the digital media may be rightly used to promote the truth and not to distort the truth. Offer an act of charity to a person who seems to be “unlovable” and difficult to deal with. // Identify the “idols” that keep you from serving the living God.
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May 20, 2025: TUESDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (5); SAINT BERNARDINE OF SIENA, Priest
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Gives Us Peace … He Works in His Apostles”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 14:19-28 // Jn 14:27-31a
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 14:27-31a): “My peace I give to you.”
(Gospel Reflections by Sr. Mary Cecilia Payawal, pddm; Illustrative Story prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret, pddm)
“Peace…” After hearing Jesus’ words of farewell, the disciples are certainly troubled. For their Master is about to leave, and they will be left alone. They might have asked themselves: “Who will guide us now? Whom shall we follow? Who will lead us?” They feel lost. Jesus tells them: “Peace… Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” But how can they be at peace when Jesus is leaving them? What does this “peace” signify?
Nobody, certainly, would be at peace knowing that someone whom they love is about to leave; when they know the uncertainly of ever meeting him/her again. What then can give “peace”? This peace is surely not the absence of pain and sorrow, struggle and conflicts. It is the experience of the “presence” of someone that allows you to be embraced by a love that never fades, a love that assures a constant “presence”, despite the “absence”. This peace cannot be given to us by the world. Only God, in the person of Jesus, the Risen Lord, can grant us this peace. Persons can love us and assure us of their presence. Yet this presence is limited by death. But Jesus’ presence goes beyond death. If his resurrected presence is experienced, we will never be troubled or afraid. For even in the midst of pain and sorrow, struggle and conflict, there will be peace in our inner being. And with Jesus, our Risen Lord, we can “rise and go”, we can continue the journey ahead.
Illustrative Story: The following account illustrates how a young man found and experienced the Easter gift of peace (cf. Fr. James W. Modee, “Courage to Change” in 101 Inspirational Stories of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, ed. Sr. Patricia Proctor, OSC, Spokane: Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2006, p. 144-145).
I was in my first parish in Yuma, Arizona, when one day a young man came to the rectory and asked to talk to a priest. He had broken up with his live-in girlfriend in San Diego and had just arrived in Yuma. He was thinking about going back to her but something told him to stop at the church first.
We talked for a while. He knew that he wasn’t living the kind of life that the Lord wanted but confessed that fear of the unknown was worse than the fear of the known. He wanted to go back to her, but something kept telling him to seek advice first.
We talked about life goals and about the courage to make positive changes even when the future is in doubt. He ended up going to confession and decided to go to his hometown instead of back to California.
About a month later, I got a letter from the young man. He was very much at peace with his decision not to go back to San Diego. He felt new and forgiven and that God was going to lead him through the rest of his life. He was grateful that I was there for him and that I had taken the time that was needed to become reconciled with God.
B. First Reading (Acts 14:19-28): “They called the Church together and reported what God had done with them.”
The reading (Acts 14:19-28) tells us that with incredible fickleness, the crowd in Lystra, who had idolized Paul and Barnabas, turn against them. Instigated by the apostles’ Jewish opponents from Antioch and Iconium, they stone Paul and drag his body outside the town, thinking he is dead. Paul, however, miraculously survives a stoning that is usually fatal. The next day the apostles proceed to Derbe and proclaim the Good News, winning many disciples. They then retrace their steps through Lystra, Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia. In each place, they have left communities of disciples whom they now strengthen and encourage. They must have been dismayed by the ill-treatment suffered by the apostles and have experienced persecution themselves. Exhorting them to persevere in the faith, the apostles assert that they need to undergo many hardships on behalf of the Kingdom of God. Moreover, they assure the pastoral care of the fledging Christian communities by appointing leaders whom they commend to the Lord with prayer and fasting. Finally, Paul and Barnabas go back to Antioch in Syria, the home base for their mission, and report to the Church on the work they have completed and how God “opened the door of faith to the Gentiles”.
The sufferings of Paul and the apostles for the sake of the Kingdom continue to be experienced by today’s Christian missionaries, as well as God’s protection and the ecclesial support (cf. “Prayer Is the Key” in Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul, ed. Jack Canfield, et. al., Deerfield Beach: Health Communications, Inc., 1997, p.317-318).
