6th Sunday of Easter (May 10): Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48. 1 Jn 4:7-10. Jn 15:9-17. The Gospel this weekend is this: Jn 15:9-17. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. 11 "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. 12 This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, * because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. 16 It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. 17 This I command you: love one another. The first reading is this: Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and, falling at his feet, paid him homage. 26 Peter, however, raised him up, saying, "Get up. I myself am also a human being."… 34 Then Peter proceeded to speak and said, "In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. 35 Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him… 44 While Peter was still speaking these things, the holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word. * 45 The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit should hve been poured out on the Gentiles also, 46 for they could hear them speaking in tongues and glorifying God. Then Peter responded, 47 "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit even as we have?" 48 He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. The second reading is this: 1 Jn 4:7-10. Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. 8 Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. 10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. MEDITATION: This Sunday has a simple outline of the principles of our faith: God our father, is Love, Christ is Love and we all could unite with them if we would just try to love faithfully also. In the first reading, the Holy Spirit enters Cornelius and company and this is a prologue for the feast of Pentecost (May 28). The Trinity do not want an obedience that is external, but they want to dwell within us. This refers to everyone - those who come to mind and those who are far away - good friends and those who sometimes perhaps don’t seem so good! We see this in the first reading in the way Peter breaks with Jewish tradition in order to meet Cornelius (Cornelius was a centurion in the Roman army). It’s an example of how we should open the door to others. St Paul himself had opposed the first Christians severely. But he became one of their leaders. The call to respect the potential presence of Christ in every human being makes me think of when one of our priests kneelt before a newly baptized child - as we bow the knee to a Tabernacle in the Church. Do we have respect for each human life? God wants to dwell in every human being, but once a person is mature, he or she is free to open or close, and God does not impose. He simply sends his Word. Remember the prayer of Jesus about his Apostles: "I ask you Father not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they all be united, like you Father in me and I in you, may they also may be in us..." (Jn 17:20). Do we have that respect for our own lives? We say the words in the mass before communion: "Lord, I am not worthy that you enter my house but one word from you would be enough to heal me". Perhaps the priest should answer "God has been asking for a long time to enter you!". As St Ambrose said: 'God loves when a temple is built and you are that temple'. Christ is coming to his temple, so let’s open our doors - the doors of your minds. He won’t impose. Christ calls to our hearts. We contemplate the nails in his hands and feet on the cross. I remember seeing a young man in London (Covent Garden) who was passing a bar and saw his girlfriend kissing a guy inside. He punched his fist through the window in the door and got a cut that bled. That seems ridiculous (and illegal, and it is), but at least it showed the girl that he felt a lot for her. It makes me think of the person with nails in his hands and feet on a cross for us. In fact, a book of the Bible speaks of a young man knocking a hole in the door of his beloved who wasn’t answering him (Song of Songs 5:4). It’s an expression of the Old Testament of how God feels about us. He longs to see us open up. We participate in the prayers of mass at the weekend, but we should also be answering God with our lives outside the mass! I like the way Peter asks Cornelius not to bother kneeling before himself. Kneeling is an expression of the respect that God deserves, but nobody else deserves it. If the Pope of Rome came to visit you in your House someday, you’d probably give him a big welcome, but if the Son of God came? He comes! He’s at the door of our hearts knocking... humbly. If we allow Christ to come, then we could become 'Living Christs'. We could have people who meet us at work or wherever feel as if they had found something of the love of Christ. It could be! God is ambitious. One clear sign that it is in our simple humanity that God longs to live is Mary. But we are called to be like her. St Augustine spent many years looking for happiness in many places, people and philosophies, but then said: "late have I loved you. I looked at so many places for you and then I realized that you are within me! "." As St. Paul says: 'You are temples of the Holy Spirit and you have been well bought.' (1 Cor 6:19). We start mass with the confetior and before the communion we remember what the centurion said to Jesus "Lord, I am not worthy that you come into my house" (Lk 7:6). But Christ comes. After leaving the Church, there’s no need to stop being with God. He is in you - as long as you do not have the door closed to him with your mind set on superficial things! You should be saying "Yes" like Mary... and planning how to be faithful to that 'Yes.' Jesus is calling us 'friends' and wants to inspire in us the Good News that the father had inspired in him (Jn 15:15), but from there he requests us to help convey ‘the Word’ to others. We’ll obey not as 'slaves' but as 'friends'. In the first reading it’s while Peter was preaching that the Holy Spirit comes upon the people (Acts10:44). So it may be that the call to 'love one another' in the second reading (1 Jn 4:7) includes a call for you to share the Word with others... even if sometimes this requires preaching... or the sending of E-mail! ........... Dara. En Español:
