Apr. 17 - Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today’s Gospel gives us the third time Jesus appeared to His disciples, and the Mass readings today are again so beautiful and significant for this Octave of Easter!

Listening again to these words of Jesus:

“… “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”…”

I looked up some other translations since the one I’m more familiar with is “Children have you caught any fish?” The Word of God is mysterious in many ways and we need to pray to the Holy Spirit before and during our reading and listening to the Word of God. We need God’s Grace to ponder as Mary did, all Jesus said and did, that we might learn as Mary did to follow Him to the end.

I want to keep pondering these words today for there seems to be a common thread in the appearances of Jesus after the Resurrection. Hopefully, those who are reading this thread will ponder today’s Mass readings also. If I hear more I will share it with you and if you are prayerfully listening with me, perhaps you will have something to share that the Lord has given you as well.

The Apostle John wrote the Gospel Account for today, but from Easter until today we’ve also had Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospel accounts of Jesus appearances. May the Holy Spirit guide us through the intercession of our Holy Mother to hear more deeply the words of Jesus today. Scripture is God’s Word to us and we need to listen and learn from Him as Mary did.

Come, Holy Spirit fill the hearts of your faithful, kindle in us the Fire of Your Love. Jesus we trust in You. Mary, Mother and Model for the Church, pray for us. St. Joseph, Guardian of the Child Jesus and Protector of Mary, intercede and protect the Church.

Mass Readings for today at: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041720.cfm

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Cath,

Thanks so much for your “faith-full and loving heart”, that lets us know you read the Gospel and are willing to listen as Mary did and ponder God’s Word in your heart.

Perhaps many of us lack patience to wait for God’s Grace! That made me think of the article I mentioned in another thread – on “Natural and Supernatural Faith”. I went back to that article HERE, and reading the following sentences “rang a bell”:

“Natural faith can be directed toward God, and can have therefore a supernatural object, but its foundation and origin is in the human person himself. It may be “about” God, but it is “of” man”…

The author then quotes from Fr. Louis Lallemant, SJ, to help us see how different Supernatural Faith is:

FAITH being, next to the clear vision of God, the most excellent participation of the uncreated wisdom, it must not be based upon natural reasons nor our own human inventions…

Re-reading those words helped me to “slow down” and simply pray for more grace, instead of trying too hard to research something that may be merely my own thoughts and not God’s invitation. God may want me to hear something I need to hear, and if so I will continue by His Grace to listen, but I want it to be truly His gift – and not merely my “human invention”

I also read another article by the same author that you may be interested in reading, Cath. See: HERE

 

[Inbonum]

Thank you MariaChristi!
This latter article is good and I do find myself in it, unfortunately and thanks to God at the same time. The sickness is a disease of the heart: a heart in contradiction, a divided heart, a half-hearted love for God and His Church, fellowship with God at his Table one moment, and eating, drinking, cheering with a godless world the next moment. Divided heart is scary, it is insipid in the end. I am thinking about it in these times, hard but precious times for us, four our souls and hearts.

Re-reading those words helped me to “slow down” and simply pray for more grace, instead of trying too hard to research something that may be merely my own thoughts and not God’s invitation. God may want me to hear something I need to hear, and if so I will continue by His Grace to listen, but I want it to be truly His gift – and not merely my “human invention”

It reminds me of Psalm 127:
Unless the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain who build.
Unless the Lord guard the city,
in vain does the guard keep watch
…
Thank you again! Every day there are new opportunities to change, to act, to think.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Cath,

Thanks so much for your reply! Thanks also for reading the latter artcle also. So much depends on our purity of heart! Jesus tells us in His Beatitudes within the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel:

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Mt 5:8)

The sentence you quoted from the article, HERE impressed me also:

The sickness is a disease of the heart: a heart in contradiction, a divided heart, a half-hearted love for God and His Church, fellowship with God at his Table one moment, and eating, drinking, cheering with a godless world the next moment.

Thanks also for the reminder of Psalm 127 - another “favorite” among the many precious words from God’s Holy Word. Yes, every day is a new day filled with God’s Mercy! Without Him, we can do nothing!

Ah but, with Him, through Mary and by the power of His Holy Spirit, nothing is impossible.