St Swithuns RC Church Southsea

7 hours ago

CHRISTIAN MORNING MEDITATION:Lectio DivinaSunday, May 26, 2019The Holy Spirit will help usunderstand Jesus’ wordsJohn 14:23-291. Opening prayerShaddai, God of the mountain,You who make of our fragile lifethe rock of Your dwelling place,lead our mindto strike the rock of the desert,so that water may gush to quench our thirst.May the poverty of our feelingscover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the nightand may it open our heart to hear the echo of silenceuntil the dawn,wrapping us with the light of the new morning,may bring us,with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolutewho have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,the flavor of the holy memory.John 14,23-292. LECTIOa) The text:Jesus said to his disciples: "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, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. 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."b) A moment of silence:Let us allow the voice of the Word to resonate within us.3. MEDITATIOa) Some questions:– “And we will come to Him and make our home with Him”: looking in our interior camp, will we find there the tent of the shekinah (presence) of God?– “He who does not love Me does not keep My words: Are the words of Christ empty words for us because of our lack of love? Or could we say that we observe them as a guide on our journey?– “The Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” Jesus returns to the Father, but everything which He has said and done remains with us. When will we be able to remember the marvels which divine grace has accomplished in us? Do we receive or accept the voice of the Spirit who suggests in our interior the meaning of all that has taken place, all that has happened?– “My peace I give to you” The peace of Christ is His resurrection: When will we be able in our life to abandon the anxiety and the mania of doing, which draws us away from the sources of being? God of peace, when will we live solely from you, peace of our waiting?– “I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe”: Before it takes place… Jesus likes to explain to us beforehand what is going to happen, so that the events do not take us by surprise, unprepared. But, are we ready to read the signs of our events with the words heard from Him?b) Key for the reading:To make our home, Heaven does not have a better place than a human heart which is in love. Because a dilated heart extends the boundaries and all barriers of time and space disappear. To live in love is equal to live in Heaven, to live in Him who is love, and eternal love.v. 23. Jesus answered him: If a man loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him. In the origin of every spiritual experience there is always a movement forward. Take a small step, then everything moves harmoniously. The step to be taken is only one: If a man loves Me. Is it really possible to love God? How is it seen that His face is no longer among the people? To love: What does it really mean? In general, to love for us means to wish well to one another, to be together, to make choices to construct a future, to give oneself… to love Jesus is not the same thing. To love Him means to do as He did, not to draw back in the face of pain, of death; to consciously walk into pain and suffering if need be for the sake of another; and love as He did takes us very far… and it is in this love that the word becomes daily bread to eat and life becomes Heaven because of the Father’s presence.vv. 24-25. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. If there is no love, the consequences are disastrous. The words of Jesus can be observed only if there is love in the heart; otherwise they remain absurd proposals. Those words are not the words of a man. They come from the Father’s heart who proposes to each one of us to be like Him. In life it is not so much a question of doing things, even if they are very good. It is necessary to be human, to be sons and daughters, to be images similar to the One who never ceases to give Himself completely.vv. 25-26. These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. To remember is an action of the Spirit; when in our days the past is seen as something lost forever and the future is there as something threatening to take away our joy today, only the divine Breath in you can lead you to remember it. To remember what has been said, every word coming from God’s mouth for you, and forgotten because time has gone by.v. 27. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. The peace of Christ for us is not absence of conflicts, serenity of life, health… but the plenitude of every good, absence of anxiety in the face of what is going to happen. The Lord does not assure us well-being, but the fullness of son-ship in a loving adherence to His plans which are good for us. We will possess peace, when we will have learned to trust in that which the Father chooses for us.v. 28. You heard Me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you’. If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. We come back to the question of love. If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced. But what is the meaning of this statement pronounced by the Master? We could complete the phrase and say: If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father… but since you think of yourselves, you are sad because I am leaving, going away. The love of the disciples is an egoistic love. They do not love Jesus because they do not think of Him, they think of themselves. Then, the love which Jesus asks is this love: a love capable of rejoicing because the other will be happy! It is a love capable of not thinking of self as the center of the universe, but as a place in which one feels open to give and to be able to receive: not in exchange, but as the “effect” of the gift received.v. 29. I have told you before it takes place, so when it does take place, you may believe. Jesus instructs His own because He knows that they will remain confused and will be slow in understanding. His words do not vanish. They remain as a presence in the world, treasures of understanding in faith: an encounter with the Absolute who is always and for always in favor of man.c) Reflection:Love: a magic and ancient word as old as the world, a familiar word which is born in the horizon of every human being in the moment in which he or she is called into existence. A word written in his human fibers as origin and end, as an instrument of peace, as bread and gift, as himself, as others, as God. A word entrusted to history through our history of every day. Love, a pact which has always had one name alone: humanity. Yes, because love coincides with humanity: love is the air that we breathe, love is the food which is given to us, love is the rest to which we entrusts ourselves, love is the bond of union which makes of us a land of encounter. That love with which God has seen in His creation and has given: “It is something very good”. God has not taken back the commitment taken when man made of himself a rejection more than a gift, a slap more than a caress, a stone thrown more than a silent tear. He has loved even more with the eyes and the heart of the Son, up to the end. This man who became a burning torch of sin, the Father has redeemed Him, again and solely out of love, in the Fire of the Spirit.4. ORATIOPsalm 37:23-31The steps of a man are from the Lord,and He establishes him in whose way He delights;though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,for the Lord is the stay of his hand.I have been young, and now am old;yet I have not seen the righteous forsakenor his children begging bread.He is ever giving liberally and lending,and His children become a blessing.Depart from evil, and do good;so shall you abide for ever.For the Lord loves justice;He will not forsake His saints.The righteous shall be preserved for ever,but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.The righteous shall possess the land,and dwell upon it for ever.The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,and his tongue speaks justice.The law of his God is in his heart;his steps do not slip.5. CONTEMPLATIOI see you, Lord, dwelling in my days through Your word which accompanies me in my more intense moments, when my love for You becomes courageous, audacious and I do not give up in the face of what I feel that does not belong to me. That Spirit which is like the wind: blows where it wants and His voice is not heard, that Spirit has become space in me, and now I can tell You that He is like a dear fried with whom to remember. To go back to remember the words said, to the lived events, to the presence perceived while on the way, does good to the heart. I feel profoundly this indwelling every time that, in silence, one of Your phrases comes to mind, one of Your invitations, one of Your words of compassion, Your silence. The nights of Your prayer allow me to pray to the Father and to find peace. Lord, tenderness concealed in the folds of my gestures, grant me to treasure all that You are a scroll which is explained, in which it is easy to understand the meaning of my existence. May my words be the dwelling place of Your words, may my hunger be Your dwelling, bread of life, may my pain be the empty tomb and the folded shroud so that everything that You want may be accomplished, up to the last breath. I love You, Lord, my rock.#dailymeditations www.stswithuns.org.uk/event/dr-26052019 … See MoreSee Less

