May 8
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Give a Mass Offering
Mass Intentions
9:00 AM – Charles Beeler / Family
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Readings
First Reading
Acts 16:1-10
Paul reached also Derbe and Lystra where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him, and Paul wanted him to come along with him. On account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from city to city, they handed on to the people for observance the decisions reached by the Apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem. Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number.
They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian territory because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia. When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them, so they crossed through Mysia and came down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we sought passage to Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 100:1b-2, 3, 5
R. (2a) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Gospel Acclamation
Colossians 3:1
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If then you were raised with Christ,
seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
John 15:18-21
Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.”
“Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.”
Reflection
What does it mean to belong to the world? Does it mean that to belong to the world we must turn our back on Jesus?
To belong to the world means that the world and worldly things have a grasp on us. I think we can safely say that we all belong to the world to some extent. It is hard not to. If we lose sight of God then we not only belong to the world but we become dominated by it. Sin is a result of the world taking its toll on us, and our spirit.
To belong to God means that we have rejected the world and its values in favor of what God has taught. We, of course, must continue to live in the world and that is often where the difficulty emerges. If we did not live in the world, then we would have no chance to evangelize, to help spread the word of God. Living in the world offers us great opportunities to put the teachings of Jesus into action, but we must always be on guard to avoid becoming like the world. Once we are co-opted by the world around us, we become ineffectual in spreading the word of God because the life we live does not correspond to the call of Christ.
Let us, during this Easter season, prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit this Pentecost and turn our hearts and minds to God so that we do live in the Spirit and not just in the world around us. When we do this, we will be more faithful to the commands that God has given us!
Peace,
Fr. John Kurgan
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