Apr 30, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Monday of the 4th week of Eastertide
Saint Joseph the Worker
First reading – Acts 11:1-18
“What God has made clean, you have no right to call profane.” This is the effect of incarnation. Word became flesh. The incarnation elevated the creation along the humanity and saved it. This is very important in our relationship to every single entity around us. The nature, the creation, and everything around us, God has made clean. There is no place for despise in our heart. We must create a good relationship with everything around us. Actually, Lord showed this vision to Peter to indicate that Gospel cannot be denied to anyone. God welcomes all nations and races. God welcomes all languages and tribes. So, we cannot despise any person for any reason. Incarnation of Word made everything part of the Word. This profound truth becomes a reality in our life when we can embrace the entire reality without despising anything. Jesus saved the humanity and the entire creation. Let’s reflect: am I despising anyone whom the Jesus saved?
Apr 29, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
4th Sunday of Easter
Pope St Pius V (1504 – 1572)
“Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must we do, brothers?’ Hearing the speech of Peter and the other Apostles, something has changed in the listeners. The message has reached their heart. Not in the superficial sphere of the heart. But it has gone deep into the heart, so that it is cut. The heart is open and they are ready to do what the Apostles are saying. This is the real effect of the Word of God. It is not just a superficial experience of emotion or sentimentality which passes away very soon. But the message of the Apostles, the message of the Church made their hearts open. Open to conversion, open for baptism, and open to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Apostles talked to them for a long time. They were convinced by their arguments, and they accepted the faith. So, the opening of the heart is the starting point. Open to listen, to understand, to be convinced and to embrace the faith. We must be convinced in our faith to be converted. Let’s reflected: how much we are convinced in our faith when we open our hearts to the Word of God?
Apr 28, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin, Doctor
Saturday of the 3rd week of Eastertide
First reading – Acts 9:31-42
“building themselves up, living in the fear of the Lord, and filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit”. The Church building themselves up, living in the fear of the Lord, and filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit. Three components, giving our contribution, living in the fear of the Lord, and enjoying the consolation of the Holy Spirit. These three elements are connected in our personal life of discipleship. We must live our faith with our efforts. We must live our faith in the fear of the Lord. We must live our faith in the consolation of the Holy Spirit. Our effort to live in faith is to be strengthened in the fear of the Lord. Our effort to live in faith is to constantly be supported with the consolation of the Holy Spirit. Let’s reflect: What are my efforts in living in the fear of the Lord and filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit?
Apr 28, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Friday of the 3rd week of Eastertide
Saint Peter Chanel, Priest, Martyr
Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Priest
The conversion of Saul into Brother Paul is a long way to go. Individual conversion bears the fruit of evangelization. That is the strength of love. That is the strength of the love of God. The good News takes away the scales from our eyes and we can see again. The Gospel changes our life. Changes our outlook. Changes our way of looking at things. It changes also our being. We become instrument of God’s plan. Let’s reflect: how much we can be an instrument of God?
Apr 26, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Thursday of the 3rd week of Eastertide
First reading – Acts 8:26-40
“Look, there is some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptized?” Listening to the preaching of Philip, the Ethiopian came to this conclusion. There is nothing that can stop him from getting baptized. He arrived at this conclusion because he understood what Jesus Christ has done for him. He understood that Jesus Christ suffered for him and saved him. That is the Good News of Jesus. This is the conclusion that we must arrive hearing or reading the Word of God. There is nothing that stops us from being transformed by Jesus. There is nothing that stops us from being converted by Jesus. There is nothing that stops us from being happy in Jesus. There is nothing that stops us from entrusting our life to Jesus. Let’s reflect: How much comfort I find in the salvation given to us by Jesus Christ?
