Saints + Scripture: V Sunday of Easter

'Tis the Fifth Sunday of Easter (A.K.A. Cantate Sunday or "Sing-song Sunday"): Wikipedia-link Cantate & Wikipedia-link Eastertide.

Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Fifth Sunday of Easter
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter fourteen, verses twenty-one thru twenty-seven;
Psalm One Hundred Forty-five, verses eight & nine, ten & eleven, & twelve & thirteen;
The Book of Revelation, chapter twenty-one, verses one thru five(a);
The Gospel according to John, chapter thirteen, verses thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three(a), thirty-four, & thirty-five.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, today’s Gospel instructs us in the way of loving others with God’s love. We find joy in God alone, for our souls have been wired for God. But here’s the trick—and the whole of the Christian life is on display here: God is love…. God is self-emptying on behalf of the other. But this means, paradoxically, that to have God is to be what God is—and that means giving one’s life away.

Now we see the link between joy and commandments: "I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another." And now we begin to understand the laws, commands, and demands of the Church. All are designed to make us more adept at giving ourselves away. Don’t steal; don’t kill; don’t covet your neighbor’s goods or wife; honor your mother and father; worship God. All of these commands—positive and negative—are meant to awaken and make possible love.

Notice, please, that we are to love with a properly divine love: "I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father." Radical, radical, radical. Complete, excessive, over-the-top.

Reflection by Father Joseph Mary Wolfe, M.F.V.A. (Eternal Word Television Network):

The readings for today’s Mass describe both the trials of the early Church as well as God’s faithful love and the splendor of His Kingdom. How might these themes be connected? I am reminded of a poem attributed to the great mystic St. John of the Cross:

“And I saw the river over which every soul must pass
to reach the kingdom of heaven
and the name of that river was suffering
and I saw a boat which carries souls across the river
and the name of that boat was love.”

Our society does not seem to accept that all authentic love (as distinguished from its many, popular counterfeits) will, sooner or later, encounter the Cross – no exceptions. In today’s Gospel, Jesus commands that we imitate His way of love. Only in loving self-sacrifice is the mystery of suffering transformed into God’s glory. While it would be unthinkable to pursue suffering as an end in itself, when accepted with love and for Love, suffering is a powerful means to reach the Kingdom of God.

Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.

Scripture Study—Day 91: Reflection Peak, Day 17
The Book of Genesis, chapter three, verses one thru five.

Commentary: The Fall of Man (Genesis, 3:1-5).

Mass Journal: Week 25
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:

Several years ago, my brother Nathan was living in Japan for a year as an exchange student. During that time, I received a letter from him with a photograph he had taken of what seemed to be the courtyard of an ancient Japanese garden. In the middle of the courtyard was an almost tree in full bloom. Nathan has always been a talented photographer, but what really captured my attention was a quotation he had written on the back of the photograph. The quotation was from the writings of [El] Greco, the famed Greek-born Spanish painter. It read: "I said to the almond tree, 'Sister, speak to me about God,' & the almond tree blossomed."

†

Otherwise, 19 May would be the festival of Blessed Alcuin of York, Deacon & Abbot (circa 730-804): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Dunstan, Bishop & Abbot, O.S.B. (909-988, of Canterbury), abbot of the Abbey of Glastonbury who introduced the Benedictine Rule, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London, & Archbishop of Canterbury: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbots, Abbey-link Glastonbury, Wikipedia-link Glastonbury, & Wikipedia-link Rule; & Wikipedia-link Worchester, Diocese-link London & Wikipedia-link London, & Diocese-link Canterbury & Wikipedia-link Canterbury.

Commentary: Nephew of St. Athelm [8 January], also an Archbishop of Canterbury, & kinsman of St. Ælfheah the Bald [12 March].

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Celestine V, Pope, O.S.B. Cel. (circa 1210-1296, A.K.A. Pietro Angelerio, of Morrone), one hundred ninety-second (CXCII) Bishop of Rome & founder of the Celestines, a branch of the Benedictines: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Pontiffs-link, & Wikipedia-link Pontiff; & Wikipedia-link O.S.B. Cel.

'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Peter Wright, Priest & Martyr, S.J. (1603-1651), martyred in the reign of the English warlord Oliver Cromwell: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Theophilus of Corte, Priest, O.F.M. (1676-1740, A.K.A. Biagio Arrighi): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint María Bernarda of the Holy Heart of Mary, Religious, O.F.M. Cap. (1848-1924, A.K.A. Verena Bütler), foundress of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Pray like Jesus. Pray intently. Pray today, always in the confident communion that prayer has established between us & the Father. Because it is to a father, it is to the Father that our humble voice is addressed."
—Pope St. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 26 September)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"Each time I needed food for the souls in my charge, I always found my hands filled. Had I relied on my own strength, I should very soon have been forced to surrender."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Avoiding the Cross is the essence of the demonic… Consider the softness of the Church today: the desire to accommodate herself to the world, shrinking away from sacrifice, self-denial. We have today in the Christian world a new dirty word, but it doesn’t have four letters. The new dirty word has five: C-R-O-S-S. Christ without the Cross? Sure, anyone will accept that."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)