Year: 2024

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Acts 20: 28-38

At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus:
“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock
of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers,
in which you tend the Church of God
that he acquired with his own Blood.
I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you,
and they will not spare the flock.
And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth
to draw the disciples away after them.
So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day,
I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears.
And now I commend you to God
and to that gracious word of his that can build you up
and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated.
I have never wanted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.
You know well that these very hands
have served my needs and my companions.
In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort
we must help the weak,
and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said,
‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

When he had finished speaking
he knelt down and prayed with them all.
They were all weeping loudly
as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him,
for they were deeply distressed that he had said
that they would never see his face again.
Then they escorted him to the ship.

The Word of the Lord.

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“They threw their arms around Paul and kissed him…They were deeply distressed, because they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.”

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For the last three years, Paul has been living with a Christian community in Ephesus, which he helped to establish. Now the time of his departure is at hand; it has been revealed to him in prayer that he must leave for Jerusalem, revealing Paul’s responsiveness to the Spirit.

“What will happen to me there,” he says, “I do not know.”

While this community was heartbroken by his departure, it was a blessing in disguise – at least for us Christians today.

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Paul was always a man on the go. He’d establish one community, then depart for another. In his absence, he wrote at least fourteen pastoral letters, encouraging these early Christians to remain steadfast in their faith.

These letters, along with the Acts of the Apostles, form almost half of the New Testament. 

So, what do Paul’s words reveal about the early Church? And what was some of his parting advice? 

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From the beginning, there was the handing on of apostolic authority, which the Catholic Church has continued for 100 generations. This power was also given to Paul, who ordained priests through the laying on of hands.

With every departure, Paul warned these communities that “savage wolves” – false preachers – would come among them, unraveling some of his hard fought teaching. But they were encouraged to remain faithful to his teachings – as we all are today.

Finally, Paul lived a life of surrender – freely accepting whatever happened to him: rejection, imprisonment, even death, which he will receive upon arriving in Rome.

In spite of any trial he faced, everything Paul did was for the glory of God.

May his courageous spirit spurn us on to continue God’s work today.

Saint Paul, pray for us.

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Image credits: (1) National Geographic (2) Harbor Scene with Saint Paul’s Departure from Caesaria, Jan Brueghel the Elder (3) Enjoying Christ, www.agodman.com

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Gospel: John 15: 9-17

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.

“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you:  love one another.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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We find something extraordinary unfolding in our first reading, which is essential to the foundation of our Catholic faith: apostolic succession.

After the betrayal and death of Judas, the Apostles have dropped from twelve to eleven. Given the Lord’s command to, “go out and make disciples of all nations,” the Church needs leaders who bear the authority of Christ.

Two were proposed. One was chosen, Matthias.

Interestingly, Matthias is recorded as accompanying Jesus from the very beginning of his public ministry all the way to his ascension. He saw the works that Jesus performed, and believed.

Tradition tells us that, after being appointed an apostle, Matthias went east, bringing the Good News into often hostile territory, where he preached; debated; converted some; and, at last, was martyred.

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What can his story say to us today?

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Like Matthias, you’ve been appointed to spread the Gospel, even at some personal cost, sometimes to people with skeptical hearts or flimsy faith.

You may find yourself the only Christian in your home; the only one who prays or goes to Mass; the only Catholic at work; the only spiritual person in your circle of friends.

But the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, empowering you to, “go and bear fruit that will remain.” 

Often that fruit isn’t borne out of logical arguments or fire and brimstone style preaching; rather, “love one another,” the Lord says, “as I have loved you.”

That will convert the world.

Or, at least, a good share of it.

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Image credits: (1) Christ Giving the Keys to Saint Peter, Peter Paul Rubens (2) Matthias the Apostle, Peter Paul Rubens (3) Howard Carter

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Gospel: John 16: 29-33

The disciples said to Jesus,
“Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech.
Now we realize that you know everything
and that you do not need to have anyone question you.
Because of this we believe that you came from God.”
Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now?
Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived
when each of you will be scattered to his own home
and you will leave me alone.
But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today we gather, seeking the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima, who is not only Mary of the Gospels, the ever-virgin Mother of God, but also our mother… my mother.

Three of Christ’s final words from the Cross affirm this truth. As he says to the Apostle John, the only one of the Twelve not to abandon him in his hour of need:

“Behold, your mother.”

Then, John “took her into his home,” and into his heart, as we are invited to do today.

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On the heels of Mother’s Day weekend, our Blessed Mother appeared with a three-fold message, saying to us what she said to that trio of shepherd children from Portugal in 1917.

When asked, “Who are you?” She responded not by telling them who she was but where she was from: 

“I am from heaven,” she said. 

Meaning, she is from God and abides in God. Every prayer intention placed in her hands is brought immediately to the attention of Jesus.

Just as no son should deny the request of his mother, so the Lord listens lovingly to each request that comes from his Mother’s Immaculate Heart.

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Secondly, Mary directs the children to pray the rosary daily. “This will bring peace to the world and an end to war.”

Are we not reminded almost daily of the need to pray for peace – in Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, parts of Africa, even in our own hearts?

“Pray the rosary,” she says, for peace.

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Finally, she asked those shepherd children the same question the angel Gabriel once asked her: “Will you offer yourself to God?”

That’s a question each of us must answer – not only in word, but also in deed. Mary did so by offering her body, her marriage, her future, her understanding, essentially each moment of her life to God.

May Our Lady of Fatima intercede for us, that we may do the same.

For such grace today, we pray, Hail Mary…

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Image credits: (1) National Catholic Register (2) Britannica (3) Redbubble