:: Faith Today: Easter Season ::
(click to order)
Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Monday, April 26, 2010
Today's Mass :: Divine Office :: Divine Mercy :: Saints :: News & Inspiration :: Intentions
Wishing you a Blessed Easter Season
"Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the Gate for the sheep .... Whoever enters through me will be saved .... I came so that they might have Life and have it more abundantly."
"What Happens at Mass" Today's Mass
READINGS: usccb.org/nab/042610.shtml
+ FIND A MASS: (MassTimes.org)
+ "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the Gate for the sheep .... Whoever enters through me will be saved .... A thief comes only to ... destroy; I came so that they might have Life and have it more abundantly."
+ "Athirst is my Soul for the Living God"
+ "Peter began ... "I had a vision, something resembling a large sheet coming down, lowered from the sky... I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth ..."
+ "God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too...."
+ DailyGospel.org Saintly historical commentary, Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
- Back to the Top -
USCCB brief reflection
on
this day's Readings,
April 26
http://www.usccb.org/video/
reflections.shtml GOSPEL: John 10:1-10
Jesus is the Gate through which the Flock are to enter
Jesus continues speaking of us as His Flock. Having already called Himself the Good Shepherd, He also invokes the image of a sheepgate, saying that a true shepherd enters through the true gate, while criminals attempt to sneak upon the flock by a different route:
"Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd ... the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger ...."
"The Gospel of John"
by Dr. Scott Hahn
(click to order)Jesus elaborates that He is the True Gate:
"Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the Gate for the sheep .... Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will ... find pasture. A thief comes only to ... destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."
So Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and also the True Gate for the Flock, through which authentic Apostles and Prophets pass, and through which the true Flock passes, who recognize the Voice of Christ and follow it.
Jesus, then, reminds us that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that we are to conform to Him to have Eternal Life. Moreover, we are to recognize His Voice, to have a personal relationship with Him.
We pray that with the Christian Life of Prayer, Sacraments, Mass, Christian Charity and obedience to God's Commands, we come to recognize His Voice more and more clearly, to ignore what is not in Communion with Him, and thereby progress down the Path of Conversion and Discipleship.
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament © 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., at times enhanced to provide additional capitalization. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
- Back to the Top -
FIRST READING: Acts 11:1-18
Gentiles included among those to be Saved;
Saint Peter's vision that no animals are unclean
The Apostle Peter has a vision in which something like a large sheet is lowered down from the sky by four corners, bearing all sorts of animals. A voice tells him to slaughter and eat the animals , and at first he declines because, under the old Jewish law, some of them are considered unclean or profane, inappropriate to eat. But the voice from Heaven explains "What God has made clean, you are not to call profane."
After this happens three times, three Gentiles arrive, and the Spirit tells Peter to accompany them to a house. Seven Disciples go in all. At the house, the Gentiles explain that an Angel appeared to them and instructed them to find Peter, and that he would speak words to them by which their family will be Saved. Peter does so, and the Holy Spirit comes upon them. He remembers how Jesus said "John Baptized with water but you will be Baptized with the Holy Spirit."
Saint Peter bears witness of this to Christians who had started out as Jews, and complained about Peter's involvement with Gentiles. In response they repent of their objections and confess that "God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too."
- Back to the Top -
"Praying the Psalms
with the Early Christians"
PSALM 42:2-3; 43:3, 4
Our Souls Thirst for the Living God
Psalm 42 proclaims: "Athirst is my Soul for the Living God."
- Back to the Top -
Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours)
Liturgy of the Hours
Volume II:
Lent-Easter Season
In the final prayer for Night Prayer, a prayer to the Blessed Mother, one of the possible selections during Easter Season is:
Queen of Heaven rejoice, Alleluia.
The Son Whom you merited to bear, Alleluia, has Risen as He said, Alleluia.
Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, Alleluia!
For the Lord has truly Risen, Alleluia.
Night Prayer, The Liturgy of the Hours, According to the Roman Rite, Vol. II, Lent - Easter Season, Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, 1975, at 1648.
In the Office of Readings for this day, voicing central themes of Christian Life, repentance, conversion, and New Life leading to Eternal Life, Saint Basil the Great, Bishop, teaches us how with Baptism, we die to our former selves of sin, and enter into New Life with Christ:
Our Lord made a Covenant with us through Baptism in order to give us Eternal Life. ... The association of water and the Spirit is explained by the two-fold purpose for which Baptism was instituted ... to destroy the sin in us so that it could never again give birth to death, and to enable us to live by the Spirit and so win the reward of Holiness.
Saint Basil the Great, Bishop, from the book On the Holy Spirit, Office of Readings, Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter, The Liturgy of the Hours, According to the Roman Rite, Vol. II, Lent - Easter Season, Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, 1975, at 762.
