Sunday
April 27th

2nd Sunday of Easter

1st Reading: Acts 5:12-16:
Many miraculous signs and wonders were done among the people, through the hands of the apostles. The believers, of one accord, used to meet in Solomon’s Porch. None of the others dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

So, an ever-increasing number of men and women, believed in the Lord. The people carried the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and on mats, so, that, when Peter passed by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and all of them were healed.

2nd Reading: Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19:
I, John, your brother, who shares with you, in Jesus, the sufferings, the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island of Patmos, because of the word of God and witnessing to Jesus. On the Lord’s day, the spirit took possession of me and I heard a voice behind me, which sounded like a trumpet, “Write down all that you see, in a book, and send it to the seven churches.”

I turned to see who was speaking to me; behind me were seven golden lamp stands and, in the middle of these, I saw someone, like a son of man, dressed in a long robe, tied with a golden girdle.

Seeing him, I fell at his feet, like one dead; but he touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. It is I, the First and the Last. I am the living one; I was dead; and now I am alive, forever and ever; and mine are the keys of death and the netherworld. Now write what you have seen, both what is and what is yet to come.”

Gospel: Jn 20:19-31:
On the evening of that day, the first day after the Sabbath, the doors were locked where the disciples were, because of their fear of the Jews. But Jesus came, and stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” Then he showed them his hands and his side.

The disciples, seeing the Lord, were full of joy. Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” After saying this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit! Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; those whose sins you retain, they are retained.”

Thomas, the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.”

But he replied, “Until I have seen in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

Eight days later, the disciples were again inside the house and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you!”

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; stretch out your hand, and put it into my side. Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe!”

Thomas said, “You are my Lord and my God.”

Jesus replied, “You believe because you see me, don’t you? Happy are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

There were many other signs that Jesus gave in the presence of his disciples, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Believe, and you will have life through his name!

Reflection:
Today’s gospel scene presents what happened to the apostle Thomas, his change of heart about the fact of the resurrection. Unfortunately for Thomas, this incident has left him with the unflattering nickname of Doubting Thomas–as if Thomas was a kind of ungracious, stubborn and proud man. But that is a caricature of him. Thomas was actually a very good man and, knowing Thomas to be entirely devoted to him deep down, Jesus treats him with exquisite tenderness.

We get to know the real Thomas on the occasion when Jesus, learning of his friend Lazarus’ illness, decides to go and visit him in Jerusalem. The apostles want to dissuade him from doing that: “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” But Jesus refuses to listen to them.

That is when our Thomas shows his true colors. In the words of John, “Thomas… said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go to die with him’ (Jn 11:7-16). Thomas may have been a hard-headed skeptic when it came to the resurrection of Jesus, but he was always nevertheless ready to lay down his life for him. And Jesus loved him for it.

In this episode we see what exquisite tenderness Jesus shows to Thomas. He remembers that Thomas had once said: “Let us go and die with him” (Jn 11:16).

Let us join Thomas in saying from the bottom of our hearts: “You are my Lord and my God.” Today let us be extra gentle when dealing with doubters.

Monday
April 28^th

St. Peter Chanel
St. Louis Grignion de Montfort

1st Reading: Acts 4:23-31:
After their release Peter and John went back to their own people and reported what the chief priests and elders had told them. And when they heard it they raised their voices to God with one accord and said, “Sovereign Lord, maker of heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, you said by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David, your servant:

“Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples entertain folly? The kings of the earth took their stand and the princes gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.

“Indeed they gathered in this city against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do what your hand and your will had long ago planned to take place. And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and enable your servants to speak your word with all boldness, as you stretch forth your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Gospel: Jn 3:1-8:
When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. God will glorify him, and he will glorify him very soon. My children, I am with you for only a little while; you will look for me, but as I already told the Jews, now I tell you: where I am going you cannot come.

“I give you a new commandment: Love one another! Just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Reflection:
We must be “born from above” (anothen in Greek) to enter the kingdom of heaven. Other translations render it as “born again.” Had the author meant born again, he could have used palin. Born again Christians get their name from the mistranslation of John 3,3. To be born from above is to be baptized.

Jesus discusses with a big figure of the Pharisaic group the necessity to undergo baptism as preached by John the Baptist. When one is baptized, he is born from above. He becomes a child of God. The first birth occurs when one is delivered from the mother’s womb. The first is the natural birth, while the second is the spiritual birth. When one is baptized in water and Spirit, the person now belongs to a higher realm. He enters God’s realm.

The Catholic Church teaches since the beginning that its baptism is indelible. One cannot be baptized again if he is already baptized. If he leaves the Catholic Church and joins another religion and then returns, he needs not to be baptized again. When God declares us children through baptism, let us begin living according to the Spirit, no longer according to the flesh.

