Category Archives: Gospel Reflection
His Word Heals
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I read in the Gospel the people were amazed at Jesus’ words,
“What is it in his words?” they pondered.
His word has authority and the power to heal
because He Hiimself is the Word spoken by God
before the world came to be.
I pick up His Word spoken, written for us
because I, too, need healing.
I need Jesus to command “Be quiety!” “Come out of her!”
To still the wounded memories,
the negative thoughts,
to enter those wounded areas and to heal.
I have only to read His Word and ponder,
“What is it in His Words?”
I read, I pray, I whisper them
and let them permeate my brokenness
so I may be made whole.
His Word has the power to do this
and I believe, for I return to them,
listen to them, am drawn to them.
You lead me into the desert to speak to me
and I surrender. I am emptied in order to be filled.
You have the words of eternal life.
(excerpts from Matthew 4:32-36 NJB and John 6:68 NIV)
{Theresa lives out her vocation as wife, mother to four (and two in Heaven), Classical homeschooler, Secular Carmelite, and part-time ultrasonographer in Pennsylvania. She shares her fumbling writings at my desert heart when the Spirit nudges her.}
Easter blessings from the Poor Clare Colettines TMD
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Dear Little hearts,
There is now an expectancy in the air, we are waiting with the whole Church for the day of Resurrection.
The Easter Vigil is one of the most beautiful of all the Churches celebrations. The readings in our Missals are food for a lifetime….
A new Easter fire opens the celebrations, and a new spiritual fire for Christ should awake and ignite within our souls… for Christ has redeemed us, he has brought us out of slavery into freedom, we have all known an experience of being called out of the ‘ Egypt’ of this world into a new life.
Christ is our Light!!!!!
The blessing of the Fire and the preparation of the Candle are awesome moments…. the truths embodied within them stir our very souls to leap up…
Christ Yesterday and Today.
The Beginning and the End.
The Alpha.
The Omega.
All time belongs to Him and all ages. To Him be glory and power through every age and forever- Amen
By these Holy and glorious wounds,
My Christ the Lord guard and protect us- Amen….
Such words, such reflections are balm upon the soul if we dwell upon them.
Lumen Christi… May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds !!!
And let us respond with total love… Yes, Alleluia !!!
And while we yet wait…. this precious reading ever new from the Breviary for Holy Saturday
Reading
From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday
The Lord’s descent into the underworld
Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.
See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.
I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.
Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.
Responsory
Our shepherd, the source of living water, has departed. At his passing the sun was darkened, for he who held the first man captive is now taken captive himself. Today the Saviour has shattered the bars and burst the gates of death.
He has torn down the barricades of hell and overthrown the power of Satan. Today the Saviour has shattered the bars and burst the gates of death.
| Poor Clare Colettines TMD | |
| community@poorclarestmd.org |
Feast of the Annunciation
Dear Little hearts,
Today is the transferred feast of the Annunciation. A Happy Feast to you all.
The readings for the feast of the Annunciation, known in England in times past as the, “Salutation” are in our Sunday Missal, so today we will look , with Mary at the WORD.
Mary lived ‘Lectio Divine‘ she pondered on God’s Word as no other has ever done, He was her total love, her total focus… her will was in perfect harmony with Gods, her will merged into His, and so there by making her life fruitful in abundance.
In today’s readings we can see how much God desires the gift, the offering, the surrender of our will , our free will to Him, thus choosing HIM above all other things.
God does not want, external worship without the involving of the heart, he’s not interested in sacrifices that are to placate Him or merely trying to win his approval, he wants our hearts, our wills to be HIS.
And in today’s readings we see this shining through all the readings.
Choose a line from todays readings and really ponder upon it, dwell upon it, absorb it for the essence of our Christian life is here… to respond to His Sweet will and surrender ours to HIS, this in itself is an act of supreme trust in our Beloved.
The entrance antiphon sets the whole tone , it is taken from the letter to the Hebrews.
“The Lord said as he entered the world: Behold O Lord I come to do your will“ ….. IN HIS WILL IS OUR PEACE!.
(Below are the readings from Our Sunday Missal)
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First reading |
Isaiah 7:10-14,8:10 © |
The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’
Then he said:
Listen now, House of David:
are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men
without trying the patience of my God, too?
The Lord himself, therefore,
will give you a sign.
It is this: the maiden is with child
and will soon give birth to a son
whom she will call Immanuel,
a name which means ‘God is with us.’
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Psalm |
Psalm 39:7-11 © |
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,
but an open ear.
You do not ask for holocaust and victim.
Instead, here am I.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
In the scroll of the book it stands written
that I should do your will.
My God, I delight in your law
in the depth of my heart.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
Your justice I have proclaimed
in the great assembly.
