Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter
But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me. Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the gospel of God's grace. Acts 20:22-24
I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. John 17:9-11
Piety
It only takes a spark to get a fire going.
And soon all those around, will warm up to its glowing.
That's how it is with God's love once we experience it.
You want to sing, its fresh like spring. You want to pass it on.
What a wondrous time is Spring when all the trees are budding.
The birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming.
That's how it is with God's love once we experience it.
You want to sing, its fresh like spring. You want to pass it on.
I wish for you my friend this happiness that I've found
You can depend on him It matters not where your bound.
That's how it is with God's love once we experience it.
You want to sing, its fresh like spring. You want to pass it on.
I'll shout it from the mountain tops I want the world to know
The Lord of Life has come to me I want to pass it on.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/050608.shtml
Paul and Jesus are doing the same thing. They are finishing their mission and passing the mission on to others so the love of the church will spread throughout the world.
We can only truly have God's love when we give it away. Story after story in the Bible drive that point home in parables and metaphors. You are the salt of the earth giving flavor to life. You are the light of the world shining light where there used to be darkness. However, Jesus and Paul are living metaphors for us in today's two readings. Jesus took seriously the charge from God and Paul took seriously the commission form Jesus.
Action
What is our living metaphor? Perhaps the wealth of our nation, and especially the region where we live, points to what we need to pass along. As rising food prices in 37 countries around the world cause riots, the UN World Food Program has issued an urgent call for help. In Haiti, people are literally eating mud cakes according to a story by Rich Heffern in the National Catholic Reporter. According to the story:
Worldwide food prices have spiked. The cost of oil, needed for fertilizer, irrigation and transportation, is at a record high. The increasing demand for biofuels also pressures food markets. And better living standards in countries such as China and India have resulted in more consumption of meat -- which means producing more grain to feed the animals that will be eaten. All this, along with failed crops, climate change effects and the lowest commodity stocks in decades in many countries, is causing a global crisis.
In the past few months, when most of the cost increase has taken place, food-related riots have broken out from Haiti to Uzbekistan, from Mexico to Indonesia to Yemen. At least two dozen deaths have been reported after the worldwide protests.
The head of the UN World Food Program has said they are seeing "a tsunami of need" and set up a food crisis task force. While there are official government channels for food aid through the Agency for International Development, the Department of Agriculture and other special funds, there also is a need for individual action.
You can visit http://www.freerice.com/ and play the vocabulary game to help generate food to donate to the countries in dire need. For each word you guess right, sponsors will donate rice to fee people around the world. Go ahead, play as much as you would like. It's for a great cause.
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