Information: St. Bernadette Soubirous

Feast Day:	April 16
Born:	7 January 1844 at Lourdes, France
Died:	16 April 1879, Nevers, France
Canonized:	December 8, 1933, Rome by Pope Pius XI
Patron of:	Sick people, poverty, the family, Lourdes, shepherds

St. Benedict Joseph Labre

Feast Day: April 16
Born: 1748 :: Died: 1783

St. Benedict was born at Amettes, Boulogne in France. This French saint led a most unusual life. He was one of fifteen children in a well-off middle class family. His father was a store owner and Benedict was taught by his uncle, a priest.

When the good priest died, Benedict tried to enter a monastery but they refused to take him in as he was too young. Then he managed to convince another order of monks to take him in. He loved the life of prayer and penance but soon Benedict became thin and frail.

They suggested that he return home and lead a good Christian life. He had no choice, he went home and slowly gained back his health. He prayed asking God to show him what he was to do with his life.

He soon felt he had the answer. He would become a pilgrim, a person on a holy journey of prayer and penance. As a pilgrim, he would travel to the famous shrines of Europe.

Benedict began his journey on foot. He visited one church after another. He wore a plain cloth robe, a crucifix over his heart and a rosary around his neck. He slept on the bare ground. The only food he had was what kind people gave him. If they gave him money, he gave it to the poor.

If he was given more food than he needed for the day, he would give the remainder to someone who needed it more than he did. He healed some of his homeless friends and even multiplied bread for them, when they had no food.

His "suitcase" was a sack. In it he carried his own Gospel, as well as medals and holy books to give to others. St. Benedict paid no attention to the beautiful sights in the cities he visited. His only interest was in the churches where Jesus dwelt in the Blessed Sacrament.

When St. Benedict knelt in front of the tabernacle, he became as still as a statue. His pale, tired face glowed. It was said he often floated in the air when he looked at Jesus' Crown of Thorns and deeply felt His pain.

He would talk to Jesus and to the Blessed Mother. He would whisper, "Mary, O my Mother!" He was truly happy when he was keeping Jesus and Mother Mary company.

As the years passed, St. Benedict looked more and more like a beggar. He was ragged and dirty. He ate crusts of bread and potato peels. He never asked for anything that would make his life more comfortable. In some places, children threw stones at him and called him names.

People who didn't know him tended to avoid him. But people who did know him both rich and poor came to him for advice and counsel.

He died in 1783 at the age of thirty-five. The fame of this poor holy man spread far and wide. His journey had ended. The pilgrimage was over and he would be with Jesus and Mary forever.

Reflection: Mary, O my Mother!" We can whisper these words of love to Mary our mother too and think of her often.

Catholic

Almanac:

Tuesday, April 16
Liturgical Color: White
On this day in 1209, St. Francis of Assisi and 12 companions appeared before Pope Innocent III. They requested and received approval for the Orders of the Friars Minor thus beginning the Franciscan order.

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: April 16, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, who open wide the gates of the heavenly Kingdom to those reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, pour out on your servants an increase of the grace you have bestowed, that, having been purged of all sins, they may lack nothing that in your kindness you have promised. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

Crepes for the Feast of St. Bernadette

ACTIVITIES

Motivating Children to Perform Good Deeds

PRAYERS

Novena to St. Bernadette

LIBRARY

Easter: April 16th

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

Old Calendar: St. Bernadette, virgin (Hist); St. Benedict Joseph Labre , mendicant (Hist)

The feast of St. Bernadette is celebrated today. Bernadette, the oldest of six children, was born in Lourdes, France, in 1844. At the age of 14, between 11 February 1858 and 16 July 1858, Bernadette had 18 visions of the Immaculate Conception in a local grotto near the bank of the River Gave, near Lourdes. During the visions, Mary requested prayer and penitence, asked for the construction of a new church, and led Bernadette to a fresh water spring believed to have miraculous healing powers. Despite strong doubt and even opposition from political and church officials, Bernadette's faith in what she had witnessed remained steadfast and humble. Saint Bernadette longed to become a Carmelite nun, but ill health prevented her from doing so. In 1866, she retreated from the public eye to the convent Notre Dame at Nevers where she remained until her death at the age of 35.

