Ss. Priscilla and Aquila-Reflection for 6/4/11 apostleshipofprayer Jun 3, 2011 Reflection for 6/4/11More
Ss. Priscilla and Aquila-Reflection for 6/4/11
apostleshipofprayer Jun 3, 2011 Reflection for 6/4/11
apostleshipofprayer Jun 3, 2011 Reflection for 6/4/11
JUNE 4, 2011
DAILY PRAYER WITH REGNUM CHRISTI
CONFIDENCE IN THE FATHER'S LOVE
June 4, 2011
Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Father John Doyle, LC
John 16:23b-28
Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you
ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not
asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy
may be complete. I have told …More
JUNE 4, 2011
DAILY PRAYER WITH REGNUM CHRISTI
CONFIDENCE IN THE FATHER'S LOVE
June 4, 2011
Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Father John Doyle, LC
John 16:23b-28
Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you
ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not
asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy
may be complete. I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour
is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will
tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my
name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For
the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come
to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have
come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the
Father."
Introductory Prayer: Lord, as I begin this prayer I offer you my
whole self: my thoughts, desires, decisions, actions, hopes, fears,
weaknesses, failures and petty successes. I open my entire being to
you, aware that you know everything already. I'm certain of your
mercy and of the purifying power of your penetrating, loving gaze.
Petition: Father, help me to confide in you.
1. Ask And You Shall Receive: As a child I was often bashful to the
extreme when dealing with strangers. I remember once my dad asked me
to leave a food package at the rectory office as a contribution to
the parish food drive for the poor. I was scared stiff. Finally after
I got up the courage, I rang the doorbell, dropped the box and ran.
At times we can feel the same apprehension and uncertainty before
prayer. We are not sure if God will take kindly to "being disturbed"
in his care for the universe to listen to our request. Ultimately, we
need to remember how much God likes to be asked and to trust that,
if what we are asking for is for our good or that of another, God
will certainly grant it.
2. God's Self-Revelation: Language is a vehicle of communication,
and like every means of expressing ideas, it is limited. Speech,
however, is really pushed to its limits when it tries to express
realities about which humans have no clear conceptualizations. God's
power, his awesome majesty and his very being are far beyond our
limited scope of comprehension. Jesus, as true God and true man,
becomes the bridge between our human language and God, whom he knows
intimately. Jesus uses the most adequate expressions possible for God
-- such as Father --, but he also reminds us that he is speaking in
figures. One day he promises to tell us clearly and even introduce us
to him. Is this my greatest hope? Would I be ready right now to be
introduced to God the Father?
3. "The Father Himself Loves You" - Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict,
reminds us of the Father's love: "True, no one has ever seen God as
he is. And yet God is not totally invisible to us; he does not remain
completely inaccessible. God loved us first, says the Letter of St
John, and this love of God has appeared in our midst. He has become
visible in as much as he ‘has sent his only Son into the world,
so that we might live through him' (1 John 4:9). God has made himself
visible: in Jesus we are able to see the Father (cf. John 14:9).
Indeed, God is visible in a number of ways. In the love-story
recounted by the Bible, he comes towards us, he seeks to win our
hearts, all the way to the Last Supper, to the piercing of his heart
on the cross, to his appearances after the Resurrection and to the
great deeds by which, through the activity of the apostles, he guided
the nascent Church along its path" (Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas
Est [God Is Love], December 25, 2005).
Conversation with Christ: Jesus, you have revealed the immense love
the Father has for all people by the ultimate self-giving of your
life. Help me never to doubt your love for me. Help me to respond to
your love though fidelity to your will and the practice of exquisite
charity.
Resolution: I will say a decade of the rosary for missionaries who
are preaching God's love to others.
DAILY PRAYER WITH REGNUM CHRISTI
CONFIDENCE IN THE FATHER'S LOVE
June 4, 2011
Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Father John Doyle, LC
John 16:23b-28
Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you
ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not
asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy
may be complete. I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour
is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will
tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my
name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For
the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come
to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have
come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the
Father."
Introductory Prayer: Lord, as I begin this prayer I offer you my
whole self: my thoughts, desires, decisions, actions, hopes, fears,
weaknesses, failures and petty successes. I open my entire being to
you, aware that you know everything already. I'm certain of your
mercy and of the purifying power of your penetrating, loving gaze.
