Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: May 16, 2010 Seventh Sunday of Easter, Cycle C

Good News Reflection
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: May 16, 2010
Seventh Sunday of Easter, Cycle C

Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA:
For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources:
http://catholicdr.com/calendar/May/Easter7.htm - Preview a sample

Next Sunday's Readings:
Acts 7:55-60
Ps 97:1-2, 6-7, 9
Rev 22:12-14, 16-17, 20
John 17:20-26
http://www.usccb.org/nab/051610.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_05_16.mp3

Next Sunday's Gospel reading is the unity Gospel. It's the prayer for the Church that Jesus raised up to heaven shortly before he died. In it, he makes a sacrament out of relationships. As Jesus and the Father are one, we too are to be one with each other, so that by our witness of unity – permanent, committed, self-sacrificing, unconditional love – we show the world what God's love is like. We prove to the world that God's love is real: It's permanent, committed, unconditional, and self-sacrificing no matter how much anyone sins.

A sacramental marriage is a visual lesson for the world, a teaching about how God loves us unconditionally, for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, whether we are rich or poor, with complete faithfulness. In a sacramental marriage, the husband lays down his life to serve his wife, and the wife lays down her life to serve her husband, just as Christ laid down his life to serve us and we who are the Church, the Bride of Christ, lay down our lives to follow him and serve him.

Marriage is that sacred! This is the reason why a Catholic priest cannot marry couples who have been divorced until after an investigation proves that previous marriages were not true unions. The unity of a couple is as sacred as the unity between Jesus and the Father and as sacred as our God-ordained mission to be examples of his love.

The same is true for any two or more people whom God has joined.

Each union created by God is a sacrament (the presence and power of Christ for the world). Each relationship is meant to be a visual lesson that teaches the world about the true identity and salvation of Jesus. How horrible – how anti-evangelization – are divisions within the Body of Christ!

Questions for Personal Reflection:
List the people who are God's gift to you. Who used to be a gift but no longer seems so due to hardships and relational difficulties? What will you do for that person this week to serve him or her in love (even if they won't be able to know about it)?

Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
Describe a time when a loving gesture from a friend, spouse, parent, or someone else revealed to you God's love. Even if you didn't realize it at the time, how was this gift of love an answer to Jesus' prayer? How is God building unity in your home or parish an answer to Jesus' prayer?

STARTING ON MONDAY, if you're a member of the "Emmaus Journey" e-group, share your answers by writing to EmmausJourney@gnm.org
* To join and become a member, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/GNMcommunities/EmmausJourney/

© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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