6º domingo de Pascua (Mayo 10º): Hchos 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48. 1ºJn 4:7-10. Jn 15:9-17. Este domingo trae un contorno simple de los principios de nuestra fe: Dios, nuestro Padre, es el Amor y Cristo es el Amor y todos pudiéramos unirnos con ellos si sólo amaríamos como ellos. En la primera lectura, el Espíritu Santo entra en Cornelio y compañía y eso es prologo para la fiesta de Pentecostés que es en dos semanas. La Trinidad no quiere una obediencia que es externa, sino morar dentro de nosotros. Esto refiere a cada uno - aquéllos que se acercan y los que están lejos - los amigos buenos ¡y aquéllos que quizá no parecen tan buenos a veces! Es como Pedro sale de lo normal para encontrarse con Cornelio en la primera lectura (Cornelio era un centurión en el ejército romano). Es un ejemplo de como deberíamos abrir la puerta a otros. El propio Pablo había merecido al principio el rechazo severo de los cristianos. ¡Pero él llegó a ser uno de sus líderes! La llamada a respetar la presencia potencial de Cristo en cada ser humano, me hace pensar en cuando uno de nuestros sacerdotes hizo la genuflexión ante un niño recién bautizado - como doblamos la rodilla ante un tabernáculo en la iglesia. ¿Tenemos ese respeto para cada vida humana? Dios desea morar en cada ser humano, pero una vez que una persona es madura, es libre para abrir o cerrar, y Dios no se impone. Él simplemente envía su Palabra. Recuerda la oración de Jesús acerca de sus apóstoles: "No oro solamente para ellos, sino también para aquéllos que creerán en mí a través de su palabra, para que estén todos unidos, como tú Padre en mí y yo en ti, que ellos también estén en nosotros... " (Jn 17:20). ¿Tenemos ese respeto para nuestras propias vidas? Decimos las palabras en la misa antes de la comunión: "Señor, no soy digno de que entres en mi casa, pero una palabra tuya bastará para sanarme”. Quizás el sacerdote debería contestar "¡Dios ha pedido entrar en ti desde hace mucho tiempo!". Como dijo San Ambrosio: 'Dios quiere un templo construido y tú eres ese templo.'. Cristo está viniendo a su templo, entonces abre tus puertas - las puertas de tu mente. Él no impondrá. Cristo llama a nuestros corazones aunque le suposó aguantar clavos en sus manos y pieds en la cruz. Me hace recordar ver un hombre joven en Londres (Covent Garden) quién estaba pasando una taberna y vio a su novia besando a otro tipo dentro. Él puso su puño a través de una de las ventanas de la puerta y consiguió cortes que sangraron. Eso parece ridículo (e ilegal), pero por lo menos mostró a la muchacha cómo él se sentía. Me hace pensar en el tipo con los clavos en sus manos y pies en una cruz para nosotros. De hecho, un libro de la Biblia habla de un joven golpeando un agujero en la puerta de su amada que no le estaba contestando (Cantares 5:4). Es una expresión del Antiguo Testamento de cómo Dios se siente sobre nosotros. Él anhela vernos abrir. Participamos en las oraciones de la misa el domingo, ¡pero también conviene estar contestándole a Dios con nuestras vidas fuera de la misa! Me gusta como Pedro pídele a Cornelio que no se moleste arrodillándose ante él. Arrodillarse es una expresión del respeto que Dios merece, pero nadie más lo merece. Si el Papa de Roma viniera a visitarte en tu casa algún día, probablemente le darías una gran bienvenida, pero ¿si el Hijo de Dios viniera? Pues Él está a la puerta de nuestros corazones... golpeando humildemente. Si le dejáramos entrar a Cristo, entonces pudiéramos ser 'Cristos vivos'. Haz que las personas que se encuentran con tigo al trabajo, o donde sea, se sienten como si se hubieran encontrado algo del amor de Cristo. ¡Podría ser! Dios es ambicioso en esto. Para citar a Jesús en Juan 1:16: “No me elegisteis vosotros sino soy yo quien os elegí… y os he destinado para dar mucho fruto”. Cristo apoya eso con su vida en la cruz y 'nadie ama más que el que da su vida por sus amigos' (Jn 1:13). La señal clara que es en nuestra humanidad simple que Dios anhela vivir es María. Pero estamos llamados a estar como ella. San Agustín pasó muchos años buscando felicidad en muchos lugares, filosofías y las personas, pero después dijo: “Tarde yo te he amado. Busqué en tantos lugares ¡y después me di cuenta que estas dentro de mi!”. Como dice San Pablo: 'Sois templos del Espíritu Santo y habéis sido bien comprados.' (1º Cor 6:19). Empezamos la misa con el confetior y antes de la cdomunión recordamos al centurión que dijo a Jesús "Señor, no soy digno de que entres en mi casa" (Lc 7:6). Pero Cristo entra. Despues de salir de la iglesia el domingo, no hace falta dejar de estar con Dios. ¡Él está EN ti - con tal de que no tienes la puerta cerrada a Él con su mente puesta en cosas superficiales! Conviene estar diciendo "sí" como María... y planeando como ser fiel a eso "sí." Las lecturas hablan mucho hoy también del ministerio de la palabra (la predicación). Jesús nos está llamando 'amigos' y quiere inspirar en nosotros la Buena Nueva que el Padre había inspirado en él (Jn 15:15), pero nos pide desde allí ayudarle transmitir aquella 'Palabra' a otros… no como 'esclavos' sino como 'amigos'. En la primera lectura es mientras estaba predicando Pedro que viene el Espíritu Santo sobre la gente (Hechos 10:44). Entonces puede ser que la llamada a 'amar unos a otros' en la segunda lectura (1ºJn 4:7) incluye una llamada a ti a compartir la Palabra con otros… aún si a veces esto requiere predicación… ¡o el envío de E-mail! ........... Dara. Comments are closed.
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