Frederick, Maryland,
United States - Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Tuesday, 22 April 2014
- Catholic Meditations
Meditations: Acts 2: 36
“Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him
both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard
this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the
apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter said to them,
“Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For
the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even
as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 40 With many other words he
testified, and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked
generation!”
41 Then those who gladly
received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand
souls.
Tuesday within the
Octave of Easter
The promise is made to
you and to your children and to all those far off. (Acts 2:39)
Imagine you had a friend
who was always true to his word. When he said he would help you out, you could
be confident that he would be there, steady as a rock. Well, you do have a
friend like this: your heavenly Father. He is perfectly faithful in all his
ways. And he is completely committed to you.
When Peter spoke to the
crowd on the day of Pentecost, he assured them that they were heirs of God’s
promise, just as the disciples were. Having come from all over the world to Jerusalem
to worship in the Temple, they were clearly “far off” (Acts 2:39). But that
distance was no obstacle to God. Just so, we too are far off—separated by the
march of time, not the stretch of miles—and that distance is no obstacle,
either.
The promise is for you!
Today and every day. This year and every year. It never fades. It never
diminishes. Salvation is yours. So too is the promise of God’s presence, his
guidance, and his consolation. So too is the call to follow him and to imitate
him. And so too is the assurance that the Holy Spirit will give you every grace
and blessing you need to fulfill this great call. God’s faithfulness means that
he will always do everything he promised to do. No sin, no circumstance, no
darkness can deter him.
How should we respond to
this awesome truth? With praise and thanksgiving, of course! But how about a
little curiosity as well? Take some time today to do a little Bible study.
Choose any Gospel passage you want, and try to identify some of God’s promises
that are embedded in it. Look either for promises he makes in this passage, or
for promises of his that are being fulfilled in it. If you want some hints, try
reading the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) or some of Jesus’ parables (Mark
4) or the story of Easter (John 20). As you do this study, keep reminding
yourself that these promises are for you. They’re yours for the taking—each and
every one of them!
“Father, I praise you
for your faithfulness. May my heart always rest in the assurance of your love.”
Amen.
Psalms 33: 4 For
Yahweh’s word is right.
All his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness
and justice.
The earth is full of the loving kindness of
Yahweh.
18 Behold, Yahweh’s eye
is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his loving kindness;
19 to deliver their soul from death,
to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul has waited
for Yahweh.
He is our help and our shield.
22 Let your loving
kindness be on us, Yahweh,
since we have hoped in you.
John 20: 11 But Mary was
standing outside at the tomb weeping. So, as she wept, she stooped and looked
into the tomb, 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and
one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 They told her, “Woman,
why are you weeping?”
She said to them,
“Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid
him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and
didn’t know that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her,
“Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”
She, supposing him to be
the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where
you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
16 Jesus said to her,
“Mary.”
She turned and said to
him, “Rabboni!”[a] which is to say, “Teacher!”[b]
17 Jesus said to her,
“Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers,
and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your
God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene came
and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these
things to her.
Footnotes:
A. John 20:16 Rabboni is
a transliteration of the Hebrew word for “great teacher.”
b. John 20:16 or, Master
--------
No comments:
Post a Comment