Easter 5th
Week: May 3- 8
May 3 Monday: Saints
Philip & James the Lesser, Apostles
James, son of Alphaeus, called James the Lesser wrote the epistle that bears his name and became the bishop of Jerusalem. He is brother of Jude and they are cousins of Jesus because their mother Mary is sister or cousin of Jesus’ mother and she was married to Alphaeus or Clophas.
(He is different from James the Greater, son of Zebedee who married another sister of Mary and hence another cousin of Jesus. The Apostle John was his brother). James the Lesser is also known by the title of James the Just on account of his eminent sanctity. James and his brother Jude were called to the apostleship in the second year of Christ’s preaching, soon after the Pasch, probably in the year 31. James, son of Alphaeus, only appears four times in the New Testament, each time in a list of the twelve apostles as number 9. In Christian art he is depicted holding a fuller’s club because he was believed to have been martyred, beaten to death with a fuller’s club at Ostrakine in Lower Egypt, where he was preaching the Gospel.Philip: John
describes Philip as a fisherman from Bethsaida in Galilee, the same town as
Andrew and Peter. It is possible that Philip was originally a follower or
disciple of John the Baptist because John depicts Jesus calling Philip out of a
crowd attending John’s baptisms. Immediately after his call as an apostle by
Jesus, Philip introduced Jesus to his friend Nathaniel as the “one about
whom Moses wrote” (John 1:45). On one occasion, when Jesus saw the
great multitude following him and wanted to give them food, he asked Philip
where they should buy bread for the people to eat. Philip expressed his
surprise declaring “two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough
for each of them to have a little bit” (John 6:7). It was in answer to Philip’s
question “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us” (John
14:8) that Jesus answered, “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” (John
14:9). Since Philip had a Greek name some Greek Gentile proselytes once
approached him with a request to introduce them to Jesus. Eusebius records that
Polycrates, 2nd century Bishop of Ephesus, wrote that Philip was crucified in
Phrygia and later buried in Hierapolis, in Turkey. Tradition has it that his
death was around AD 54. We celebrate his feast day on May 3rd.
Life message: Let us ask the intercession of Sts.
James and Philip so that we too may bear witness of Jesus by our lives to those
around us. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
21.
May 4 Tuesday: Jn
14:27-31a:
The context: In his Last Supper discourse, Jesus
gives two gifts to his disciples, namely, the gift of peace and the gift of the
cross leading to glory. Today’s passage refers to the gift of peace. Wishing a
person peace (Shalom), was, and still is, the usual form of greeting
among the Jews and the Arabs. Shalom is a right relationship
with God and with others. Arabs wish each other saying “Islam Alikum” in
Arabic, meaning peace be with you. And the response is “alikum Islam” (and also
with you). Moses instructed the Israelites to bless others with God’s peace: “The
Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be
gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Numbers
6:22-26). “Peace be with you!” is the greeting which Jesus
used, and which the Apostles continued to use. Hence, the Church uses it
several times in the liturgy. Peace is one of the great Messianic gifts. St.
Paul tells us that it is it is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Jesus
repeats his promise saying, “My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with
you.” Pope St. Paul VI (canonized October 14, 2018), said: “True peace
must be founded upon justice, upon a sense of the untouchable dignity of man,
upon the recognition of an indelible and happy equality between men, upon the
basic principle of human brotherhood.”
Life
message: We are invited
to live in the peace wished by Jesus. This requires that we be reconciled every
day with ourselves, with our neighbors and with our God. Reconciliation with
God demands that we obey His commandments, repent every day of our sins, and
ask God’s forgiveness. Reconciliation with others demands that we
forgive others for their offenses against us and that we ask for their
forgiveness for our offenses against them in words and deeds. Reconciliation
with ourselves comes from our grace-given humble recognition of our weaknesses
and failures and our grateful acceptance and use of the Holy Spirit’s loving
gifts to us of deepened love and trust that God loves us in spite of these
weaknesses, forgives us our sins when we repent, helps us to do better, and
uses our weaknesses to bring us closer to Him, and to demonstrate His own Love
and Power working through us for His glory. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) 21.
May 5 Wednesday:
John 15:1-8:
The context: During his Last Supper discourse, Jesus
uses one of his favorite images, the vine and the branches, to help his
disciples understand the closeness of their relationship with him and the
necessity of their maintaining it. Jesus assures them, using the parable of the
vine and branches, that the Life-giving Spirit, Whom Jesus will send them, will
be present and active among his disciples and their successors. This Gospel
passage also emphasizes the need for Christians to abide in Christ as an
essential condition for producing fruits of kindness, mercy, justice, charity,
and holiness. Paul further clarified this idea in Colossians 1:18 using
another metaphor, that Christ is the Head and Christians are the different
members of His Mystical Body. Pruning is an essential part of growing
fruit-producing branches. In the vineyards in Palestine, dead branches were
pruned to save the vine. Fruitless, leafy branches draining life sap from the
main trunk were also pruned away leaving only fruit-bearing branches. Jesus tells
his apostles that they have already been pruned by the words he has spoken to
them. Eventually, they will be pruned of all attachment to the things of
this world so that they may be ready to attach themselves to the things of
Heaven.
