Sunday
April 19^th

3^rd Sunday of Easter

1^st Reading: Acts 2:14, 22-33:
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed: “You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem. Let this be known to you, and listen to my words. You who are Israelites, hear these words. Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.

“But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it. For David says of him: I saw the Lord ever before me, with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

“Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted; my flesh, too, will dwell in hope, because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.

“My brothers, one can confidently say to you about the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day. But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld nor did his flesh see corruption.

“God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God, he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured him forth, as you see and hear.”

2^nd Reading: 1 Pt 1:17-21:
Beloved: If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning, realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb. He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Gospel: Lk 24:13-35:
That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?”

They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?”

And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”

They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place.

“Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”

And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”

So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”

So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

Reflection:
There are many journeys we undertake in this lifetime. Some demand that we do it alone but if there is an opportunity, it is always good to have a companion nearby to share the adventure. But in reality, we are never alone in this life, Jesus always journeys with us in a guise. It is only a matter of discovering His hidden identity in the many people and events that come our way.

Discovering His hidden presence demands awareness and attentiveness in the now. We do not allow the ghost of the past and the fears of the future to drown our sense of wonder at the present. With this, we will hopefully arrive at the heavenly Jerusalem to meet the Lord who is truly risen.

There are people now who are in difficult journeys of their life. Some of them might be close to us. Why not walk with them for a while and lend a helping hand by way of presence. Let us also pause and pray for those whom we could not accompany and entrust them to the loving companionship of the Lord who comes and walks with us in disguise.

Monday
April 20^th

1^st Reading: Acts 6:8-15:
Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyreneans, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they instigated some men to say, “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, accosted him, seized him, and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They presented false witnesses who testified, “This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him claim that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”

All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Gospel: Jn 6:22-29:
[After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.] The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks.

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. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”

So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

Reflection:
More and more people are now looking for Jesus. The miraculous signs He did must have picked the curiosity of some while others genuinely believed. So it is a mixed lot that came looking for Jesus. Resources are now mobilized to get to know this new Teacher who is causing such a sensation never before known in the land of Israel. Bigger boats are now employed. People are willing to put their money on someone that will give them hope.

But Jesus knew that most of them were looking for a quick fix to their problems. The bread that satisfied them worked only to address their physical needs. Jesus invited them to a better and lasting solution to their problems. They had to believe in Him as the One sent by the Father so that His word and work would shape them to a kind of life worthy of eternity.

Tuesday
April 21^st

Anselm

1^st Reading: Acts 7:51—8:1a:
“But you are a stubborn people. You hardened your hearts and closed your ears. You have always resisted the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did. Was there a prophet whom your ancestors did not persecute? They killed those who announced the coming of the Just One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered; you, who, received the law through the angels but did not fulfill it.”

When they heard this reproach, they were enraged; and they gnashed their teeth against Stephen. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus at God’s right hand; so he declared: “I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man at the right hand of God.”

But they shouted and covered their ears with their hands, and rushed together upon him. They brought him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen prayed saying: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and said in a loud voice: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he died. Saul was there, approving his murder.

This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem. All, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria.

Gospel: Jn 6:30–35:
They then said, “Show us miraculous signs, that we may see and believe you. What sign do you perform? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert; as Scripture says: They were given bread from heaven to eat.”

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. The bread God gives is the One who comes from heaven and gives life to the world.”

And they said to him, “Give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in me shall never be thirsty.”

Reflection:
As Jesus attracted a large amount of attention, not all were sold out on His credentials. There had been too many charlatans who had walked their land. So their demands on Jesus to legitimize Himself before their eyes got bigger and bigger. For instance, now they demanded miraculous signs. The many wonders the Lord had made do not impress them at all. It had to be something on their own terms and done specifically for them.

The miracle of the multiplication of the bread is something that they could dismiss with another miracle that happened in their history, the manna in the desert. But Jesus showed them the difference between the two. Whereas Moses was dependent on the power of God, Jesus was not. He was in complete possession of His own faculty to effect the miracle. And the true miracle was not the physical bread multiplied but He who is the true bread from heaven that came down to satisfy the deep seated hunger of humanity.

Wednesday
April 22^nd

Earth Day

1^st Reading: Acts 8:1b–8:
Saul was there, approving his murder. This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem. All, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the church. He entered house after house and dragged off men and women, and had them put in jail.

At the same time, those who were scattered went about, preaching the word. Philip went down to a town of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. All the people paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him, and saw the miraculous signs that he did. For, in cases of possession, the unclean spirits came out shrieking loudly. Many people, who were paralyzed or crippled, were healed. So there was great joy in that town.

Gospel: Jn 6:35–40:
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in me shall never be thirsty. Nevertheless, as I said, you refuse to believe, even when you have seen. Yet all those whom the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I shall not turn away.

“For I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the One who sent me. And the will of him who sent me is that I lose nothing of what he has given me, but instead that I raise it up on the last day. This is the will of the Father, that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall live eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Reflection:
This is a continuation on Jesus’ discussion on the theme of bread with His listeners. This will be a long discourse perhaps because bread as staple food has an important role to play in the life of people. It also figures prominently in the life of Israel, when they were saved by God from starvation in the desert, when bread that dropped from heaven sustained their journey. But the manna they received only sustained their physical life enabling them to survive. The bread that is Jesus is of better quality because it ensures eternal life. All they have to do is believe in Him to receive this bread. It will be a long and sometimes bitter conversation between Jesus and those among whom He worked so hard to convince.

Thursday
April 23^rd

George
Adalbert

1^st Reading: Acts 8:26–40:
An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south, toward the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert road.” So he set out and, it happened that, an Ethiopian was passing along that way. He was an official in charge of the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians. He had come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was on his way home. He was sitting in his carriage and reading the prophet Isaiah.