A missionary was serving as a medic at a small field hospital in Africa. Periodically he had to travel by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. It was a two-day trip so he had to camp out overnight. He had made this trip several times without incident. One day, however, he arrived at his destination and saw two men fighting. One was seriously hurt, so he treated him and witnessed to him and went about his business.
Upon arriving in the city again several weeks later, he was approached by the man he had treated earlier. “I know you carry money and medicine”, said the man to the missionary. “Some friends and I followed you into the jungle the night you treated me, knowing you would camp overnight. We waited for you to go to sleep and planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. Just as we started moving into the campsite, we saw you were surrounded by 26 armed guards. There were only six of us and we knew we couldn’t possibly get near you, so we left.”
Hearing this, the missionary laughed and said, “That’s impossible. I can assure you I was alone in the campsite.” The young man pressed his point: “No sir, I was not the only one to see the guards. My friends also saw them, and we all counted them. We were frightened. It was because of those guards that we left you alone.”
Several months later, the missionary attended a church presentation in Michigan where he told his experiences in Africa. One of the congregants jumped to his feet, interrupting the missionary, and said something that left everyone stunned. “We were there with you in spirit”, said the man. The missionary looked perplexed. The man continued. “On that night in Africa, it was morning here. I stopped at the church to gather some materials for an out-of-town trip to another parish. But as I put my bags into the trunk, I felt the Lord leading me to pray for you. The urging was so great I called the men in the church together to pray for you.”
Then the man turned around and said, “Will all of those men who met with the Lord that morning please stand?” One by one they stood – all 26 of them!
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we treasure Jesus’ farewell gift of peace and his Easter peace benediction? Do we share the Lord’s peace with others?
2. Like Saint Paul and the apostles, are we willing to undergo many hardships for the sake of the Gospel? Do we entrust ourselves to God’s protection, and do we feel the support of the faith community?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O loving Lord,
peace is your farewell gift to us
as well as your Easter gift.
Help us to treasure the peace
that springs forth from your presence.
You are our Risen Lord
and with your Easter benediction of peace,
we can “rise and go” to continue our paschal journey to the very end.
O Risen Lord,
make us channels of your peace
and help us to toil for the Gospel.
We love you and praise you.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen. Alleluia.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“Peace I leave with you.” (Jn 14:27) // “They called the Church together and reported what God had done with them.” (Acts 14:27)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
When troubled and agitated, make a special effort to focus on the gift of divine peace that is within you. Be a channel of peace for the people around you. Unite any hardship or suffering you will experience today with the apostolic intention of entering the Kingdom of God.
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May 21, 2025: WEDNESDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (5); SAINT CHRISTOPHER MAGALLANES, Priest, AND COMPANIONS, Martyrs
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the True Vine … He Guides
the Church”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 15:1-6 // Jn 15:1-8
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 15:1-8): “Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.”
(Gospel Reflections by Sr. Mary Cecilia Payawal, pddm; Illustrative Story prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret, pddm)
Once more, let us underline significant words repeated in this part of the Gospel: vine, branch, fruit, and abide. Other words and phrases which may speak to us are: bear fruit, can do nothing, abides in me, can do nothing, thrown away and withers. It may also help if we sit under a tree or vine and watch the connection or relationship between the tree/vine and the branches. We may notice some dead branches that fell to the ground, while others may be attached to the vine/tree and are bearing much fruit with many leaves.
This is the invitation of Jesus in the Gospel of today: “Abide in me, and I in you.” Other translations of the Bible say: “Remain in me, as I remain in you.” Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his book “Jesus of Nazareth” that this is the measure of love: “the remaining”. For true and authentic love remains, no matter what and in spite of… My spiritual director, when I was in Spain, once told me that a friendship or any love relationship that did not last is never a true friendship or love. Jesus remained till the end. He remained loving till such love brought him to his death on the cross. More so, he remained after death. He is risen and remains with us, here and now. He manifests true and faithful love that lasts, that remains - till the end. The Gospel announces good news to us: “God’s love that remains in and through the person of the Risen Lord!” It invites us to love, to remain, to abide, in the same way that Jesus has loved, loves and will love till the end of time.
Illustrative Story: In today’s Gospel, Jesus declares that he is the real vine and the Father is the gardener. The vinedresser breaks off every branch that does not bear fruit and prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. The following article written by the award-winning author and organic farmer, David Masumoto, from Del Rey, California, gives insight into this (cf. David Masumoto, “The Art of Pruning” in Fresno Bee, January 26, 2014, p. A25).
