April 29
Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church
Give a Mass Offering
Mass Intentions
7:45 AM – Dolores Pandelly / Diane, Brenda & Families
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 5:34-42
A Pharisee in the Sanhedrin named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up, ordered the Apostles to be put outside for a short time, and said to the Sanhedrin, “Fellow children of Israel, be careful what you are about to do to these men. Some time ago, Theudas appeared, claiming to be someone important, and about four hundred men joined him, but he was killed, and all those who were loyal to him were disbanded and came to nothing. After him came Judas the Galilean at the time of the census. He also drew people after him, but he too perished and all who were loyal to him were scattered. So now I tell you, have nothing to do with these men, and let them go. For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” They were persuaded by him. After recalling the Apostles, they had them flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them. So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 27:1, 4, 13-14
R. (see 4abc) One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
One thing I ask of the LORD
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Matthew 4:4b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
John 6:1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. 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?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” 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. 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. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. 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.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
“One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.”
Reflection
One of the more profound images that St. Catherine of Siena offers us for our prayer is that of the bridge: Christ the Bridge. While we will naturally think of bridges as horizontally connecting two points, the bridge she has in mind is that, but much more. In fact, Jesus as a bridge has an inseparable vertical component to connect us to God the Father—a bridge between heaven and earth—in addition to helping us cross over the raging river we encounter in life that is our sin. In one of his tremendous “I am” statements, we know well that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus as the bridge is another articulation of what it means to encounter Jesus as “the way;” in humility, to take on his teachings, commandments, and especially his virtues. Catherine knows well that the goal of the spiritual life is ‘rising up’ over the raging river of sin to union with God, and the only way to reach this union is to walk along the bridge and participate in the life of the crucified, God’s Only Begotten Son.
Catherine describes the Bridge—Christ crucified—as three stairs that represent the states of soul where we can all find ourselves: at the feet of Christ nailed to the Cross, at his heart and pierced-side, and at his mouth. Not just phases, but these represent vivid points for reflection that lead us to see, perfected in Jesus, the virtues we must come to embody. As a slave might kiss the feet of his master, so might the beginner kiss the feet of his Lord. Reaching the open heart of Jesus’ side, one reaches beyond a servile relationship to more as friends who can speak “heart-to-heart” and experience the blood and water that gushed forth for us. Yet, as a result in this second step, the relationship still is grounded more in knowing the consolations and benefits of God and so has further room to advance.
Rising beyond the heart, one begins “to taste the love of His Heart” and finds himself consumed by the ineffable love, having seen just how much he is loved. The third level, however, reaching the mouth of the Lord, are truly his sons and daughters who have found a deeper, more mature friendship with God. Love purely for the sake of love. It is at the mouth of the crucified Lord that one “finds peace from the terrible war she has been waging with her sin.” Movement to this stair is evidenced by a willingness to accept any suffering, pain, or loss, out of love for God. These individuals are able to live a life of virtue and of abandonment because they have received the kiss of the mouth from the Redeemer. Drawing one to this level of intimacy is an unmerited or unwarranted grace:
“…seeing that in no other way could you be drawn to Me, I sent [Jesus] in order that He
should be lifted high on the wood of the Cross…in order to free you from death, and to restore you to the life of grace…by showing the ineffable love, with which I love you, the heart of man being always attracted by love. Greater love, then, I could not show you, than to lay down My life for you; perforce, then, My Son was treated in this way by love, in order that ignorant man should be unable to resist being drawn to Me.”— The Dialogue [between the Father and St. Catherine of Siena ]
It is nothing other than a tremendous act of love that God sent his Son to die so that we might be raised up, and this is what makes him a bridge for all.
Peace,
Fr. Foley
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