Today, May 8
Feast of the Day
No feast of the day
Saint of the Day
Catherine de Longpré was born in France in 1632. At the age of 12, she entered the convent of the Hospitallers of Bayeux, a branch of the Augustinians, the first order to send missionaries to Canada. In 1648, she asked to go to Quebec City to help the sisters in the Hôtel-Dieu hospital, the first to be established in Canada. She contracted the plague on her voyage, but recovered. In the following years, she worked with the poor through famine, conflict and illness, even as other members of her community returned to France. Catherine was graced with several mystical experiences, but the people of New France remembered her more for her kindness and her great love for them all. She battled poor health all her life and died in 1668 at the age of 36. She is counted among the founders of the Canadian Church and was beatified in 1989.©2011 Living with Christ, Novalis - Bayard Press Canada Inc., http://www.livingwithchrist.ca/. Reprinted with permission.
Readings of the Day
Acts of the Apostles 15,22-31.
The apostles and presbyters, in agreement with the whole church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers. This is the letter delivered by them: "The apostles and the presbyters, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings. Since we have heard that some of our number (who went out) without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, we have with one accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are sending Judas and Silas who will also convey this same message by word of mouth: 'It is the decision of the holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right. Farewell.'" And so they were sent on their journey. Upon their arrival in Antioch they called the assembly together and delivered the letter. When the people read it, they were delighted with the exhortation.
Psalms 57(56),8-9.10-12.
My heart is steadfast, O God; my heart is steadfast; I will sing and chant praise. Awake, O my soul; awake, lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn. I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O LORD, I will chant your praise among the nations. For your mercy towers to the heavens, and your faithfulness to the skies. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; above all the earth be your glory!
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15,12-17.
Jesus said to his disciples: "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."
Daily Reflection
Among human values, there is nothing holier to desire, nothing more useful to seek, nothing more difficult to find, nothing sweeter to experience, nothing more fruitful to possess than friendship. It gives its fruit in the present life, that of today, as well as in the future life; its sweetness seasons all the virtues; his strength slays vices; it tempers adversity and moderates prosperity. (…) What joy, what security, what charm to have someone with whom to speak without fear, as if to oneself; to whom to confess without fear if you have made a mistake; to whom to reveal without blushing his spiritual progress, to whom to entrust all the secrets of his heart, and to discover his designs! (…) There is no more energetic, more effective, more excellent remedy for our wounds, in everything that happens to us here below, than to have someone who comes to sympathize with all our disappointments and runs to congratulate us on our successes: two friends, as the Apostle says (cf. Gal 6:2), support each other, carry their burdens mutually or better, each finds his own lighter than that of his friend. (…) Friendship is a close step towards perfection which consists of love and knowledge of God: a man, as soon as he is the friend of another man, becomes the friend of God, according to these words of the Savior in the Gospel: Behold, “I will no longer call you my servants, but my friends” (Jn 15:15).