April
24, 2016
Gospel: Jn
13:31-33a, 34-35
When Judas had left them, Jesus said,
"Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified (*) in him. If God is
glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and God will glorify
him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give
you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also
should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another."
(http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042416.cfm)
The
difficult words
(*)The Son of Man, that is to say Jesus, is glorified because he will share the glory of God his Father..
This
week’s spotlight
The
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the last book of
the New Testament and therefore the last book of the whole Bible! The author
wrote it for Christians who were being persecuted. He wanted to encourage them
to hang on to their faith in Jesus. He uses strange images - some of them very
beautiful, and others very scary - to explain that God will conquer evil. The
Book of Revelation teaches us to have
hope. The risen Jesus has already won the battle against evil. All we have to
do is remain faithful to him.
Standing
up at Mass
During Mass, there are many times when
we stand. Standing is a sign of respect.
Just as we would stand when an important person comes into a room, we stand
when the Gospel is read at Mass because we believe that Jesus himself is
present and speaking to us in the Gospel. We stand together as a sign of unity
when we recite certain prayers, and we stand at the end of Mass to show that
we're ready to go out on our mission to serve Christ in the world!
Reflection
Love as Jesus does
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus
challenges us to aim really high in living as his disciples. Not only does he
ask us to love others, but he asks us to love them as he loves. What does this
mean? Loving as Jesus loves means loving without holding anything back. Jesus
loved us so much that he gave his very life for us. He showed his love by dying
on the cross, rising from the dead, and giving us eternal life. It is the power
of this love that makes it possible for us to love as he did. We receive his
love, and then we share it with the people around us. Loving others doesn’t
mean that we’re going to automatically have warm, friendly feelings for
everyone. Rather, it means making a decision to treat others as we would like
to be treated. It means praying for them and asking God to bless them. Jesus
calls us to love all people in this way - even those we don’t like, and those
who don’t like us.
Discussion
questions
1.What
new commandment does Jesus give his followers?
2.How
does Jesus show his disciples what it means to love?
3.How
will the followers of Jesus be recognized?
4.How did Jesus show his love for others?
5.How can you follow the example of Jesus?
Praying after Communion
After receiving Holy Communion, you can
say this prayer
silently to yourself. If you have not yet received your First Communion, you
can still
say this prayer
because of your desire to receive Jesus.
Father, through Jesus, in
communion with the whole Church, I thank you for coming into my heart. This
Communion with the Body and Blood of your Son reminds me that he loved me
without holding anything back, including his very life. Help me to love others
as Jesus loved me, without counting the cost. Help me also to let myself be
loved - by you, and by all the people you send into my life.
This week…
Choose to love
Among all your classmates, there
probably is one that you don’t particularly like. Maybe you have even gotten
into a fight with this person. However, even he or she can be someone you love.
This week, take time to think about this person. Try to find his or her good
qualities, and pray for him or her. You’ll soon see a change in the way you
look at that person.
Let yourself be loved by God
God is the one who loved us
first, but we don't always understand that. Every week he invites us to meet
with him at Mass. This week, you can get ready to meet him by reading the Bible
texts for Sunday’s Mass.
Crossword Puzzle
