Acts 13:44-52
Psalm 98
John 14:7-14
Worship Song
Entrance
Antiphon
You are a
people God claims as his own, to praise him who called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light, alleluia. (1 Peter 2:9)
Opening Prayer
Father, may we
whom you renew in baptism bear witness to our faith by the way we live. By the
suffering, death, and resurrection of your Son may we come to eternal joy. We
ask this…
Alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia. If you remain in
my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, says the
Lord. Alleluia, alleluia. (John 8:31b-32)
The Father is
in Jesus
7If you know
me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know
him and have seen him.” 8Philip said to
him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough
for us.” 9Jesus said to
him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me,
Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the
Father’? 10Do you not
believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak
to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his
works. 11Believe me
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of
the works themselves. 12Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever
believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than
these, because I am going to the Father. 13And whatever
you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.
Reflection
Jesus said to
him, “I am the way and the truth* and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” ~ v. 6
I
didn’t learn much about God growing up Catholic in the fifties. I spent most of
my catechetical youth learning how to dodge the grip of Sister Frumetius. That
woman had hands big enough to palm a basketball. Most often, however, she would
simply palm my face. I used to come home with her fingerprints on my cheeks.
She’d squeeze my mouth into fish lips while she screamed at me. The secret to
surviving catechism with Sister Frumentius was getting the answers to the
questions right.
So I
did learn that we were created to know God, love God, and serve God. It must be
important, then, for us to get to know Jesus, because if we know him, we know
God. So I try to spend some of my time and money studying the gospel, serving
the poor, comforting the sick, feeding the hungry, visiting prisoners, and so
on. For as often as we do that for them, we do it for him. That’s how we get to
know Jesus and, through him, God.
Prayer Response
Jesus,
you reveal God to us through your own self. You show us through your words and
actions. O Lord, may we become like you and reach out in compassion to the
needy so that we may join you in your union with God.
Suggested Action
Look
for God today in someone you might consider to be poor and lowly. Get to know
that person better. Think about what you learned.
Credits: Fr. Paul Boudreau, Between Sundays
Silencing/Thought for the Day
“We
want to give our children what we didn’t have; but let’s make sure we give them
what we did have: our faith.” ~ Anonymous