Today, May 5
Feast of the Day
No feast of the day
Saint of the Day
Readings of the Day
Acts of the Apostles 14,19-28.
In those days, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city. On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." They appointed presbyters for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith. Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now accomplished. And when they arrived, they called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. Then they spent no little time with the disciples.
Psalms 145(144),10-11.12-13ab.21.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD, and let your faithful ones bless you. Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom and speak of your might. Making known to men your might and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom. Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages, and your dominion endures through all generations. May my mouth speak the praise of the LORD, and may all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 14,27-31a.
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."
Daily Reflection
In time of trial the man who genuinely neither wants nor desires anything but God must hide himself in him and wait patiently for calmness to return... Who knows where or how it will please God to come back and fill him with his gifts? As for you, wait patiently in the shadow of the divine will; this is worth a hundred times more than spurts of flashy virtue... For God's gifts are not God and we ought to rejoice in him alone, not in his gifts. Yet our nature is so greedy, so self-centred, that it insinuates itself into everything, grabbing hold of what does not belong to it and thus tarnishing God's gifts and impeding God's most precious work... But as for you, immerse yourself in Christ, in his poverty and purity, his obedience, love and all his virtues. The Holy Spirit's gifts are given to man in him: faith, hope and charity, truth and interior joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. We also find abandonment in him and sweet patience by which we receive all things from God with a tranquil heart. All that God permits and decrees, prosperity and adversity, joy or sorrow, all work together for man's good (Rom 8,28). The smallest of events to happen to a man was seen eternally by God, it pre-exists in him, it takes place as he has willed and not otherwise. So be at peace! This peacefulness in all things is only learned in true detachment and the interior life... Such is the lot of the noble man when he is firmly established in resting his soul in God, in the desire for God alone that throws light on everything: all is purified by Christ along the way.