24 | April | 2009

Archive for April 24th, 2009

One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.

April 24, 2009

04242009

The Words of Jesus of Nazareth by Lee Cantelon

Food for the Soul

It is written: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out from the mouth of God."

I am the bread of life: if you come to me, you will never again hunger spiritually; and if you believe in me, you will never again know spiritual thirst. Rise up! Take hold of the living bread, the spiritual bread that has come down from heaven: if you eat of this bread, you will live forever. The bread that I offer you is my life, which I give for the life of the world. I am the bread of life come down from heaven so that you may feast on spiritual food, and because of this receive spiritual life and not die.

All of your energies are spent in the pursuit of food that perishes; instead, seek spiritual food that will endure forever. This is the food that I long to give you, for God the Father has given me this power.

Since childhood you have heard the story of how your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but that was long ago, and now they are ancient memories. In spite of those miracles, Moses was not able to provide the true bread of heaven, that which my Father is offering to you now. For the bread of God is embodied in the one who is speaking to you, who has come down from heaven, and offered his own life for the world.

If you understood this, you would beg me to give you living water as well; for whoever drinks natural water soon thirsts again, but whoever drinks of the water that I give will discover a well that springs up within, overflowing with eternal life.

Are you thirsting spiritually? Come to me and drink; for they that believe in me, as it has been written, "Out of their innermost being will flow rivers of living water."

Lord God, Abba Father, moved by today’s Reading, Psalm and Gospel I pray, You are my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? You are my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid? One thing I ask of You and this I seek: to dwell in Your house all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of You Lord God and contemplate Your temple. I believe that I shall see the bounty You LORD God in the land of the living. I wait for You with courage; being stouthearted, I wait for You LORD God, Abba Father, through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. I wait for You LORD God, this one thing I ask of You and this I seek: to dwell in Your house all the days of my life! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

For God hath made the father honourable to the children: and seeking the judgment of the mothers, hath confirmed it upon the children. He that loveth God, shall obtain pardon for his sins by prayer, and shall refrain himself from them, and shall be heard in the prayer of days. And he that honoureth his mother is as one that layeth up a treasure. He that honoureth his father shall have joy in his own children, and in the day of his prayer he shall be heard. He that honoureth his father shall enjoy a long life: and he that obeyeth the father, shall be a comfort to his mother.

— Ecclesiasticus 3:2-7

Reading 1
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
Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14
R. 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
Jn 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.