My father taught me how to prune a peach tree … the biggest lesson was that trees like to be pruned … Pruning marked an annual rite of passage on our farm: cut out the things that don’t belong. Purge the negatives. Open up leaf canopies to life. My job was to learn what belongs and what did not. So I whacked and snipped and slashed. Branches fell, wood dropped. I copied the motions of my father pruning a tree next to me. He looked like a sculptor as his tree took shape. Hidden inside the mass of branches and limbs lay a clean, simple tree. (…)
Magic came when my father finished his tree. I looked up and could see through the branches. I saw the blue-gray sky of winter. It was as if he opened up a secret world. Trapped behind the clutter of growth, hidden from our view, he had pruned away branches to open up the canopy. “It’s all about light”, he explained. He slowly motioned with his arm and hand, raising it up high and then swinging it downward, wiggling his fingers as he mimicked the sunlight entering the tree top and striking the wood where buds lie, awaiting the warmth of a change of season.
He said you want to imagine the sunlight months from now, you want to feel summer when you prune; in the cold winter, you want to see the light of summer as it penetrates and gives life. His skill in life was the ability to anticipate. Destiny, he seemed to tell me, was determined by your prior actions. Fate was built on everyday seemingly simple deeds.
As my father whipped around another tree, opening it up to light, I could see the negative space he left behind. I saw branches – but also space between the branches. He helped me finish my tree and my lesson. I had more questions but he spoke little. He was about showing, not telling.
Now it was my turn. I struggle every year. It’s hard to purge things in our lives. Prune away the excess. We live in a world of accumulation. And I’m not sure I have the vision of my father as I try to see the future in the present.
B. First Reading (Acts 15:1-6): “They decided to go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and presbyters about this question.”
Today’s passage from the Acts of the Apostles (15:1-6) reports on the burning issue presented to the Council of Jerusalem by the Church in Antioch on whether a non-Jew who becomes a believer in Christ should be compelled to undergo circumcision in order to be saved. The Benedictine scholar, Adrian Nocent, comments: “Radical decisions have to be made, yet a certain flexibility must also be preserved. The scene is the famous Council of Jerusalem, the first example of a Church Council. Leaders are chosen from the Jerusalem community, and they set out for Antioch with Paul and Barnabas to announce the decisions reached by the Council.”
Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Council of Jerusalem - the Church’s first Ecumenical Council – made a radical and significant decision to officially break ties with Judaism. Thus the Christian assembly arrived at a newer way of defining itself centered on the faith in Jesus, without compelling the Gentile converts to become Jews in order to attain salvation, knowing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the ultimate and final word of God is not the Torah, but Jesus Christ. Salvation is brought about, not with the observance of Jewish law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. Under the impulse of the Holy Spirit and the freedom that he brings, the Gospel of the Risen Lord spread to the ends of the earth.
Against the backdrop of the first Ecumenical Council in Jerusalem it is fitting to recall the contribution of the newly canonized saint Pope John XXIII to the Church by convoking the Ecumenical Council Vatican II (cf. Barry Hoddock, “The Lasting Legacies of the Church’s Newest Saints”, Our Sunday Visitor, April 27, 2014, p. 10-12).
As the highly regarded Archbishop of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Roncalli certainly was a strong candidate for the office of pope. And following the 17-year reign of Pope Pius XII, which had been marked with much drama, an older man of modest personality seemed a good choice to many.
But there seems to be no question that the cardinals did not quite get what they expected for a pope after his election on October 28, 1958. From the very choice of name – Pope St. John XXIII proved to be a surprising and inspiring leader. Though he was pope for fewer than five years, he made a big splash; and now, 51 years after his death, he will be canonized by Pope Francis. Two generations later, what is the legacy of John XXIII?
Certainly his most prominent and enduring legacy is the Second Vatican Council and its many long-standing achievements. Expected to be a “caretaker pope”, Pope John announced less than three months into his pontificate that he would convene the 21st ecumenical council in the history of the Church. In fact, John’s predecessors, Pius IX and Pius XII, had given serious consideration to calling a council, said Massimo Faggioli, a church historian. “But they never managed to do it”, he said in a recent interview with Our Sunday Visitor. Faggioli is author of the new biography “John XXIII: The Medicine of Mercy” (Liturgical Press).
