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July 12th, 2024 Calender

Daily Reading & Reflections

May 12, 2021

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter  

May 12, 2021

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter 

Lectionary: 293

Reading I

Acts 17:15, 22—18:1 

After Paul’s escorts had taken him to Athens,
they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy
to join him as soon as possible.

Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:
“You Athenians, I see that in every respect
you are very religious.
For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,
I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.
The God who made the world and all that is in it,
the Lord of heaven and earth,
does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands,
nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything.
Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.
He made from one the whole human race
to dwell on the entire surface of the earth,
and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions,
so that people might seek God,
even perhaps grope for him and find him,
though indeed he is not far from any one of us.
For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’
as even some of your poets have said,
‘For we too are his offspring.’
Since therefore we are the offspring of God,
we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image
fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.
God has overlooked the times of ignorance,
but now he demands that all people everywhere repent
because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world
with justice’ through a man he has appointed,
and he has provided confirmation for all
by raising him from the dead.”

When they heard about resurrection of the dead,
some began to scoff, but others said,
“We should like to hear you on this some other time.”
And so Paul left them.
But some did join him, and became believers.
Among them were Dionysius,
a member of the Court of the Areopagus,
a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. 

Responsorial Psalm

148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14 

R.    Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R.    Alleluia.
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
   praise him in the heights.
Praise him, all you his angels;
   praise him, all you his hosts.
R.    Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R.    Alleluia.
Let the kings of the earth and all peoples,
   the princes and all the judges of the earth,
Young men too, and maidens,
   old men and boys.
R.    Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R.    Alleluia.
Praise the name of the LORD,
   for his name alone is exalted;
His majesty is above earth and heaven.
R.    Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R.    Alleluia.
He has lifted up the horn of his people;
Be this his praise from all his faithful ones,
   from the children of Israel, the people close to him.
   Alleluia.
R.    Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R.    Alleluia.

Alleluia

Jn 14:16 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I will ask the Father
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you always.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Jn 16:12-15 

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.”

Reflection: THE SPIRIT IN OUR MISSION 

As little kids, we can recall those memories when our parents would narrate stories to us before retiring to bed. Sometimes those stories were meant to put us to sleep quicker, and to do that a mother would add some interesting elements to the story to make it exciting. However, the story does not necessarily end on a day. The narration of the story follows the pattern of an episode, so that a mother can have the luxury of being more creative. The bottom line is that the narration of the story does put the child to sleep. In today's gospel, Jesus employs a similar pattern in telling his disciples: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." At any point, Jesus does not want to overburden his disciples with more information within a short period of time. Jesus introduces the presence of the Holy Spirit, the agent of mission and ministry in the Church. Like a mother who would break the story into several episodes, Jesus elevates the role of the Holy Spirit in a calibrated manner. In other words, Jesus truly recognizes that the mission of evangelization is a team work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together with the community of disciples. In doing so, Jesus is the connecting point between the Father and the Spirit and extends the invitation to all of us who share in the Trinitarian Mission of love and evangelization. Through our baptismal calling, we have received the mission to profess and live our faith in truth that the Holy Spirit fills us with. The task is to reflect and see to what extent and depth I am living the truth of my faith amidst the challenges that are inevitable.