Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

John 15: 12-17

Jesus says: “Love one another as I love you.” How does Jesus love us? We only have to look to the Gospels. He provides wine to a wedding party; He heals the blind, the lame, the sick and dying. He gives food to the hungry, living water to all that thirst and then he gives us his Body and Blood, He gives of himself completely, He lays down his life for us. All our needs are taken care of. What an example He gives us. Do we help take care of others' needs? Do we Love as Jesus Loves?

He goes on to say we are no longer slaves we are friends. Slaves do as they are told without understanding, but we are His friends. He has told us everything about Our Father which is – LOVE –This is a unique and personal relationship. It’s a knowing of each other, the good, the bad, the ugly and the beauty in us and we are still loved. We are called to do the same.

In Jesus' day the rabbi didn’t go looking for those to teach, the student would search out the rabbi. But not with Jesus, he calls, chooses us to be his disciples. How great is that, that he would love us so much that He goes in search and calls us by name. What love that is. Now with this love we are to go and bear fruit. Spread that love, unconditional love, the love from Our Father. And Jesus says: “This I command you: love one another.”

Marilyn Harmyk

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter

National Day of Prayer
Acts 15:7-21; Psalm 96:1-2; John 15:9-11

Acts 15:7-21 is a very powerful passage which strongly urges us to praise Jesus for his Grace, reminding us it was his Precious Blood shed on Calvary which freed us from our sins. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, believing in this loving act of the Son of God, Our Savior.

We are to be very careful to follow the commands of Christ and Sacred Scripture in our practices and beliefs to demonstrate our love for Jesus and to be good witnesses to both believers and non-believers at our workplace, school and everyday interaction with others along with loving and respecting others as Jesus did.

Psalm 96:1-2: This Psalm/hymn needs to be a reminder each day for all Christians to Praise God always for sending His only son to die on the Cross, shedding his Precious Blood for us so our sins would be forgiven and no more remembered against us. What a pure, beautiful, loving gift, to think that Our Savior would come down to earth, become one of us in all ways except sin, to experience all the trials we face everyday including a horrible death on the Cross. All in obedience to his Father’s Will. What a loving God we serve, may we Praise Him, the source of our salvation and all our good gifts. Glory and Praise to His Name Forever!

John 15:9-11: Jesus wishes our obedience that we keep open our personal relationship with Him. When we give our hearts to Jesus, we desire to follow Jesus out of love. After doing this, when we sin, we immediately confess it keeping the lines of communication (prayer) open. We then desire to spend special prayer and devotional time with Jesus each day (try for early morning as Jesus did) and Scripture reading; first asking the Holy Spirit for His guidance and wisdom. We joyfully wish to worship in fellowship and keep the Sabbath each week and serve and love one another as He loves us!

As we pray for our nation’s needs and our government officials on this National Day of Prayer, may we always remember 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people who are called by my name, humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.”

Have a Blessed Day!

Harry Hagerman, Jr.

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

In today’s reading, we get a glimpse of how the apostles and early Christians struggled with what I guess one might call the formalities of being a believer. The problem of having standards or expectations, and how those should be enforced. You have the well-meaning and enthusiastic efforts of many to spread the word, and welcome newcomers to the Church. Yet at the same time you have the old guard, the traditionalists; who have perhaps a stricter interpretation of what is required to be saved. Ultimately, after much debate Peter finally asserts that:

"My brothers, you are well aware that from early days God made his choice among you that through my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.

And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by granting them the holy Spirit just as he did us.

He made no distinction between us and them, for by faith he purified their hearts.

Why, then, are you now putting God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?

On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they."

The point is that God makes no distinction among the faithful. It is by our hearts that we have demonstrated worthiness by God’s standard. All are welcome.

Matt Funk

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

In the first reading (Acts 14:19-28) Paul was stoned for his belief. We can only pray for the courage to be able to stand up for what we believe. This can only be reached by spending quiet time in prayer. Always keeping our focus on God and his will in our lives.

This is evangelization. Here’s where God’s Grace is poured out upon us. We then are molded and transformed into who He wants us to be. Real changes are made and we begin to experience a true transformation only by the power of the Holy Spirit!

John 14: 27-31a: We can only receive real peace from God. People think that if we have money then we will have peace. And all will be alright. But peace comes from God only. No other way. Things will not give us peace.

