Francis the comic strip

From National Catholic Reporter

A meditation for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

At the end of last Sunday’s selection from the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel we read that after feeding the crowd of about five thousand men, Jesus retired to the mountain alone in order to pray. He was always in contact with his heavenly Father in order to know his will, to ask for his help to do it, and to thank him for being able to do it. When evening came, while Jesus was still on the mountain, his disciples went down to the lake, got into a boat, and started across the lake to Capernaum. Jesus himself had asked them to do so. When it was dark, a strong wind started blowing and the waters became rough. They were afraid. When they saw Jesus walking on the rough waves and coming near them, they were terrified. They thought it was a ghost. Jesus said to them, ‘It is I, do not be afraid.’ They asked him to go with them in the boat and immediately they reached the land where they were going.

Today we did not read this part of John’s story, but it is important to remember it because it tells us that Jesus is not afraid to face the rough seas. It tells us also that when things become difficult for his disciples and they invite Jesus to be with them, to enter their boat,  their life, he will be there to help them.

THE TRUE VINE - The fifth Sunday of Easter

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples” (Jn 15, 1-8).

ARE WE STILL HUMAN?

A reading from the holy gospel according to John (10, 22-30)

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.’ This is the word of the Lord.

Listen here

WEALTH

The Third Sunday of Easter

The two disciples of Emaus returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them. They recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things’.

PALM SUNDAY – A MEDITATION

On Palm Sunday we read the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ written by Mark (Mk 14, 1 – 15, 47). It is good and important for us if during the Holy Week we meditate on the love that led Jesus to come into this world of ours and become man like us (this is the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God) even though he knew that he would suffer persecution and a terrible death in the hands of the men he wanted to save (this is the mystery of our redemption).

I would like to present some points to reflect on.