Saint Basil goes on to explain how the Christian Life which Jesus teaches us to follow prepares us for our ultimate life after the Resurrection, and how the Holy Spirit restores us to Paradise as Children of God being showered with every Blessing:
As a preparation for our Life after the Resurrection, our Lord tells us in the Gospel how we should live here and now. He teaches us to be peaceable, long-suffering, undefiled by desire for pleasure, and detached from worldly wealth. In this way we can achieve, by our own free choice, the kind of life that will be natural in the world to come.
Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to Paradise, we ascend to the Kingdom of Heaven, and we are reinstated as adopted sons. Thanks to the Spirit we obtain the right to call God our Father, we become sharers in the Grace of Christ, we are called Children of Light, and we share in Everlasting Glory. In a word, every Blessing is showered upon us, both in this world and in the world to come.
Ibid. at 763.
- Back to the Top -
Saints of the Day, Saints of April
+ "Saint of the Day" by the USCCB
+ "Saint(s) of the Day," from St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Washington, D.C.
+ "Saint of the Day" by AmericanCatholic.org
(Franciscans; on rare occasions, slightly different than the official feast day)
+ Saints with Feast Days in April
- Back to the Top -
News & Inspiration
Saint Bonaventure:
The Soul's Journey
into God
(click here to order)
+ Saints News: Saint Bonaventure: A Man of Action and Contemplation - Pope Benedict XVI
+ Lent: Catechism of the Catholic Church
+ Lent: Papal Message for Lent 2010
+
Bioethics: Human Dignity and Natural Moral Law
+ Abide in God and Keep His Commandments: Pope Benedict on John Chapters 15-16
+ Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes: Pope Benedict tells Church to evangelize and care for the sick in body and spirit
+ Saint Anthony of Padua: Example to preachers, one of most popular Saints ― Pope Benedict XVI Audience
News Links
:: USCCB: Bishops Call For Extension Of Trade Preferences For Haiti As Part Of Long-Term Recovery Support
:: USCCB: Bishops Call for Bipartisan Action to Advance Health Care Reform That Protects Human Life and Dignity
:: USCCB: Series of Seminars Slated to Introduce Revised Translation of Roman Missal
:: USCCB: Archbishop O’Brien Speaks At Summit Aimed At Eliminating Nuclear Weapons
:: CNS: Pope expresses sorrow over murder of Christians in Iraq
- Back to the Top -
Prayer Intentions
Pray for the Holy Father and his intentions: Ecumenical Dialogue, Christian Perseverance in the Face of Persecution ― Pope Benedict XVI's April 2010 Prayer Intentions
April 2010
+ General Intention: ecumenical dialogue - "That every tendency to fundamentalism and extremism may be countered by constant respect, by tolerance and by dialogue among all believers."
+ Mission intention: Chrisitan perseverance in the face of persecution - "That Christians persecuted for the sake of the Gospel may persevere, sustained by the Holy Spirit, in faithfully witnessing to the Love of God for the entire human race"
... and recall that praying for the Holy Father and his intentions also is among the set of conditions when undertaking to earn an indulgence ... along with receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession), receiving the Eucharist, and being free from attachment to sin, along with the other special action for which the indulgence is granted, such as reading Holy Scripture devoutly for at least a half-hour ...
- Back to the Top -
Additional Faith Central Prayer Intentions
+ For additional support and guidance for the development of Faith Central: Catholic Home on the Web
+ For victims of storms other natural disasters
+ To know and do God's Will
+ For the unemployed to obtain honorable work and a dignified wage sufficient to meet their needs and those they provide for
+ For the elderly and infirmed, their protection by the Blessed Mother, and that they be treated with respect, dignity, and love.
+ For respect for human life and the dignity of the human person, from their creation
prior to conception, to natural death.
+ That God's Will be obeyed by all actions of government and all government-related actions of the populace
+ For an end to the recession, and for all humanity to work together to bear fruit in service to the needs of all
+ For those of means to divert resources to help those in the human family, locally or abroad, who are hungry, starving, or homeless
+ For peace in the world, and the conversion of the hearts of terrorists.
+ For peace in the world in families, especially for women and men facing crisis pregnancies, their preborn children, and those assisting them, especially their relatives and those volunteers and professionals dedicated to prolife work.
+ For the conversion of the hearts of sinners.
+ For the Faithful Departed, especially the relatives of those
praying and those they have met or have known.
+ For the Faithful Departed, especially those with no one praying for
them.
- Back to the Top -
Keywords: Jesus Christ, Catholic, Saint Paul, Saint Barnabas, Antioch, Jesus the Good Shepherd, Gospel of John, Psalm 100, Revelations, Saint John the Apostle, Acts of the Apostles, Divine Office, Saint Augustine, Regina Caeli, Liturgy of the Hours, Daily Readings, Mass, Catholic Faith, Christian, Pope Benedict XVI, Holy Father, Prayer Intentions, Catholic News, Scott Hahn
Faith Central Site Map Main Divisions
Faith Home | Catholic News | Creed | Sacraments | Mass | Divine Office | Prayers | Devotions
© 2007-2010 All Rights Reserved
Steven C. Welsh, Editor and Contributor
Steven C. Welsh, Web Design and Graphic Design