St Swithuns RC Church Southsea

23 hours ago

Today, it is 8 days before me and my colleges priests will celebrate 20th Anniversary of the Sacrament of Ordination to the Holy Priesthood. We were ordained in 1999 in Krakow (Poland), and our patroness of a year is Saint Sr Faustyna.Today is the 2nd day of the novena to pray for ourselves, and I humbly ask all of You, your Friends and Family members to pray for us.Today, please use this prayer to pray for us – thank You so much from the depths of my priestly heart.Prayer of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus O Jesus, I pray for your faithful and fervent priests;for your unfaithful and tepid priests;for your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields;for your tempted priests;for your lonely and desolate priests;for your young priests;for your dying priests;for the souls of your priests in purgatory.But above all, I recommend to you the priests dearest to me:the priest who baptized me;the priests who absolved me from my sins;the priests at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me your Body and Blood in Holy Communion;the priests who taught and instructed me;all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way (especially …).O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart,and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity.Amen. … See MoreSee Less

St Swithuns RC Church Southsea

1 day ago

stswithuns.org.uk/school-newsletter-24052019Keep upto date with all the goings on in our local Catholic Primary School here … See MoreSee Less

St Swithuns RC Church Southsea

1 day ago

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St Swithuns RC Church Southsea

1 day ago

CHRISTIAN MORNING MEDITATION:Lectio Divina: John 15:18-21Saturday, May 25, 20191) Opening prayerLord our God;it is good to live in the friendshipof Your Son Jesus Christ.Make us realize that also in this lovewe are committed to Him and share with Himfor better or for worse,in misunderstanding and contradictionas well as in joy and intimacy.Help us to rejoice even when treatedwith indifference or ridicule on account of Him,for it means that He is still with uswho is our Lord forever.2) Gospel Reading – John 15:18-21Jesus said to his disciples: "If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me."3) Reflection• John 15:18-19: The hatred of the world. “If the world hates you, you must realize that it hated Me before it hated you.” The Christian who follows Jesus is called to live in a way that is contrary to society. In a world organized according to the egoistic interests of people and groups, Christians seek to live and radiate the love which will be crucified. This was the destiny of Jesus. This is why, when a Christian is praised by the power of this world and is exalted as a model for all by mass media, it is good to not trust that too much. “If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you do not belong to the world, because My choice of you has drawn you out of the world, that is why the world hates you.” It was Jesus’ choice which separated us. If we base ourselves on this vocation of Jesus, we will have the strength to suffer persecution and to have joy in spite of the difficulties.• John 15:20: The servant is not greater than his master. “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept My word they will keep yours as well.” Jesus had already insisted on this same point in the washing of the feet (Jn 13:16) and in the discourse on the mission (Mt 10:24-25). It is this identification with Jesus throughout the centuries that has given so much strength to people to continue the journey, and has been a source of mystical experience for many saints and martyrs.• John 15:21: Persecution on account of Jesus. “But it will be on My account that they will do all this to you, because they do not know the One who sent Me.” The repeated insistence of the Gospel in recalling those words of Jesus which can help the communities understand the reason for persecutions is evidence that our brothers and sisters of the first communities did not have an easy life. From the persecution of Nero after Christ, up to the end of the first century, they lived knowing that they could be persecuted, accused, imprisoned and killed at any moment. The force which sustained them was a certainty that God was with them.4) Personal questions• Does the world love me? Do others love me as one who goes along with the values, expectations, and priorities of the world, or as one who sets a higher example according to Jesus?• How do I respond to persecution from others? Is it a way to offer leadership in love to others, or do I shrink from it and conform to expectations?• At times when others persecute me, is it because I am truly showing love and the will of the Father to others, or am I behaving even worse than society expects?5) Concluding PrayerFor Yahweh is good,His faithful love is everlasting,His constancy from age to age. (Ps 100:5)#dailymeditations www.stswithuns.org.uk/event/dr-25052019 … See MoreSee Less

