Posted on 05/13/2014 8:58:10 PM PDT by Salvation
May 14, 2014
Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle
Reading 1 Acts 1:15-17, 20-26
Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers and sisters
(there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons
in the one place).
He said, “My brothers and sisters,
the Scripture had to be fulfilled
which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand
through the mouth of David, concerning Judas,
who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.
Judas was numbered among us
and was allotted a share in this ministry.
For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
Let his encampment become desolate,
and may no one dwell in it.
and:
May another take his office.
Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men
who accompanied us the whole time
the Lord Jesus came and went among us,
beginning from the baptism of John
until the day on which he was taken up from us,
become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas,
who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.
Then they prayed,
“You, Lord, who know the hearts of all,
show which one of these two you have chosen
to take the place in this apostolic ministry
from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.”
Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias,
and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 113:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
R. (8) The Lord will give him a seat with the leaders of his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise, you servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
both now and forever.
R. The Lord will give him a seat with the leaders of his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
From the rising to the setting of the sun
is the name of the LORD to be praised.
High above all nations is the LORD;
above the heavens is his glory.
R. The Lord will give him a seat with the leaders of his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Who is like the LORD, our God, who is enthroned on high
and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
R. The Lord will give him a seat with the leaders of his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor
To seat them with princes,
with the princes of his own people.
R. The Lord will give him a seat with the leaders of his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel Jn 15:9-17
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.
“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”
Died: Colchis in 80
Patron of: alcoholism; carpenters; Gary, Indiana; Great Falls-Billings, Montana; smallpox; tailors
St. Matthias
Feast Day: May 14
Born: (around the time of Jesus) :: Died: 80 A.D
St. Matthias had been a follower of Jesus and was one of his seventy-two disciples. After the Lord's Resurrection, St. Peter asked the 120 people gathered in prayer to choose an apostle to replace Judas. This was very important because that man would be a bishop, as the other apostles were.
He said it should be someone who had been with Jesus from his baptism in the Jordan until the resurrection. The first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles explains that the group proposed two names. One was Matthias, the other, Joseph, called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus).
Both men were very good but they only needed one. So they prayed and asked God to reveal to them who the chosen one was. Then they cast lots and Matthias' name was chosen.
St. Matthias was a very good apostle. He preached the Good News in Judea. Then he went to Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey), Egypt and Ethiopia. Many people listened to Matthias and believed his wonderful message. The enemies of Jesus grew furious to see how people listened to Matthias. They decided to stop him and stoned him to death in Colchis. Matthias died a martyr for his faith in Jesus.
Reflection: We can ask St. Matthias to help us "announce to the world that Jesus of Nazareth is truly risen."
Wednesday, May 14
Liturgical Color: Red
St. Maria Mazzarello died on this day in
1881. With the help of St. Don Bosco,
she founded the Daughters of Mary Help
of Christians to care for girls. She was
known for the great compassion and love
given the girls entrusted to her charge.
Daily Readings for:May 14, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: O God, who assigned Saint Matthias a place in the college of Apostles, grant us, through his intercession, that, rejoicing at how your love has been allotted to us, we may merit to be numbered among the elect. 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 Family and Friends of Jesus Scrapbook Album
PRAYERS
o Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven)
LIBRARY
o Judas Iscariot and Matthias | Pope Benedict XVI
· Easter: May 14th
· Feast of St. Matthias, apostle and martyr
Old Calendar: St. Boniface, martyr
After the Ascension of Jesus, St. Peter proposed to the assembled faithful that they choose a disciple of Christ to fill the place of the traitor Judas in the first missionary band. Lots were drawn, with the result in favor of Matthias. According to one ancient tradition, this missioner labored in Ethiopia and was martyred there. Thus did St. Matthias receive "the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him." The Church venerates St. Matthias on an equal footing with the other Apostles, whose voices resound throughout the world, from generation to generation, giving testimony of what they saw and heard in their life with our Lord. His name is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass.
