Saturday, May 12, 2012

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER – 2012


«   On this Sunday the liturgy invites us again to reflect on the love of God our Father, of Jesus the Lord and of the Holy Spirit, who do not make differences among persons, they welcome all and everyone.   

«  We are invited to love also all the other human beings in the same way.  

 FIRST READING  – Acts  10: 25-26. 34-35. 44-48
-          Peter goes to the house of Cornelius who had sent some men to bring him to his house. 

-          Peter speaks to Cornelius with humility and love. How different he is from the Peter we heard at the last Supper and during Jesus’ ministry.    

-          Peter discovers the will of God through the signs that the events give to him. John XXIII spoke about the signs of the times when he thought about the II Vatican Council. To discover the presence of God in what happens, in what we live, even in what seems contrary to God.  

-          While Peter is still explaining the good news to Cornelius and his family, the Holy Spirit comes upon them as he had come upon those in the Upper Room at Pentecost. 

-          Peter then makes the decision to baptize them, since the Holy Spirit had already baptized them; Peter had only to baptize them with water.   

-          In his conversation with Nicodemus (Jn 3,5) Jesus says that nobody can enter the Kingdom of God is he or she is not born again from the water and the Spirit.    

-          The Holy Spirit has revealed himself so that Peter may understand that the Kingdom is opened to all. 

-          Those that have received it at Cornelius house have the same manifestations that happened at Pentecost: they speak in tongues the marvelous works of God. 

-          In front of the eyes of Peter what the prophets had announced becomes real. They had announced the universality of the salvation. Isaiah sees the nations coming to Jerusalem, Jerusalem as the symbol of the Heavenly Jerusalem, the image of the Kingdom of Heaven.    

-          That night at Cornelius home an extraordinary event takes place, believers coming from Judaism and believers coming from the pagan world share the same and only Spirit. They form one people, belonging to the same community.    

-          The whole household of Cornelius and his friends are incorporated to the Christian community.   

-          The Spirit of Jesus has pushed the young Church to take this transcendental step in the proclamation of the Gospel. 

-          The initiative, as always, comes from God, our responsibility is to be attentive and follow his initiative.  .

RESPONSORIAL PSALM. Ps 98:1.2-3.3-4.
«  This psalm sings the marvels that God has done and continues to do.   

«  In the Reading from the Acts we have seen the marvelous things that God has done, calling the gentiles to be part of his Church. 

«  The psalmist invites all the earth to sing to God with shouts of joy.  

«  We may feel ourselves invited also to sing the marvelous things that God has done and continues to do in our life, in our faith community, in our family, in our place of work, in the place of recreation and rest, in our sorrow and suffering.   

SECOND READING   1 Jn  4:7-10
*      John invites us again to love one another. 

*      The reason is because God is love.   

*      He who does not love does not know God. 

*      God who is love has revealed himself in our midst sending his Son so that we may have life because Jesus giving his life on the cross for love of us, for all and for each one, has forgiven our sins.   

*      It is very healthy to often repeat to ourselves, Jesus has given himself on the cross for me, to forgive my sins.    

*      Thus love does not consist in having loved the Lord, but that he Lord has loved us first.   

*      As we said about the Reading from Acts, God has always the initiative.   

GOSPEL  Jn 15:9-17
Ø  The gospel we will read on this next Sunday is the continuation of what we read last Sunday. 

Ø  On the Fifth Sunday the Lord said that he is the vine and we are the branches.  

Ø  Today the Lord invites us  
o   To remain in his love  
§  Jesus loves us as the Father loves him. 

§  And He invites us to remain in his love, to live being loved by him and loving him.   

§   The way to remain in his love is to fulfill his commandments, in the same way that he has fulfilled his Father commandment and thus he remains in the Father’s love.  

Ø  The Lord invites us also 
o   To remain in his love 
§  So that we may participate in  his joy   

§  And thus we may be fully happy   

§  Jesus wants that we be happy as He is happy. The Catechism of the Catholic Church in n. 1719 says that God calls us to his own beatitude. 

