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Posted on 03/30/2014 7:18:34 PM PDT by Salvation
March 31, 2014
Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Reading 1 Is 65:17-21
Thus says the LORD:
Lo, I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
The things of the past shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness
in what I create;
For I create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight;
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and exult in my people.
No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there,
or the sound of crying;
No longer shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not round out his full lifetime;
He dies a mere youth who reaches but a hundred years,
and he who fails of a hundred shall be thought accursed.
They shall live in the houses they build,
and eat the fruit of the vineyards they plant.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b
R. (2a) I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world;
you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
“Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;
O LORD, be my helper.”
You changed my mourning into dancing;
O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Gospel Jn 4:43-54
At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee.
For Jesus himself testified
that a prophet has no honor in his native place.
When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him,
since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast;
for they themselves had gone to the feast.
Then he returned to Cana in Galilee,
where he had made the water wine.
Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,
he went to him and asked him to come down
and heal his son, who was near death.
Jesus said to him,
“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
The royal official said to him,
“Sir, come down before my child dies.”
Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.
While the man was on his way back,
his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live.
He asked them when he began to recover.
They told him,
“The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.”
The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him,
“Your son will live,”
and he and his whole household came to believe.
Now this was the second sign Jesus did
when he came to Galilee from Judea.
| Monday, March 31, 2014 Lenten Weekday |
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Just A Minute (Listen) Some of EWTN's most popular hosts and guests in a collection of one minute inspirational messages. A different message each time you click. |
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The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.
Amen. |
Blessed Joan of Toulouse
Feast Day: March 31
Died: 1286
In 1240, a few Carmelite brothers from Palestine started a monastery in Toulouse, France. The great Carmelite priest, St. Simon Stock, visited Toulouse twenty-five years later. A good and devout woman asked to see him. She introduced herself simply as Joan.
She earnestly asked the priest if she could join the Carmelite order as an associate. St. Simon Stock who was the head of the order agreed and granted Joan’s request. Joan became the first lay associate. She received the habit of the Carmelite order and in the presence of St. Simon Stock, Joan made a promise to always be chaste and pure.
Joan continued her quiet, simple life in her own home. She tried to be as faithful as possible to the rules of the Carmelites for the rest of her life. Joan went to daily Mass and devotions at the Carmelite church.
She spent the rest of the day visiting the poor, the sick and the lonely. She trained the altar boys. She helped the elderly and those who were weak and frail by performing useful tasks and running errands for them. Joan prayed with them and brightened many lives with her cheerful conversations.
Blessed Joan carried a picture of the crucified Jesus in her pocket. That was her "book." Every now and then, she would pull out the picture and gaze at it. Her eyes would light up. People said that Joan read some new and wonderful lesson every time she studied the picture.
Reflection: Do what you can to cheer someone today. You too in your own small way can help brighten lives.
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Why do we believe in the resurrection of the dead?
We believe in the resurrection of the dead because Christ rose from the dead, lives forever, and causes us to share in this eternal life.
When someone dies, his body is buried or cremated. Nevertheless, we believe that there is a life after death for that person. In his Resurrection, Jesus showed that he is Lord over death; his word is trustworthy: "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live" (Jn 11:25b).
Why do we believe in the resurrection of the "body"?
In Jesus Christ, God himself took on "flesh" (Incarnation) in order to redeem mankind. The biblical word "flesh" characterizes man in his weakness and mortality. Nevertheless, God does not regard human flesh as something inferior. God does not redeem man's spirit only; he redeems him entirely, body and soul.
God created us with a body (flesh) and a soul. At the end of the world he does not drop the "flesh" like an old toy. On the "Last Day" he will remake all creation and raise us up in the flesh - this means that we will be transformed but still experience ourselves in our element. For Jesus, too, being in the flesh was not just a phase. When the risen Lord showed himself, the disciples saw the wounds on his body. (YOUCAT questions 152-153)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (988-991) and other references here.
Part 1: The Profession of Faith (26 - 1065)
Section 2: The Profession of the Christian Faith (185 - 1065)
Chapter 3: I Believe in the Holy Spirit (683 - 1065)
Article 11: "I believe in the resurrection of the dead" (988 - 1019)
The Christian Creed — the profession of our faith in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and in God's creative, saving, and sanctifying action — culminates in the proclamation of the resurrection of the dead on the last day and in life everlasting.