According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, St. Matthias' feast was celebrated on February 24 or 25. Today is the commemoration of St. Boniface who after a stormy youth, was converted to the Catholic faith, suffered numerous tortures, and was beheaded in 307.
St. Matthias
Mathias was one of the first to follow our Savior; and he was an eye-witness of all His divine actions up to the very day of the Ascension. He was one of the seventy-two disciples; but our Lord had not conferred upon him the dignity of an apostle. And yet, he was to have this great glory, for it was of him that David spoke, when he prophesied that another should take the bishopric left vacant by the apostasy of Judas the traitor. In the interval between Jesus' Ascension and the descent of the Holy Ghost, the apostolic college had to complete the mystic number fixed by our Lord Himself, so that there might be the twelve on that solemn day, when the Church, filled with the Holy Ghost, was to manifest herself to the Synagogue. The lot fell on Mathias; he shared with his brother-apostles the persecution in Jerusalem, and, when the time came for the ambassadors of Christ to separate, he set out for the countries allotted to him. Tradition tells us that these were Cappadocia and the provinces bordering on the Caspian Sea.
The virtues, labor, and sufferings of St. Mathias have not been handed down to us: this explains the lack of proper lessons on his life, such as we have for the feasts of the rest of the apostles. Clement of Alexandria records in his writings several sayings of our holy apostle. One of these is so very appropriate to the spirit of the present season, that we consider it a duty to quote it. 'It behooves us to combat the flesh, and make use of it, without pampering it by unlawful gratifications. As to the soul, we must develop her power by faith and knowledge.' How profound is the teaching contained in these few words! Sin has deranged the order which the Creator had established. It gave the outward man such a tendency to grovel in things which degrade him, that the only means left us for the restoration of the image and likeness of God unto which we were created, is the forcible subjection of the body to the spirit. But the spirit itself, that is, the soul, was also impaired by original sin, and her inclinations were made prone to evil; what is to be her protection? Faith and knowledge. Faith humbles her, and then exalts and rewards her; and the reward is knowledge.
— Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.
Symbols: Halbert; lance; carpenter's square; sword held by its point; axe; saw; scroll; scimitar and book; stone; battle axe; two stones; long cross; hatchet.
Patron: Alcoholism; carpenters; reformed alcoholics; smallpox; tailors; diocese of Gary; Indiana; diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Montana;
Things to Do:
St. Boniface
According to certain very unreliable "Acts", Boniface was a Roman citizen who for a time lived in sinful union with a noble woman named Aglae. Upon his conversion he determined to do penance by seeking the remains of martyrs and giving them honorable burial. At Tarsus he found many confessors about to be martyred for professing the faith; he kissed their chains and encouraged them to bear their sufferings courageously, assuring them that everlasting rest would follow a brief struggle. Finally he himself was taken captive, his body mangled with iron hooks, and boiling lead poured into his mouth. In spite of excruciating pain only one cry came from the lips of Boniface: "I thank You, Christ Jesus, Son of God!"
When Aglae, who in the meantime had likewise repented and was devoting herself to acts of virtue, was informed by an angel of the martyr's death, she hastened to inter the sacred remains in a church erected to his honor. His martyrdom took place on May 14 in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, during the reign of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian.
As a penance for his sins, Boniface sought out the remains of martyrs and provided honorable burial. Such an act of penance today would appear strange, even though motivated by love and contrition. And yet it was an act wholly pleasing to the Lord. This penitent became a martyr himself, and suffered the most excruciating torments during which he continuously repeated: "I thank You, Christ Jesus, Son of God!"
— Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Patron: Bachelors; converts.
Saint Matthias, Apostle
… a witness to his resurrection. (Acts 1:22)
“Everyone, stand up!” Peter called out. “I’m going to ask a series of questions. If your answer is yes, stay standing. If not, sit down. Is everyone ready? First, were you there when Jesus was baptized? What about when he fed the five thousand? Were you there when he healed the blind man?” And so the questions continued, as more and more people sat down. In the end, only two men remained standing.