Ø  The Lord tells us what is his commandment
o   Jesus has told us that we will remain in his love and we will be happy is we fulfill his commandments. 

o   Now he let us know what this commandment is. He does not speak of it in plural but in the singular.  

o   This commandment is LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU. 

o   And he tells us that the greatest love is to give our life for our friends. This is what Jesus has done, but not precisely for the friends but for the enemies, because all of us were enemies due to our sins. His love has converted us into friends.   

Ø  The Lord tells us  that we are his friends 
o   We will be his friends if we do what he tells us. And what is this? THAT WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS HE HAS LOVED US AND HE HAS GIVEN HIS LIFE FOR US.   

o   He says that we are not servants anymore, but friends. 

o   Friends because he has told us everything that he has heard from his Father. 

o   He has revealed to us that God is LOVE, that God is FATHER, whose love for us  is so great that he has not only created us gratuitously, but he also has sent his own Son to teach us what is his commandment and be happy.   

Ø  The Lord continues saying
o   That we have not chosen Him, but that he has chosen us. 

o   He destined us and called us to bear fruit that will last.  And He says again something that we  heard last week, that if we remain in Jesus whatever we ask in his name will be granted to us.   Because if we are in Jesus, we will ask what Jesus himself would ask, and we read in the Gospel of John that before the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus says to the Father “I know that you always listen to me.”  

Ø  At the end of this gospel we hear Jesus repeating to us 
o   THIS IS MY COMMANDMENT, LOVE ONE ANOTHER  

o   This is the only commandment for the followers of Jesus.  

o   Commandment that the Decalogue explains.    

o   The disciples of Jesus can understand the will of the Father on seeing Jesus and thus the disciple does not need any more to be guided by the Decalogue which in some way limited the true desire of God.      

o   True love does not have limits; it is completely free to be able to love always.  

o   This commandment of Jesus is the culmination of God’s revelation, and it makes us like Him. 




CLARETIAN CORNER
Because we had not yet anchored in the pier when S. appeared with the same offerings as his friend, but I had been anchored already in the most holy heart of this father of ours in whom I had placed al my trust. O, who could have no other father on earth to possess the immense riches of heaven, God granted me other graces in this land of Lanzarote.  We attended all the celebrations of the holy week in the church. We went to confession and received Holy Communion everyday with great favor and joy that our Lord gave me, especially on Palm Sunday, when our Lord granted me the great grace of a profound recollection. I was reflecting that the hour when we were going from the ship to the town would be approximately the time when Jesus was walking from Bethany to Jerusalem with his beloved disciples. I was immersed in this meditation thinking of what was happening in the most Holy Heart of my Divine redeemer with his sacred passion so near. And I was remembering also the tears our Lord shed upon that ungrateful city. And going on in these considerations and recollection, I suddenly felt the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ so true and real that I saw Him with the eyes of my soul more clearly than I could see Him with the eyes of my body. He walked ahead of me: at time I saw his divi9ne majesty alone, at other times, I saw him accompanied by his apostles. I think he was teaching me the way I had to walk. This vision lasted until we reached the town, leaving me very happy for having enjoyed so holy a company. All the way our Lord gave me signs of much kindness and love. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 155.   

She(St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzis) wanted to instill this ardent zeal for the salvation of souls in everyone. Thus she continually told the nuns entrusted to her care to pray to God for souls. "Let us ask for as many souls as the steps we take around the convent, and as many as the words we say in singing the Divine Office." She brought all the warmth of her feelings to bear on the works permitted her as a nun, so that her biographer was able to fill 14 chapters with examples in proof of her zeal for saving souls. Of all the things that she could do--disciplines, fasts, vigils, prolonged prayer, exhortations, corrections, etc.--she omitted not the slightest act. She would give herself to whole months of the strictest penance for the reparation of any sin commended to her prayers. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography, 262.  

BIBLIOGRAPHY
CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiografía.  
PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiografía en Escritos, con Comentarios por   Juan Manuel Lozano.
SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso. Comentarios en la BIBLIA DE NUESTRO PUEBLO. Ediciones Mensajero. China 2010
CATECISMO DE LA IGLESIA CATÓLICA.

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