We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives for ever, so after death the righteous will live for ever with the risen Christ and he will raise them up on the last day.534 Our resurrection, like his own, will be the work of the Most Holy Trinity: If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.535
534.
Cf. Jn 6:39-40.
535.
Rom 8:11; cf. 1 Thes 4:14; 1 Cor 6:14; 2 Cor 4:14; Phil 3:10-11.
The term "flesh" refers to man in his state of weakness and mortality.536 The "resurrection of the flesh" (the literal formulation of the Apostles' Creed) means not only that the immortal soul will live on after death, but that even our "mortal body" will come to life again.537
536.
Cf. Gen 6:3; Ps 56:5; Isa 40:6.
537.
Belief in the resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the Christian faith from its beginnings. "The confidence of Christians is the resurrection of the dead; believing this we live."538 How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ... But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.539
538.
Tertullian, De res. 1,1:PL 2,841.
539.
Daily Readings for:March 31, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: O God, who renew the world through mysteries beyond all telling, grant, we pray, that your Church may be guided by your eternal design. 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
ACTIVITIES
o Importance of Liturgy during Lent
o Lent Hymn: Open, O Hard and Sinful Heart!
PRAYERS
o Prayer for the Fourth Week of Lent
o Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Lent (2nd Plan)
· Lent: March 31st
· Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Like the Pharisees we are quick to condemn the faults of others, often as a means of justifying ourselves. We cannot expect Christ to approve self-righteous indignation at our neighbor's weakness. He gives us the example of prudent silence and the incontrovertible principle: "He that is without sin . . . let him first cast a stone." In the face of these words and the consciousness of our own sinfulness, do we dare to condemn another? We have need to remember that only God can read the heart of man and that He alone can judge the guilt or merit of an action.
Meditation
As Jesus neared the end of His public life, the opposition of the Jewish leaders became more violent and their desire to kill Him more determined. Our Lord, however, continued to teach in the temple, where large crowds came to hear Him. The admiration of the people intensified the hatred of the priests, and they planned to ensnare Jesus in His speech that they might have grounds for condemnation. While His enemies plotted His downfall, Our Lord spent the night in prayer on the Mount of Olives.
The contrast between the character of Christ and that of His enemies could not be more pronounced. Yielding to base passion, they were openly seeking the death of the Messiah. Jesus, on the contrary, in the spirit of generous charity, was spending His days in teaching and His nights in prayer. Does our conduct in difficult circumstances resemble that of Christ? When we are unjustly accused, criticized, or condemned, do we calmly continue our work and have recourse to God in prayer? Perhaps we seek vengeance upon those who oppose us by wishing them evil or persuading others to despise and condemn them. Let us leave our reputation in the hands of God and imitate Christ's efforts to benefit those who hated and condemned Him.
"The Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid?"
Excerpted from "Liturgical Reflections", Sisters of St. Dominic
Things to Do:
The Station is in the venerable church of the Four Crowned (brothers); their names are, Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorinus; they suffered martyrdom under the persecution of Diocletian. Their bodies, as also the head of the great martyr St. Sebastian, are among the relics of this church.
4th Week of Lent
Shout for joy… . I will rejoice in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 65:14, 19)
Lent is a serious season. It’s a time to take a long, hard look at our sins and resolve to set them aside. It’s a time for the discipline of extra prayer, sacrifice, and generosity.
Lent may be a serious time, but it doesn’t have to be a gloomy time. Let’s not forget the goal of the season. Lent isn’t about punishing ourselves and denying ourselves. The purpose of Lent is to get ready to celebrate Easter as fully as possible, in the company of all the catechumens who are preparing for Baptism. The only reason to die to our sins is so that we can enter into the victory and gladness of Jesus’ resurrection. That’s what Lent is all about!
Perhaps the best way to sum up Lent is with a passage from Scripture: “For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2).
We pray more so that we can be more fully united with the Lord who loves us completely. We let go of lesser things so that we can open our hands to receive the abundant, eternal life that he offers us. We give of ourselves to serve people in need so that we can bring them along with us as we journey toward the kingdom that has no end.
The prophet in today’s first reading reminds us that God is doing something new. He is creating new heavens and a new earth. In fact, God is already rejoicing in the work he is doing—in the transformation he is working in his people. What’s more, he is inviting us to rejoice with him, to “shout for joy” because we too can be transformed by his grace and power (Isaiah 65:14).
