'Tis the Friday of the Third Week of Easter (Latin: Pascha, meaning "Passover"): Pascha-link & Wikipedia-link Paschaltide.
'Tis the First Friday o' the month: Wikipedia-link First Friday & Wikipedia-link Sacred Heart.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Friday of the Third Week of Easter
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter nine, verses one thru twenty;
Psalm one Hundred Seventeen, verses one(b/c), two
(R/. the Gospel according to Mark, chapter sixteen, verse fifteen; or, "Alleluia);
The Gospel according to John, chapter six, verses fifty-two thru fifty-nine.
Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares that "unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you."Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M. (U.S.C. of Catholic Bishops): Paschal Reflection.
The talk that Jesus gave concerning the sacrament of his Body and Blood was quite literally revolting. It is a rather remarkable understatement when John writes, "The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?’"
So what does Jesus do when confronted with this objection? One would think that he would offer a metaphorical or symbolic interpretation of his words. Instead, he intensifies what he had said.
How do we appropriate this shocking talk? We honor these unnerving words of Jesus, resisting all attempts to explain them away. We affirm the doctrine of "Real Presence." Vatican II re-expressed the traditional Catholic belief when it taught that, though Jesus is present to us in any number of ways—in the proclamation of the Gospel, in the gathering of two or three in his name, in the poor and suffering—he is nevertheless present in a qualitatively different way in the Eucharist.
Video reflection by Doctor Tim Gray (Augustine Institute/Formed.org): Paschal Reflection.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"It is love that led Christ to serve, to give His life as a ransom for many. The word 'to serve' no longer means an insupportable degradation of the human being's dignity. In the sense Christ gave it, service acquires the highest moral value—dominion of self, heroism, sacrifice, boundless love."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Saint Paul VI (1897-1978, r. 1963-1978; feast: 29 May)
"It is necessary that the heroic becomes daily & that the daily becomes heroic."Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day
—Saint Zélie Martin (1831-1877, feast: 12 July)
"Ask yourself: Have I heard Jesus say directly & personally to me, 'I want your love'? If our hearts are pure, really surrendered to Him this thing becomes part of our thirst to love Him better."Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"God does not love us because we are valuable. We are valuable because God loves us."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
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