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From the Word of the Day

“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”  (John 14: 26)

            

How should we live this Word? 

A special atmosphere surrounded all those who had gathered in Jerusalem around the Apostles and Mary, the Mother of Jesus.  They were prayerfully concluding the annual feast of Pentecost.  Their fear or uncertainty about what to do after Jesus’ Ascension did not isolate them but rather caused an incessant prayer of invocation to flow from their heart: Come Holy Spirit!

Jesus had presented the Spirit many times to them and to us with various names and titles.  It was not easy to understand who the Spirit is, but what the Spirit would do in them and for them, was a truly reassuring promise.  This promise is made to us as well.

Above all, the Spirit is the Paraclete, the Consoler, as we usually translate it, the One who is close to us, the one who consoles, comforts, encourages us.  The Spirit is in us and prays for us, insistently asking and petitioning for us.  The Spirit calls, gathers, invites.  Simply put, the Spirit is the One who “will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”  Jesus said this to His disciples and He continually repeats it to us as well.  This Spirit was effused in us at our Baptism and Confirmation.   We have been wrapped in the gifts of wisdom and fortitude.  Each day, the Spirit reminds us of who we are and the mission that has been entrusted to Jesus’ disciples, the Christians.  We are sent to proclaim Him and witness to Him in the simplicity of our daily life, without being discouraged by the weight of the mission.  He is with us!  The Spirit reminds us and teaches us what to do and how to be!  Let us open our mind and heart; open wide the doors of our homes!

Today in my pause for silent contemplation, I will relish the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life and the gifts He brings to help me be a faithful and loving follower of Jesus. 

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Your love! 

The Voice of Pope Francis 

Bring peace in war, warmth where cold reigns today, give to everyone what is mine, plant a heaven on the earth.  What an enthusing mission God has entrusted to us!  Oh, if I had only done it!

 

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From the Word of the Day

“He remained for two full years in his lodgings.  He received all who came to him and with complete assurance and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.”  (Acts 28: 30-31)

            

How should we live this Word? 

The activities of Paul at Rome in his two years of imprisonment are to receive all who came to him, proclaim the Kingdom of God, and teach.  He can no longer move about in search of those who need to hear the Good News of Jesus.  He must wait for them under ‘house arrest’.  However, his waiting is active thanks to his ‘frankness’, or better still, his courage.  Even in chains, the gift of the Holy Spirit is in him and gives him strength, wisdom, knowledge.  He cannot be stopped, rather he attracts the people who now go to him, listen to him, learn.  He dismantles a mentality that is encrusted with prejudices in regard to God, to the incarnation, to the resurrection.  The newness of the Gospel cannot be blocked by chains, if it is received and transmitted by a heart like Paul’s that no longer knows either fear or falsity.

Today in my pause for silent contemplation, I will look at Paul’s ability to preach in any circumstance, even that of imprisonment, and I will ask the Holy Spirit to give me the grace of a courage such as this, born of a deep love for Jesus. 

Lord, give me the gift of openness, of honesty, of purity.  Let my witness and my words be clear, efficacious, and courageous.  May they prolong in the world today the mystery of Redemption You brought about. 

The Voice of Fr. Tonino Bello, Bishop and Prophet of our time 

Parresia means to speak clearly, without fear, without hesitation in the face of the threats of the powerful when we must give witness to the truth.  It is true that there is a time to be silent and there is a time to speak.  What we are living today is the time to speak.  May God permit that we will all be persuaded of this truth: that we must render an account of our words before the tribunal of history, but we must render an account of our silence before the tribunal of God.

 

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From the Word of the Day

“Paul appealed that he be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.”  (Acts 25: 21)

             

How should we live this Word?

 

Here we read the disturbing words of Festus who, having arrived in Caesarea, found Paul in prison without any just cause or accusation.  Just man that he is, he is faced with two illustrious guests on the question and seeks a reasonable solution to Paul’s situation.  But Festus does not know that in this case, reasonableness has no place.

Paul, who has already traveled the whole known world, arriving clandestinely in many cities and leaving behind him foundations of new communities, must arrive at the heart of the empire, at Rome.  This time it will not be secretly, but in a condition to be able to speak directly with Caesar, the emperor.  The obvious folly and evident injustice win and create the way for the Word to enter into the DNA of history, of the thoughts and places of the times.  The strength of Paul and the powerful Spirit in him, build this unique opportunity from an apparent situation of disadvantage.