The council was in some ways the culmination of developments that had been going on somewhat quietly within the Church for the previous century or more. Progress in the study of liturgy, Church history, Scripture and even science bore fruit during the council’s 1962-65 gatherings. What resulted were major shifts in the liturgy, theology and Church life that continue to affect Catholic life today. These included a dramatic reform of the Mass and other sacraments, a widespread new interest in Scripture study, a keen concern for dialogue toward unity with other Christian communities and an unprecedented support by the Church of religious freedom for all people.
“The council”, Faggioli said, “was the most important Christian event in the 20th century.” Half a century later, many believe the reception of Vatican II and its effects upon the Church has only just begun to be seen.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we respond fully to the abiding presence and the enduring love of Jesus Savior? Do we make an effort to abide in his love?
2. What lessons do we glean from the decision of the Council of Jerusalem regarding the controversy on whether Gentile Christians needed to be circumcised to attain salvation? Do we endeavor to bring about the unity of the Church through our humble obedience to the workings of the Spirit of Jesus?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O Risen Christ,
you are the vine “pruned” by the Father
in your paschal sacrifice on the cross.
We are the branches that cling to you, the true vine.
Grant us the grace to abide in you
through trials and difficulties.
Make us one as Church.
Cleanse us and “prune” us
from all that impedes acts of love and self-giving.
Make us bear abundant fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Give us the grace to relish the Eucharistic wine in the heavenly banquet,
where you live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen. Alleluia.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” (Jn 15:5) // “The Apostles and the presbyters met together to see about this matter.” (Acts 15:6)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
In gratitude for the abiding love of the Risen Lord, do an act of charity for someone who feels “unloved” and broken in spirit. Endeavor to help manage conflicts and resolve divisive controversies by calling on the light and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
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May 22, 2025: THURSDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (5); SAINT RITA OF CASCIA, Religious
“JESUS SAVIOR: We Must Abide in His Love … We Are All Saved by His Grace”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 15:7-21 // Jn 15:9-11
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 15:9-11): “Remain in my love that your joy might be complete.”
(Gospel Reflections by Sr. Mary Cecilia Payawal, pddm; Illustrative Story prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret, pddm)
Words like love, abide and commandments continue to resound in today’s Gospel. But a new word comes out: JOY! Jesus’ love is coming from the Father’s love for him. The measure of his love is the measure of the Father’s love for him. We may even say that in Jesus’ love is alive the meaning of the saying: “The true measure of love is to love without measure.” For that is how the Father loves; that is how Jesus loves.
However, this love is never static or passive. Jesus presents a challenge, an invitation: “Abide in my love. Keep my commandment.” His love asks for a response: to abide in his love and keep his commandment. And he set an example. He was the first one who lived out what he was asking. He was the first one to keep the commandment of the Father, to abide in his love. In such a way, he experienced joy, the joy that comes from the Father, the joy that the world cannot give, the joy that lasts forever, the joy that comes and enters from/into deep within. In today’s Gospel, we are invited to see the source of our joy. Where is our joy coming from? From persons, things or achievements? From affirmations or recognitions? Or from Jesus in whom we abide, whom we love? May this source always be Jesus, the one who loves us and cares for us; who always keeps his promise if we abide in his love; the only one who can give us joy in its fullness!
Illustrative Story: The following story circulated on the Internet is an example of what it means to abide in the love of God.
Here is an eyewitness account from New York City on a cold day in December some years ago. A little boy, about 10-years old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold. A lady approached the young boy and said, “My, but you’re in such a deep thought staring in that window!” “I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes”, was the boy’s reply.
The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her. She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel. By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair on the boy’s feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes. She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, “No doubt, you will be more comfortable now.”
As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her: “Are you the wife of God?”
B. First Reading (Acts 15:7-21): “It is my judgment, therefore, that we ought to stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God.”
Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles (15:7-21) depicts the Council of Jerusalem in which the leaders of the early Church try to resolve the Gentile controversy. Some converted Judean Pharisees object to the Antioch church’s practice of baptizing uncircumcised pagans. The Council is significant because it threshes out the issue: “no salvation without circumcision”. The apostle Peter gives an important insight by recalling his experience with Cornelius and his household. God had given the Holy Spirit to them because they believe in Christ. Their hearts were cleansed through faith, and not through the Jewish rite of circumcision. Peter asserts: “We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they.” Paul and Barnabas reinforce Peter’s insight by narrating their missionary experience. God had worked signs and wonders through them among the Gentiles, in the same way he had with Moses in the Exodus. The apostle James, the leader of the Jerusalem church, provides the clincher. Citing the prophet Amos, he justifies the Antioch practice of baptizing uncircumcised Gentiles. All are according to God’s plan. In his judgment, there is no need “to trouble” the Gentiles who turn to God. Therefore, it is decided that the Gentiles will not be required to undergo circumcision, but only to observe those stipulations that will enable Jewish Christians to associate in table fellowship with non-Jewish Christians. Wisdom and pastoral sense prevail in the first Church Council!
Just like the Spirit-filled leaders of the early Christian community, we need sage and wisdom to animate us, especially when dealing with difficult issues. The following story, circulated on the Internet, illustrates this.
One rich man owned 19 horses when he died. In his last will and testament he had written that upon his death, half the horses he owned should go to his only son; one fourth to the village temple and one fifth to the faithful servant. The village elders could not stop scratching their heads. How can they give half of the 19 horses to the son? You cannot cut up a horse. They puzzled over this dilemma for more than two weeks and then decided to send for a wise man who was living in a neighboring village.
The wise man came riding on his horse and asked the villagers if he can be of any help to them. The village elders told him about the rich man’s last will and testament which stated that half of the 19 horses must be given to his only son, one fourth must go to the temple and one fifth to the faithful servant.
The wise man said he will immediately solve the problem without any delay whatsoever. He had the 19 horses placed in a row standing next to one another. Then he added his own horse as the 20th horse. Now he went about giving half of the 20 horses - that is 10 horses - to the son. One fourth of 20 – that is 5 horses – were given to the temple committee. One fifth of 20 – that is 4 horses – were given to the faithful servant. Ten plus five plus four made 19 horses. The remaining 20th horse was his own which he promptly mounted, spoke a few inspiring words and rode back home.
The villagers were simply dumbfounded, full of disbelief and filled with admiration. And the parting words of the wise man were inscribed in their hearts and minds which they greatly cherished and passed on their succeeding generations till today.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do you strive to keep the Lord’s commandments and abide in his love? Do you experience joy in embracing the divine love?
2. Do we seek counsel and the wisdom of the sage when faced with perplexing and troubling situations?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Lord, how gracious you are in loving us!
You love us with the same love with which the Father loves you.
Grant us the grace to follow the divine saving will
and imitate your total self-giving.
Let us experience the joy that is the fruit of your sacrificial love.
Let us always live by the grace of God.
Grant us the joy of eternal life.
You are worthy of thanksgiving and praise.
We love you and adore you, now and forever.
Amen. Alleluia.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“Remain in my love … that my joy may be in you.” (Jn 15:10-11) // “We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 15:11)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Rejoice in the Lord. Make an effort to share the love and joy of Jesus with the people around you. Let “sharing a smile” be your special ministry today. When faced with conflict-filled situations invoke the guidance of the Holy Spirit and seek the counsel of a trusted Spirit-filled friend.
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May 23, 2025: FRIDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (5)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Loves Us to the End … He Guides the Church by His Spirit”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 15:22-31 // Jn 15:12-17
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 15:12-17): “This is my commandment: love one another.”
(Gospel Reflections by Sr. Mary Cecilia Payawal, pddm; Illustrative Story prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret, pddm)
In the Gospel for today (Jn 15:12-17), Jesus continues his teachings on love. He underlines again the commandment of love, the basis of which is his love. However, he added a significant point: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Friendship is one of the most beautiful things that can happen in life. A true friend can lift us up when we are down; can brighten our gloomy day; loves us till the end; remains with us even in the midst of failures and weaknesses. A friend, like the branch, is intimately linked to the vine; is in deep communion with the other friend because of love. Thus Jesus did not consider the disciples as servants, but friends for he loves them despite “betrayals and denials”. And he is willing to lay down his life for them, even if that death was the most shameful - on the cross!
Jesus has set an example on how to love. A servant is a stranger to the master. He has no intimate relationship, no experience of deep communion with the master. However, a friend is someone to whom everything is revealed by the other. A friend is someone we trust and love despite weaknesses and limitations. Jesus loved the disciples not as servants but as friends. He revealed to them what the Father told him. He loved them as the Father loved him. Jesus exhorts the disciples: “… I chose you…Bear fruit….Love one another.” May Jesus’ examples inspire us to follow him that we may truly love one another as friends and radiate his living presence, here and now, in our community, in the Church, in the world.