St Swithuns RC Church Southsea

2 days ago

Today, it is 9 days before me and my colleges priests will celebrate 20th Anniversary of the Sacrament of Ordination to the Holy Priesthood. We were ordained in 1999 in Krakow (Poland), and our patroness of a year is St Sr Faustyna. We start the novena to pray for ourselves, and I humbly ask all of You, your Friends and Family members to pray for us. Today, please start with this prayer to pray for us – thank You so much from the depths of my priestly heart.St. Faustina’s Prayer for Priests“O my Jesus, I beg Thee on behalf of the whole Church:Grant it love and the light of Your Spirit,and give power to the words of priestsso that hardened hearts might be brought to repentanceand return to You, O Lord.Lord, give us holy priests;You yourself maintain them in holiness.O Divine and Great High Priest,may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhereand protect them from the devil’s traps and snareswhich are continually being set for the souls of priests.May the power of Your mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring to naughtall that might tarnish the sanctity of priests,for You can do all things.” … See MoreSee Less

St Swithuns RC Church Southsea

2 days ago

Lectio Divina: John 15:12-17Friday, May 24, 20191) Opening prayerLord our God, loving Father,You have given us your Son Jesus Christas the true vine of lifeand our source of strength.Help us to live His lifeas living branches attached to the vine,and to bear plentiful fruitof justice, goodness and love.Let our union with Him become visiblein our openness to one anotherand in our unity as brothers and sisters,that He may be visibly present among usnow and for ever.2) Gospel Reading – John 15:12-17Jesus 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."3) Reflection• Today Gospel of John 15:12-17: Jesus defines His relationship with the disciples and gives His final commandment to them. Let us take some of the points considered that day.• John 15:12-13: To love one another as He has loved us. The commandment of Jesus is only one: “to love one another as I have loved you!” (Jn 15:12) Jesus exceeds the Old Testament. The ancient criteria was the following: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lv 18:19). The new criteria is this: “Love one another as I have loved you.” It is the sentence that we sing even today and which says, “There is no greater love than to give one’s life for one’s brother!”• John 15:14-15: Friends and not servants. You are My friends if you do what I command you,” that is, the practice of love to the point of total gift of oneself! Immediately Jesus presents a very high ideal for the life of His disciples. He says, “I shall no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I have learned from My Father!” Jesus no longer held any secrets from His disciples. He tells us everything that He has heard from the Father! Behold the wonderful ideal of life in community: to reach a state of total transparency to the point of not having any secrets among us and to have full trust in one another. Being able to enrich one another by speaking about the experience of God that we have. The first Christians succeeded in reaching this ideal after many years: “They had one only heart and one only soul” (Acts 4:32; 1:14; 2:42-46).• John 15:16-17: Jesus has chosen us. We have not chosen Jesus. He met us, called us and entrusted a mission to us to go and bear fruit, and a fruit which lasts. We need Him, but He also wants to need us and our work in order to be able to continue to do today for the people what He did for the people of Galilee. This is My commandment: love one another!”4) For Personal Consideration• To love our neighbor as Jesus has loved us. This is the ideal of every Christian. He showed this not only by dying for us, but by devoting His life to helping us to know and find God the Father. Do I love as Jesus loved and devote my life in the same way?• All that I have heard from the Father I make it known to you. This is the ideal of the community: total transparency. How do I live this in my community, which can be family, parish, neighborhood or religious order?• Jesus called them “friends” and told them to love one another. Do I make distinctions, rather than considering all equally, among those in my community whom I should call “friends”? How do I respond or accept it when I am treated differently than another “friend” in my community?5) Concluding PrayerMy heart is ready, God, my heart is ready;I will sing, and make music for You.Awake, my glory, awake, lyre and harp,that I may awake the dawn. (Ps 57:7-8)#dailymeditations www.stswithuns.org.uk/event/dr-24052019 … See MoreSee Less