Historically today is the feast of St. Benedict Joseph Labre, called the "Beggar of Rome," a pilgrim recluse. He was born in Amettes, France, on March 25, 1748, the eldest of eighteen children. He was devoted to the Blessed Sacrament and attended Forty Hours devotion in the city. He died in Rome on April 16.

St. Bernadette
Marie Bernarde ('Bernadette') Soubirous was the eldest child of an impoverished miller. At the age of fourteen she was ailing and undersized, sensitive and of pleasant disposition but accounted backward and slow. Between 11 February and 16 July 1858, in a shallow cave on the bank of the river Gave, she had a series of remarkable experiences. On eighteen occasions she saw a very young and beautiful lady, who made various requests and communications to her, pointing out a forgotten spring of water and enjoining prayer and penitence. The lady eventually identified herself as the Virgin Mary, under the title of 'the Immaculate Conception'. Some of these happenings took place in the presence of many people, but no one besides Bernadette claimed to see or hear 'the Lady', and there was no disorder or emotional extravagance. After the appearances ceased, however, there was an epidemic of false visionaries and morbid religiosity in the district, which increased the reserved attitude of the church authorities towards Bernadette's experiences.

For some years she suffered greatly from the suspicious disbelief of some and the tactless enthusiasm and insensitive attentions of others; these trials she bore with impressive patience and dignity. In 1866 she was admitted to the convent of the Sisters of Charity at Nevers. Here she was more sheltered from trying publicity, but not from the 'stuffiness' of the convent superiors nor from the tightening grip of asthma. 'I am getting on with my job,' she would say. 'What is that?' someone asked. 'Being ill,' was the reply. Thus she lived out her self-effacing life, dying at the age of thirty-five. The events of 1858 resulted in Lourdes becoming one of the greatest pilgrim shrines in the history of Christendom. But St Bernadette took no part in these developments; nor was it for her visions that she was canonized, but for the humble simplicity and religious trustngness that characterized her whole life.

Patron: Bodily ills; illness; Lourdes, France; people ridiculed for their piety; poverty; shepherdesses; shepherds; sick people; sickness.

Symbols: Young girl kneeling in front of a grotto, before the Blessed Virgin ("The Immaculate Conception") who wears a white dress, blue belt, and a rose on each foot. Bernadette is sometimes pictured after she received the habit.

St. Benedict Joseph Labre
Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, born on March 26, 1748 in northern France, exemplifies a very particular kind of holiness found in both East and West. He was a wanderer who prayed ceaselessly, a pilgrim walking from one holy place to another, a fool for Christ.

As a young man, Benedict Joseph made a number of unsuccessful attempts at monastic life. He tried his vocation with the Trappists, with the Cistercians, and with the Carthusians, but, in every instance, after a few months or a few weeks, he was rejected as being unsuitable. Benedict Joseph was endearing in his own way. He was a gentle young man, tortured by scruples of conscience, and sensitive. He was completely honest, humble, candid, and open. He was cheerful. But, for all of that, he was a misfit. There was an oddness about him. He was drawn irresistibly to monastic life and, at the same time, rejected from every monastery in which he tried his vocation.

When he was twenty-two years old, Benedict Joseph left the Abbey of Sept-Fons, still wearing his Cistercian novice's habit, with a rosary around his neck, and a knapsack on his back. His only possessions, apart from the clothes he wore, were his two precious rosaries, a New Testament, a Breviary for reciting the Divine Office, and The Imitation of Christ.

Walking all the way to Rome, begging as he went, he became a consecrated vagabond, a pilgrim vowed to ceaseless prayer. He walked from one shrine to another, visiting the Holy House of Loreto, Assisi, Naples, and Bari in Italy. He made his way to Einsiedeln in Switzerland, to Paray-le-Monial in France, and to Compostela in Spain. He lived on whatever people would give him, and readily shared what little he had. He observed silence, praying constantly. He was mocked, abused, and treated like a madman. Cruel children pelted him with garbage and stones.

After 1774, apart from an annual pilgrimage to the Madonna at the Holy House of Loreto, Benedict Joseph remained in the Eternal City. At night he would sleep in the Colosseum. During the day he would seek out those churches where the Forty Hours Devotion was being held, so as to be able to adore the Blessed Sacrament exposed. So striking was his love for the Blessed Sacrament that the Romans came to call him "the beggar of Perpetual Adoration." He was graced with a profound recollection in church. More than once he was observed in ecstasy, ravished into the love of God and shining with an unearthly light. It was on one of these occasions that the artist Antonio Cavallucci painted the beautiful portrait of Saint Benedict Joseph that allows us, even today, to see his handsome face illumined by union with God.

On April 16, 1783 Benedict Joseph collapsed on the steps of the Church of Santa Maria dei Monti. It was the Wednesday of Holy Week. He was carried to a neighbouring house where he received the last sacraments, and died. He was thirty-five years old. No sooner did news of his death reach the streets than a huge throng gathered crying, "È morto il santo! -- The saint is dead!" Benedict Joseph was buried beneath the altar in a side chapel of Santa Maria dei Monti. I have gone there to pray, and knelt before the life-sized sculpture in marble that depicts him in the repose of a holy death.

Benedict Joseph Labre was dead but a few months when more than 136 miraculous healings were attributed to his intercession. Present in Rome at the time of his funeral was an American Protestant clergyman from Boston, The Reverend John Thayer. The experience of Benedict Joseph's holy death converted Thayer. He was received into the Catholic Church, ordained to the priesthood, and died in Limerick, Ireland in 1815.

Excerpted from Vultus Christi

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Acts 7:51–8:1

3rd Week of Easter

I see the heavens opened. (Acts 7:56)

The presence of God was so familiar to Stephen that even in the face of a crowd’s murderous rage, he could see him enthroned in heaven. How could he do that? Put simply, Stephen had cultivated a relationship with God. He knew what it felt like to be in his presence and how to “see” him in his heart. So when the moment of crisis came, the reality and the glory of God were as real to Stephen as the fury of the mob getting ready to stone him.

The promise of the Christian life is that we can all know the presence of God. We can all come to see him in our prayer and in our moments of crisis. It may take time and persistence to come to the point Stephen had reached, but any one of us can do this. Here’s how.

Begin by tying to quiet yourself down—physically, mentally, and emotionally. Find a quiet, comfortable place to pray. Clear your mind of any thoughts about whatever you may “need” to do. Try to clear your emotions of anger, fear, unforgiveness, or the like. If you need to, make a list of those things, and put it aside. You can always go back to them later.

Next, call to mind a story from Scripture, maybe one with Jesus in it. Use your imagination to picture what the story describes. Then place yourself in that scene, and talk to Jesus about it. Ask him questions, if any come to mind. Let him teach you about what’s important to him, or how the story applies to your life. Pay attention to the thoughts that go through your mind—especially the ones that give you peace. They aren’t random or unconnected! After all, you’re spending time with God. Of course he is going to speak to you!

Finally, write down the thoughts that occur to you, without comment or question. Later, you can go back and check them against Scripture and the teachings and traditions of the Church. In that way, too, you ensure you heard correctly, reinforcing the truth of what the Lord said; you might also open future avenues of conversation with the Lord.

“Father, I want to know you. I want to feel your presence and see what you are doing. Help me to rest in you.”

Psalm 31:3-4, 6-8, 17, 21; John 6:30-35

Marriage = One Man and One Woman

Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for April 16, 2013:

(Especially for newly marrieds) The early years are usually full of adjustments and new traditions. Are there any customs from your families of origin (such as how you celebrate Christmas or how you vacation) that you need to let go of?

John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 6
30.	They said therefore to him: What sign therefore dost thou shew, that we may see, and may believe thee? What dost thou work?	Dixerunt ergo ei : Quod ergo tu facis signum ut videamus et credamus tibi ? quid operaris ?	ειπον ουν αυτω τι ουν ποιεις συ σημειον ινα ιδωμεν και πιστευσωμεν σοι τι εργαζη
31.	Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.	Patres nostri manducaverunt manna in deserto, sicut scriptum est : Panem de cælo dedit eis manducare.	οι πατερες ημων το μαννα εφαγον εν τη ερημω καθως εστιν γεγραμμενον αρτον εκ του ουρανου εδωκεν αυτοις φαγειν
32.	Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you; Moses gave you not bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.	Dixit ergo eis Jesus : Amen, amen dico vobis : non Moyses dedit vobis panem de cælo, sed Pater meus dat vobis panem de cælo verum.	ειπεν ουν αυτοις ο ιησους αμην αμην λεγω υμιν ου μωυσης δεδωκεν υμιν τον αρτον εκ του ουρανου αλλ ο πατηρ μου διδωσιν υμιν τον αρτον εκ του ουρανου τον αληθινον
33.	For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world.	Panis enim Dei est, qui de cælo descendit, et dat vitam mundo.	ο γαρ αρτος του θεου εστιν ο καταβαινων εκ του ουρανου και ζωην διδους τω κοσμω
34.	They said therefore unto him: Lord, give us always this bread.	Dixerunt ergo ad eum : Domine, semper da nobis panem hunc.	ειπον ουν προς αυτον κυριε παντοτε δος ημιν τον αρτον τουτον
35.	And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst.	Dixit autem eis Jesus : Ego sum panis vitæ : qui venit ad me, non esuriet, et qui credit in me, non sitiet umquam.	ειπεν δε αυτοις ο ιησους εγω ειμι ο αρτος της ζωης ο ερχομενος προς με ου μη πειναση και ο πιστευων εις εμε ου μη διψηση πωποτε

30. They said therefore to him, What sign show you then, that we may see, and believe you? what do you work?
31. Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
32. Then said Jesus to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
33. For the bread of God is he which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.
34. Then said they to him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

AUG. To eat then that meat which endures to everlasting life, is to believe in Him. Why do you make ready your tooth and your belly? Only believe, and you have eaten already. As He called on them to believe, they still asked for miracles whereby to believe; They said therefore to Him, What sign show you then, that we may see and believe You? What do you work?

CHRYS. Nothing can be more unreasonable than their asking for another miracle, as if none had been given already. And they do not even leave the choice of the miracle to our Lord; but would oblige Him to give them just that sign, which was given to their fathers: Our fathers did eat manna in the desert.

ALCUIN. And to exalt the miracle of the manna they quote the Psalm, As it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

CHRYS. Whereas many miracles were performed in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert, they remembered this one the best of any. Such is the force of appetite. They do not mention this miracle as the work either of God, or of Moses, in order to avoid raising Him on the one hand to an equality with God, or lowering Him on the other by a comparison with Moses; but they take a middle ground, only saying, Our fathers did eat manna in the desert.

AUG. Or thus; Our Lord sets Himself above Moses, who did not dare to say that He gave the meat which perishes not. The multitude therefore remembering what Moses had done, and wishing for some greater miracle, say, as it were, you promise the meat which perishes not, and does not works equal to those Moses did. He gave us not barley loaves, but manna from heaven.

CHRYS. Our Lord might have replied, that He had done miracles greater than Moses: but it was not the time for such a declaration. One thing He desired, viz. to bring them to taste the spiritual meat: then Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. Did not the manna come from heaven? True, but in what sense did it? The same in which the birds are called, the birds of heaven; and just as it is said in the Psalm, The Lord thundered out of heaven. He calls it the true bread, not because the miracle of the manna was false, but because it was the figure, not the reality. He does not say too, Moses gave it you not, but I: but He puts God for Moses, Himself for the manna.

AUG. As if He said, That manna was the type of this food, of which I just now spoke; and which all my. miracles refer to. You like my miracles, you despise what is signified by them. This bread which God gives, and which this manna represented, is the Lord Jesus Christ, as we read next, For the bread of God is He which comes down from hearer, and gives life to the world.

BEDE. Not to the physical world, but to men, its inhabitants.

THEOPHYL. He calls Himself the true bread, because the only-begotten Son of God, made man, was principally signified by the manna. For manna means literally, what is this? The Israelites were astonished at first on finding it, and asked one another what it was. And the Son of God, made man, is in an especial sense this mysterious manna, which we ask about, saying, What is this? How can the Son of God be the Son of man? How can one person consist of two natures?

ALCUIN. Who by the humanity, which was assumed, came down from heaven, and by the divinity, which assumed it, gives life to the world.

THEOPHYL. But this bread, being essentially life, (for He is the Son of the living Father,) in quickening all things, does but what is natural to Him to do. For as natural bread supports our weak flesh, so Christ, by the operations of the Spirit, gives life to the soul; and even incorruption to the body, (for at the resurrection the body will be made incorruptible.) Wherefore He says, that He gives life to the world.

