The Advocate

The Sunday Gospel [May 29, 2011]

John 14:15-21

The Advocate

[Jesus said to his disciples:] 15“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, 17the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. 18I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. 21Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”

Reflection

“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” ~ Jesus in v. 21

We are insignificant in comparison to the Infinite God. Yet God finds each one of us lovable and valuable. We are all important in God’s eyes. Only when we have come to realize that God’s love is freely given do we feel His presence.

I feel God’s presence whenever I am drawn to do what is best for others. In return, I am loved by those who love me. I don’t know why but that is what happens. It’s like being rewarded for the love I gave to those who do not love me. If at times I don’t feel the love of my dear ones, it does not bother me. I know I have followed God’s commandments.

“When you are behaving as if you love someone, you will shortly come, in fact, to love that person.” ~ C. S. Lewis

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarro-abel.blogspot.com/).

Beloved Pearl of My Heart

[Diary 1061]

In the evening, over the radio, I heard hymns; that is, psalms, sung by priests. [185] I burst into tears, and all of the pain was renewed in my soul, and I wept sorrowfully, unable to find appeasement in this pain. Then I heard a voice in my soul: Do not cry; I am not suffering any more. And for the faithfulness with which you accompanied Me in My sufferings and death, your own death will be a solemn one, and I will accompany you in that last hour. Beloved pearl of My Heart, I see your love so pure, purer than that of the angels, and all the more so because you keep fighting. For your sake I bless the world. I see your efforts to please Me, and they delight My Heart.



Source: DIARY, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.  Stockbridge, MA 01263.  All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Note: If you like my post then consider buying the Book "Divine Mercy in my Soul" from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception website. The owner of this blog have no other intention but to spread and proclaim the "Divine Mercy".

Words of Consolation, Last Supper Discourse

The Sunday Gospel [May 22, 2011]

John 14:7-14

[Jesus told his disciples,] 1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. 2In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. 4Where [I] am going you know the way.” 5Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” 9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. 11Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. 12Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Reflection

“I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” ~ Jesus in v. 6

I once took a trip by car through the Cornwall section of England. We drove for hours over rolling hills, without seeing a house or human being. It was just long endless stretches of green on all sides … Then in the distance loomed something very large and white, very visible. It was a gigantic billboard not far from the highway we were speeding along. Everyone wondered as we neared it, what would be advertised on such a large shrine in such a God-forsaken place. It said simply: WHAT THINK YOU OF CHRIST? Travelers had a couple more hours of scenery to enjoy as that thought ran through their minds.

Credits: 1000 Stories you can use

How about you? What do you think of Christ? To what extent is your life and faith a reflection of Jesus Christ?

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarro-abel.blogspot.com/).

On a Talkative Soul

[Diary 1008]

March 1, 1937. The Lord gave me to know how displeased He is with a talkative soul. I find no rest in such a soul. The constant din tires Me, and in the midst of it the soul cannot discern My voice.



Source: DIARY, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.  Stockbridge, MA 01263.  All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Note: If you like my post then consider buying the Book "Divine Mercy in my Soul" from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception website. The owner of this blog have no other intention but to spread and proclaim the "Divine Mercy".

Jesus, the Good Shepherd

The Sunday Gospel [May 15, 2011]

John 10:1-10

Jesus, the Good Shepherd

[Jesus said:] 1“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. 2But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as [the shepherd] calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. 5But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” 6Although Jesus used this figure of speech, [the Pharisees] did not realize what he was trying to tell them.

7So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Reflection

“The sheep hear his [Shepherd’s] voice … follow him.” ~ Jesus in v. 3, 4

The people who first heard Jesus compare himself to a shepherd had some background knowledge that many of us lack. They knew that when shepherds brought their sheep in for the night, they often put them into pens with other flocks. And how did shepherds distinguish their sheep from all the others when it was time to go out to pasture again? Easy. Each shepherd had a distinctive call, which only his sheep could recognize and follow.

What a metaphor for Jesus’ relationship with us! He is the Good Shepherd, whose sheep know to respond when he calls to them.

Or do they? Perhaps this is an area where some of Jesus’ sheep – some of us – need a bit more training. Do you believe that you have the potential of becoming so familiar with Jesus that you can quickly discern his voice from other voices in the world? This gift of discernment, which is every believer’s inheritance in Christ, is developed as we imitate the first Christians, who “devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to prayers.” (Acts 2:42).

Close attention to Scripture and church teaching can help us recognize God’s voice and the kind of things he might tell us. Fellowship with other followers of Christ can build us up and give us a sounding board to help us see if our ideas are on target. Personal prayer can become a conversation where we learn to hear the voice of him who loves us best. And the Eucharist can become an intimate encounter with the Lord, who wants to lead us into a deeper understanding of his will.

Isn’t it comforting that, despite our unworthiness, we can still have Jesus say, “I love you”? This is our Shepherd’s distinctive call. How can we possible resist?

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarro-abel.blogspot.com/).

God's Merciful Shield at the Hour of Death

[Diary 1540]

January 28, 1938. Today the Lord said to me, My daughter, write down these words: All those souls who will glorify My mercy and spread its worship, encouraging others to trust in My mercy, will not experience terror at the hour of death. My mercy will shield them in that final battle...


