HOLINESS IN ORDINARY LIFE - 04/14/23 (Friday in the Octave of Easter)

John 21:12–14

Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead. 

For the full readings, click here: 

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041423.cfm

Blessed Easter Friday! Our Lord Jesus appeared for the third time to His disciples. However, when He appeared to them, His disciples were fishing, but they could not catch anything. Some of the disciples of Christ were already fishermen, but Jesus called them to give up their work so that they could accept their mission to be "fishers of men." The fact that the disciples could not catch any fish when they decided to fish on their own symbolized that we could not bring people to conversion and to the love of God if we only depended on ourselves. Jesus Christ is the source of salvation and eternal life. It's by praying to Him for the conversion of sinners that can really help. If we want to give God the greatest glory by praying to Him, we should also know the highest form of prayer. And, the highest form of prayer that we can offer to God and for the salvation of souls is the Mass. 

This is also shown in the gospel reading for today. Jesus Christ gave a bread and fish to the disciples. The fish pertained to the people while the bread pointed to the Eucharist, Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life whom we receive in the Mass. When we go to the Mass, let's remember that many souls are experiencing conversion, and they are receiving God's mercy because we unite ourselves with the sacrifice of the Mass. At the same time, it's not enough to simply be devoted to God for an hour once a week. Instead, God calls us to holiness in our ordinary life. Our Lord Jesus invited His disciples to eat their breakfast with Him. We should not separate our spiritual life from our ordinary life. It's because in the ordinary actions of our life, God remains present within us. We can do this by praying before and after eating our meals. We can also pray before our work or study, then we can give thanks to God after doing such activities. In our free time, we can also pray a decade of rosary (one Our Father, 10 Hail Mary, one Glory Be and One Fatima prayer), or we can use it to reflect on our sins for us to avoid them in the future. God wants to remind us that by sacrificing some of the time that we have on other things, we can give more glory to God because our prayers are not wasted, especially if God sees that we make time for Him everyday. Also, we can be a good example for other people who may see our devotion everyday. If we persevere in the path to holiness, the love of God will be reflected in our daily lives. 

Amen +

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be with us always until the hour of our death. Amen. +

May the Lord + bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. +  

Reflection by: Dominic

Examination of Conscience and Guide to Sacrament of Confession:

https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/examination-of-conscience/

Ultimate Catholic Parents Guide:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ls6IcexZAls

Summary and Defense of Catholic Teachings:

https://www.catholic.com/tract/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth