Wednesday, May 14, 2014

 

Thursday Fourth Week of Easter

May 15, 2014 
Thursday Fourth Week of Easter
[Memorial, St. Isidore, Farmer]

Acts 13: 13-25 / Ps 89: 2-3, 21-22, 25 and 27 / Jn 13: 16-20

Reading: Acts 13: 13-25
From Paphos, Paul and his companions set sail and came to Perga in Pam phylia. There John left them and returned to Jerusalem while they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they entered the synagogue and sat down. After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent this message to them, "Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the assembly, please speak up." So Paul arose, motioned to them for silence and began, "Fellow Israelites and also all you who fear God, listen. The God of our people Israel chose our ancestors, and after he had made them increase during their stay in Egypt, he led them out by powerful deeds. For forty years he fed them in the desert, and after he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took four hundred and fifty years. After that, he gave them Judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, and he was king for forty years. After that time, God removed him and raised up David as king, to whom he bore witness saying: I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all I want him to do. It is from the descendants of David that God has now raised up the promised savior of Israel, Jesus. Before he appeared, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. As John was ending his life's work, he said: 'I am not what you think I am, for after me another one is coming whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.'   

Gospel: John 13: 16-20
Truly, I say to you, the servant is not greater than his master, nor is the messenger greater than he who sent him. Understand this, and blessed are you if you put it into practice. I am not speaking of you all, because I know the ones I have chosen and the Scripture has to be fulfilled that says, the one who shared my table has risen against me. I tell you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may know that I am He. Truly, I say to you, whoever welcomes the one I send, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the One who sent me."

Reflection:
     When Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, he touched on humility. But he also sought acceptance both as messiah servant which seemed conflicting and was hard to accept. The disciples followed Jesus' thinking He was the anointed one and sent to save mankind: a man of power. The disciples were after a temporal kingdom where Jesus would reign and they would share in such glory. To the disciples, servanthood was farthest from their minds. And so to explain the concept of a servant leader, Jesus used himself as the example.
     To complement our reading, let us look at the life of St. Isidore the Farmer whose feast we celebrate today. St. Isidore lived during the 11th century in Spain. He is popularly known to Filipinos as San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers. We often picture farmers as simple folks doing humble chores and living simple lives. San Isidro Labrador was indeed born poor and all his life he was employed by a rich landlord to till the land. San Isidro was a pious man like his wife who later became St. Maria dela Cabeza. He went to mass every day, the reason he was always late in plowing the fields. But strangely San Isidro produced three times the normal output. The curious master and his co-workers were amazed to find out he was being helped by angels who plowed while he was at mass and even side by side with him later. He was also fond of animals and these came to him in great numbers. Again his companions witnessed another miracle that as San Isidro was feeding the animals, the food never ran out. The same thing happened every time San Isidro fed the beggars who trooped to him. In the end, San Isidro became greatly esteemed. When he died at the age of 60 in 1622, he was canonized alongside four high profile saints as St. Phillip Neri, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius of Loyola. What is more, his body remains incorrupt to this day.
     To be God's chosen people and to work as lowly servants can go hand in hand. All we need is humility to bridge the two.

Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary
... for families who are in need of healing
     * Herman Gamboa
... for world peace and reconciliation
... for the repose of the soul - Benedicta Gilana Gerona
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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