Jesus loved his Father so he gave up his life for each one of us. We have an awesome God who will stop at nothing to get our attention. Always nurturing us, and yes, when we move away from Him waits for our return.

Carmela Cavezza

Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Faith can be elusive. Sometimes we feel it fully, and sometimes it feels weak and vulnerable. I like the words of these readings, because they feature both aspects of faith.

This is a Gospel that is very accessible to someone born 2000 years after it took place. Probably everyone has had the experience of being with someone for years and then realizing that they have missed something fundamental about them. They may not believe that what they missed about the person is true. I learned only on his death that a friend with whom I had spent many hours had been present at the exorcism that was catalogued in the book, The Exorcist. When I learned this, I found it really hard to believe, because it did not seem to fit the vision I had constructed of him.

Philip had been close to Jesus, and traveled with Him for years. Though he was an apostle and followed Him as a teacher and healer, the clarity of Jesus’ divinity was just becoming manifest. As this Gospel unfolds, Jesus is making increasing references to being One with the Father, and Philip is having difficulty “coming along”. He wants more proof of what Jesus is saying. Addressing his difficulty, Jesus tries repeatedly to use the matters of experience and reason to point to a matter of faith.

On the other hand, we are shown a completely opposite response from the Gentiles in the Acts of the Apostles. Peter is finding seemingly leagues of people, who did not even share the Jewish traditions, and who did not have the benefit of knowing Jesus, who want to be included in this new covenant. They listen to Peter, are drawn to his words, and seem to accept the divinity of Jesus easily. They are eager to hear of the teaching and works of Jesus and partake of the Eucharist.

Throughout my life, I have always wondered how I would have reacted had I known Jesus. I am usually reticent, and a little skeptical, when encountering charismatic leaders. I am invariably drawn to the dynamism and words which ring true to me. When something is said, however, that is not entirely evident to me, I pull back and try to study, reflect, and either accept or reject what has challenged me. As I read Philip, asking for something concrete, I see myself. I am so glad that Jesus was patient with him!

Susan Schroeder-Barda

Fifth Sunday of Easter

As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.

This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

My question is this, Have we loved one another as he has loved us? It was one of the last things he asked us to do, yet have we done it? Not to love one another in the easy way, but the way he loves us. The go for broke, no holds barred, leave nothing behind kind of love. Think about how much he loves you, and what he has done for you. What he’s willing to do for you. Think about how deep and wide that love is, and ask yourself if you have been able to follow his commandment. Do you, like Mother Teresa, see the face of Jesus in everyone you see? I know that I fall short, but the good news is that I get to keep trying, and when I fail, which I inevitably will do, he will be there to pick me up, and brush me off, and show me once again how much he loves me. Maybe someday I’ll get there, maybe someday we all will, but the important thing to remember is that he’ll be waiting for us however long it takes.

Carol Dellatore

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Whenever I read about the disciples and their interactions with Jesus I often think, "Why would they say that? Didn't they understand?" But I am sure that Jesus thinks that about me on a daily basis! He must be saying, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Carla.? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?"

I like to think of each day as a journey. We start the day by spending some quiet time with Jesus, so we can start the day hand-in-hand, looking out at all the beauty and adventure that lay ahead. Each step is a decision, a choice. Do we cling to Christ's hand seeking his way for us and trusting him with our lives, or do we forge off on our own thinking that we know where we want to go? I know too often I get caught up in my own agenda and to-do-list and go my own way. That's where I find frustration, discontent, greed, shallowness, and selfishness.

Thankfully, something during my day will usually make me pause...a thought of Jesus, a song on the radio, the smile of a loved one, the breathtaking beauty of nature. These reminders of Christ's love stop me in my tracks and remind me of where I should be. All it takes is a whisper of his name, and we are hand-in-hand again safe with our Lord for He never left us, we just let go of his waiting hand.

Brothers and sisters, let's walk this day, hand-in-hand with our Lord. Let's believe in Him and do His works as he calls us to do. Each day I pray for four things...Joy, Peace, Trust, and Thanksgiving. I pray that you will trust the Lord this day and thank Him for his many blessing, and He would bring you a day full of Joy and Peace in His presence!! May God Bless you and your families!

Carla Lynch