Illustrative Story: The following article gives an example of one who has followed Christ’s love command to the full - to the point of laying down one’s life for one’s friends (cf. Gretchen Crowe, “Father van der Lugt Embraced the Smell of the Sheep” in Our Sunday Visitor, April 20, 2014, p. 2).
This spring marks the three-year point in the Syrian civil war. During that time, the casualties have been so numerous and the dangers so high that the United Nations in January stopped updating the number of dead. Since then, however, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates conservatively that more than 150,000 people have died – with about 30 percent of those being civilians.
One of the most recent civilian losses is Dutch Jesuit priest Father Frans van der Lugt, who, according to Father Alex Basili, Jesuit provincial in the Middle East and the Maghreb, was “abducted by armed men who beat him and then killed him with two bullets to the head in front of the Jesuit residence in Homs” on the morning of April 7.
According to Vatican Radio, Father van der Lugt had lived in Syria for nearly 50 years. He was involved in religious dialogue and, in the 1980s, opened a center of spirituality outside Homs, which included a home for 40 Syrian children with mental disabilities. Ever present to the Syrian people during the last three years of strife, Father van der Lugt posted a video online in January in which he pleaded for assistance from the international community to save the people in the city of Homs (in the middle of a more than year-long siege) from starvation. “People can’t find food”, he said. “There is nothing harder than seeing parents in the street looking for food for their children.”
When a truce was struck that same month and people evacuated, Father van der Lugt refused to leave, instead staying with his people left behind – the epitome of a shepherd who embraces the smell of his sheep. “The Syrian people have given me so much – so much kindness, inspiration and everything they have”, the priest said in February. “If the Syrian people are suffering now, I want to share their pain and their difficulties.”
Soon after, Father van der Lugt’s death was reported. Vatican spokesman Jesuit Federico Lombardi said the priest “died as a man of peace, who with great courage in an extremely dangerous situation, wanted to remain faithful to the Syrian people to whom he had dedicated so many years of his life and spiritual service.”
He added: “Where people die, their faithful shepherds also die with them. In this time of great sorrow, we express our participation in prayer, but also great pride and gratitude for having had a brother so close to the most suffering in the testimony of the love of Jesus to the end.”
B. First Reading (Acts 15:22-31): “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities.”
The role of the Holy Spirit in the Church of the Risen Lord is evident in today’s First Reading (Acts 15:22-29). The passage reports on the burning issue presented to the Council of Jerusalem by the Church in Antioch whether a non-Jew who becomes a believer in Christ should be compelled to undergo circumcision in order to be saved. The Benedictine scholar, Adrian Nocent, comments: “The conciliar decision has been made with the help of the Holy Spirit … The Spirit whom Jesus has sent teaches everything, and bestows perspicacity of judgment on those who exercise authority in the Church. Circumcision will not be required of Gentile converts. The only prohibitions are not to eat meat sacrificed to idols, or blood, or the meat of strangled animals, and to abstain from illicit sexual unions … It provides us with a typical example of the difficulties that the establishment of the Church entailed, and of how the Spirit of Christ helped the disciples reach a sound decision in a matter that was agitating a local church.”
Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Council of Jerusalem - the Church’s first Ecumenical Council – made a radical and significant decision to officially break ties with Judaism. Thus the Christian assembly arrived at a newer way of defining itself centered on the faith in Jesus, without compelling the Gentile converts to become Jews in order to attain salvation, knowing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the ultimate and final word of God is not the Torah, but Jesus Christ. Salvation is brought about, not with the observance of Jewish law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. Under the impulse of the Holy Spirit and the freedom that he brings, the Gospel of the Risen Lord spread to the ends of the earth.
In the following story, the role of the wife gives insight into how the Holy Spirit inspires us to confront new situations with courage and audacity.
