Messages from the Mass
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Read MoreMISSIONARIES OF MERCY
Paul’s back! After last week’s “violent abuse,” opponents organized a lynch mob that beat Paul nearly to death. But call Paul the “energizing evangelist,” transforming deadly cruelty into life-giving zeal. Paul’s past courage should inspire our commitment; Revelation’s future “new heaven, new earth” should inspire our optimism. But Revelation’s present assurance, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race,” should challenge us to become “missionaries of mercy.”
Because Pope Francis declared that the Church’s credibility is completely dependent on our showing unconditional mercy. Mercy, said Francis, makes the Church, the world, and everyone young again, reawakened to life’s noblest virtues. Fittingly, in today’s Gospel Jesus reinforces that theme: “This is how all will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
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Read MoreFrequent fliers today have many ways to accrue air miles, so one doesn’t always have to endure long hours in cramped seats to earn free hours in cramped seats. In St. Paul’s day, there were no such perks, nor would there have been any legal system for him to protest the shipwrecks he endured. He had other rewards in mind. The churches that he established in the catalogue of cities from today’s first reading must have been very different from one another. Language, culture, customs, religious history, obstacles to community, social challenges, the places where they met, their clothing, their bread and wine, all distinct, particular to the area.
There were social customs as well: in a Christian household, the only place where a slave would be able to stand legally as an equal with the master would be at the table of the Lord, because at that table a new world of reconciliation was imaged. While Paul revered local customs, he was relentless about challenging the ways that people lived their Christian lives and how their worship reflected them. It is much the same today, as a global Catholic Church seeks to respect local customs and culture, allowing for differences in many things, yet always giving expression to the underlying presence of Christ, who binds us all together into his body.
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God's Presence
A Prayer to the SpiritRealize above all that you are in God's presence ... empty yourself completely and sit waiting, content with the grace of God, like a chick who tastes nothing and eats nothing but what its mother gives it. - St. Romuald
A Prayer to the Holy SpiritSpirit of Jesus, poured out in flames of fire upon your disciples on the day of Pentecost, we pray to you.
Set afire the hearts of your faithful so that they will announce in all the languages of the world the wonders of the salvation of God.
Holy Spirit, who sent Christ Jesus
to carry the Good News to the poor,
We pray to you: Help us to contiinue your work
by serving the poor, our brothers and sisters
The Gifts of the Holy SpiritWisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge,
Fortitude, Piety, Fear of the Lord
Walk With Us LordWalk with us, Lord,
Along the road of resurrection!
Explain for us, so slow to believe,
the things that Scripture says of you.
Break the bread of the Eucharist with us
whenever we share our lives
with our brothers and sisters.
Stay with us
each time night approaches
and the daylight fades in our hearts!
Come to us, Spirit of HolinessHoly Spirit,
You banish fear from our hearts;
You bear witness in us that we are children of God;
We pray to you;
Remove from our hearts the spirit of slaves;
Place in us the spirit of adopted children to make us cry out, "A bba, Father!"
Jesus Gives Us the Gift of Himself
When we go to Mass, we are doing what Jesus commanded his followers to do. It is a command to love and to be loved by God. Jesus offers himself to us in the Word of God that we hear, and in his Real Presence, offered to us in the Blessed Sacrament at Communion.
People Need Our Prayers
When we go to Mass, we speak to God through out singing, our communal responses and prayer, and our personal prayers from the depths of our hearts. During the Mass, we have the opportunity to ask God for what we need, promise that we will do what He wants us to do, and thank Him for the many blessings He has bestowed upon us.
The Gift of GraceYou are What You Eat
The gift of grace increases as the struggles increase. - St. Rose of Lima
The effect of receiving the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what we receive. - Pope Saint Leo the Great
CharityCharity is that with which no one is lost, and without which no one is saved.- St. Robert Bellarmine
Holy Spirit, Guide Us Today.Holy Spirit, you who pointed out the way for your disciples to announce the Gospel, we pray to you: "As in the time of the apostles, guide today's messengers of the Good News."
God Asks Us to Make One Day Holy.God asks us to set aside one day to refocus physically, mentally, and spiritually. We live in a secular world. Going to Mass helps us to see everything from a different perspective. We begin to see in the depths of our being that God is in charge. We can let go of our own agenda because we know that God will inspire us, guide us and strengthen us for the week ahead.
What the Mass Tells Us.When we listen to the readings, the homily, and the prayers at Mass, God speaks to us in a special way. We should come away from each Mass with at least one inspiration that will impact our lives in some way. We just have to pay attention and be open to what the Lord is trying to tell us.
Praying During Mass.We can pray for other people anytime, but when we pray for others during Mass, we pray in a special way. It doesn't matter if the other people are separated from us by distance or by death. The Mass brings us together in the Body of Christ, and we become the communion of saints. It is part of the cosmic dimension of the Mass that unites heaven and earth by reaching across time and space.