CHRYS. Not only to the Jews, but to the whole world. The multitude, however, still attached a low meaning to His words: Then said they to Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. They say, Give us this bread, not, Ask Your Father to give it us: whereas He had said that His Father gave this bread.

AUG. As the woman of Samaria, when our Lord told her, Whosoever drinks of this water shall never thirst, thought He meant natural water, and said, Sir, give me this water, that she might never be in want of it again: in the same way these say, Give us this bread, which refreshes, supports, and fails not.

35. And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes in me shall never thirst.

CHRYS. Our Lord now proceeds to set forth mysteries; and first speaks of His Divinity: And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He does not say this of His body, for He speaks of that at the end; The bread that I will give you is My flesh. Here He is speaking of His Divinity. The flesh is bread, by virtue of the Word; this bread is heavenly bread, on account of the Spirit which dwells in it.

THEOPHYL. He does not say, I am the bread of nourishment, but of life, for, whereas all things brought death, Christ has quickened us by Himself. But the life here, is not our common life, but that which is not cut short by death: He that comes to Me shall never hunger; and, He that believes in Me shall never thirst.

AUG. He that comes to Me, i.e. that believes in Me, shall never hunger, has the same meaning as shall never thirst; both signifying that eternal society, where there is no want.

THEOPHYL. Or, shall never hunger or thirst, i.e. shall never be wearied of hearing the word of God, and shall never thirst as to the understanding: as though He had not the water of baptism, and the sanctification of the Spirit.

Catena Aurea John 6

The Institution of the Eucharist

Joos van Wassenhove

1473-75
Oil on wood, 331 x 335 cm
Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino

Beautiful rendering of the Institution of the Holy Eucharist.

Litany of the Saints
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3iu9bwEfl4

Regnum Christi

The Unbearable Sign

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

Father Daniel Ray, LC

John 6: 30-35

The crowd said to Jesus, "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.´" So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." So they said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are present here and now as I turn to you in prayer. I trust and have confidence in your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank you for your love, thank you for your immense generosity toward me. I give you my life and my love in return.

Petition: Lord, increase my faith in you and in your Eucharistic presence.

1. God Sets the Table: For the Israelites in the time of Exodus, the manna from heaven was a saving gift. It descended daily from heaven so that they would not starve on the journey, but be sustained and strengthened to be able to reach the Promised Land. The passage through the desert was arduous and long, but every morning there was enough manna to collect and sustain them well for that day. The true bread from heaven that the Father gives us—Christ in the Eucharist—does just the same for our souls: It nourishes us that we might not starve here, where spiritual food is scarce. It sustains and strengthens us, so we will be able to reach our eternal promised land.

2. In the Church we are Truly Fed: Those with no hunger need no bread, so they do not ask for it. Those who are hungry make or buy the bread they need. However, every man hungers in his soul for a bread that he cannot produce on his own and that no one can make for him. His only recourse to receive this sustenance is humbly to ask the only one capable of giving it; he must come before the Lord with open hands and an open heart. “Sir, give us this bread always.” It is a bread both from eternity and for eternity. It satisfies our deepest hunger. But the “bread from heaven” is no bread made by human hands. Christ can give himself only to those who recognize their need for him and who ask, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

3. Beyond Our Wildest Dreams: Could anyone have dreamt that God would descend among us as a man? Could anyone have imagined that he would descend further still to be our bread? Is there anything left that he would not do for us? To receive this unimaginable gift of his bread requires two things: “Whoever comes to me…” and “Whoever believes in me….” Coming to Christ requires moving—getting up from where we are, going to where he is, letting go of whatever our hands clench, and turning our palms up to be filled with his gifts. To believe in Christ is to place our faith and confidence in him. It is to take him at his word and to accept in awe the truth of his real presence in the Eucharist.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, your real presence in the Eucharist is something I need to believe more with my heart. I do believe that with your bread I will never hunger and that with faith in you I will never thirst. Help me to grow in faith in your Real Presence. I know you will lead me to love you more through this precious gift of yourself.

Resolution: I will stop by a Catholic church to spend a few moments with Christ in the Eucharist, speaking with him, asking for a stronger faith in him.

What Am I Hungry For?

by CE Editor on April 16, 2013 ·

1) Opening prayer

Lord our God, generous Father,
you have given us your Son Jesus
that we may relive with him and like him
his passion and his resurrection.Through Jesus, give us the courage
to place ourselves into your hands
in the trials of life and in death,
that one day we may see your glory
and at your right hand your Son Jesus Christ,
who lives with you for ever.

2) Gospel Reading – John 6,30-35

So they said, ‘What sign will you yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe in you? What work will you do? Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’
Jesus answered them: In all truth I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread; for the bread of God is the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
‘Sir,’ they said, ‘give us that bread always.’ Jesus answered them: I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who believes in me will ever thirst.

3) Reflection

• The Discourse of the Bread of Life is not a text to be discussed and dissected, but rather it should be meditated and pondered. This is why, even if it is not fully understood, we should not be concerned. This text of the Bread of Life demands a whole life to meditate on it and deepen it. Such a text, people have to read it, meditate it, pray it, think about it, read it again, repeat it and ponder it, as one does with a good sweet in the mouth. We turn it and turn it in the mouth until it is finished. The one, who reads the Fourth Gospel superficially, may have the impression that John always repeats the same thing. Reading it more attentively, one becomes aware that it is not a question of repetition. The author of the fourth Gospel has his own way of repeating the same theme, but always at a higher and more profound level. It seems to be like a winding staircase. By turning one reaches the same place, but always at a higher level or a more profound one.
• John 6, 30-33: What sign will you yourself do, the sign which will make us believe in you? People had asked: What should we do to carry out the work of God? Jesus responds: “The work of God is to believe in the one who has sent”, that is to believe in Jesus. This is why people formulate the new question: “Which sign do you do so that we can see and can believe? Which work do you do?” This means that they did not understand the multiplication of the loaves as a sign from God to legitimize Jesus before the people, as the one sent by God! They continue to argue: In the past our fathers ate the manna which Moses gave them! They called it “bread from Heaven” (Ws 16, 20), that is, “bread of God”. Moses continues to be the great leader in whom to believe. If Jesus wants the people to believe in him, he should work a greater sign than Moses. “What work do you do?”
• Jesus responds that the bread given by Moses was not the true bread from heaven. Coming from on high, yes, but it was not the bread of God, because it did not guarantee life to any one. All of them died in the desert (Jn 6, 49). The true bread of heaven, the bread of God, is the one which conquers death and gives life! It is the one which descends from Heaven and gives life to the world. It is Jesus himself! Jesus tries to help the people to liberate themselves from the way of thinking of the past. For him, fidelity to the past does not mean to close up oneself in the ancient things and not accept renewal. Fidelity to the past means to accept the novelty which comes as the fruit of the seed which was planted in the past.
• John 6, 34-35: Lord, gives us always of that bread! Jesus answers clearly: “I am the bread of life!” To eat the bread of heaven is the same as to believe in Jesus and accept to follow the road that he teaches us, that is: “My food is to do the will of the one who has sent me and to complete his work!” (Jn 4, 34). This is the true food which nourishes the person, which transforms life and gives new life. This last verse of today’s Gospel (Jn 6, 35) will be taken back as the first verse of tomorrow’s Gospel (Jn 6, 35-40)

4) Personal questions

• Hungry for bread, hungry for God. Which of these two predominates in me?
• Jesus says: “I am the bread of life”. He takes away hunger and thirst. Which of these experiences do I have in my life?

5) Concluding Prayer

Lord turn your ear to me, make haste.
Be for me a rock-fastness,
a fortified citadel to save me.
You are my rock, my rampart;
true to your name, lead me and guide me! (Ps 31,1-2)

This reflection is thanks to the good Carmelites at ocarm.org

One Bread, One Body

<< Tuesday, April 16, 2013 >>

Acts 7:51—8:1
View Readings

Psalm 31:3-4, 6-8, 17, 21

John 6:30-35

LOOK-ALIKES?

"Stephen meanwhile, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked to the sky above and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand." —Acts 7:55

Stephen was surrounded by a "stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears" (Acts 7:51). These people had always opposed the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51) and could not be expected to respond in a godly way to Stephen's challenging speech. Stephen was well aware of this, but he did not tone down or mince his words. Stephen came on strong, and "those who listened to his words were stung to the heart; they ground their teeth in anger at him" (Acts 7:54). "The onlookers were shouting aloud, holding their hands over their ears as they did so. Then they rushed at him as one man, dragged him out of the city, and began to stone him" (Acts 7:57-58). "With that he died" (Acts 7:60).