Tuesday
April 29^th

St. Catherine of Siena

1st Reading: Acts 4:32-37:
The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the Apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all. There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the Apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.

Thus Joseph, also named by the Apostles Barnabas (which is translated Ason of encouragement”), a Levite, a Cypriot by birth, sold a piece of property that he owned, then brought the money and put it at the feet of the Apostles.

Gospel: Jn 3:7-15:
“Don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again from above.’ The wind blows where it pleases and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus asked again, “How can this be?”

And Jesus answered, “You are a teacher in Israel, and you don’t know these things! Truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we witness to the things we have seen, but you don’t accept our testimony.

“If you don’t believe when I speak of earthly things, what then, when I speak to you of heavenly things? No one has ever gone up to heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

Reflection:
We need to understand earthly things in order to understand heavenly things. Pneuma is the Greek word for either wind or spirit. When we know the movement of the wind we may also figure out the movement of the Spirit. The wind blows where it will, so the Spirit of the Lord.

Now when we possess the Spirit of the Lord, because we are born of the Spirit, we can understand God’s ways and we should be willing to be carried away by his Spirit. Jesus teaches Nicodemus his first-hand experience with God. Jesus knows what he is saying about God and the mind of God because he has been there in heaven. He is just sent as incarnate to testify to bring to earth the heavenly realities.

All Jesus asks now of Nicodemus and us listeners is to believe in him. Soon he will be lifted up. He will ascend into heaven where he comes from. This will confirm what he claims to be and his teachings about God and how we should live our lives on earth. Jesus is different from the rabbis of Israel and us who only figure what heaven is like.

Wednesday
April 30^th

St. Pius V

1st Reading: Acts 5:17-26:
The High Priest and all his supporters, that is, the party of the Sadducees, became very jealous of the apostles; so they arrested them and had them thrown into the public jail. But an angel of the Lord opened the door of the prison during the night, brought them out, and said to them, “Go and stand in the temple court and tell the people the whole of this living message.”

Accordingly, they entered the temple at dawn and resumed their teaching. When the High Priest and his supporters arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin, that is the full Council of the elders of Israel. They sent word to the jail to have the prisoners brought in. But when the temple guards arrived at the jail, they did not find them inside; so they returned with the news, “We found the prison securely locked, and the prison guards at their post outside the gate; but when we opened the gate, we found no one inside.”

Upon hearing these words, the captain of the temple guard and the high priests were baffled, wondering where all of this would end. Just then, someone arrived with the report, “Look, those men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple, teaching the people.” Then the captain went off with the guards and brought them back, but without any show of force, for fear of being stoned by the people.

Gospel: Jn 3:16-21:
Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned. He who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

This is how Judgment is made: Light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For whoever does wrong hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, for fear that his deeds will be seen as evil. But whoever lives according to the truth comes into the light, so that it can be clearly seen that his works have been done in God.

Reflection:
Today’s gospel reading is written in typical John-style: all the words used are extremely simple and clear (John’s entire gospel used a vocabulary of just over a thousand words—whereas Luke uses three times as many different words) and yet John succeeds in saying things of almost infinite depth and meaning. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” How could one describe God’s character in more simple words?

Yet in some Protestant theologies God is presented as an angry Despot whose honor is soiled by our sins and who demands as an adequate reparation that his Son die on a cross in our place (theory of penal substitution)—and only then is he appeased. This view, inherited from a feudal society based on honor and proportionate compensation, has nothing to do with the God of Jesus, the real and only God.

The God of Jesus is pure compassion for our estranged world. In a desperate attempt to save us, he sends us his Son to die for us. All he wants is to save us from death and despair. Shall we ever understand how much God loves us?

Thursday
May 1^st

St. Joseph the Worker

1st Reading: Acts 5:27-33:
So they brought them in and made them stand before the Council; and the High Priest questioned them, “We gave you strict orders not to preach such a Savior; but you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching; and you intend charging us with the killing of this man.”

To this, Peter and the apostles replied, “Better for us to obey God, rather than any human authority! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a wooden post. God set him at his right hand, as Leader and Savior, to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses to all these things, as well as the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

When the Council heard this, they became very angry and wanted to kill them.

Gospel: Jn 3:31-36:
He who comes from above is above all; he who comes from the earth belongs to the earth, and his words belong to the earth. He who comes from heaven speaks of the things he has seen and heard; he bears witness to these things, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does receive his testimony acknowledges the truthfulness of God. The one sent by God speaks God’s words, and gives the Spirit unstintingly.

The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything into his hands. Whoever believes in the Son lives with eternal life; but he who will not believe in the Son will never know life, and always faces the justice of God.