When the heartbroken Nathaniel Hawthorne went home to tell his wife that he was a failure and had been fired from his job in the customhouse, she surprised him with an exclamation of joy. “Now,” she said triumphantly, “you can write a book!” “Yes,” replied Nathaniel, “and what shall we live on while I’m writing it?” To his amazement, she opened a drawer and pulled out a substantial amount of money. “Where on earth did you get that?” he exclaimed. “I’ve always known you were a man of genius,” she told him. “I knew that someday you would write a masterpiece. So every week, out of the housekeeping money you gave me, I saved a little. So here is enough to last us for a whole year!” From her confidence and encouragement came one of the greatest novels of United States literature, The Scarlet Letter.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we truly love one another? Are we willing to imitate Jesus in loving so greatly as to lay down one’s life for one’s friend?
2. How is the Holy Spirit at work in the early Christian community? What lessons do we glean from the decision of the Council of Jerusalem regarding the controversy whether Gentile Christians needed to be circumcised to attain salvation?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Lord,
thank you for being a “friend” to us.
Thank you for loving us intimately.
You loved us to the end.
Help us to prove our love for you
by loving and serving one another.
Grant that as a faith community
we may truly open ourselves
to the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen. Alleluia.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13) // “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond the necessities.” (Acts 15:28)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
When the act of loving becomes “sacrificial”, trust in Jesus and beg him for the grace to overcome the difficulties and the pain of the sacrifice. Every day of your life, learn to make decisions in the light of the inspiration of the divine Advocate.
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May 24, 2025: SATURDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (5)
DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH IN CHINA
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Strengthens Us in Persecution … His Gospel Is Preached to the Nations”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 16:1-10 // Jn 15:18-21
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 15:18-21): “You do not belong to the world and I have chosen you out of the world.”
(Gospel Reflections by Sr. Mary Cecilia Payawal, pddm; Illustrative Story prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret, pddm)
Following Jesus is not an easy task. His preaching, in words and deeds, is like a sharp sword that can pierce the heart of persons. In the same way that his teachings caused conflicts in his time, following his teachings would also cause conflicts in our time. The world may hate us, persecute us, “betray and deny” us, as the people of his time did to Jesus. To follow Jesus requires clarity of motivation and direction. We have to be clear that we are preaching not ourselves but Christ; that in our teachings we do not seek recognition and affirmation, but the “glory of God”; that “in all things, God may be glorified”.
However, our human nature needs recognition and affirmation. It is never easy to go against nature. But with the “grace” of God, everything would certainly be possible. Following Christ is putting on the whole Christ, embracing not only the resurrection but, first of all, his passion and death. May God, in and through the “salvation” brought by the resurrection of our Lord, grant us grace to follow in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus. May we remain in him, even if others may hate us, even if everybody may leave us, even if we may be persecuted because of him. For only in and through this are we able to proclaim to the world, “Christ lives! He lives in you and in me!”
Illustrative Story: The following article gives insight into the “persecutions” that Christian disciples may experience in today’s secularized world (cf. Elizabeth Scalia, “Where’s the Tolerance? Mozilla CEO Forced to Resign”, Our Sunday Visitor, April 20, 2014, p. 13)
A mere two weeks after taking over as CEO of Mozilla, tech-prodigy and Javascript inventor Brendan Eich was released from his contract. No one had disputed either his leadership or creative abilities, and there was nothing in Eich’s management history that even hinted at unfairness or discriminatory practices or an unwillingness on his part to work with all sorts of people.
The issue was a $1,000 donation Eich made in 2008 in support of Proposition 8 – a California law that banned same-sex marriage – and his apparent unwillingness to publicly recant his personal beliefs on what constitutes marriage.
Despite Eich’s written commitment “to work on new initiatives to reach out to those who feel excluded or have been marginalized”, some members of the gay community would not give him the time he requested to demonstrate his inclusivity and would not accept his expression of “sorrow at having caused pain”.
“If he had apologized years ago”, said Hampton Catlin, “this would be a non-issue”. Catlin is a Web developer; his open letter to Mozilla protesting Eich’s appointment was the catalyst for what followed, including the weirdly self-contradicting apology from Mozilla, which affirmed the “wide diversity of views” it encouraged within its staff, even as it demonstrated that its tolerance on differing viewpoints ran the narrowest of gamuts.
Among social conservatives and the religious-minded, the Eich story is being received as evidence that our cultural pursuit of all things “diverse” does not extend itself to diversity of thought. Between Catlin’s permitting Brendan Eich his “personal beliefs” as long as he publicly falls in line with the Obama administration’s often repeated commitment to “freedom of worship” rather than freedom of religion, one need not be a weatherman to sense how awfully chill the wind is blowing. One’s beliefs are fine, it seems, as long as they go unspoken; one’s religion is free as long as it remains behind doors and within the church walls.
