For the readings of today’s mass, go to
https://www.livingwithchrist.ca/images/article_images/pdf/May_28_Pages_from_LWC_May2020-lowres-4.pdf
Today’s reading is by Fr. Anthony Akpanessien:
…That they may be one
At the heart of the Prayer of Jesus in today’s gospel is the petition to the Father for unity. In this Priestly Prayer, it remains the intention of Jesus that those who will come to believe in Him through the preaching of His disciples will be formed “As you, Father are in me and I am in you…”
In her book entitled “Sobornost’’, Catherine Doherty (Founder of Madonna House, Combermere, Ontario) invites us to experience the unity of mind, heart and soul, and to discover how our hearts can be softened and be opened to the ‘’transforming reality of the Holy Trinity dwelling within you”. It is my understanding that Catherine’s work “Sobornost” (Russian word for unity) is deeply inspired by this prayer that Jesus offered for His future disciples. Catherine’s lived experience of “Sobornost” through trials and tribulations, has inspired many, and testifies to how the gift of unity can heal the human heart through the grace of the Holy Trinity.
Beloved in Christ, as we await the coming of the Holy Spirit this week, let us open our hearts and pray that the seven-fold gifts of grace will renew the face of the earth, and bring the needed unity in the Church and the World.
RESOLUTION: … Attaining Sobornost (Unity) is vital in this technological age with its loneliness, alienation, and fragmentation - Sorbonost
MEDITATION: “Without the Holy Spirit, God is distant, Christ is merely a historical figure, the Gospel is a dead letter, the Church is just an organization, authority is domination, mission is propaganda, liturgy is only nostalgia, and the work of Christians is slave labor. But with the Holy Spirit, Christ is risen and present, the Gospel is a living force, the Church is a communion in the life of the Trinity, authority is a service that sets the people free, mission is Pentecost, the liturgy is memory and anticipation, and the labor of Christians is divinized.”-- Ignatius of Laodicea, Bishop, 390 CE
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A reminder again that tomorrow evening, Friday May 29th, beginning at 7 pm, we will be holding a livestream Adoration and Benediction Prayer service with Praise and Worship music in our parish church. Please join us as we come the end of the Easter season and look forward to this Sunday’s great feast of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost. Check our parish website for the posting and link for the livestream by tomorrow morning.