Readings for Friday, May 30 2014. Today is Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Lectionary: 295

Reading 1
Acts 18:9-18

One night while Paul was in Corinth, the Lord said to him in a vision,
“Do not be afraid.
Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.
No one will attack and harm you,
for I have many people in this city.”
He settled there for a year and a half
and taught the word of God among them.

But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia,
the Jews rose up together against Paul
and brought him to the tribunal, saying,
“This man is inducing people to worship God contrary to the law.”
When Paul was about to reply, Gallio spoke to the Jews,
“If it were a matter of some crime or malicious fraud,
I should with reason hear the complaint of you Jews;
but since it is a question of arguments over doctrine and titles
and your own law, see to it yourselves.
I do not wish to be a judge of such matters.”
And he drove them away from the tribunal.
They all seized Sosthenes, the synagogue official,
and beat him in full view of the tribunal.
But none of this was of concern to Gallio.

Paul remained for quite some time,
and after saying farewell to the brothers he sailed for Syria,
together with Priscilla and Aquila.
At Cenchreae he had shaved his head because he had taken a vow. 

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 47:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

R. (8a) God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.

All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth. 

R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.

He brings people under us;
nations under our feet.
He chooses for us our inheritance,
the glory of Jacob, whom he loves.

R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.

God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.

R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel
John 16:20-23

Jesus said to his disciples: 
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn,
while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.
When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;
but when she has given birth to a child,
she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy
that a child has been born into the world.
So you also are now in anguish.
But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away from you.
On that day you will not question me about anything.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” 

REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
THEME: PRAYING IN LOSSES

"I tell you truly: you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices; you will grieve for a time, but your grief will be turned into joy." –John 16:20

When Jesus' disciples prayed in the upper room after His Ascension and before the first Christian Pentecost, they probably prayed with a sense of loss. Although Jesus had promised that He would not leave them orphaned (Jn 14:18) and that He would be with them always (Mt 28:20), Jesus' disciples couldn't understand what He meant, for the Spirit had not yet been received and the Church not yet born.

When we pray with a sense of loss, our prayer may sound the same but it is prayed on a different level. For instance, after Paul saw Sosthenes violently attacked and beaten by the Corinthians (Acts 18:17), he naturally lost any sense of security. He realized he could be killed at any moment. When he prayed "Come, Holy Spirit," he probably prayed it on a deeper level than most of us are accustomed to. I remember seeing a widow pray, "Come, Holy Spirit," a couple of hours after her husband's death. She received the Spirit as never before since she prayed for the Spirit as never before. I've seen people lose their health and lose the unity in their marriages. When these people, in their loss, pray, "Come, Holy Spirit," all heaven breaks loose.

When we think we've lost everything, we can pray for the Spirit and receive more than we can ever ask for or imagine (Eph 3:20). Come, Holy Spirit!

PRAYER: Father, on this first day of the Pentecost novena, I cry out to You in the pain of loss.

PROMISE: "Do not be afraid. Go on speaking and do not be silenced, for I am with you." –Acts 18:9-10

PRAISE: Valerie spends an afternoon each week visiting a homebound neighbor. Her love has restored her neighbor's faith in God.

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