Reflection:
Jesus comes from heaven. He speaks the things of heaven. He speaks God’s words, nothing else. He will bring people to heaven. But humanity does not believe him. The gospel of John clearly presents the importance of believing in the claims of Jesus. He comes from heaven and he brings only to us what he has seen and heard from the Father. Later Jesus will make miracles or signs to back up his claims. Still, many will not believe in him. There is a judgment to those who out rightly reject him and never gives him an inch.

But to those who come to believe him, he promises life eternal. To us who believe, we may ask, “What does it mean to believe?”

To believe in Jesus is to enter into a relationship with him and consequently with the Father who sent him. To believe in him is to take seriously his words, his claims and his teachings. They may appear so ordinary or outrageous at times, but they come from his Father. What may be hard to believe for the Jews is his claim of divinity. Jesus will later say, “Nobody comes to me, unless the Father draw him.”

Friday
May 2^nd

St. Athanasius

1st Reading: Acts 5:34-42:
A Pharisee in the Sanhedrin named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up, ordered the Apostles to be put outside for a short time, and said to the Sanhedrin, “Fellow children of Israel, be careful what you are about to do to these men. Some time ago, Theudas appeared, claiming to be someone important, and about four hundred men joined him, but he was killed, and all those who were loyal to him were disbanded and came to nothing.

“After him came Judas the Galilean at the time of the census. He also drew people after him, but he too perished and all who were loyal to him were scattered. So now I tell you, have nothing to do with these men, and let them go.

“For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.”

They were persuaded by him. After recalling the Apostles, they had them flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them.

So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus.

Gospel: Jn 6:1-15:
After this, Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, near Tiberias, and large crowds followed him, because of the miraculous signs they saw, when he healed the sick. So he went up into the hills and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Then lifting up his eyes, Jesus saw the crowds that were coming to him, and said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread so that these people may eat?” He said this to test Philip, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred silver coins would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a piece.”

Then one of Jesus’ disciples Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, so the people, about five thousand men, sat down. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish, and gave them as much as they wanted.

And when they had eaten enough, he told his disciples, “Gather up the pieces left over, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with bread, that is, with pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

When the people saw the miracle which Jesus had performed, they said, “This is really the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Jesus realized that they would come and take him by force to make him king; so he fled to the hills by himself.

Reflection:
Obviously today’s gospel reading on the feeding of a large crowd by a miraculous multiplication of bread is a symbolic anticipation of the gift of the Eucharist, by which God feeds his people with the Body of his Son until the end of time, when we will all celebrate our loving God in the heavenly banquet. Let us look at a few interesting details of this narrative. The question Jesus asks Philip betrays Jesus’ sense of humor. He is clearly teasing Philip and having fun at his expense. We rarely imagine a fun-loving Jesus or even a laughing Jesus.

Yet, there are entire books written about his sense of humor. As to the boy who provided the five loaves and the two fish, one can imagine what went on in his mind when asked to offer them to Jesus. Maybe a mere look into Jesus’ eyes was enough to inspire him to give Jesus all he had, including his heart. Jesus flees the crowds who want to make him a king—a political king who would oppose the detested Romans and possibly kick them out. But he is not that kind of king. He wants our hearts, not our swords.

Saturday
May 3^rd

Sts. Philip and James

1st Reading: 1 Cor 15:1-8:
I am reminding you, brothers and sisters, of the Gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. After that he appeared to James, then to all the Apostles. Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.

Gospel: Jn 14:6-14:
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me. If you know me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know him, and you have seen him.”

Philip asked him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough.“ (…)

“Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? All that I say to you, I do not say of myself. The Father who dwells in me is doing his own work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do.

“Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father. Everything you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Indeed, anything you ask, calling upon my name, I will do it.“

Reflection:
Director Franco Zeffirelli after filming the movie entitled Brother Sun, Sister Moon, once said, “I discovered Francis, I discovered Christ.”

Francis of Assisi succeeded in imitating Christ. He became a living image of Jesus as described in the gospels. The movie director came to know more about Christ when he was filming the life of St. Francis for Hollywood.

Jesus tries to convince his disciples to know more about himself, because the more they know him, the more they will know the Father. Jesus serves as their tangible bridge to the Father. The Father in heaven is accessible only through Christ.

The disciples must believe in Jesus’ claim. They do not have to argue or to prove it with their reasoning or experimentation. All they have to do is to follow him, learn more about him as they journey with him. Jesus is still in the process of revealing everything about the Father.

We learn more about Jesus and the Father, when we follow Jesus in real time. Movies about Jesus in real time can help, but we can know him more when we live our faith guided by his teachings as preached by our Church.