The Diocese of Lansing's Day of Fasting & Prayer got off to an inauspicious start when the priest leading Morning Prayer claimed that the lay faithful had all been "invited" to fast from the Eucharist. To my understanding, choice is a necessary component of an invitation; one has to be free to accept or decline the invitation. For example, when the police arrest a suspect, it would be inaccurate, at best euphemistic, to say that suspect had been "invited" to police headquarters. The lay faithful were not "invited" to fast from the Eucharist, our bishop cancelled all public Masses.
'Tis the Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent (meaning "Spring;" the Latin name is Quadragesima, meaning "fortieth"): Quadragesima-link & Wikipedia-link Quadragesima.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
The Book of Jeremiah, chapter twenty, verses ten thru thirteen;
Psalm Eighteen (R/. see: seven), verses two & three(a), three(b/c) & four, five & six, & seven;
The Gospel according to John, chapter ten, verses thirty-one thru forty-two.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus declares, "The Father is in me and I am in the Father."Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D. (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.
Charles Williams stated that the master idea of Christianity is "coinherence," mutual indwelling. If you want to see this idea concretely displayed, look to the pages of the Book of Kells, that masterpiece of early Christian illumination. Lines interwoven, designs turning in and around on each other, plays of plants, animals, planets, human beings, angels, and saints. The Germans call it Ineinander (one in the other).
How do we identify ourselves? Almost exclusively through the naming of relationships: we are sons, brothers, daughters, mothers, fathers, members of organizations, members of the Church, etc. We might want to be alone, but no one and nothing is finally an island. Coinherence is indeed the name of the game, at all levels of reality.
And God—the ultimate reality—is a family of coinherent relations, each marked by the capacity for self-emptying. Though Father and Son are really distinct, they are utterly implicated in each other by a mutual act of love.
The impossibly good news is that Jesus and the Father have invited us to enter fully into their divine coinherence. The love between the Father and the Son—which is called "the Holy Spirit"—can be participated in.
Reflect: What is the difference between following God and participating in his divine life?
"Easter of Hope" Reflection (Array of Hope):
In Today’s Gospel, we get a brief glimpse of what is yet to come for Our Lord in His Passion. The Israelites are looking past the miracles that Jesus has performed that prove His divinity and instead they choose to focus on the old law and what they consider blasphemies. Christ explains that the miracles alone should allow them to see the truth in His claims of being the Son of God.Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 82
How often do we reject Christ as Lord of our lives? Often we can put idols in the place of God. Sometimes we reject Jesus because of our own sins and hardness of heart, just as those in today’s Gospel. Our pride can keep us from admitting that we were wrong and from fully accepting Christ for who He is. When we open our hearts to God, He will work miracles. We need to realize that Jesus is the Son of God and therefore He alone has the words of eternal life.
Today’s Tip: Write down one way that you have rejected Christ because of your own beliefs and ideologies. In prayer, ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you about the true nature of Christ.
The Book of Exodus, chapter thirty-eight, verses twenty-one thru twenty-six.
Commentary: Materials of the Tabernacle (Exodus, 38:21-26).
Scripture Study—The 3:16 Project
The Book of Nahum, chapter three, verse sixteen.
You increased your merchants'Tis the commemoration of Saint Burgundofara, Abbess (circa 595-657, A.K.A. Fara), founding abbess of the Abbey of Faremoutiers (620-657): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Faremoutiers.
more than the stars of the heavens.
The locust spreads its wings & flies away.
Commentary: Wayback Machine '18. Sister of the bishops St. Faro of Meaux [28 October] & St. Chagnoald of Laon [6 September].
'Tis also the commemoration of Saint Nicetas of Medikion, Priest & Abbot (died 824), abbot of the Monastery of Saint Sergios of Medikion (813-824, A.K.A. Medikion Monastery): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Medikion.
'Tis also the commemoration of Saint Richard of Chichester, Bishop (1197-1253, A.K.A. Richard de Wych), Bishop of Chichester (1244-1253): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link & Wikipedia-link Chichester.
'Tis also the commemoration of Blessed Giovanni da Penna, Priest, O.F.M. (circa 1193-1271): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the commemoration of Blesseds Thurstan Hunt & Robert Middleton, S.J., Priests & Martyrs (died 1601), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, two of the Eighty-five Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link Tango Hotel, Martyr-link Romeo Mike, & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link England & Wales & Wikipedia-link England & Wales.
Commentary: Bl. Robert is the nephew of the martyr St. Margaret Clitherow [25 March], one of the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales [22 November].
'Tis also the commemoration of Blessed Piotr Edward Dankowski, Priest & Martyr (1908-1942), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, one of the One Hundred Eight Blessed Polish Martyrs: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (List, № 62); Martyrs-link Polska & Wikipedia-link Polska.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"Peace is not weakness, nor being indifferent. It is the daughter of justice."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope St. John XXIII (1881-1963, r. 1958-1963; feast: 11 October)
"The greater & more persistent your confidence in God, the more abundantly you will receive all that you ask."Chesterton Quote o' the Day
—St. Albert the Great, Doctor of the Church (1200-1280, feast: 15 November)
"The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; but not the end."
—G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
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