carmelite daily reflection07 Aug carmelite daily reflection
The Lord is always with his church in the various storms that will assail it. They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. Even when we fail to respond to his coming, he remains for us the bread of life and he continues to promise that if we come to him we will never hunger and if we believe in him we will never thirst. Irish Province of Carmelites | All Rights Reserved | Site by Marketing Inputs. We appreciate it when someone listens to our story and takes it seriously and then, in response, shares something of their story with us. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. God draws us towards his Son as the one who can satisfy the deepest spiritual hunger of our heart. When it comes to the Lord we are not just one of a crowd, lost in a sea of faces. Jesus takes seriously the horizon of this world in which we live and work, but he also shows us another horizon, a horizon that is not of this world. The self-assured Pharisee suddenly found himself completely dependent on others. It is interesting to speculate that Joseph might have found work as that city was being built. We look forward to that eternal day when we will see the Lord, face to face. Our communion with the Lord in the Eucharist calls us to this ongoing form of communion. A little later in this same gospel, Jesus will say to his disciples, those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. The good shepherd takes on the role not primarily to get something out of it, but to give something in it. It is Paul, the former persecutor of the church, who reminds us in his letters that the bread that we break and the cup that we bless in the Eucharist is a communion with the body and blood of Christ. He is not saying, in other words, I am a gate, but, rather, I am the gate. We are then sent out from the Eucharist to nurture and protect life in all its forms. though all who do accept his testimony In the words of the gospel reading, though the light has come into the world, people have shown that they prefer darkness to the light, because their deeds were evil. His gospel is the shortest of the four, but, nonetheless, it is a very powerful telling of the Jesus story. We try to listen to his voice, especially as it comes to us in the words of the gospels, of the New Testament as a whole, and, indeed, in all of the Scriptures. Any passage of Scripture can be used for this way of prayer, but the passage should not be too long. this is because he is only a hired man I remember some people saying recently when they heard this very familiar gospel story again that prior to this they hadnt really paid much attention to the presence of the small boy. It didnt really matter which gate you went through. In the passage of Johns gospel that follows our gospel reading, Jesus identifies himself as the good shepherd. Where could food be found to feed such a crowd? When something new was happening in the city of Antioch, when pagans were coming to believe in Jesus as well as Jews, Barnabas was sent down from Jerusalem to look at what was happening. In this mornings gospel reading Jesus invites each of us into that same communion of love with himself that Paul enjoyed. God sent his Son that the world might be saved through him. Clearly the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd that we find in todays gospel reading spoke to Christians from the earliest days of the church. In other words, it is in giving that we receive; it is in giving life to others that we receive life and become fully alive. Yet, the risen Lord always stands among us empowering us to be an Easter people. Therein lies the gospel, the good news of Gods loving and life-giving initiative towards us. The risen Lord remains faithful to his failed disciples and his faithfulness finally allows them to see clearly and to go out afresh to preach the gospel. He had spoken to Nicodemus about the need to be born of water and the Spirit so as to enter the kingdom of God. It is to shape all of our lives. He declares that if their movement is of human origin it will break up of its own accord, whereas if it really is from God they will be unable to destroy it and may even find themselves fighting against God. It all seems too much for us. He can offer himself to them as the Bread of Life who responds to the deepest yearnings of their heart, for truth, for a love that endures, for a life over which death has no power. This was a story about a great prophet who said and did wonderful things, who had been unjustly put to death, and whose body had gone missing from the tomb. He wants to give us what endures and we look for what perishes. After a powerful, ecstatic experience of Christ in 1374, she commenced her public role, mediating in an armed conflict between the city of Florence and the Avignon-based papacy. In these changing times for the church, we have to trust that what is of God will endure and what isnt will pass away. When the Lord calls us to himself it is not to take us out of the world but to send us into the world afire with the flame of his love. Paul saw the Son because the risen Lord appeared to him just outside Damascus. In todays first reading it is was while the early church in Jerusalem was at prayer that they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and in the strength of that Spirit began to proclaim the word of God boldly. This remains Gods work today, the work of gathering people together around his Son. Do you remember the story of Elijah on the holy mountain of Sinai? except the one who came down from heaven, Therein lies our confidence and hope. In the language of that responsorial psalm, he is there as a shepherd in every valley of darkness to give us comfort. The helplessness and weakness of Paul is conveyed in the first reading by the blind Paul having to be led by the hand into the city of Damascus, a city he had expected to be riding into confidently and authoritatively. He no longer sought to impose his religious views on others by violence but he now sought to persuade them by his preaching. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares that he came to do his Fathers will, which is that all who see the Son and believe in him shall have eternal life. They can be distressed at the degree of doubt that they experience within themselves, a degree of doubt that, as they get older, can become more pronounced. Indeed, according to the gospel reading, Jesus goes on to satisfy the hunger of the crowd with the five loaves and two fish of this small boy. He recognized that there was a boy present who had five loaves and two fish, but he realistically asked, What is that among so many people? Jesus, however, saw the rich potential of those meagre resources and immediately began to take control of the situation, Make the people sit down. In that village culture, a skill could be a small source of income. He showed them his hands and his side so that they would be in no doubt that the one who stood in their midst was the one who had been crucified, the one whom they had abandoned in fear. Just as the risen Lord would not allow the disciples fear to lock him out of their lives, so he would not allow Thomas doubt to lock him out either. Life after such a loss can be very difficult. In the words of Saint Paul that Gods power was made perfect in weakness. Are not his sisters all with us? 