Perhaps your Lent is feeling heavy about now. It’s hard to keep up those good intentions. You may feel that you’re not making enough headway against ingrained habits. The people you are trying to serve don’t seem to appreciate your efforts. It’s hard to believe that God is at work in you and around you.
Lift your head and look up! Ask the Spirit to help you lighten up and keep the glorious goal in mind. Failure and disappointment, sin and death, do not have the last word, because Easter is coming!
“Spirit of God, help me keep my eyes on the joy you have set before me.”
Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13; John 4:43-54
Daily Marriage Tip for March 31, 2014:
Lent is a time of penance and purification but we needn’t walk around with sour faces. Do something foolish on April Fools Day tomorrow. Healthy families laugh together. Does your family have any running jokes?
| The Royal Official’s Request for a Miracle | ||
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Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
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John 4:43-54 At that time Jesus left Samaria for Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast. Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe." The royal official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." Jesus said to him, "You may go; your son will live." The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. While he was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, "The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon." The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live," and he and his whole household came to believe. Now this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea. Introductory Prayer: Father, I come before you with faith, hope and love. I will give my best effort to be attentive to your grace and inspiration during this time of prayer. Petition: Lord, help me to have greater fortitude and faith. 1. No Prophet Has Honor in His Native Place: Pay careful attention to how St. John the Evangelist introduced this saying of Jesus. “At that time Jesus left Samaria for Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place.” If Jesus knew there were no honors awaiting him in Galilee, why not go somewhere where the reception would be better? Jesus is trying to give us an example: he is not interested in “honor”, but rather in carrying out the mission. He is the Prophet par excellence. He himself is the message the Father has for humanity, and personal considerations will not keep him from his appointed task. We must be committed in our own personal mission, whether or not we can expect to be honored, or even appreciated. Our purity of intention is a good thermometer for following Christ. 2. Signs and Wonders: Jesus does the miracle, but not without reminding everyone that true faith cannot simply be based on “signs and wonders.” Why is this? Perhaps what Jesus is criticizing is the jaded religious outlook that can experience the presence of the divine only in the spectacular, while failing to perceive it in the quiet and small ways that God makes his presence known. With deeper faith, we can see God all around us. That beautiful sunset – isn’t it a masterpiece of God’s creative power on display? The unexpected apology – wasn’t that the working of grace? That helping hand stretched out to us just when we needed it – wasn’t that Christ in our midst? The person whose faith doesn’t need “signs and wonders” is precisely the person who sees so many more signs and wonders – the everyday, loving presence of the Lord.
3. “He and His Whole Household Came to Believe.” No grace given is strictly personal, just between “me and Jesus.” Everything is meant to radiate beyond the individual to build up the entire body of Christ. The royal official received the miracle he requested, but afterwards it wasn’t simply a return to business as usual, now that his son was back in action. Indeed, the healing was the occasion for something far bigger: “His whole household came to believe.” This grace has borne abundant fruit. At the outset, our Lord had remarked about the lack of honor given to the native son-prophet. This entire family and household coming to faith is the confirmation that sacrificing honor is more than compensated by saving souls. Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, what joy this family’s conversion must have given to your heart! Their faith was a marvelous sign of the efficacy of your grace. Help me to have greater faith, to see you present in the small and big things of life, and to draw others closer to you. Resolution: Like the royal official, I want to help my family to have a deeper faith. I will bring up a spiritual topic at family dinner and try to encourage a more faith-filled perspective |
March 31, 2014
Jesus is the “YES” of the Father as we see in the Gospel of today. Regardless of the condition, even if he says that we do not believe in him unless we see signs and wonders, as soon as we ask him, he gives us what we ask for. His promise to us is that the Father will give us whatever we ask Him in the name of Jesus. No conditions asked. He will grant it! Do we believe? Do you believe in Jesus?
“Your son will live.” Jesus tells the court official. Rich or poor, Jesus cannot refuse when we ask him. His nature is always to give life. “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. So, if he says, “go,” let us go. Answered prayers. Jesus gives us a very simple formula to have answered prayers: BELIEVE IN JESUS.
Jesus challenges us to” BELIEVE IN HIM” even without signs and wonders, even before our answered prayers.
Language: English | Español
All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 2
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Openness to life is at the centre of true development. When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good. If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of a new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away.67 --Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas In Veritate
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| English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
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| 43. | Now after two days, he departed thence, and went into Galilee. | Post duos autem dies exiit inde, et abiit in Galilæam. | μετα δε τας δυο ημερας εξηλθεν εκειθεν και απηλθεν εις την γαλιλαιαν |
| 44. | For Jesus himself gave testimony that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. | Ipse enim Jesus testimonium perhibuit, quia propheta in sua patria honorem non habet. | αυτος γαρ ο ιησους εμαρτυρησεν οτι προφητης εν τη ιδια πατριδι τιμην ουκ εχει |
| 45. | And when he was come into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things he had done at Jerusalem on the festival day; for they also went to the festival day. | Cum ergo venisset in Galilæam, exceperunt eum Galilæi, cum omnia vidissent quæ fecerat Jerosolymis in die festo : et ipsi enim venerant ad diem festum. | οτε ουν ηλθεν εις την γαλιλαιαν εδεξαντο αυτον οι γαλιλαιοι παντα εωρακοτες α εποιησεν εν ιεροσολυμοις εν τη εορτη και αυτοι γαρ ηλθον εις την εορτην |
| 46. | He came again therefore into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain ruler, whose son was sick at Capharnaum. | Venit ergo iterum in Cana Galilææ, ubi fecit aquam vinum. Et erat quidam regulus, cujus filius infirmabatur Capharnaum. | ηλθεν ουν παλιν ο ιησους εις την κανα της γαλιλαιας οπου εποιησεν το υδωρ οινον και ην τις βασιλικος ου ο υιος ησθενει εν καπερναουμ |
| 47. | He having heard that Jesus was come from Judea into Galilee, went to him, and prayed him to come down, and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. | Hic cum audisset quia Jesus adveniret a Judæa in Galilæam, abiit ad eum, et rogabat eum ut descenderet, et sanaret filium ejus : incipiebat enim mori. | ουτος ακουσας οτι ιησους ηκει εκ της ιουδαιας εις την γαλιλαιαν απηλθεν προς αυτον και ηρωτα αυτον ινα καταβη και ιασηται αυτου τον υιον εμελλεν γαρ αποθνησκειν |
| 48. | Jesus therefore said to him: Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not. | Dixit ergo Jesus ad eum : Nisi signa et prodigia videritis, non creditis. | ειπεν ουν ο ιησους προς αυτον εαν μη σημεια και τερατα ιδητε ου μη πιστευσητε |
| 49. | The ruler saith to him: Lord, come down before that my son die. | Dicit ad eum regulus : Domine, descende priusquam moriatur filius meus. | λεγει προς αυτον ο βασιλικος κυριε καταβηθι πριν αποθανειν το παιδιον μου |
| 50. | Jesus saith to him: Go thy way; thy son liveth. The man believed the word which Jesus said to him, and went his way. | Dicit ei Jesus : Vade, filius tuus vivit. Credidit homo sermoni quem dixit ei Jesus, et ibat. | λεγει αυτω ο ιησους πορευου ο υιος σου ζη και επιστευσεν ο ανθρωπος τω λογω ω ειπεν αυτω ο ιησους και επορευετο |
| 51. | And as he was going down, his servants met him; and they brought word, saying, that his son lived. | Jam autem eo descendente, servi occurrerunt ei, et nuntiaverunt dicentes, quia filius ejus viveret. | ηδη δε αυτου καταβαινοντος οι δουλοι αυτου απηντησαν αυτω και απηγγειλαν λεγοντες οτι ο παις σου ζη |
| 52. | He asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better. And they said to him: Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him. | Interrogabat ergo horam ab eis in qua melius habuerit. Et dixerunt ei : Quia heri hora septima reliquit eum febris. | επυθετο ουν παρ αυτων την ωραν εν η κομψοτερον εσχεν και ειπον αυτω οτι χθες ωραν εβδομην αφηκεν αυτον ο πυρετος |
| 53. | The father therefore knew, that it was at the same hour that Jesus said to him, Thy son liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house. | Cognovit ergo pater, quia illa hora erat in qua dixit ei Jesus : Filius tuus vivit ; et credidit ipse et domus ejus tota. | εγνω ουν ο πατηρ οτι εν εκεινη τη ωρα εν η ειπεν αυτω ο ιησους οτι ο υιος σου ζη και επιστευσεν αυτος και η οικια αυτου ολη |
| 54. | This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judea into Galilee. | Hoc iterum secundum signum fecit Jesus, cum venisset a Judæa in Galilæam. | τουτο παλιν δευτερον σημειον εποιησεν ο ιησους ελθων εκ της ιουδαιας εις την γαλιλαιαν |
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