While it probably didn’t look exactly like this, this passage describes the apostles searching for a person to take the place of Judas Iscariot. In the end, they asked the Lord to help them choose, and he picked Matthias.
So what was this new position about? When all was said and done, Matthias was called to be a witness—a witness to everything he had seen Jesus say and do.
You may not be called to be an apostle or an apostle’s successor, as your bishop is. But at the same time, God has called you to be a witness. He wants you to testify about what it’s like to walk with the Lord through all kinds of experiences, through tough times and times of blessing; through times of great joy, deep sorrow, and the everyday life in between. Maybe you have seen someone healed through prayer. Maybe you have had a particularly powerful experience of his presence. Or maybe you have run to him for wisdom or comfort in a challenging situation. No experience is too big or too small for you to share it.
Today is a good day to work on your witness. Take a few minutes to remember the special times of your journey with the Lord. Think about the way he is with you in ordinary situations. Recall the miracles you’ve seen him do in other people’s lives. No doubt, you have a story to tell.
Now, ask the Lord to bring to mind someone you can share your story with. It doesn’t have to be long or complicated. It just has to come from the heart. You never know how the Lord will use you to touch people and change their lives!
“Lord, give me courage to be your witness today!”
Psalm 113:1-8; John 15:9-17
HE WAS CHOSEN TO REPLACE JUDAS ISCARIOT [ACTS 1:15-17,20-26]]
MATTHIAS, whose feast we celebrate today, was chosen to replace Judas as a witness to Jesus resurrection (Acts 1:22). Matthias was chosen in part because he had been with Jesus from the start of His ministry and had stayed faithful to Him throughout His travels and preaching. Matthias saw the risen Christ ascend to the Father in heaven as well (Acts 1:21-22). As a result, he was considered a credible witness to the Gospel, one who could speak from firsthand experience about the Lord.
It is important to understand that all this happened before the miracle of Pentecost. After God poured out His Spirit, great apostles like Barnabas and Paul were raised up who had not been with Jesus during His ministry and did not see Him die and rise. What qualified them? Jesus promised His disciples that when the Holy Spirit came, He would bear witness about Him (John 15:26), bringing the reality of Jesus presence to life within them (John 14:23). The Holy Spirit, who came at Pentecost, revealed the risen Lord to them so powerfully that they could testify to His reality.
Even today, we can receive Jesus into our hearts in just as powerful a way. As God pours His love into us through the Spirit, Jesus comes to live within us, and we become His witnesses. We no longer just know about Jesus, we know Jesus and we are transformed. Jesus victory over death begins to open up to us the fullness of life that God intended for us from the beginning: a life marked by joy, hope, and confidence that we are His beloved children (Romans 8:16). We begin to live day by day, hour by hour, with Him. We no longer thing the same or act the same. We may not even look the same!
Let us now ask the Holy Spirit to show us the risen Lord with such power that we too are enabled to be witnesses to the Gospel. This is Gods glorious promise to us, an inheritance in which we can all partake.
Daily Marriage Tip for May 14, 2014:
Explore what made your beloved the person he/she is. What traits did he get from his parents? Who was the most influential person in your spouses life during childhood? Ask. Share.