The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and catch up with that carriage.”

So Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah; and he asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?”

The Ethiopian replied, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He then invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.

This was the passage of Scripture he was reading: He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before the shearer, he did not open his mouth. He was humbled and deprived of his rights. Who can speak of his descendants? For he was uprooted from the earth.

The official asked Philip, “Tell me, please, does the prophet speak of himself or of someone else?” Then Philip began to tell him the Good News of Jesus, using this text of Scripture as his starting point. As they traveled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water.

Then the Ethiopian official said, “Look, here is water; what is to keep me from being baptized?” Then he ordered the carriage to stop. Both Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The Ethiopian saw him no more, but he continued on his way full of joy.

Philip found himself at Azotus; and he went about, announcing the Good News in all the towns, until he reached Caesarea.

Gospel: Jn 6:44–51:
No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise him up on the last day. It has been written in the Prophets: They shall all be taught by God. So whoever listens and learns from the Father comes to me. For no one has seen the Father except the One who comes from God; he has seen the Father.

Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died. But here you have the bread from heaven, so that you may eat of it, and not die. I am the living bread from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.”

Reflection:
Now Jesus ramps up the rhetoric. He says that only those whom the Father draws to Him will come and follow Him. In short those who would reject Him had been rejected beforehand by the Father. This explains their inability to believe and accept His word. This must have soured the peoples’ feelings toward Him. After all, the Jews had always prided themselves to be the chosen people, the apple of God’s eye.

Jesus even further rubbed salt to their wounded feelings when He declared that He is the true bread that came down from heaven that is far superior to the bread that their ancestors ate in the desert. That day, these words would cement enmity between Him and some of the Jews.

Friday
April 24^th

Fidelis of Sigmaringen

1^st Reading: Acts 9:1–20:
Meanwhile, Saul considered nothing but violence and death for the disciples of the Lord. He went to the High Priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus that would authorize him to arrest, and bring to Jerusalem, anyone he might find, man or woman, belonging to the Way.

As he traveled along and was approaching Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?”

And he asked, “Who are you, Lord?”

The voice replied, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute. Now, get up, and go into the city; there, you will be told what you are to do.”

The men who were traveling with him stood there speechless: they had heard the sound, but could see no one. Saul got up from the ground and, opening his eyes, he could not see. They took him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. He was blind; and he did not eat or drink for three days.

There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, to whom the Lord called in a vision, “Ananias!”

He answered, “Here I am, Lord!”

Then the Lord said to him, “Go, at once, to Straight Street and ask, at the house of Judas, for a man of Tarsus named Saul. You will find him praying, for he has just seen in a vision that a man named Ananias has come in and placed his hands upon him, to restore his sight.”

Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and now, he is here, with authority from the High Priest, to arrest all who call upon your name.”

But the Lord said to him, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument, to bring my name to the pagan nations and their kings, and the people of Israel as well. I, myself, will show him how much he will have to suffer for my name.”

So Ananias left and went to the house. He laid his hands upon Saul and said, “Saul, my brother, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me to you, so that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Immediately, something like scales fell from his eyes and he could see; he got up and was baptized. Then he took food and was strengthened. For several days Saul stayed with the disciples at Damascus, and he soon began to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God.

Gospel: Jn 6:52–59:
The Jews were arguing among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

So Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. My flesh is really food, and my blood is truly drink.

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood, live in me, and I in them. Just as the Father, who is life, sent me, and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats me will have life from me. This is the bread from heaven; not like that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.” Jesus spoke in this way in Capernaum when he taught them in the synagogue.

Reflection:
Jesus’ discourse on the living bread becomes muddled as debate upon debate pile up between Him and His listeners who refuse to understand and believe. His critics have to resort now to a literal interpretation, a tactic akin to bringing the discussion which employs symbolic and creative metaphors on the empirical and material level. They could therefore conclude falsity on a claim that could not be backed up by physical and tangible proofs.

If this is the mindset of the other party, there could be no fruitful dialogue that would ensue. And so, Jesus must have appeared as strange and a little bit loose in the head that day for them. On the part of Jesus’ party, they would appear as hard and obstinate of heart. No meaningful communication would follow afterwards; instead polemics would ensue throughout between them.

Saturday
April 25^th

Mark the Evangelist

Solemn Novena to St. Jude begins

1^st Reading: 1 Pt 5:5b-14:
Beloved: Clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for: God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble. So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world undergo the same sufferings. The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little. To him be dominion forever. Amen.

I write you this briefly through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother, exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Remain firm in it. The chosen one at Babylon sends you greeting, as does Mark, my son. Greet one another with a loving kiss. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Gospel: Mk 16:15-20:
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

 Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

Reflection:
The Church honors the memory of St. Mark today. The author of the second gospel (which is actually the first to be written) is sometimes identified with John Mark of the Acts. He was reportedly one of the seventy disciples who were sent out in pairs to preach by Christ. Later, he was associated with Paul, Barnabas, and Peter. Mark is said to have founded the church in Alexandria and become its first bishop. According to Coptic tradition, he was martyred in 68 CE.

The gospel according to Mark has a certain disarming simplicity, earthiness, and brevity. It is as if it speaks the essentials and does not bother much about decorative detours. There is a certain immediacy to Jesus’s actions and message—the phrase “and immediately” occurs forty-two times in Mark. Mark does not bother to narrate events regarding Jesus’s birth or infancy. It begins with his ministry and ends with his ascension (or, according to some theologians, with his resurrection).

Indeed, Mark’s gospel, like every other gospel, provides a unique perspective and experience of Christ. If you were asked to write a gospel, how would you portray Christ from your experience of him? What essential themes would you highlight?