Fifth Sunday After Easter
Introit of the Mass is again a joyful thanksgiving for our redemption. “ Declare the voice of joy, and let it be heard, alleluia; declare it even to the ends of the earth; the Lord hath delivered His people, alleluia, alleluia” (Isaias xlviii. 20). “ Shout with joy to God, all the earth, sing ye a psalm to His name, give glory to His praise” Glory be to the Father, etc.
Prayer.
O God, from Whom all good things proceed, grant to Thy suppliants that by Thy inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by Thy direction perform them. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, etc.
EPISTLE. James i. 23-27.
Dearly Beloved: Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only: deceiving your own selves. But if a man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer: he shall be compared to a man be holding his own countenance in a glass: for he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was. But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty, and hath continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man s religion is vain. Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation: and to keep one s self unspotted from this world.
GOSPEL. John xvi. 23-30.
At that time Jesus said to His disciples: Amen, amen I say to you: if you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it you. Hitherto you have not asked anything in My name: ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full. These things I have spoken to you in proverbs. The hour cometh when I will no more speak to you in proverbs, but will show you plainly of the Father: in that day you shall ask in My name : and I say not to you, that I will ask the Father for you : for the Father Himself loveth you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world : again I leave the world and I go to the Father. His disciples say to Him: Behold now Thou speakest plainly, and speakest no proverb ; now we know that Thou knowest all things, and Thou needest not that any man should ask Thee. By this we believe that Thou comest forth from God.
Why does God wish us to pray to Him?
To remind us: 1. That all good things come from Him, and that without Him we have nothing. 2. That we may confide in Him and try to make ourselves worthy of His divine grace, by thoughts pleasing to Him, and valuing more, and using better, the graces we receive.
Why is our prayer often not heard?
Because we often ask for something that would be more hurtful than profitable to us.
When ought we to pray?
At all times, but especially at, 1, morning, noon, and night; 2, in time of great temptation; 3, when receiving the sacraments; 4, when about to undertake anything important;5, at the hour of death.
Which is the best of all prayers?
The Lord s Prayer; but though we say it a hundred times, it will fail to produce its beneficial effects if we repeat it thoughtlessly, without thinking of its meaning or purpose.
SHORT EXPLANATION OF THE LORD’S PRAYER.
Why does this prayer commence with the Our Father ?
To encourage us thereby to a child-like confidence in God. as our Father, Who loves all men, and is ever ready to help them.
To encourage us thereby to a child-like confidence in God. as our Father, Who loves all men, and is ever ready to help them.
Why do we say, “ Who art in heaven,” since God is everywhere?
To admonish us to lift up our hearts to heaven, our true home, where God has set up the throne of His kingdom.
What do we ask of God in this prayer?
In the first petition, “ hallowed be Thy name,” we pray that God may be known and loved by all men, and that His name may be glorified by a Christian life.
In the second petition, “ Thy kingdom come,” we pray God to enter and rule in our hearts by His grace, to spread His Church throughout the whole world, and after our death to award us eternal happiness.
In the third petition, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,” we offer ourselves entirely to God, and declare our selves ready to be subject to the dispositions of His holy will, as are the angels in heaven, and pray to Him for grace to do this.
In the fourth petition, “give us this day our daily bread,” we ask for all things which we need; for the body, as food and clothing, and for the soul, as grace and the divine word.
In the fifth petition, “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us,” we pray to God for forgiveness, but only so far as we forgive those that injure us. We must therefore remember that we shall not obtain forgiveness from God so long as we have in our hearts hatred against anyone.
In the sixth petition, “and lead us not into temptation,” we acknowledge our frailty, and ask God to remove temptations from us, or, if He permit us to fall into those which the world, the flesh, and the devil prepare for us, to give us grace not to consent to them, but, by combating and overcoming them, to gain the merit and the crown of justice.
In the seventh petition, “but deliver us from evil,” we pray to God to preserve us from sin, and the occasions of sin; an evil death and hell; also from all temporal evils, so far as may be for the salvation of our souls.
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