Intimacy with God | ||
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Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle
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John 15:9-17 Jesus said to his disciples: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father´s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one´s life for one´s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another." Introductory Prayer: Lord, as I begin this prayer I offer you my whole self: my thoughts, desires, decisions, actions, hopes, fears, weaknesses, failures and petty successes. I open my entire being to you, aware that you know everything already. I’m certain of your mercy and of the purifying power of your penetrating, loving gaze. 1. The Greatest Love: Jesus makes a startling comparison: He likens his love for his disciples with the immense love his Father has for him. Before even the world came to be, the Father and the Son were immersed in boundless, mutual love. The Holy Spirit is this bond of love. The intimacy of the union and self-giving of the Blessed Trinity surpasses any human comparison, and yet Our Lord tells his disciples he loves them in a like manner. Do I realize how deeply my Savior loves me? Does the truth of Christ’s personal love for me, proven from the height of the cross, fill me with awe and find an ever more generous response in my spiritual life? 2. The Greatest Treasure: The circumstances and timing surrounding Jesus’ designation of his disciples as friends reiterates the authenticity of the title. Jesus is just a few hours away from being abandoned and betrayed by those he now calls friends. Still, Our Lord is so moved by love that he looks beyond his followers’ betrayal, to the victory he is about to win for them. Jesus also offers me his friendship. He invites me to “remain in his love.” I am not called to be a spectator, but to discover the joy found in accompanying him. To follow the “Crucified One” will always be demanding, but his friendship is a treasure which far surpasses the weight of the cross. 3. Written on Our Hearts: The mutual love of the Father and the Son, which Jesus gratuitously extends to us as his friends, should bear fruit in charity. The first Christians took very seriously Christ’s command of charity. It was their distinctive mark. It set them apart from the peoples among whom they lived. It was the magnetic force that attracted so many to join their ranks. The command to love each other is the logical result of our personal worth as people loved by the Lord. If Jesus loves my brother or sister so much that he gave his life for him or her, can there be any excuse for me not to show respect and deference on their behalf? Charity is the badge of every true Christian. How can I better live Christ’s commandment of love, starting within my own family? Conversation with Christ: Jesus, I pray that I will never cease to be astonished by the depths of your personal love for me. You call me your friend even though I have not always lived up to the demands of this calling. I want to be a better and truer friend of yours. Resolution: I will show a simple act of kindness to a member of my family today |
May 14, 2014
It is clear in this Gospel that the initiative of the adventure of love of God with us began with the Lord. He took the first step to choose us, and to go out and bear fruit and with fruit that will last. What is this fruit – it is LOVE. Unfortunately, this word is often used and abused by society. Love is a word that is loosely and often shouted, without knowing what love is really about. Christ describes love as the ability to lay down our own life for the other. To lay down our life means to lay down our plans, to lay down our ideas and projections and turn our full attention to the other. And the purpose of this love is to give glory to God who is the ultimate author of love. So that by this love, many people will be drawn to the Father, to believe that the Father exists and chooses us to be co-heirs of His Kingdom. The Father loved us first, by sending His only begotten Son and now we can inherit and share this love with others.
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John | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
John 15 |
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9. | As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. | Sicut dilexit me Pater, et ego dilexi vos. Manete in dilectione mea. | καθως ηγαπησεν με ο πατηρ καγω ηγαπησα υμας μεινατε εν τη αγαπη τη εμη |
10. | If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father's commandments, and do abide in his love. | Si præcepta mea servaveritis, manebitis in dilectione mea, sicut et ego Patris mei præcepta servavi, et maneo in ejus dilectione. | εαν τας εντολας μου τηρησητε μενειτε εν τη αγαπη μου καθως εγω τας εντολας του πατρος μου τετηρηκα και μενω αυτου εν τη αγαπη |
11. | These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled. | Hæc locutus sum vobis : ut gaudium meum in vobis sit, et gaudium vestrum impleatur. | ταυτα λελαληκα υμιν ινα η χαρα η εμη εν υμιν μεινη και η χαρα υμων πληρωθη |
12. | This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. | Hoc est præceptum meum, ut diligatis invicem, sicut dilexi vos. | αυτη εστιν η εντολη η εμη ινα αγαπατε αλληλους καθως ηγαπησα υμας |
13. | Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends. | Majorem hac dilectionem nemo habet, ut animam suam ponat qui pro amicis suis. | μειζονα ταυτης αγαπην ουδεις εχει ινα τις την ψυχην αυτου θη υπερ των φιλων αυτου |
14. | You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you. | Vos amici mei estis, si feceritis quæ ego præcipio vobis. | υμεις φιλοι μου εστε εαν ποιητε οσα εγω εντελλομαι υμιν |
15. | I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth. But I have called you friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you. | Jam non dicam vos servos : quia servus nescit quid faciat dominus ejus. Vos autem dixi amicos : quia omnia quæcumque audivi a Patre meo, nota feci vobis. | ουκετι υμας λεγω δουλους οτι ο δουλος ουκ οιδεν τι ποιει αυτου ο κυριος υμας δε ειρηκα φιλους οτι παντα α ηκουσα παρα του πατρος μου εγνωρισα υμιν |
16. | You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. | Non vos me elegistis, sed ego elegi vos, et posui vos ut eatis, et fructum afferatis, et fructus vester maneat : ut quodcumque petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, det vobis. | ουχ υμεις με εξελεξασθε αλλ εγω εξελεξαμην υμας και εθηκα υμας ινα υμεις υπαγητε και καρπον φερητε και ο καρπος υμων μενη ινα ο τι αν αιτησητε τον πατερα εν τω ονοματι μου δω υμιν |
17. | These things I command you, that you love one another. | Hæc mando vobis : ut diligatis invicem. | ταυτα εντελλομαι υμιν ινα αγαπατε αλληλους |
Who leads the celebration of the Eucharist?
