Sunday Lectionary: It’s all you need

Sixth Sunday of Easter: 13th May, 2012

The Readings this week start to wrap up our Easter Season prior to the Feasts of Ascension and Pentecost.

In the First Reading we read about that great moment in Church History when the first Gentiles received baptism and entered the Church. In our Second Reading, we conclude our study of St. John’s First Epistle by hearing about the love of God. Finally, in the Gospel, Jesus unpacks His teaching concerning His metaphor of “the vine and the branches”  which we heard last week.

As we come to the Eucharistic table this week let us come with thankful hearts. God’s love is so great that He came to redeem us, call us His friends, pour His Spirit into our hearts and make us members of His family.

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MASH

“Yes, the Church is made up of sinners; in fact, it is a hospital for sinners and often looks and smells like a hospital, with ill patients, raw wounds, and disease on every side. Such  things bother us and make us uncomfortable, but where else are the wounded and dying to go? They would pass out and die in the desert alongside the dusty trails” – Jeff Cavins, “I’m not being fed!”

The Medicine Chest

“Procure books [of the Bible] that will be medicines for the soul. At least get a copy of the New Testament, the Apostle’s epistles, the Acts, the Gospels, for your constant teachers.

If you encounter grief, dive into them as into a chest of medicines; take from them comfort for your trouble, whether it be loss, or death, or bereavement over the loss of relations.

Don’t simply dive into them. Swim in them. Keep them constantly in your mind. The cause of all evils is the failure to know the Scriptures well.” – St. John Chrysostom

Liturgical Gangsta

In the past I’ve attended non-Catholic churches and heard things like “We don’t do liturgy. The funny thing was that when I came back the following week the service was exactly the same. It was identical the next week…and also the week after that… Things happened pretty much like clockwork.

The truth is that they did have liturgy, it was just their liturgy…

Did someone call a cab?

I have no idea if this story is true, but either way, it’s still really powerful.

A NYC Taxi driver wrote:

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. ‘Just a minute’, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940’s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

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