Today in my pause for silent contemplation, I will pause and consider how God can draw good out of evil as He did for Paul, and does for me as well. 

Lord, help me to transform what I deem as possible defeat or disadvantageous weakness into fruitful occasions that can transmit the power of the Gospel for a culture and politics that are more at the service of humanity and its well-being.

The Voice of Joseph Pollano, Spiritual Master 

Violence is…the virtue of the weak, the strength and the power of the meek that allow the Spirit to invent a good that did not exist, even in you and me.

 

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From the Word of the Day

“I bless the Lord who counsels me; even in the night my heart exhorts me.”  (Psalm 16)

             

How should we live this Word? 

This lovely Psalm of today’s Liturgy offers us the movement of a believer’s soul that is completely pervaded by God’s presence inhabiting it, giving it knowledge of things and the strength to look to the future, entrusting self to Him.

The demands that authentic evangelization place upon believers are imaginable only with the Spirit’s fantasy who COUNSELS us, giving us an understanding of situations, making us capable of connecting opportunities, instruments, human abilities, ambient capabilities so that there will be abundant life for everyone.  Paul escapes from a difficult and dangerous situation by re-directing the discourse on a theme that will divide the mob and distract them from his person.  Paul’s word reveals the senselessness of his attackers and the crowd changes from accusers to defenders as they say, “we find nothing wrong with this man.  Suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

This is an ironic way of showing how aggressive and ideological positions often have very weak foundations that evangelization, and education to think can disarm violence, producing a movement that leads to truth, illumines, and transforms.

Today in my pause for silent contemplation, I will ponder on the gift of Counsel that the Holy Spirit brings and I will seek to be open to it in my daily dealings with others. 

Lord, I ask You for the gift of counsel so that I may live the freedom of the Spirit in my relationships, in my plans, in the dreams I want to make reality. 

The Voice of Joseph Pollano, Spiritual Master

Counsel: a gift that helps us discern what is good and act with creativity.  It elevates us toward plans that we cannot even imagine.  How many saints have been humanly defined as ‘crazy’?  They desired, asked for, and received the Spirit in themselves.

 

 

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From the Word of the Day

“Consecrate them in truth.  Your word is truth.” (John 17: 17)

“Now I commend you to God and to that gracious word of his… (Acts 20: 32)

             

How should we live this Word? 

Just before His passion and death, Jesus in His intimate and final prayer with God, asks the Father to consecrate in truth the ones to whom He was sent.  The Word of God is Truth.  The Word of God is Jesus Himself, this Jesus who is praying for His friends.

Paul is leaving the community at Ephesus and he knows that he will never again see the faces of these beloved friends.  For him as well, the future holds imprisonment and death.  He too entrusts those dear friends to the Word of God, to that gracious Word of His, to His Love.  Both Jesus’ and Paul’s prayer are prolonged in time and thus we too are entrusted to the Word, consecrated in Him.  We can restore the word ‘consecrated’ to its original meaning, the idea of being preserved, guarded, protected, set apart.  The Word that receives us is therefore a word that safeguards us, that makes us secure.

And yet, there is nothing more ephemeral than a word.  It is a breath, a sound that once emitted, disappears.  But we are the witnesses of a Word that, though so fragile, creates; though so volatile, leaves a sign.  It generates, renders human reality fecund and makes it grow, shapes it, refines it, changes it.  That Word ennobles and makes generative even our human words through which we trust each other in a reciprocity of gift and promise in the continual search to build together efficacious dialogue, a history that saves!  These words are stronger than actions.  They are words that become act.

Today in my pause for silent contemplation, I will ponder the Word within my heart, receiving it with joy and letting it bear fruit in me. 

Lord, I entrust myself to Your Word.  Grant that it may give shape to my becoming so that I may  be ever closer to You, and always more like You. 

The Voice of Alessandro D’Avenia, Writer 

Sometimes a word from someone who believes in you can bring you forth into the world again.

 

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From the Word of the Day

“You, Lord, know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry.”  (Acts 1: 24)

            

How should we live this Word? 

Today is the feast of St. Matthias and the readings continue in the Easter climate and in preparation for Pentecost.  The certainty of Jesus’ Resurrection allows the apostles to recall with intensity what they had heard, the circularity with the Father that He declared ‘I have told you everything I have heard from my Father’, assuring them that He had chosen them and now guides their choices.

