05/01/2023
WHEN I FEEL LIKE I AM RUNNING AROUND IN CIRCLES, LORD, HELP ME TO SLOW DOWN AND TAKE THE TIME TO HAVE A CALM VISIT WITH YOU. AMEN.
VERSE OF THE DAY for Monday, May 1, 2023
We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.
—1 Thessalonians 1 : 2
THOUGHTS ON TODAY'S VERSE
Why is it so hard to share with others that we have thanked God for bringing them into our lives? God let his Son, Jesus, know his love, approval, and pleasure in him. Remember his words at Jesus' baptism? "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased" (Luke 3:22) He repeated most of these words on the Mount of Transfiguration, validating Jesus' identity, ministry, and message: This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him! (Mark 9:7). The Father was rejoicing and giving thanks for his Son!
The apostle Paul also let the struggling churches he planted know he was praying for them (Philippians 1:3). It's a great blessing to thank God for someone special in our lives. It's a double blessing to let those people know that we've thanked God for them being in our lives AND let them know what we have said about them in our thanksgiving. Let's each commit to being a "double blessing" person today!
MY PRAYER
Gracious Father, you have blessed me in so many ways! Today, however, I'm especially aware of the many incredible ways you have blessed me through other people. I want to thank you now for the following wonderful Christian people you have placed in my life... (put the names of special people in here and then be sure and let them know you've thanked God for them). Please guard and strengthen them and use them to bless others as they have blessed me. In Jesus' name, I thank and praise you. Amen.
DAILY READING AND MEDITATION
Monday, May 1
Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker
READINGS
Reading I
ACTS 11 : 1-8
Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?”
Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven.
“At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’
“And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?”
When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”
Responsorial Psalm
PSALM 42 : 2-3; 43 : 3, 4
R. My soul is thirsting for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia, Alleluia.
As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul thirsts for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
R. My soul is thirsting for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia, Alleluia.
O send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me,
let them bring me to your holy hill,
and to your dwelling.
R. My soul is thirsting for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia, Alleluia.
Then will I go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy;
and I will praise you with the harp,
O God, my God!
R. My soul is thirsting for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia, Alleluia.
Gospel Acclamation
John 10 : 14
R. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me.
R. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
Gospel
JOHN 10 : 11-18
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
MEDITATION
The Ordinary Path to the Extraordinary
Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13 : 54–55)
On December 8, 2020, Pope Francis announced the beginning of the universal celebration of the “Year of Saint Joseph.” He introduced this year with an Apostolic Letter entitled “With a Father’s Heart.” In the introduction to that letter, the Holy Father said, “Each of us can discover in Joseph—the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence—an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble.”
The Gospel above, taken from the readings for this memorial, point to the fact that Jesus was “the carpenter’s son.” Joseph was a worker. He worked with his hands as a carpenter so as to provide for the daily needs of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Son of God. He provided them with a home, with food and with the other daily necessities of life. Joseph also protected them both by following the various messages of the angel of God who spoke to him in his dreams. Joseph fulfilled his duties in life in a quiet and hidden way, serving in his role as father, spouse and worker.
Though Joseph is universally recognized and honored today within our Church and even as a prominent historical world figure, during his lifetime he would have been a man who was largely unnoticed. He would have been seen as an ordinary man doing his ordinary duty. But in many ways, that is what makes Saint Joseph an ideal man to imitate and a source of inspiration. Very few people are called to serve others in the spotlight. Very few people are publicly praised for their day-to-day duties. Parents, especially, are often greatly unappreciated. For that reason, the life of Saint Joseph, this humble and hidden life lived out in Nazareth, provides most people with inspiration for their own daily lives.
If your life is somewhat monotonous, hidden, unappreciated by the masses, tedious and even boring at times, then look to Saint Joseph for inspiration. Today’s memorial especially honors Joseph as a man who worked. And his work was quite ordinary. But holiness is especially found in the ordinary parts of our daily lives. Choosing to serve, day in and day out, with little or no earthly accolades, is a service of love, an imitation of the life of Saint Joseph and a source of your own holiness in life. Do not underestimate the importance of serving in these and other ordinary and hidden ways.
Reflect, today, upon the ordinary and “unremarkable” daily life of Saint Joseph. If you find that your life is similar to what he would have experienced as a worker, a spouse and a father, then rejoice in that fact. Rejoice in the fact that you are also called to a life of extraordinary holiness through the ordinary duties of daily life. Do them well. Do them with love. And do them by the inspiration of Saint Joseph and his spouse, the Blessed Virgin Mary who would have shared in this ordinary day-to-day life. Know that what you do each and every day, when it is done out of love and service of others, is the surest path to holiness of life for you.
