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God's Wonderful Love
Thursday April 24, 2008
Wednesday April 23, 2008
 Jesus said to his disciples:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
Remain in me, as I remain in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own
unless it remains on the vine,
so neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
will be thrown out like a branch and wither;
people will gather them and throw them into a fire
and they will be burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”John 15:1-8 (NAB)
Prayer Reflection
Dear Father Jesus gave us a visual image of pruning the dead branches as an example of how you constantly prune us. When we live by your Word we notice in our lives the truth of this example. How often in my own life I have noticed your hand pruning out the areas that are not productive to your will. Just as Jesus gave us this example, we too find in our lives many examples of this reading. When we sin and don't reconcile we find our lives like the dead branches. Don't we feel at times as if we need to go to confession to seek absolution from our sins. It's part of the pruning process of clearing away the dead parts of us that hinder growth. It is essential to our growth as part of the vine to prune our behaviors, morals and yes even our faith. In that we too can be dead and need to prune it to restore the luster of faith in our hearts blocked by overgrowing vines and sins that we fail to let go of. Dear Father when we pay attention to your Word we will find how much your hand has been shaping us and come to see the truth of your love. And soon we will discover new growth bear fruit in our lives.
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Tuesday April 22, 2008
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you,
‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.
I will no longer speak much with you,
for the ruler of the world is coming.
He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father
and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.”
John 14:27-31a
Prayer Reflection
Dear Father “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you," the very words Jesus spoke tells us it is only through him that we will find peace in our hearts. It is not what this world has to offer but what Jesus can only give. We all struggle in our lives to some extent, but where is it that we find true peace. I know where it is for me and that is placing my trust and love in Jesus, a place where I will always find his presence in the Eucharist. The peace that can only come from him. The truth of these words that Jesus spoke in how we feel many times unfulfilled by what the world offers, only shows how honest these words of Jesus are. Ever notice how peaceful we become when we are united to him. Our troubles seem small and insignificant in those moments. That's when we have been given his peace as he had said. Dearest Father it is right to say then that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life after all.
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Monday April 21, 2008
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him,
“Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.”
John 14:21-26 (NAB)
Prayer Reflection
Dear Father now that is the truth! Jesus gave us so much to listen to and keep in our hearts in regards to you beloved Father. The commandments Jesus gave are to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Anyone who has these in their heart also loves Jesus because if we love you dear Father we also love your son, because you are one. But why is it when we say we are Christians who love God, fail to love our neighbor. If a stranger who was alone came up to us to talk, do we keep our distance because they are not with our group. I witnessed this myself around others and saw how when a person asks a question of another and the rudeness in their not wanting to simply answer. We fail so very often in our day to day dealings with others and we think we are Christians, followers of Christ. God loves us inspite of our failings and forgives us on a constant basis. Those simple gestures speak volumes of how truly much we have followed the commandments Jesus gave us. Some of those very simple gestures tell how much we don't love as we should.
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Monday April 14, 2008
Jesus said:
“I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father.”
John 10:11-18 (NAB)
Prayer Reflection
Dear Father there is much truth to these words spoken by Jesus. It speaks of us in our time as well as two thousand years ago. Yesterday's reading touched upon the gate and listening, today we find how much love Jesus has for us. He gave up his life! The act of love for you dear Father and love for us. Don't we say this to those we love also, that we would die for them. And there are many that would, we have martyrs that did exactly the same, gave their life for Jesus and for us as well. It's possible they were put to the test and answered correctly. Would any of us be able to answer this as well, or is our love superficial. After all, we all say we are God's children and that we all love Jesus, but when he calls us, do we really hear his voice and truly know him. How well do we listen to the Word of God being spoken at our Masses or is our thoughts off on what has to get done when we go home or of the many other things that preoccupy our minds from this world. Is our love more for this world then rather than Jesus and you dear Father? Jesus' love is so great to come in search of those who belong and lost their way. We are one big family why aren't we also helping each other find their way back too.
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