Actually Christ himself acts in every celebration of the Eucharist. The bishop or the priest represents him.
It is the Church's belief that the celebrant stands at the altar in persona Christi capitis (Latin = in the person of Christ, the Head). This means that priests do not merely act in Christ's place or at his command; rather, on the basis of their ordination, Christ himself, as Head of the Church, acts through them.
In what way is Christ there when the Eucharist is celebrated?
Christ is mysteriously but really present in the sacrament of the Eucharist. As often as the Church fulfills Jesus' command, "Do this in remembrance of me" (1 Cor 11:24), breaks the bread and offers the chalice, the same thing takes place today that happened then: Christ truly gives himself for us, and we truly gain a share in him. The unique and unrepeatable sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is made present on the altar; the work of our redemption is accomplished. (YOUCAT questions 215 & 216)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (1362-1367) and other references here.
Part 2: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (1066 - 1690)
Section 2: The Seven Sacraments of the Church (1210 - 1690)
Chapter 1: The Sacraments of Christian Initiation (1212 - 1419)
Article 3: The Sacrament of the Eucharist (1322 - 1419)
V. THE SACRAMENTAL SACRIFICE: THANKSGIVING, MEMORIAL, PRESENCE ⇡
The sacrificial memorial of Christ and of his Body, the Church ⇡
The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the making present and the sacramental offering of his unique sacrifice, in the liturgy of the Church which is his Body. In all the Eucharistic Prayers we find after the words of institution a prayer called the anamnesis or memorial.
In the sense of Sacred Scripture the memorial is not merely the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God for men.184 In the liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain way present and real. This is how Israel understands its liberation from Egypt: every time Passover is celebrated, the Exodus events are made present to the memory of believers so that they may conform their lives to them.
184.
Cf. Ex 13:3.
In the New Testament, the memorial takes on new meaning. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ's Passover, and it is made present the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present.185 "As often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which 'Christ our Pasch has been sacrificed' is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out."186
185.
Cf. Heb 7:25-27.
186.
LG 3; cf. 1 Cor 5:7.
Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice. The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: "This is my body which is given for you" and "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood."187 In the Eucharist Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."188
187.
188.
The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit: [Christ], our Lord and God, was once and for all to offer himself to God the Father by his death on the altar of the cross, to accomplish there an everlasting redemption. But because his priesthood was not to end with his death, at the Last Supper "on the night when he was betrayed," [he wanted] to leave to his beloved spouse the Church a visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands) by which the bloody sacrifice which he was to accomplish once for all on the cross would be re-presented, its memory perpetuated until the end of the world, and its salutary power be applied to the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit.189
189.
Council of Trent (1562): DS 1740; cf. 1 Cor 11:23; Heb 7:24, 27.
The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different." "And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner... this sacrifice is truly propitiatory."190
190.
Council of Trent (1562) Doctrina de ss. Missae sacrificio, c. 2: DS 1743; cf. Heb 9:14,27.
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