They must substitute Judas because they want to remain in twelve.  They intelligently select from among the hundreds of friends that constitute the embryonic Church.  They set criteria.  The one chosen must have been present at Jesus’ Baptism, a witness to the whole Christ event, perhaps one of the 72 Jesus had sent to work signs and say new words in His name.  The ones who, on their return after casting out demons, heard Jesus tell them, ‘Rejoice, because your names are written in Heaven’.  Two names are individuated.  The Holy Spirit is already operative with power and light in these courageous apostles, who leave the final decision to Him after they have done their detailed  discernment.  They entrust two names to the Spirit and have them draw lots.  They leave the last word to Love.  The Spirit has the responsibility of individuating the one called.

Today in my pause for silent contemplation, I will reflect upon my attitude to the Holy Spirit.  Is He the forgotten God for me?  I will renew my love and trust for this Person of the Trinity and I will confide in His Power and Wisdom before making any decisions. 

Today Lord, help me to think of my capacity for choice, for discernment, for decision making.  Help me to verity how I collaborate with You in seeking the good as You continue to give me new indications for seeing the truth and Your will as shown by the signs of the times and the events of each day. 

The Voice of Maximo Gramellini, Writer 

Life is a heroic choice!  It certainly is!  It is a heroic choice that it renewed at every instant.

 

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From the Word of the Day

“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?  They answered him, ‘We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit’.”  (Acts 19: 2)

            

How should we live this Word? 

As we prepare for the solemnity of Pentecost, we will seek to decipher the action of the Holy Spirit in the history of the first Christian community.  The Liturgy presents us with Chapter 19 of the Acts of the Apostles.  Paul has arrived at Ephesus and meets a group of enthusiastic sympathizers who declare themselves disciples, but they have not encountered the Holy Spirit.  They have a moral adhesion and had received the baptism of John that exhorted conversion, revision of life, metanoia.  But how can there be conversion without asking for God’s forgiveness, that His mercy touch our soul, our mind, our heart?  How can we receive God’s gift without His Spirit having left His trace, determined the wound that allows God to penetrate our vulnerability and redeem it?  Paul immediately fills this gap!  He completes their baptism by immersing them in Christ and the Spirit. The Spirit penetrates them and makes them prophets and announcers of the Word.

The community of Ephesus will be among those most dear to Paul.  He will leave to them his pastoral testament and entrust them to God, to His Word, to His Grace.  With them, he will cry in the pain of detachment, of having to leave because his task brings him elsewhere, to Rome, to witness to Christ to the ends of the earth.

Today in my pause for silent contemplation, I will implore the Holy Spirit’s presence in my life to increase my faith, hope, and love. 

Today Lord, I want to remember the grace of my baptism that immersed me in You and made Your Spirit active in me with His strength, vital energy, grace, consolation, and hope. 

The Voice of St. Gregory Nazianzen 

Baptism is the most beautiful and magnificent gift of God…we call it gift, grace, unction, illumination, vesture of immortality, lavacro of regeneration, seal, and all that is most precious.  It is a gift because it is given to those who bring nothing; a grace because it is bestowed even on the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in the water; unction because it is sacred and royal (such are those who are united); illumination because it is radiant light; vesture because it covers our shame; lavacro because it washes us, because it guards us and it is the sign of God’s sovereignty. 

 

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From the Word of the Day

“Lifting up his eyes to Heaven, Jesus prayed saying: ‘Holy Father, I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me though their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.”  (John 17: 20-26)

             

How should we live this Word? 

In this passage Jesus reveals the burning desire of His heart: oneness; to be one with Him and with each other, to be one in the Father.  We have been created to be in relationship, not only with God, but also with each other as part of Christ’s Mystical Body.  Thus, Jesus insisted on the greatest commandment of all in its double aspect of love of God and love of all our sisters and brothers.  It is a love that must be active, pleasing God by reaching out to others, by forgiving, by our compassion and empathy.

In His prayer, Jesus was thinking of all who would believe in Him through the word of the apostles and disciples; He was thinking of you and me who believe that He was sent by the Father and that He is God.  How can we bring about the unity Jesus prays for?  We can do it only by living in Him, with Him, and for Him, by assimilating His Word and living it in our day to day routine.  His grace is sufficient for us and we can daily draw upon it in the sacraments, and through our constant awareness of His presence within us and in everyone else.