While some in the homosexual community have applauded Mozilla’s dismissal of Eich – Tyler Lopez of Slate.com suggests that Eich can only be “forgiven” for his sins if he recognizes his “duty to continue to acknowledge it” again and again – others have expressed “disgust”, perhaps none more defiantly than Andrew Sullivan, a long-time activist for same-sex marriage, who wrote: “If we are about intimidating the free speech of others, we are no better than the anti-gay bullies who came before us.”
B. First Reading (Acts 16:1-10): “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
In today’s account from the Acts of the Apostles (16:1-10), with Silas as a companion, Paul begins his second missionary journey to his home province of Syria and Cilicia (in modern Turkey) and revisits the communities they had established in their previous missionary expedition. In Lystra, where Paul was stoned and left for dead, a disciple named Timothy, whose father is a Greek and whose mother is a Jew, joins him as part of the missionary team. Paul circumcises Timothy not because it is needed for salvation, but for “pastoral reasons”. It will render Timothy more acceptable as a missionary to Jews as well as Gentiles. The Holy Spirit guides the missionaries in their vision, preventing them from going one direction and steering them in another. Paul extends the evangelizing campaign to other parts of Asia Minor, particularly westward through Mysia to the Aegean coast at Troas, a busy port at the hub of communications between Asia and Europe. There he had a vision. He saw a Macedonian standing and begging him: “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” Paul realizes that it is God’s will that they preach the Gospel in Macedonia.
Like Saint Paul and his companions, the following modern-day Christian disciple has opened herself to the promptings of the Holy Spirit for an important mission in the Church (cf. “Nothing Short of Heroic” in Extension, Christmas 2012, p. 14).
By many people, Florence Kaster has been warmly called “the general”. A brave Catholic laywoman, she brought hope and the Catholic faith to African-Americans living in Kingstree, South Carolina, during the 1950s and ‘60s when poverty and racial and religious prejudices were at all-time highs. (…)
Florence was a young woman from Titusville, Pennsylvania, when she met Father Patrick Quinlan, a Connecticut pastor who had resigned at his parish to become a priest in Kingstree. Known as a no-nonsense, get-things-done person, Florence had been seeking an experience that would be both challenging and fulfilling.
She readily accepted Father Quinlan’s invitation to run a catechism program for the African-American community spread throughout Williamsburg County, where Kingstree is located. Together, Father Quinlan and Florence set up centers in small outposts for families who lived too far away to travel to St. Ann Parish in Kingstree. She made it her life’s work to support the members of this community and to bring the Word of God to them.
It was not an easy assignment. Consider this: One night Florence gathered a huge crowd for a religious film. “After the film had started, three shots rang out, and three holes blasted through the screen”, Florence recalled in a 1978 Extension article. Although unsettled by the dramatic incident, she continued the movie. Many years later, one of the residents from the area talking to a friend and, referring to the shooting, said, “Them Catholics don’t scare easy!”
The article went on to describe another time when Florence was directly confronted while teaching 80 youngsters in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. “A man broke into the class and threatened to cut off her toes if she did not stop teaching the black children. At that point, she dismissed the class and faced her would-be attacker. He backed down and her toes remained intact.”
Father Stan Smolenski, currently director of the Shrine of Joyful Hope in Kingstree, recalled her courage: “The fact that as a 27 or 28-year-old woman, she would come and catechize here at that time was nothing short of heroic.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Are we ready to suffer persecution for the sake of Christ? Do we cling to Christ for life and strength in the midst of adversities?
2. Are we open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit with regards to the mission of the Church in the modern world and our personal role in it?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Savior,
you suffered death and persecution for our sake.
How could we ever repay you!
Grant us the grace to embrace your sacrificial love.
Make us trust in your life-giving word.
When we suffer persecution on account of your name,
teach us to remember how you loved us to the end.
Help us to be faithful and responsive
to the promptings of the Spirit at work in the Church.
We love you and glorify you, now and forever.
Amen. Alleluia.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (Jn 15:20) // “God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.” (Acts 16:10)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Study the social teachings of the Church. Be ready to take a stand for the Christian teaching, especially when the world’s logic and socio-political forces assail it. If you are not involved yet in any Church ministry, seek information and advice on how you could actualize it.
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Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US