BREAD FOR YOUTH

  13th Week: Ordinary Time, Tuesday Year One Gen 19:15-29 Take Jesus into Our Boat! 24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven; 25 and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt (Gen 19:24-26). The reason for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was due to sexual sins, inhospitality, theft, idolatry, abuse of power, pride and mocking behaviour. The above-mentioned sinfulness of humans is detrimental to spiritual life. Let us take care of our spiritual life by entrusting to Lord’s mercy and desire for conversion and return to right path. Lot’s wife was a symbol of a disobedient woman. She was told not to look back, but she looked back and she tuned into a pillar of salt. Eve was disobedient by taking the fruit from the tree of life and eating it. Disobedience results in punishmen...

  13th week Monday in Ordinary Time Year One Gen 18:16-33 Lord, Purify Our Hearts! After sharing a meal with Abraham, the Lord and two angels set out toward Sodom. As they go, God reveals to Abraham His plan to investigate the outcry against Sodom’s sin. Abraham then engages God in a bold negotiation, asking whether He would spare the city if 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, or even 10 righteous people could be found there. Each time, God affirms that He will not destroy the city for the sake of the righteous. This passage calls us to consider how we respond to injustice around us. Do we merely observe, or do we intercede and advocate? Are we willing to wrestle with God in prayer, especially for the sake of others? And do we trust that God's justice is always tempered by mercy? It also asks us to be the "righteous few" in our communities—those who can stand in the gap, influence society through integrity, and plead for grace where brokenness exists. Would you like a prayer...

  12th week Saturday in ordinary Time Isaiah 61:9-11 Meditation Be Blessed by God! The offspring of the Lord will be known to the nations.   God blesses the people with blessings, especially with generations of people.   God’s blessings are humanly counted in the wealth and ornaments one possesses. The ornaments that a bride adorns are a sign of joy, blessing and happiness.   The land that produces vegetables and fruits is also a sign of blessing. The Lord blesses his chosen people. The blessing of the Lord is a sign of God’s love and blessing to the people. The Lord loved Israel for generations. The love of God became real through the Yes of Mary to be the Mother of Jesus. Do we rejoice in the blessing of the Lord? Lk 2:41-51 Mary treasured everything in her heart.   She treasured in her heart all that happened from her early life in the temple to her Assumption into heaven.   Blessed are those who treasure everything in heart and meditate and ...

  12th week Friday in ordinary Time Ezek 34:11-16 Rom 5:5-11 Lk 15:3-7 Meditation He Loved Us! Today, the Church keeps the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Everyone knows and accepts that the heart is symbolic of love and sacrifice. Jesus is love and sacrifice. In the Old Testament, we have the concept of the Good Shepherd. In The Palms 23, we read the “The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want…” As the Good Shepherd, the Lord take care of us. We accept that the heart is symbolic of love. Love has to be in the right direction and for the right purpose. Love without direction and purpose is no love. It can cause chaos, confusion, and damage. Love leads to the fullness of life, which will lead one to God and others. One’s love must have fortitude. In true love, there is no fear. One must be strong in true love; if not, it is not love. One must make a sacrifice for the love of God and others. One’s love should have an element of justice. One’s love mu...

  12th week Thursday in ordinary TimeYear One Gen 16:1-12, 15-16 Meditation Authority and Obedience to God are Connected Abram had a child through his servant girl. The boy was called Ishmael. Sarai suggested having a child through the servant girl, and she felt jealous of her; Hagar, the servant girl, had to flee from her. The angel of the Lord told Hagar to return to her mistress, but she did not. The angel of the Lord promised that her son’s descendants would be great, but he would end up fighting with his kinsmen.   Yet at some time, the wild character is inherited. Let no one give up on working on oneself, attributing to the family, but work on oneself with the grace of God, virtue, and holiness. Is our character wild and unruly? Do not judge yourself, but check with someone prudent. Year Two 2 King 24:8-17 Meditation Authority and Obedience to God are Connected Jehoiachin ruled Judah for eighteen years. He did not obey the Word of God. King Nebuchadnezz...

  12th week Wednesday in ordinary Time Year One1-12, 17-18 Gen 15:1-18 God’s Covenant with Abram 15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”[a] 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” 4 But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” 5 He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed the Lord; and the Lord[b] reckoned it to him as righteousness.(Gen 15:1-6) The Lord makes covenant with Abram. He promises that his generations will be as unccountable as stars of the sky and sands on ...

  12th week Tuesday in ordinary Time Isa 49:1-6 Meditation God Gave us Freedom! Is it possible that we are fashioned in the mother's womb? Is it possible that we are destined for good or bad while in the mother's womb?   Being formed in the mother's womb as a human person, spiritual person and destination for good takes place in the mother's womb. The destination of the human person is not negativity but the freedom of the child of God. No mother wishes to have a child who would become evil. All mothers long and dream that their child will be a great king/queen and hero/heroin, and even they would be great men/women of God. In like manner, the wish of God for a child is for a bright future with a lot of possibilities of life. It was something similar in the case of the birth of St John the Baptist. Mary was present at the birth of St John Baptist, and she cared for him initial days long with St Elizabeth. John the Baptist was destined to be the greatest Prophet....

