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Daffodils
I wandered lonely as a cloud ...A host, of golden daffodils;
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Night Office:
A better translation.
A Word in Season, Readings for the Liturgy of the Hours - Easter,
Augustine Press 2001.
A Word in Season, Readings for the Liturgy of the Hours - Easter,
Augustine Press 2001.
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Nivard ...
Sent: Wednesday, 8 May 2013, 8:25
Subject: Mass - Truth will set you free
From: Nivard ...
Sent: Wednesday, 8 May 2013, 8:25
Subject: Mass - Truth will set you free
Daily Reading & Meditation, adapted. Wed 8 May
The Spirit will guide you into all truth.
What would you give to know all truth?
Truth is not something we do nor create.
Truth is a gift from God.
Jesus assures us that the Holy Spirit will reveal to us what is true. Sceptics do not want to believe in an absolute Truth. If truth is objective, then we must submit to it as authoritative.
Some fear the truth because they think it will inhibit their freedom to act and think as they wish. Jesus says that the truth will set you free (Jn 8:32).
Truth frees us from doubts, illusions, and fears. The closer we draw to God, the more we will know him and experience his great love for us.
Father, fill us with your Holy Spirit and guide us in your way of life and truth, through Christ our Lord.
Night Office.
First Reading 3 John
Responsory 3 In 11; 1 Pt 2:19
Do not imitate an evil example but follow what is good. + By doing good you will become a child of God, alleluia.
V. Grace is at work in the one who endures suffering for the sake of God. + By doing good ...
Second Reading
From a homily by Saint Augustine of Hippo (1 Joh., Tract. 10,9: se 75,432-436)
Christ's body on earth
At his ascension into heaven on the fortieth day, our Lord Jesus Christ commended to the world the body in which he would remain here below. He did this because he saw that many people would honour him on account of his ascension, but that such honour would be worthless if they were trampling on his members on earth. He wished to forestall the error of worshiping him as head in heaven and at the same time trampling on his feet on earth, and so he indicated where his members were to be found.
As he was about to ascend, he spoke the last words he was to utter on earth. At the moment of going up to heaven, the head commended to our care the members he was leaving on earth, and so departed. No longer will you find Christ speaking on earth; in the future he will speak from heaven. Why will he speak from heaven? Because his members are being trampled underfoot on earth. He spoke to Saul the persecutor from above, saying: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? I have ascended to' heaven, but I still remain on the earth. Here at the Father's right hand I sit, but there I still hunger and thirst and am without shelter.
In what way, then, did Christ commend to us the body he was leaving on earth at the moment of his ascension?
When his disciples asked him: Lord, has the time come for you to reveal yourself, and when will the kingdom be restored to Israel? his parting words were: It is not for you to know that time which the Father has reserved to his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses. Observe the area his body is to cover, mark the places where he is loath to be trampled underfoot: You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in the whole of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. That is where I remain on earth even when I ascend to heaven. I ascend because I am the head; my body still remains. Where is it? Everywhere, to the ends of the earth. Take care not to strike it or violate it or trample it underfoot. These are Christ's last words at the moment of his departure for heaven.
My friends, you have Christian hearts. Think, then, if the words of one who is on the way to the grave are so sweet, so precious, so important to his heirs, what must the last words of Christ mean to his heirs as he departs, not for the grave but for heaven! When a person has lived and died his soul is borne away to another place while his body is laid in the
ground. Whether his last request is carried out or not, it matters little to him now. He has other things to do or suffer. His corpse lies in the grave, feeling nothing. And yet his dying wishes are carefully obeyed. If that is so, what will be the lot of those who fail to observe the parting words of the one who is seated in heaven and who looks down to see whether they are flouted or not - the words of him who said: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And who reserves for the Day of Judgment all that he sees his members suffer?
Responsory In 13:34; 1 In 2:10.3
I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have
loved you. + Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, alleluia.
V. We can be sure that we know Christ only if we keep his commandments. + Whoever loves his ...
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