Word: Sharing God’s word and His love brings newness of life.
Order: “This is my body that is for you, do this in remembrance of me. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.” (1Cor 11:24-25)
God’s word for BLD this June focuses on newness of life, a newness that brings to mind the freshness of a gentle spring rain, made possible and manifest when we share His word and His love with others. This newness of life refers not just to a new way of living for a believer, but to a fresh source of spiritual power from God – a renewal in spirit that is new in quality and character.
Our themes for the month allow us to experience this newness through various means, including frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist, compassion for others, unconditional forgiveness, sacrificial love, and most of all, the commitment to follow Jesus as true disciples.
First Week: Solemnity of the Body & Blood of Christ
Our theme for the 1st week: Frequently receiving the Holy Eucharist brings newness of life. Today we reflect on the Eucharist, the very heart of Catholic life. Jesus gave us the Eucharist to draw us, His followers, to Him and to each other in unity. Receiving Holy Communion is not simply a personal gesture, but a public proclamation that we are in communion with Christ and His Body, the Church. Christ comes to us; He comes as food and drink, as nourishment for our spiritual life. By sharing His body and blood, we are filled with His Spirit and together, we are transformed more and more into His Body, a community of genuine love and service. Through the sacrifice of His life, a life of faith, obedience and of self-giving love, He won forgiveness and reconciliation for all of humanity.
The Eucharist is the center of the life of the Church. Every Eucharist prepares us for our glorious destiny, giving us a fresh opportunity to learn to love. As we feed on the body and blood of our Lord Jesus, we can turn each Eucharist into a feast of love, as we reach out to others. Corpus Christi Sunday is a good time to refresh our hearts and minds about the full significance of receiving Holy Communion and the dignity of prayer, whether for ourselves, or for others. Jesus satisfies our longings and spiritual hunger by His word and by His very Self in the Holy Eucharist. Thus, we can claim His promise in Luke 9:17: “They all ate and were satisfied.”
Reflection Questions:
1. Do we participate worthily, faithfully, and consistently in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist?
2. Is the Eucharist the center of our life?
Second Week: 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Our Theme for the 2nd week: Compassion and sensitivity to the needs of others bring newness of life. In the gospel passage, Jesus is witness to the funeral of a young man. St. Luke’s portrayal of the scene emphasizes the love and compassion that moves Jesus to perform a miracle. On seeing the mother, the Lord is immediately overwhelmed with compassion. He can feel what others feel, and know what goes on in a heart wracked with pain. He has power over life and death, and He imparts life to those who believe and trust in God’s life-giving power. In an overflow of spontaneous compassion, His merciful heart responds to the occasion without being asked or importuned by the widowed mother. He restores the dead young man to life. In His action, God is revealed as a mystery of compassion and self-giving love. Compassion calls for caring. It encompasses a sincere desire to help others and may take inspiration from a desire to make a difference in the life of another, a challenge to do something worthwhile and a charitable sharing God’s promise for this week: “You changed my mourning to dancing.” (Ps 30:12)
Third Week: 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Our Theme for the 3rd week: Forgiving others and ourselves brings newness of life. The unnamed woman in the gospel is a repentant sinner who has began a new life. Overflowing with love and gratitude, she comes to wash the feet of Jesus with her tears, drying them with her hair. Indeed, all that is needed for forgiveness is to turn to God once again in an act of repentance. Nothing else needed; not even our love. That can come later, when we realize how blessed we are to be so greatly loved. Jesus loves us so much that He forgives us much, without condition and without limit. As the Book of Samuel (2 Sam 12:13) summarizes it: “The Lord on His part, has forgiven your sin, you shall not die.”
Fourth Week: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Our Theme for the 4th week: Dying to ourselves for the benefit of others brings newness of life. Jesus lays the condition for following Him – “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me,” (Lk 9:23). Jesus’ path led to His ultimate sacrifice on the cross, death. In inviting us to take up our cross daily and follow Him, are we called to follow in the same path of self sacrifice? Indeed we are called to die to self, to renounce our focus on the self and to follow instead, the self-giving examples of Jesus’ unconditional love. God does not intend suffering. He is not the source of pain and evil. It is own helpless human condition that is the cause of our struggles and difficulties, compounded by our excessive striving for success and our worldly attachments. To focus on Jesus and His example means making His will the basis of our decisions; and the law of God and nature a part of our consciousness, so that as we give we may likewise receive and have life, to be in a position to claim the Promise of the week: “My soul clings fast to you, your right hand upholds me.” (Ps 63:9).
Fifth Week: 13 Sunday in Ordinary Time
Our Theme for the 5th week: Committing ourselves to follow Jesus brings newness of life. How does one follow Jesus? To follow Jesus requires firm resolve and courageous action, a readiness to take responsibility. The cost of discipleship is high – we are to throw our whole weight behind the plough, commit to hard work, and never look back in half-hearted commitment; instead, we are to plod steadily ahead to accomplish the task before us, and to remain steadfast, especially when the mission is difficult. Discipleship means not just enthusiasm but firm commitment, involving painful choices sometimes. To follow Jesus is a call to life and to fulfillment. It demands a courageous and determined response, the sincerity of which is reflected in the quality of loving service that marks our lives. But, as Jesus has promised, we have the Holy Spirit to strengthen us and give us perseverance. We can then claim the Promise this week: “Live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.” (Gal 5:16)
Prayer:
All-powerful and ever-loving God, we need you more than ever. Amidst our confusion, lead us away from our fears, enable us to meet you with full expectancy and eager response. You call us to build relationships and take delight in your love. You persistently invite us to live by the Holy Spirit who continually forms us to be gentle and self-controlled. We are grateful we have much to give, but have yet so much to learn. Equip us for life, fit us for labor in your vineyard, and help us keep our hands on the plough, that we may follow the way of Christian faithfulness which requires nothing less than the full and total commitment of our lives to our most compassionate ever-living God. Amen.