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. In this mornings gospel reading, Jesus declares, I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full. He said to them, What matters are you discussing as you walk along? They stopped short, their faces downcast. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever. These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Catherine stood out as a beacon of light in a dark time in Europe and in the church. At the meal that followed they recognised the strangers true identity in the breaking of bread. The Lord calls out to all of us to come to him, to know and love him as he knows and loves us. We all have opportunities from time to time to create openings for people that allow the Lords work to be done. We can all be like those drooping daffodils. All of these experiences of loss are life-draining and debilitating. Yet, the small boy with his five barley loaves and two fish is the key to what happens. It is a great gift to be able to recognize the good that the Lord is doing through someone or some group and then to encourage it along. That sequence of word leading to sacrament has always been central to the churchs life. The Lord continues to call us to himself, drawing us into an ever deeper relationship with him. Then there are other kinds of losses that we experience in the course of our lives, such as the loss of a job, or the loss of full health, or the loss of our good name. In the 12th century, a Carthusian monk called Guigo, described the stages which he saw as essential to the practice of Lectio Divina. God wants our response, but God cannot force it. We may not be physically present at the Eucharist these days, but we are spiritually present and we continue to recognize the Lord in the breaking of bread. Unfortunately, we know very little. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. In the gospel of Luke, Zacchaeus goes looking for Jesus in broad daylight, even climbing a sycamore tree to see him. However, the Spirit can enter a human life and we know what a Spirit-filled life looks life. Eight days later, Jesus came again and stood among them. The Lord spoke of himself as the good shepherd. We see that gift of Barnabas at work in this mornings reading. Reflections on Daily Readings 2022 October 30th - November 26th, 2022 October 30 - November 5, 2022 Ordinary Time - The Thirty-First Week | Readings: Sunday Cycle C; Weekday Cycle 2. Even if we try to lock the Lord out of our lives, he comes to us anyway. Each new day is a day of grace and opportunity to reflect. When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. The Lords concern is not just with the general, but with the particular, not just with the flock as a whole but with the individuals who make it up. This is a light to be warmly welcomed, not to be extinguished or imprisoned. Having been touched by Gods word, he is ready for baptism. In the words of todays gospel reading, one by one, the Lord calls his own. Such a life was the fruit of the Spirits activity among them. Yes, Jesus fed them in the wilderness, but he has something more to give them, not just physical bread but a deeper and more enduring form of nourishment. As we bring the broken pieces of our lives to the risen Lord, his Easter grace can restore and transform us. Then, having taken and blessed wine, he gave it to his disciples and said, This is my blood. Everyones journey towards faith is unique to them. There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. During the hour of his passion and death, Jesus disciples, with the exception of the beloved disciple and the women, ran from him. We have gates to the front of the church, but they are rarely closed. When he seeks to give an understanding of the kingdom of God, he tells parables, stories that are deeply rooted in everyday life. She lived a life of solitary prayer for three years before re-joining her family and working with the sick, the poor, prisoners and plague victims. Indeed he has already done so, laying down his life so that we may have life and have it to the full. Whenever two people share a significant experience together, they invariably talk about it together afterwards; they each tell their own story about what happened. The light which shone from the risen Lord and from the preaching of the Easter gospel could not be extinguished by the powers of darkness. The Celtic Carmelite integration is unique and expresses a distinctive vision of a way to seek and give thanks to the God-among-us, in prayer and in the challenges and blessings of daily life. One of the tasks of life for each of us as disciples of the Lord is to try and listen to the particular call that the Lord is addressing to me here and now. The Lords invitation, Come to me, all who labour and are overburdened, is addressed to us all. Christ is always working to create us anew. We all have something to receive from someone else. We live out the call to be the Lords disciple in a way that is unique to each one of us. It was on the cross and in his resurrection that Jesus was lifted up, and it was above all at that moment that the light of Gods love shone most brightly. As the gate, all who enter through him will be safe; as the gate, all who exit through him will find pasture. Having come to know Jesus somewhat, he continues to draw us to himself. We all need something of the vision of Barnabas to see how the Lord is working in such unexpected and unplanned developments. He stands ready to pour afresh the Spirit of his love into our hearts, so that we can be recreated, empowered to share in his mission in the world. Some of those who fled Jerusalem brought the gospel to places where it had not been preached, including the city of Antioch, where the gospel was preached for the first time to pagans. He meets us where we are. What is of God will also endure. 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. Enter your email to receive notifications of new Daily Reflection Posts. The stranger who unexpectedly enters our lives can turn out to be a messenger of the Lord. God sent his Son into the world so that everyone may have eternal life. Indeed, the shepherd leads us through the gate. It is Paul who in his letters teaches us that through baptism we have become members of the Lords body, temples of his Spirit, sons and daughters of God, sharing in Jesus own relationship with God. This being born of the Spirit will take more than nine months, the period of human birth. When myself and my brothers were very small my parents used to tie a cloth around where the gate met the railings so that we could not open the gate. Jesus identifies himself as the gate in this sense. We might highlight the tragic dimension of what happened, but fail to see the signs of hope that are there as well. Carmelite Rule. He calls us to lead us a place of pasture, to a place where our deepest hungers and thirsts are satisfied. The Lord calls each of us in accordance with our own particular nature. She exemplifies our own calling to be contemplatives in action, to bring the light of the Lord into the darkness of our world. It is said of Saul in the first reading that he worked for the total destruction of the church. The church in Jerusalem needed to check out this new and unforeseen development, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
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