Petition: Father, help me to confide in you.
1. Ask And You Shall Receive: As a child I was often bashful to the
extreme when dealing with strangers. I remember once my dad asked me
to leave a food package at the rectory office as a contribution to
the parish food drive for the poor. I was scared stiff. Finally after
I got up the courage, I rang the doorbell, dropped the box and ran.
At times we can feel the same apprehension and uncertainty before
prayer. We are not sure if God will take kindly to "being disturbed"
in his care for the universe to listen to our request. Ultimately, we
need to remember how much God likes to be asked and to trust that,
if what we are asking for is for our good or that of another, God
will certainly grant it.
2. God's Self-Revelation: Language is a vehicle of communication,
and like every means of expressing ideas, it is limited. Speech,
however, is really pushed to its limits when it tries to express
realities about which humans have no clear conceptualizations. God's
power, his awesome majesty and his very being are far beyond our
limited scope of comprehension. Jesus, as true God and true man,
becomes the bridge between our human language and God, whom he knows
intimately. Jesus uses the most adequate expressions possible for God
-- such as Father --, but he also reminds us that he is speaking in
figures. One day he promises to tell us clearly and even introduce us
to him. Is this my greatest hope? Would I be ready right now to be
introduced to God the Father?
3. "The Father Himself Loves You" - Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict,
reminds us of the Father's love: "True, no one has ever seen God as
he is. And yet God is not totally invisible to us; he does not remain
completely inaccessible. God loved us first, says the Letter of St
John, and this love of God has appeared in our midst. He has become
visible in as much as he ‘has sent his only Son into the world,
so that we might live through him' (1 John 4:9). God has made himself
visible: in Jesus we are able to see the Father (cf. John 14:9).
Indeed, God is visible in a number of ways. In the love-story
recounted by the Bible, he comes towards us, he seeks to win our
hearts, all the way to the Last Supper, to the piercing of his heart
on the cross, to his appearances after the Resurrection and to the
great deeds by which, through the activity of the apostles, he guided
the nascent Church along its path" (Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas
Est [God Is Love], December 25, 2005).
Conversation with Christ: Jesus, you have revealed the immense love
the Father has for all people by the ultimate self-giving of your
life. Help me never to doubt your love for me. Help me to respond to
your love though fidelity to your will and the practice of exquisite
charity.
Resolution: I will say a decade of the rosary for missionaries who
are preaching God's love to others.
STS. AQUILA AND PRISCILLA
Aquila and Priscilla were a Jewish couple of Rome who had been exiled to Corinth and friends of St. Paul in the first century. They hosted St. Paul on his visit to that city and were probably converted by him. They are mentioned a few times in the New Testament in glowing terms by their friend Paul, who calls them "my helpers in Christ, who have for my life laid down their …More
STS. AQUILA AND PRISCILLA
Aquila and Priscilla were a Jewish couple of Rome who had been exiled to Corinth and friends of St. Paul in the first century. They hosted St. Paul on his visit to that city and were probably converted by him. They are mentioned a few times in the New Testament in glowing terms by their friend Paul, who calls them "my helpers in Christ, who have for my life laid down their own necks" (Romans 16:3-4).
They were tentmakers, thus sharing the same profession as Paul and because of this it is thought that Paul may have worked with them. Acts 18: 18-19 tells us that they accompanied Paul to Ephesus and stayed there with him for three years.
In the era of house churches - when Mass was always celebrated in the house of one of the Christian community - their's was an important one.
According to tradition they were martyred in Rome on their return, probably around the same time as St. Paul.
www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php
Aquila and Priscilla were a Jewish couple of Rome who had been exiled to Corinth and friends of St. Paul in the first century. They hosted St. Paul on his visit to that city and were probably converted by him. They are mentioned a few times in the New Testament in glowing terms by their friend Paul, who calls them "my helpers in Christ, who have for my life laid down their own necks" (Romans 16:3-4).
They were tentmakers, thus sharing the same profession as Paul and because of this it is thought that Paul may have worked with them. Acts 18: 18-19 tells us that they accompanied Paul to Ephesus and stayed there with him for three years.
In the era of house churches - when Mass was always celebrated in the house of one of the Christian community - their's was an important one.
According to tradition they were martyred in Rome on their return, probably around the same time as St. Paul.
www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php