Source: DIARY, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.  Stockbridge, MA 01263.  All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Note: If you like my post then consider buying the Book "Divine Mercy in my Soul" from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception website. The owner of this blog have no other intention but to spread and proclaim the "Divine Mercy".

Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus

The Sunday Gospel [May 8, 2011]

Luke 24:13-35

Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus

13 Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, 14 and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. 15 And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, 16 but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?" They stopped, looking downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?" 19 And he replied to them, "What sort of things?" They said to him, "The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. 22 Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning 23 and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. 24 Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see."

25 And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer 8 these things and enter into his glory?" 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures. 28 As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. 29 But they urged him, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. 30 And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. 31 With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. 32 Then they said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning (within us) while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?"

33 So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them 34 who were saying, "The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!" 35 Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Reflection

“Were not our hearts [burning within us] while he [Jesus] spoke to us?” ~ Discouraged disciples in v.33

Once upon a time the devil decided to go out of business. He offered all his tools for sale. He attractively displayed the whole bad-looking lot: Malice, Hatred, Envy, Jealousy …. Each was marked with a price tag.

Apart from them lay a harmless-looking wedge-shaped tool, very much worn out, but priced higher than any of the others. Someone asked the devil what tool that was.

“That’s discouragement,” he replied.
“But why is it priced so high?”
“Because,” answered the devil, “discouragement is more useful to me than all the others. With discouragement I can pry open and get inside a person’s conscience, when I cannot get near him with any other tools. And once I am inside his conscience, I can use him in any way that suits me best. It is so much worn because I can use it with nearly anybody, since very few people know that it belongs to me.”

A person is never weaker than when he or she is fed up, is down-in-the-dumps. He or she couldn’t care less about anything…and then anything can happen – and usually does.

Credits: Bruno Hagspiel, The NEXT 500 Stories

Life is a process. What have I learned from the discouraging moments of my life?

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarro-abel.blogspot.com/).

Holy Communion

[Diary 1811]

But I want to tell you that eternal life must begin already , here on earth through Holy Communion. Each Holy Communion makes you more capable of communing with God throughout eternity.



Source: DIARY, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.  Stockbridge, MA 01263.  All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Note: If you like my post then consider buying the Book "Divine Mercy in my Soul" from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception website. The owner of this blog have no other intention but to spread and proclaim the "Divine Mercy".

Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes

The Holy Gospel for today [May 6, 2011 - First Friday of the Month]

John 6:1-15

1 After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (of Tiberias). 2A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.4 The Jewish feast of Passover was near. 5 When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" 6 He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little (bit)." 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, 9 "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?" 10 Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. 12 When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted." 13 So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.

14 When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." 15 Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

Reflection

“Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them …and also as much as the fish they wanted.” ~ v. 11

Sometimes, the truly amazing miracles are those that spring from the ordinary, like the boy’s generosity to share his meager fare of five barley loaves and two fishes. Little did he know that from his humble offering will spring food that would feed five thousand men not counting women and children. His generosity unleashed the power of divine generosity which is super abundant and prodigal. Let us make miracles in our time by our selfless act of generosity which open the floodgates of divine love. ~ Claretian Publications, slightly adapted

“Consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” ~ St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:6

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarro-abel.blogspot.com/).

Jesus Appears to his Disciples again

The Sunday Gospel [May 1, 2011 - Divine Mercy Sunday]

John 20:19-31

Jesus Appears to his Disciples again

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 (Jesus) said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."

26 Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe." 28 Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of (his) disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written that you may (come to) believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

Reflection

“Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” ~ Jesus in v. 29b

Today is a day of double blessing. Not only do we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday but we also honor Pope John Paul II, who will be beatified today in Rome. In honor of this event, we want to offer some excerpts from John Paul’s first homily as Pope, given on the day of his inauguration, October 22, 1978. May his words, his spirit, and his love for Jesus continue to inspire all of us!

“On this day and in this place these same words must again be uttered and listened to: ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God’” (Matthew 16:16).

“Yes, Brothers and sons and daughters, these words first of all. Their content reveals to our eyes the mystery of the living God. … He who is infinite, inscrutable, ineffable, has come close to us in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary in the stable at Bethlehem.

“All of you who are still seeking God, all of you who already have the inestimable good fortune to believe and also you are tormented by doubt: Please listen once again, today in this sacred place, to the words uttered by Simon Peter. . . .

“Brothers and sisters do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. . . . Open wide the doors for Christ. . . . Christ knows what is in man. He alone knows it. So often today man does not know what is within him, in the depths of his mind and heart. So often he is uncertain about the meaning of his life on this earth. He is assailed by doubt, a doubt which turns into despair. We ask you therefore, we beg you with humility, let Christ speak to man. He alone has words of life, of eternal life..”

“Thank you, Lord, for the life of Blessed Pope John Paul II! As we celebrate your mercy today, fill us with hope in you. Help us all to ‘Be not afraid!’” Amen.

Credits: the WORD among us

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarro-abel.blogspot.com/).