Life messages 1) We need pruning in our Christian
life. Pruning which cuts out of our lives everything that is contrary to the
spirit of Jesus and renews our commitment to Christian ideals in our lives
every day is the first type of self-imposed pruning expected of us. A second
kind of pruning is accomplished by practicing self-control over our evil
inclinations, sinful addictions and aberrations. A third type of pruning is
done by our permitting Jesus to prune, purify and strengthen us as God allows
us to face pain, suffering, contradictions and difficulties with His grace and
the courage of our Christian convictions.
2) Let us abide in
Christ and let Christ abide in us: Personal and liturgical prayers, frequenting
of the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation, daily, meditative
reading of the Bible and selfless, loving acts of kindness, mercy and
forgiveness enable us to abide in Jesus, the true vine, as fruit-bearing
branches (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
21.
May 6 Thursday:
Jn 15: 9-11:
The context: During the Last Supper discourse, Jesus
teaches his disciples that love is the hallmark and the criterion of
Christians. Jesus reminds his disciples that he has chosen them as his friends
with a triple mission. First, they are to love others as he has loved them.
Second, they are to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Third,
they are to ask God the Father for whatever they need in Jesus’ name.
The criteria of
Christian love: First, Jesus modifies the Old Testament command from “love
your neighbor as you love yourselves” (Lv 19: 18) to “love others as I
have loved you.” This means that our love for others must be
unconditional, forgiving, and sacrificial. Jesus invites each Christian to be
in the inner circle of his friends by obeying his commandments including the
new commandment of love. Such friends abide in Jesus, and Jesus abides in them,
and their prayers in Jesus’ name will be answered promptly by God the Father.
We express our love for Christ by obeying his new commandment of love. Jesus
further explains that the real source of Christian joy is the certainty that
God loves us. We, too, must be ready to express our love for others by our
readiness to die for them as Jesus died for us.
Life message: 1) Let us remember that true Christian love
is costly and painful because it involves sacrifice on our part when we start
loving the unlovable, ungrateful and hostile people with Christ’s
unconditional, forgiving and sacrificial love. But our Christian call is to
love others as Jesus has loved us, and as Jesus loves them. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) 21.
May 7 Friday: Jn
15: 12-17:
The context: Today’s Gospel passage is a part of Jesus’
Last Supper discourse. Jesus reminds his disciples that he has chosen them as
his friends with a triple mission. First, they are to love
others as he has loved them. Second, they are to bear the fruits of
the Holy Spirit in their lives. Third, they are to ask God the Father in
Jesus’ Name, for whatever they need.
First, Jesus
modifies the Old Testament command from “love your neighbor as you love
yourselves” (Lv 19:18) to “love others as I have loved you.”
This means that our love for others must be unconditional, forgiving, and
sacrificial. We, too, must be ready to express our love for others by our
readiness to die for them as Jesus died for us. Second, Jesus explains that the
calling to produce fruits, which the Apostles received, and which every
Christian also receives, does not originate in the individual’s good desires
but in Christ’s free choice. Third, Jesus concludes his advice by referring to
the effectiveness of prayer offered in his Name. That is why the Church
usually ends the prayers of the liturgy with the invocation “Through Jesus
Christ our Lord….”
Life
message 1) Let us
remember that true Christian love is costly and painful because it involves
sacrifice on our part when we start loving unlovable, ungrateful and hostile
people with Christ’s unconditional, forgiving and sacrificial love. But our
Christian call is to love others as Jesus has loved us, and as Jesus loves
them, and he always gives us the grace to do so. Tony
(Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) 21.
May 8 Saturday:
Jn 15:18-21:
The context: In today’s Gospel passage, taken from
the Last Supper discourse, Jesus warns his apostles of what they are to expect
from a world which ignores God and His teaching. They will be hated and
persecuted as Jesus was. But there can be no compromise between Christ’s
disciples and the followers of the powers of darkness. The term “world” in
today’s Gospel passage means people who are hostile towards God and opposed to
His will. They represent an evil society which “calls evil
good and good evil” (Is 5:20). Such a society will hate Christ
and his teachings because Christian teaching exposes the evil of society and
its false and dangerous doctrines. Since the Church Jesus established stands
for truth, morality and justice, it does not support the modern “dictatorship
of relativism.” The modern world hates and ridicules everything Christian
through its liberal, agnostic and atheistic media.
Life message: Let us ask the Holy Spirit for the
courage of our Christian convictions to believe and practice what Jesus taught
and what Jesus continues to teach through the Church.
(Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
