Reflections on the Daily Readings 2nd April 2022
Monday 4th April
Memorial Of Isidore Of Seville,
The original Wikipedia
Why would Pope John Paul II name a Spanish bishop who lived 1,400 years ago the patron saint of the internet? Because Saint Isidore of Seville was the equivalent of the internet in his day. A “walking encyclopedia” you might call him. He, in fact, wrote an encyclopedia, which was used as a textbook for 900 years, as well as a dictionary and a history of the world. And like the World Wide Web, he spread information everywhere he could—founding schools and requiring seminaries in every diocese. Knowledge is power—pass it on!
Today's readings: Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62; John 8:12-20
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
Tuesday 5th April
Memorial Of Vincent Ferrer,
Charity is good medicine
Vincent Ferrer brought healing to a suffering church and world in the early 1400s. The Dominican-order priest used his massive popularity to end a three-way power struggle over the church’s legitimate pope. People loved Vincent, not just for his preaching but for thousands of miracles attributed to him—right as Europe was ravaged by war, plague, and famine. “If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor,” Vincent preached, “you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire.”
Today's readings: Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30
“The people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.’ ”
Wednesday 6th April
Lenten Weekday
Answer your call, no matter the cost
On this day in 1830, James Augustine Healy was born to Michael Healy, an Irish-Catholic immigrant, and Eliza Smith, a mixed-race African-American enslaved person, in central Georgia. Raised as a free person, James was sent to the North for school and later decided to pursue the priesthood. Though most of his peers likely did not know he was black—and James did not announce it—he became the earliest-known African American to be ordained in the Catholic Church, following seminary in Canada and Europe. He also became the first black bishop and ordinary in the United States when he was named to the Diocese of Portland (Maine) in 1875. He was named a bishop-assistant to the papal throne two months before his death in the year 1900 and remains an example to all of faithful service to the church.
Today's readings: Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95; John 8:31-42
“So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.”
Thursday 7th April
Memorial Of Jean-Baptiste De La Salle, Priest
Be the change
In the late 1600s Frenchman Jean Baptiste de La Salle founded the De La Salle Brothers, whose communities and schools are now worldwide. De La Salle's innovative vision emphasized the inherent dignity of the student. He believed that "not only is God so good as to have created us, but God desires all of us to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Early on, de La Salle battled opponents to his reforms. He never lived to receive official approval for his congregation of teaching brothers, which came nearly six years after his death. Are you called to uplift a reform or innovation that others oppose? You have a friend in Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle. May he pray for us!
Today's readings: Genesis 17:3-9; John 8:51-59
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
Friday 8th April
Lenten Weekday
Tap into a higher power
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.” That insight comes from author Alice Walker but certainly has its roots in scripture. Prophets and evangelists all spoke of the power available to each of us, if only we would access it. But we often make the mistake of looking for power in money, might, or celebrity, where we eventually find our paths blocked or our dominance fleeting. True and lasting power comes from love—love that is God. As we come to comprehend the breadth and depth of this love, Saint Paul tells us, we will be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19). The ultimate renewable energy—straight from its divine source—is ours for the taking.
Today's readings: Jeremiah 20:10-13; John 10:31-42
“For he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!”
Saturday 9th April
Lenten Weekday
Remember those who gave all
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazis on this date in 1945. He was a Lutheran pastor and theologian best known for his book The Cost of Discipleship, which has become a Christian classic. Ardent in his resistance of the Nazis, he became a target for harassment by the Gestapo. He fled to safety in the United States but soon returned “to share the trials of this time with my people.” He was arrested, imprisoned, and hanged. A gallery of 20th-century martyrs in Westminster Abbey features Bonhoeffer along with Martin Luther King Jr. and Father Óscar Romero. Few of us are called to the ultimate sacrifice, but all of us are called to remember and revere those who answered that call.
Today's readings: Ezekiel 37:21-28; John 11:45-56
“It is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.”
