"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Monday of the Fifth week of Easter
Saints of the day:
The English Marytrs
Today the Church celebrates English Men and Women martyred for the Catholic Faith 1535-1680 and beatified or canonised by the Holy See.On this day in 1535 there died at Tyburn three Carthusian monks, the first of many martyrs, Catholic and Protestant, of the English reformation. Of these martyrs, forty two have been canonised and a further two hundred and forty two declared blessed, but the number of those who died on the scaffold, perished in prison, or suffered harsh persecution for their faith in the course of a century and a half cannot now be reckoned.
They came from every walk of life; there are among them rich and poor,
They are remembered for the example they gave of constancy in their faith, and courage in the
Liturgy
Monday of the Fifth week of Easter
Acts of the Apostles 14:5 Eventually the unbelievers, both Jews and Gentiles, together with their leaders, made a move to mistreat the emissaries, even to stone them; 6 but they learned of it and escaped to Lystra and Derbe, towns in Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued proclaiming the Good News.
8 There was a man living in Lystra who could not use his feet — crippled from birth, he had never walked. 9 This man listened to Sha’ul speaking. Sha’ul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” He jumped up and began to walk. 11 When the crowds saw what Sha’ul had done, they began to shout in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the form of men!” 12 They began calling Bar-Nabba “Zeus” and Sha’ul “Hermes,” since he did most of the talking; 13 and the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, intending to offer a sacrifice to them with the people.
14 When the emissaries Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul heard of it, they tore their clothes and ran into the crowd, shouting, 15 “Men! Why are you doing this? We’re just men, human like you! We are announcing Good News to you — turn from these worthless things to the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them![a] 16 In times past, he allowed all peoples to walk in their own ways; 17 yet he did not leave himself without evidence of his nature; because he does good things, giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons, filling you with food and your hearts with happiness!” 18 Even saying this barely kept the crowds from sacrificing to them.[Footnotes:
Acts 14:15 Psalm 146:6]
Psalm 115:1 Not to us, Adonai, not to us,
but to your name give glory,
because of your grace and truth.
2 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4 Their idols are mere silver and gold,
made by human hands.
15 May you be blessed by Adonai,
the maker of heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to Adonai,
but the earth he has given to humankind.
Holy Gospel According to Saint John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me, and the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
22 Y’hudah (not the one from K’riot) said to him, “What has happened, Lord, that you are about to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Yeshua answered him, “If someone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Someone who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words — and the word you are hearing is not my own but that of the Father who sent me.
25 “I have told you these things while I am still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Ruach HaKodesh, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything; that is, he will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Monday of the Fifth week of Easter
Commentary of the day:
Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book 2, ch. 22 (trans. ©Washington Province of Discalced Carmelite Friars, Inc.)
"The word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me"
The chief reason in the Old Law that the inquiries made of God were licit, and the prophets and priests appropriately desired visions and revelations from him, was that at that time faith was not yet perfectly grounded, nor was the Gospel law established… But in this era of grace, now… there is no reason for inquiring of him in this way, or expecting him to answer as before. In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word—and he has no more to say. This is the meaning of that passage where Saint Paul says to the Hebrews…: "God formerly spoke to our fathers through the prophets in many ways and manners, now, finally, in these days he has spoken to us all at once in his Son” (Heb. 1,1-2)...
Acts of the Apostles 14:5 Eventually the unbelievers, both Jews and Gentiles, together with their leaders, made a move to mistreat the emissaries, even to stone them; 6 but they learned of it and escaped to Lystra and Derbe, towns in Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued proclaiming the Good News.
8 There was a man living in Lystra who could not use his feet — crippled from birth, he had never walked. 9 This man listened to Sha’ul speaking. Sha’ul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” He jumped up and began to walk. 11 When the crowds saw what Sha’ul had done, they began to shout in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the form of men!” 12 They began calling Bar-Nabba “Zeus” and Sha’ul “Hermes,” since he did most of the talking; 13 and the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, intending to offer a sacrifice to them with the people.
14 When the emissaries Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul heard of it, they tore their clothes and ran into the crowd, shouting, 15 “Men! Why are you doing this? We’re just men, human like you! We are announcing Good News to you — turn from these worthless things to the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them![a] 16 In times past, he allowed all peoples to walk in their own ways; 17 yet he did not leave himself without evidence of his nature; because he does good things, giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons, filling you with food and your hearts with happiness!” 18 Even saying this barely kept the crowds from sacrificing to them.[Footnotes:
Acts 14:15 Psalm 146:6]
Psalm 115:1 Not to us, Adonai, not to us,
but to your name give glory,
because of your grace and truth.
2 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4 Their idols are mere silver and gold,
made by human hands.
15 May you be blessed by Adonai,
the maker of heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to Adonai,
but the earth he has given to humankind.
Holy Gospel According to Saint John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me, and the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
22 Y’hudah (not the one from K’riot) said to him, “What has happened, Lord, that you are about to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Yeshua answered him, “If someone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Someone who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words — and the word you are hearing is not my own but that of the Father who sent me.
25 “I have told you these things while I am still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Ruach HaKodesh, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything; that is, he will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Monday of the Fifth week of Easter
Commentary of the day:
Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book 2, ch. 22 (trans. ©Washington Province of Discalced Carmelite Friars, Inc.)
Those who now desire to question God or receive some vision or revelation are guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him by not fixing their eyes entirely on Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty. God could answer as follows: “If I have already told you all things in my Word, my Son, and if I have no other word, what answer or revelation can I now make that would surpass this? Fasten your eyes on him alone because in him I have spoken and revealed all and in him you will discover even more than you ask for and desire... On that day when I descended with my Spirit on Mount Tabor proclaiming: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased: hear him” (Mt 17,5), I gave up these methods of answering and teaching… Hear him because I have no more faith to reveal or truths to manifest. If I spoke before it was to promise Christ. If they questioned me, their inquiries were related to their petitions and longings for Christ in whom they were to obtain every good, as is now explained in all the doctrine of the evangelists and apostles.
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