“My Jesus, Son of the carpenter, I thank You for the gift and inspiration of Your earthly father, Saint Joseph. I thank You for his ordinary life lived with great love and responsibility. Help me to imitate his life by fulfilling my daily duties of work and service well. May I recognize in the life of Saint Joseph, an ideal model for my own holiness of life. Saint Joseph the Worker, pray for us. Jesus, I trust in You.”
OTHER SOURCE OF MEDITATION
Monday (May 1): Lord, show us the Father
What's the greatest thing we can aim for in this life? - Is it not to know God personally as your Father and Redeemer? What is the best thing we can possess in this life, bringing more joy, contentment, life and happiness, than anything else? - Is it not true knowledge and understanding of who God is and what kind of relationship he wants to have with you? Scripture tells us the greatest thing we can know and possess is true knowledge of God: Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me" (Jeremiah 9:23-24).
We can know God the Father personally and be united with him
One of the greatest truths of the Christian faith is that we can know the living God. Our knowledge of God is not simply limited to knowing something about God, but we can know God personally. The essence of Christianity, and what makes it distinct from Judaism and other religions, is the personal knowledge of God as our Father.
Jesus makes it possible for each of us to personally know God as our heavenly Father. To see Jesus is to see what God is like. In Jesus we see the perfect love of God - a God who cares intensely and who yearns over men and women, loving them to the point of laying down his life for them upon the Cross. Jesus is the revelation of God - a God who loves us unconditionally, unselfishly and perfectly - without neglecting or forgetting us even for a brief moment. If we put our trust in Jesus and believe in him, Jesus promises that God the Father will hear our prayers when we pray in his name. That is why Jesus taught his followers to pray with confidence, Our Father who art in heaven ..give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:9,11; Luke 11:2-3). Do you pray to your Father in heaven with joy and confidence in his personal love and care for you?
"Lord Jesus, you fill us with the joy of your saving presence and you give us the hope of everlasting life with God our Father in Heaven. Show me the Father that I may know and glorify him always."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: The Father's portrait in the Son, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"By means of this image the Lord showed Philip the Father. Yes, he who looks on the Son sees, in portrait, the Father. Notice what kind of portrait is spoken of. It is truth, righteousness, the power of God. It is not silent, for it is the Word. It is not insensible, for it is Wisdom. It is not vain and foolish, for it is power. It is not soulless, for it is the life. It is not dead, for it is the resurrection." (excerpt from ON THE CHRISTIAN FAITH 1.7.50)
VISITATIONS: (Daily Contacts From His hearts to Ours by Miriam Grosjean)
Be in constant expectancy of good things happening and they will come to pass. Goals are attainable when complete trust is placed in Me. Situations can be turned around to coincide with your thinking. I am a God of plenty waiting to give, but to appreciative hands. A restoration of the good things can be yours as you reach out to others. Reeducate My people with your newfound theories. My interventions will never cease to amaze you. Activate the fire of your love for My people and It will never burn out. Consummate all your actions in Me and they will work out for your greater glory.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
—Proverbs 3 : 5-6
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord; "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
—Jeremiah 29 : 11-13
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
—Ephesians 6 : 11-13
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
—Luke 6 : 38
SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY
Saint Joseph, guardian of Jesus and chaste husband of Mary, you passed your life in loving fulfillment of duty. You supported the holy family of Nazareth with the work of your hands. Kindly protect those who trustingly come to you. You know their aspirations, their hardships, their hopes. They look to you because they know you will understand and protect them. You too knew trial, labor and weariness. But amid the worries of material life, your soul was full of deep peace and sang out in true joy through intimacy with God’s Son entrusted to you and with Mary, his tender Mother. Assure those you protect that they do not labor alone. Teach them to find Jesus near them and to watch over Him faithfully as you have done. Amen.
—Pope Saint John Paul II
SPECIAL MEDITATION
Jesus, I want to know you more! Come relieve my anxieties with a taste of your love.
Thank you for reading. Papa Joseph, thank you for taking great care of little Jesus and Mama Mary. You were very protective of them yet stayed in the background of your Holy Family. Please watch over and protect our family. Happy Monday everyone. Stay safe and keep the faith, God bless!