My lips I have not sealed;
you know it, O Lord.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
I have not hidden your justice in my heart
but declared your faithful help.
I have not hidden your love and your truth
from the great assembly.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
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Second reading |
Hebrews 10:4-10 © |
Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are useless for taking away sins, and this is what Christ said, on coming into the world:
You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation,
prepared a body for me.
You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin;
then I said,
just as I was commanded in the scroll of the book,
‘God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will.’
Notice that he says first: You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the oblations, the holocausts and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to obey your will. He is abolishing the first sort to replace it with the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Acclamation |
Jn1:14 |
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
The Word became flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Gospel |
Luke 1:26-38 © |
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favored! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favor. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
Poor Clare Colettines, TMD.
Jesus desires to Raise us up…
Happy 5th Sunday of Lent, we have almost made it, the feast of the Resurrection is almost here, don’t give up, we’re all in this together, right? Today at a local parish we celebrated the third Scrutiny since we are having converts coming into the Church for Easter. Something, gave me the desire to write this passage down; as I find it so important to remember in myself that we are all trying to find the glory of God in the midst of our trials and sufferings. This is where we need to place our complete trust in the one who created us, for his purpose and not our own. I sometimes try to figure this out myself, but it is like a dog chasing its tail, I must trust and that is it. Kind of like a little child trusting the parent that says, “No, you must be patient and wait”, and so it goes…
John 11:1-45
The Message (MSG)
John 11
The Death of Lazarus
1-3A man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. This was the same Mary who massaged the Lord’s feet with aromatic oils and then wiped them with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Master, the one you love so very much is sick.”
4When Jesus got the message, he said, “This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God’s glory by glorifying God’s Son.”
5-7Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. After the two days, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”
8They said, “Rabbi, you can’t do that. The Jews are out to kill you, and you’re going back?”
9-10Jesus replied, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in daylight doesn’t stumble because there’s plenty of light from the sun. Walking at night, he might very well stumble because he can’t see where he’s going.”
11He said these things, and then announced, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. I’m going to wake him up.”
12-13The disciples said, “Master, if he’s gone to sleep, he’ll get a good rest and wake up feeling fine.” Jesus was talking about death, while his disciples thought he was talking about taking a nap.
14-15Then Jesus became explicit: “Lazarus died. And I am glad for your sakes that I wasn’t there. You’re about to be given new grounds for believing. Now let’s go to him.”
Go to – http://www.comeandseeicons.com/icxc/cst03.jpg and reflect over this icon image of The Resurrection of Lazarus
16That’s when Thomas, the one called the Twin, said to his companions, “Come along. We might as well die with him.”
17-20When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. Bethany was near Jerusalem, only a couple of miles away, and many of the Jews were visiting Martha and Mary, sympathizing with them over their brother. Martha heard Jesus was coming and went out to meet him. Mary remained in the house.
21-22Martha said, “Master, if you’d been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you.”
23Jesus said, “Your brother will be raised up.”
24Martha replied, “I know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time.”
25-26“You don’t have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?”
27“Yes, Master. All along I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world.”
28After saying this, she went to her sister Mary and whispered in her ear, “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.”
29-32The moment she heard that, she jumped up and ran out to him. Jesus had not yet entered the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, “Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33-34When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, “Where did you put him?”
34-35“Master, come and see,” they said. Now Jesus wept.
36The Jews said, “Look how deeply he loved him.”
37Others among them said, “Well, if he loved him so much, why didn’t he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man.”
38-39Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”
The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, “Master, by this time there’s a stench. He’s been dead four days!”
40Jesus looked her in the eye. “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
41-42Then, to the others, “Go ahead, take away the stone.”
They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, “Father, I’m grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I’ve spoken so that they might believe that you sent me.”
43-44Then he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face.
Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him loose.”
The Man Who Creates God-Signs
45-48That was a turnaround for many of the Jews who were with Mary. They saw what Jesus did, and believed in him. But some went back to the Pharisees and told on Jesus. The high priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish ruling body. “What do we do now?” they asked. “This man keeps on doing things, creating God-signs. If we let him go on, pretty soon everyone will be believing in him and the Romans will come and remove what little power and privilege we still have.”
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2011:1-45&version=MSG
For further reflection:
Go to http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/seriessearchprog.asp?seriesID=7076&T1=
In this study, we shall examine Jesus’ statement that He is the Good Shepherd, as Jesus gives seven “ I AM” statements in this Gospel, which are a key theme for understanding who Jesus is and what His mission is all about. The raising of Lazarus from the dead is the most powerful sign performed in Jesus’ ministry, anticipating Jesus’ own resurrection and the final resurrection of the dead. The story relates the challenge of having a radical faith in Jesus, seen through the reactions of Martha and Mary. Here we will explore the important theme of faith.
The Apostolate of Hannah's Tears 
