Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” – Matthew 28:10

My kids hate brownouts. They shiver in fear, their palms begin to sweat and they scream at the top of their lungs. Of course, I’m exaggerating. But the truth is, they never liked the idea that their world would be put to a halt even for a few minutes, especially in the middle of their favorite TV show or movie or while they’re reading their comics.
        But here’s the best part – they would start shouting, “Mom! Where are you?” And as soon as they hear my voice it’s like magic to their ears. And as soon as they reach me, I grab their hands and hug them both very tightly and assure them that everything’s okay – Mom’s here. Ah! I love brownouts.
        I can imagine what it feels like to be in heaven. We live in the light for the rest of our lives... and best of all, God embraces us tightly and assures us constantly – “It’s okay, I’m here.”
       When Jesus rose back to life, He eradicated brownouts! Marissa E.

REFLECTION:
Take me out of the dark my Lord, ‘cause I don’t want to be alone; I don’t want to be there... (from the song “Take Me Out of the Dark”)

“O, send forth Your light and Your truth. Let these be my guide. Let Him bring me to Your holy mount, to the place where You abide.”

The transformation from ‘men hiding in fear of the Jews’ to men boldly proclaiming the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is a result of opening their lives to the power of the Holy Spirit. The same can be true for us! It is important that we do this as we have a duty to proclaim the Gospel and without the Holy Spirit we will find that very difficult.
  
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them, “You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words. 22 You who are Israelites, hear these words. Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. 23 This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. 24 But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says of him: ‘I saw the Lord ever before me, with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. 26 Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted; my flesh, too, will dwell in hope, 27 because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ 29 My brothers, one can confidently say to you about the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day. 30 But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. 33 Exalted at the right hand of God, he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured it forth, as you [both] see and hear.”

P S A L M

Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

R: Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.

1 Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge; 2 I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you. Apart from you I have no good.” 5 O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot. (R) 7 I bless the LORD who counsels me; even in the night my heart exhorts me. 8 I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. (R) 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices, my body, too, abides in confidence; 10 because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world, nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption. (R) 11 You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever. (R)

G O S P E L

Matthew 28:8-15

There are many stories surrounding the resurrection of Jesus. When we piece them together we see that the fundamental truth, the one that is most important, is exactly that, namely Jesus has risen from the dead. We cannot fully understand how God did this and it does not matter. All we have to do is believe that it is true and live our lives in the grace and power God offers us through the resurrected life of Jesus.
  
8 [ the women] went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” 11 While they were going, some of the guards went into the city and told the chief priests all that had happened. 12 They assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy [him] and keep you out of trouble.” 15 The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.
  
my reflections
think: Jesus has risen from the dead.

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God’s special verse/thought for me today________________

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  T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST

Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________

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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR 1 Chronicles 1-3

As a student I loved mathematics. Even today I will read mathematical books for the pleasure of doing so – I will even work at mathematical problems for the fun of the challenge. It is a weird sort of reality that when you are a mathematician it is the simplest proof of a theorem that appeals to you the most. It would seem that something that is complicated and difficult would be more appealing but it is not. Apart from the fact that a simple proof will be more readily understood by many, it is simply more beautiful than something complicated and difficult to understand. It is similar to the fact that the greatest writers use a minimum of words to convey their ideas; it is much easier to write a 2000 word essay on a given topic than a 500 word one as you have to use your words more carefully and precisely.
       Having said that, read through the proclamations of the Gospel that Peter and Paul and the other apostles make in the Acts of the Apostles. They are all the more remarkable and powerful because of their simplicity and clarity of ideas. What homilies, if any, do you remember well? I am sure they will have been quite short and with a limited number of ideas in them. In this way our minds are not confused by a whole lot of irrelevant detail.
      As we seek to live our faith to the full, let us try to give a description of it in as few words as possible, yet not leaving out anything essential to its meaning. If we can do this well we will always be able to share the Gospel or our testimony with others when the opportunity arises.
      Like it or not this is our responsibility as Christians! Through our baptism we are called to be witnesses of Christ, itnesses to His love for us and to the offer of forgiveness for our sins. If we who have received these things are not able to share them well, who will proclaim the Gospel to those who have never heard it?
      Let us set aside some time over the next few weeks to work out what our testimony of faith is so as to prepare to share it when God asks us to. Fr. Steve T.

REFLECTION QUESTION: As we seek to live our faith to the full, let us try to give a description of it in as few words as possible, yet not leaving out anything essential to its meaning.

Father, You sent your Son, Jesus to redeem us from our lives of sin. Thank You for the gift of new life in Him and help me to live it every day of my life.

St. Acacius, bishop, pray for us.