Stephen, the first martyr, was not naive. He had an exceptional wisdom (Acts 6:10). Stephen was not a victim of circumstances. He knew what he was getting into. He risked and gave his life to be like Jesus. Stephen was courageous. He knew that Jesus had died violently to give us salvation, and Stephen was willing to imitate Him. Stephen was obedient. Like any human being, Stephen didn't want to die a violent and painful death. Like Jesus, however, Stephen said to God the Father: "Not my will, but Yours be done" (Mt 26:39, our transl.). Stephen was loving. Stephen, like Jesus (Lk 23:34), even forgave His murderers (Acts 7:60).

Stephen was like Jesus. How about you? "If we have been united with Him through likeness to His death, so shall we be through a like resurrection" (Rm 6:5).

Prayer: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59).

Promise: "I Myself am the Bread of Life. No one who comes to Me shall ever be hungry, no one who believes in Me shall ever thirst." —Jn 6:35

Praise: Laura repented of lethargy and sloth and is now filled with a supernatural energy to serve God's people.

St. Joseph, guardian of the Infant Jesus, we pray, PROTECT THE UNBORN!

Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus,

Guido Reni (c. 1635)

Daily Gospel Commentary

Tuesday of the Third week of Easter

Commentary of the day
Blessed Jan van Ruusbroec (1293-1381), Canon Regular
A Mirror of eternal blessedness (©Classics of Western spirituality)

"Give us this bread always"

The first of sign of love teaches us that Christ gave his flesh to be our soul's food and his blood to be our soul's drink. Such a marvel of love had never been heard of in previous times. Now it is the nature of love always to give and to take, to love and to be loved; these two aspects are found in everyone who loves. Christ's love is both avid and generous. He gives us all that he has and all that he is, he also takes from us all that we have and all that we are...

His hunger is incomparably great... The more willingly we grant it, the more does he savor us. No matter how much of us he consumes, he cannot be satisfied, for he... has an unquenchable appetite. Even though we are poor, that does not matter to him, for he does not wish to leave us. First of all, he prepares his food by burning all our sins and transgressions. Then, when we have been purified and roasted in the fire of love, he opens his mouth wide... for by consuming our sinful life he wishes to transform it into his own life, which is full of the grace and glory which he keeps always ready for us if only we are willing to deny ourselves and renounce our sinful ways (cf. Mt 16,24)... Although these words of mine sound strange, those who love know what I mean... He gives us himself in return, together with a spiritual hunger and thirst which make us want to savor him eternally.

To satisfy our spiritual hunger and heartfelt affection, he gives us his body as our food, and when we eat and consume it with fervent devotion, his glorious, warm blood flows from his body into our human nature and into all our veins. In this way we become inflamed with love and heartfelt affection for him, and our body and soul become thoroughly flooded with longing and spiritual savor. He thus gives us his life full of wisdom, truth, and instruction, so that we might follow him in all the virtues. He then lives in us and we in him.

April 16, 2013

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

Reading 1 Acts 7:51—8:1a

Responsorial Psalm PS 31:3cd-4, 6 and 7b and 8a, 17 and 21ab

Gospel Jn 6:30-35

St. Benedict Joseph Labre

Daily Readings for: April 16, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

RECIPES

ACTIVITIES

PRAYERS

LIBRARY

Easter: April 16th

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

Meditation: Acts 7:51–8:1

What Am I Hungry For?

One Bread, One Body

LOOK-ALIKES?

Tuesday of the Third week of Easter

April 16, 2013

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

Reading 1 Acts 7:51—8:1a

Responsorial Psalm PS 31:3cd-4, 6 and 7b and 8a, 17 and 21ab

Gospel Jn 6:30-35

St. Benedict Joseph Labre

Daily Readings for: April 16, 2013(Readings on USCCB website)

RECIPES

ACTIVITIES

PRAYERS

LIBRARY

Easter: April 16th

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

Meditation: Acts 7:51–8:1

What Am I Hungry For?

One Bread, One Body

LOOK-ALIKES?

Tuesday of the Third week of Easter

Daily Readings for: April 16, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)