Monday of the Seventh week of Easter

Acts of the Apostles

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the country and came down to Ephesus where he found some disciples.
He said to them, "Did you receive the holy Spirit when you became believers?" They answered him, "We have never even heard that there is a holy Spirit."
He said, "How were you baptized?" They replied, "With the baptism of John."
Paul then said, "John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus."
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul laid (his) hands on them, the holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Altogether there were about twelve men.
He entered the synagogue, and for three months debated boldly with persuasive arguments about the kingdom of God.

Psalms

God arises; his enemies are scattered,
and those who hate him flee before him.
As smoke is driven away, so are they driven;
as wax melts before the fire.
But the just rejoice and exult before God;
they are glad and rejoice.
Sing to God, chant praise to his name;
whose name is the LORD.
The father of orphans and the defender of widows
is God in his holy dwelling.
God gives a home to the forsaken;
he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John

The disciples said to Jesus, "Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech.
Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God."
Jesus answered them, "Do you believe now?
Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world."

Bl. Julian of Norwich()

Julian of NorwichAnchorite (ca 1342 - 1420) A number of English men and women withdrew from the world as hermits in the 14th century. They were known as anchorites. Their hermitage was a small room attached to a local church. Each room had two windows: one where communion was received through the church's wall, and one to the outside for food donations. Thus, the anchorites had the window of their heart always open to Christ and to the world. As a young woman, Julian became an anchorite at the Church of St. Edmund and St. Julian in Norwich. When she was 30, she was struck by a severe illness. On her deathbed, she had a series of intense visions of Jesus,which ended by the time she recovered on May 13, 1373. Julian wrote about her visions immediately after they had happened (although the text may not have been finished for some years), entitled Revelations of Divine Love. It is believed to be the earliest surviving book written in the English language by a woman. Twenty to thirty years later, perhaps in the early 1390s, Julian began to write a theological exploration of the meaning of the visions, known as The Long Text. This work seems to have gone through many revisions before it was finished, perhaps in the first or even second decade of the fifteenth century.Until her passing around 1420 at the age of 78, Julian stayed in her simple room. Like most anchorites, she prayed, fasted, did penance, studied, sewed clothing for the poor and advised the people. In Revelations of Divine Love, Julian described her sixteen visions of Jesus. As she wrote this book about God’s great compassion for us, she developed a special vocabulary. She called the Creator our mother and our father. She called Jesus the Redeemer our brother. Revelations is a celebrated work in Catholicism and Anglicanism because of the clarity and depth of Julian's visions of God. Julian of Norwich is now recognised as one of England's most important mystics. Julian lived in a time of turmoil, but her theology was optimistic and spoke of God's love in terms of joy and compassion, as opposed to law and duty. For Julian, suffering was not a punishment that God inflicted, as was the common understanding. She believed that God loved everyone and wanted to save them all. Popular theology, magnified by catastrophic contemporary events such as the Black Death and a series of peasant revolts, asserted that God punished the wicked. Julian suggested a more merciful theology, she believed that behind the reality of hell is a greater mystery of God's love. In modern times, she has been classified as a proto-universalist, although she did not claim more than hope that all might be saved. At the time of Julian’s death, people from all over Europe traveled to her room or cell to ask for her advice. Everyone recognized that she was close to God. The Church never formally declared her a saint, but through the ages, people have called her “Blessed.” Julian of Norwich is quoted saying,“If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love.”

St. John the Silent(Bishop (454 - c. 558))

SAINT JOHN THE SILENT Bishop (454 - c. 558) St. John was born in 454 to a ruling family in Nicopolis, Armenia. He received faith from through the teaching, prayers and example of his parents. After their passing, John built a church in honor of the Blessed Virgin, and also a monastery with the help of ten fervent companions; all at the age of 18. To protect against egotism and to pray by listening, John seldom spoke. When obliged to, he spoke in few words and with discretion. When he was only 28, the archbishop of Sebaste obliged John to quit his retreat and consecrated him as bishop of Colonia, Armenia, in 482. In this dignity, John preserved his spirit of recollection and continued his monastic austerities and exercises. While watching one night in prayer, Bp. John saw before him a bright cross and heard a voice say to him, "If you desire to be saved, follow this light." The form moved before him and pointed out the monastery of St. Sabas. After the vision, Bp. John abdicated the episcopal office and retired to the neighboring monastery of St. Sabas, where 150 monks resided. John was then 38 years old. After living there for some years, fetching water, carrying stones and working, St. Sabas, judging John worthy to be elevated to the priesthood, presented him to the patriarch Elias. John took the patriarch aside, obtained from him a promise of secrecy and said, "Father, I am an ordained bishop, but have fled on account of the multitude of my sins; and am in this desert to await the visit of the Lord." God revealed to St. Sabas the state of the affair, whereupon the latter summoned John and complained of the latter's unkindness in concealing the matter. Finding himself discovered, John wished to quit the monastery - nor could St. Sabas prevail on him to stay. In the year 503, John withdrew into a neighboring wilderness, but in 510 went back to the monastery, where he lived for forty years in holy solitude. John, by his example and counsels, conducted many fervent souls to God. He continued to emulate the heavenly spirits, as much as his nature allowed, in uninterrupted exercises of love and praise. Soon after the year 558, he passed from this world and joined the Church Triumphant in heaven. He lived in holy solitude for 76 years with the exception of 9 spent in the episcopal dignity.

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