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Daily Reading

Friday of the Second Week of Easter

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. (see 4abc) One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Alleluia Mt 4:4b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

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.

– – –

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Saint of the Day

St. Mary of Egypt


St. Mary of Egypt

Feast date: Apr 01

April 1 is the feast of a little-known saint whose story demonstrates the power of the Church as the home of forgiveness, redemption and mercy. St. Mary of Egypt was a prostitute for 17 years before she received the Eucharist and chose the life of a hermit.

Born in 344 A.D., Mary of Egypt moved to the city of Alexandria when she was 12 years old and worked as a prostitute. With the intention of continuing her trade, she joined a large group that was making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

On the feast day itself, she joined the crowd as it was headed to the church in order to venerate the relic of the True Cross, again with the intention of luring others into sin. When she got to the door of the church, she was unable to enter. A miraculous force propelled her away from the door each time she approached. After trying to get in three or four times, Mary of Egypt moved to a corner of the churchyard and began to cry tears of remorse.

Then she saw a statue of the Blessed Virgin. She prayed to the Holy Mother for permission to enter the church for the purposes of venerating the relic. She promised the Virgin Mother that if she were allowed to enter the church, she would renounce the world and its ways.

Mary of Egypt entered the church, venerated the relic and returned to the statue outside to pray for guidance. She heard a voice telling her to cross the Jordan River and find rest. She set out and in the evening, she arrived at the Jordan and received communion in a church dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

The next day, she crossed the river and went into the desert, where she lived alone for 47 years. Then, while making his Lenten retreat, a priest named Zosimus found the hermitess. She asked him to return to the banks of the Jordan on Holy Thursday of the following year and to bring her Communion. The priest was true to his word and returned bearing the Eucharist. Mary told him to come back again the next year, but to the place where he had originally met her.

When Zosimus returned in a year’s time, he found Mary’s corpse. On the ground beside it was a written request that she be buried accompanied by a statement that she had died one year ago, in 421 A.D., on the very night she had received Holy Communion.

 

 

Daily Inspiration

Rise and Walk / Levántate y anda

With a little over two weeks left in Lent, Jesus asks the ill man – seeing him and knowing he had been ill a very long time – “Do you want to be well?” (John 5:6) It’s a question to ask ourselves during Lent as we approach Easter. Do we want to be well? 

Sometimes we choose to make our prayers a list of everything that stands in the way of what we want rather than give Jesus the space to work His miracles and bring His healing. We can watch others walk away healed and wish it was us instead. We can choose to be a victim of circumstances out of our control. But Jesus doesn’t want that for us.

And so today, He is asking you to set aside the excuses, set aside the complaints, set aside the hurdles, all the why-you-can’ts or why-you-haven’ts. Today, He is asking you: “Do you want to be well?” That’s the beauty of today’s Gospel. We see the ill man answer Jesus with all the reasons he is not well, and Jesus doesn’t sympathize with him or doesn’t argue with him about whether he is trying hard enough. Jesus tells the man to get up, grab his mat and get walking. The man listens and obeys. This is key. 

Jesus is constantly speaking into our lives. We only need to listen to receive remedies for all the things holding us back. He might ask you to do the thing you least believe you can do like this man who had been ill for 38 years. But Jesus says: “Rise, pick up your mat, and walk.” (John 5:8) Those are Easter words. He is beckoning us to Easter. 

Rise: it’s time to start something fresh–a new day is dawning.

Pick up your mat: Stop floundering in a place you aren’t meant to be. Make a change. Don’t lay on your mat, carry it.

Walk: Live, step forward into new life.

And we see the ill man immediately change and walk away from the pool he had waited years to get into, the pool he thought would someday heal him. Jesus offered more. Jesus offered immediate transformation to the person who obeyed Him. Next, the man is met with opposition. The Pharisees accuse him of doing something wrong and he has no issue telling them what is going on. He says in his own way: I am obeying Jesus because something changed in me. 

The truth is none of us will be disheartened once we take that first step of obedience towards our Lord and accept His invitation to make us well. In our walk forward, may we always remember the reason for our hope, the reason we walk forward with the mat we sat on for years. Jesus, may we never stop walking forward, remaining well, remaining with You. 

Contact the author


Quedan poco más de dos semanas para que termine la Cuaresma. Al verlo y saber que llevaba mucho tiempo enfermo, Jesús le pregunta al enfermo: “¿Quieres curarte?” (Juan 5,6). Es una pregunta que debemos hacernos durante la Cuaresma, mientras vamos acercándonos a la Pascua. ¿Queremos curarnos?

A veces, elegimos hacer de nuestras oraciones una lista de todo lo que se interpone en el camino de lo que queremos, en lugar de darle a Jesús el espacio para que obre sus milagros y nos traiga su sanación. Podemos ver a otros salir sanados y desear que fuéramos nosotros en su lugar. Podemos elegir ser víctimas de circunstancias que están fuera de nuestro control. Pero Jesús no quiere eso para nosotros.

Por eso, hoy te pide que dejes de lado las excusas, las quejas, los obstáculos, todos los por qué no puedes o por qué no has hecho. Hoy Jesús te pregunta: “¿Quieres curarte?” Esa es la belleza del Evangelio de hoy. Vemos al hombre enfermo responderle a Jesús con todas las razones por las que no se encuentra bien, y Jesús no simpatiza con él ni discute con él sobre si se está esforzando lo suficiente. Jesús le dice al hombre que se levante, tome su camilla y comience a caminar. El hombre escucha y obedece. Esto es clave.

Jesús habla constantemente a nuestras vidas. Solo tenemos que escuchar para recibir remedios para todas las cosas que nos frenan. Él puede pedirte que hagas lo que menos crees que puedes hacer, como este hombre que estuvo enfermo durante 38 años. Pero Jesús dice: “Levántate, toma tu camilla y anda” (Juan 5,8). Esas son palabras de Pascua. Él nos está llamando a la Pascua.

Levántate: es hora de comenzar algo nuevo: está amaneciendo un nuevo día.

Recoge tu camilla: deja de tambalearte en un lugar en el que no deberías estar. Haz un cambio. No te recuestas en tu camilla, llévala.

Anda: vive, da un paso adelante hacia una nueva vida.

Y vemos que el hombre enfermo cambia inmediatamente y se aleja de la piscina en la que había esperado años para entrar, la piscina que pensó que algún día lo sanaría. Jesús ofreció más. Jesús ofreció una transformación inmediata a la persona que lo obedeció. Luego, el hombre se encuentra con oposición. Los fariseos lo acusan de hacer algo malo y no tiene problema en decirles lo que está sucediendo. Dice a su manera: Estoy obedeciendo a Jesús porque algo cambió en mí.

La verdad es que ninguno de nosotros se desanimará una vez que dé ese primer paso de obediencia hacia nuestro Señor y acepte Su invitación para sanarnos. En nuestro camino hacia adelante, que siempre recordemos la razón de nuestra esperanza, la razón por la que caminamos hacia adelante con la camilla en la que nos sentamos durante años. Jesús, que nunca dejemos de caminar hacia adelante, permaneciendo sanos, permaneciendo contigo.

Comunicarse con la autora

Nicole Berlucchi is a faith and family blogger (www.nicoleberlucchi.com) and Catholic blog contributor. She has worked in a number of roles in the nonprofit world, but helping people realize their vision and make an impact, seems to be her sweet spot. Nicole owns Coley B. Creative, LLC, a marketing company providing support to small businesses. She is also the author Magnify Love: Unlocking the Heart of Jesus in Your Marriage and Your Life. A native of Philadelphia, she now resides in the Nashville area with her husband, Joe, and their four children. She’s a big fan of brilliant skies, salted caramel with chocolate, books and more books. She loves sharing her journey with Jesus so that others might: Come and see.

Feature Image Credit: Malarz Francuski, art.diocesan.com/stock-photo/christ-healing-the-paralytic-at-bethesda-14965/

The views and opinions expressed in the Inspiration Daily blog are solely those of the original authors and contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Diocesan, the Diocesan staff, or other contributors to this blog.

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