Today in my pause for silent contemplation, I will adore the God dwelling in my depths and ask Him to enable me to love Him in my sisters and brothers, thus working to bring about the unity He desires.

Lord, break down the barriers that impede Your love within me.  Let me be an active and eager member of Your Body on earth, the Church, receiving from her the strength to live in You.

The Voice of Paul Claudel, Poet, Playwright, Diplomat 

“Alone and unaided I am unable to know God or be known by him.  I need the whole Church!  It is only through this social organization that I come into my own and find, by being born into it, the pathway to understanding and power.  What joy to find and give myself utterly, my whole self effectively; not just give all of myself, but give all to all.”

 

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From the Word of the Day

“Apollos…began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.”  (Acts 18: 26)

            

How should we live this Word? 

This is a small picture of authentic Christian witness.  The interests of God are in first place and they are pursued with personal detachment and apostolic zeal.  The arrival of Apollos and his fervent and convincing words do not arouse jealously in the couple.  They listen to him and grasp the gaps, but they do not blame him or denigrate him.  Thus, they do not diminish him in the opinion of the people out of fear of losing their prestige among them.  They call him apart and explain with greater clarity Christ’s thought, so that he can put his own gifts at God’s disposition.  When Apollos manifests his desire to go to Achaia, they encourage him and prepare the way for him by predisposing the hearts of the faithful there to receive him.

Pope Francis invited us in one of his talks to remove the idols from our heart that we create, perhaps unknowingly.  Among these idols, he named that of wanting to prevail over others, to affirm ourselves and thus be admired.  These are dark evils that insinuate themselves easily in our depths and spoil the noblest intentions.  They render our apostolic work vain and they empty our words through the counter-witness of a life that is incoherent.

Aquila and Priscilla teach us the exact opposite.  If God is at the center, there is no more room for my ego.  If I see someone who can serve God, it generates joy not jealousy, and it leads me to open my hand in a generous gesture of friendship and helpfulness, willingly sharing the divine gift received and to be used with intelligence and generosity.

Today in my pause for silent contemplation, I will look into my heart to see if there is any jealousy lurking there at the success of others and I will ask Jesus to uproot it and give me only His love and joy.  

Help me Lord to get rid of all my idols.  Let me be Your passionate witness, showing with my life Your love, Your goodness, Your generosity. 

The Voice of Blessed John Paul II

Man of our times!  Christ will free you from egoism to call you to sharing and quick and joyful dedication to others.

 

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From the Word of the Day

“Do not be afraid.  Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.”  (Acts 18: 9-10)

             

How should we live this Word?

Paul is discouraged by a bitter experience, similar to his failure at Athens.  His preaching is certainly not accompanied by great applause.  It is precisely his speaking that has procured for him and will still procure hostility, beatings, imprisonment, and death.  The invitation to not be afraid and to continue to preach the Gospel falls on one who has already undergone trials.  How can he fail to be afraid when he well knows the price of his zealous spending himself for the Word!  His own Jewish brethren are the ones who are particularly hostile and closed to the Word, the very ones from whom he would expect complete correspondence and adhesion.

Jesus does not merely tell him not to be afraid.  He infuses Paul with courage to continue preaching by telling him, “I am with you”.  This is the witness to which we are all being called, along with our Pope Francis.  We must witness with our life, with our joy, no matter the price, along with the many Christians throughout the world who are suffering for their faith.  We must let our prayer life shine forth in our lived faith, bearing witness to Jesus with our every thought, word, and action, everywhere we are, at home, work, school, leisure activities.  This is what the world needs today, people of faith and hope, people full of the joy only Jesus can give.

Where can we find the courage and strength to do this?  There is only one answer, being constantly together with Jesus, with the Father, with the Holy Spirit, attached to them like branches on the vine.  It is possible for us as it was possible for so many in the past and so many others today.  “Do not be afraid.  Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.”

Today in my pause for silent contemplation, I will listen to Jesus telling me, ‘don’t be afraid.  I am with you’.  

Lord, Your words give me courage to walk with head held high, joyfully professing that I have met You and that I love and serve You! 

The Voice of Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus 

“Have the courage to risk with God!  Try it!  Do not be afraid of Him.  Have the courage to risk with faith!  Have the courage to risk with goodness!  Have the courage to risk with a pure heart!  Put your life on the line with Jesus and you will see that your life will become broad and bright, not boring, but full of infinite surprises, because God’s infinite goodness is never exhausted!