  12th week Monday in Ordinary Time Year One Gen 12:1-9 Meditation Trust in God! Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”   (Gen 12:1-3) God Called Abram. Abram the father of faith. He is the Father of Israel. The Lord promised him the land in which the people of Israel will live. The Lord promised that his generations will be great and blessed. He will be father to all those you believe in God. He is called father of faith because he believed in the promises made by God. In spiritual life, faith is very basic elements in believing God. Faith is a gift that we receive from the Lord. It happens that many lose faith in God. It is not a s...

  11th week Saturday in ordinary time Year One 2 Cor 12:1-10 Meditation I Have Nothing to Boast than My Weakness! St Paul speaks of Christ and his death on the Cross. He rose from the dead. He is alive. He is with us. St Paul was given the manifestation of the glory of God, though he was not worthy. So   St Paul says I have nothing to boast of than his own weakness. Though he was nothing, the grace of God made use of him for his glory. St Paul prayed in his weakness, the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” St Paul says, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.   For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Do I know my weakness? Year Two 2 Chron 24:17-25 Meditation Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest, spoke God’s word to the people, but they did not pay heed. They killed him without even recognizing the good his father Zechariah had ...

  12th week Monday in Ordinary Time Year One Gen 12:1-9 Meditation Trust In God! Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”   (Gen 12:1-3) God Called Abram. Abram the father of faith. He is the Father of Israel. The Lord promised him the land in which the people of Israel will live. The Lord promised that his generations will be great and blessed. He will be father to all those you believe in God. He is called father of faith because he believed in the promises made by God. In spiritual life, faith is very basic elements in believing God. Faith is a gift that we receive from the Lord. It happens that many lose faith in God. It is not a s...

  11th Week: Ordinary Time, Friday Year One 2 Cor 11: 18, 21-30 What is My Treasure on Earth? 21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death. 24 Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters;[a] 27 in toil and hardship, through many...

  11th Week: Ordinary Time, Thursday Year One 2 Cor 11:1-11 Meditation 11 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure[a] devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough. 5 I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 I may be untrained in speech, but not in knowledge; certainly in every way and in all things we have made this evident to you(2 Cor 11:1-6). In the world, we note duplicate things, duplicate people, duplicate teachers and preachers in the name of Christ had appeared;...

  11th Week: Ordinary Time, Wednesday Year One 2 Cor 9:6-11 Meditation Are We Joyful? 6 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work (2 Cor 9:6-8). Very often we say God loves the cheerful giver. It is true that cheerful people are happy and make the place they live cheerful. Devil wants us to be sad. Those people who are sad make other people as well sad. Sadness leads to many ills in life. Needless to say, but sad peoples are selfish; as a result, they cannot be happy and generous. Those who are in the service of God or any other vocation, there is no force. It is the goodness and holiness that forces its...

  11th Week Ordinary Time Tuesday Year One 2 Cor 8:1-9 Meditation Do I Treat the Good and Bad Equally?   7 Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. 8 I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich(2 cor 8:7-9) St Paul encourages us to be generous. He is happy that the community is doing well in life and in their faith in God. He tells them to be generous in sharing material things. True sharing is present where there is genuine love. If a Christian community is full of faith, the result is the sharing of their material blessings as well as spiritual blessings to enrich one another. Jesus himself, though he was rich,...

  11th Week: Ordinary Time, Monday Year One 2 Cor 6:1-10 Meditation Do I Give Without Calculating?   3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonour, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything(2 Cor 6:3-10). The minister of the word has to face endless challenges...

  10th Week Ordinary Time Saturday Year One 2 Cor 5:14-21 Meditation Do we Pray to be Reconciled? Anyone in Christ is a new creation. Humans are created by God and renewed in Christ. Jesus has reconciled us to the Father. We are called to reconcile with God and one another.   Reconciliation means to make peace with oneself and with others. God makes this reconciliation possible through Jesus. We are called to be peacemakers in this world.  To build bridges and peace among the families, people and nations. Do we pray to be reconciled? Year Two 1 Kings 19:19-21 Meditation Elijah throws his cloak around Elisha, and Elisha follows him. God’s selection is through human mediation. God’s invitation involves renunciation of the world and commitment to the mission entrusted. God’s choices have no reason. God chooses persons for his mission from ordinary life situations. God, who calls to follow him, will provide all that one needs for their mission. For the m...

  10 th Ordinary Week, Friday 2 Cor 4:7-15 Meditation God Calls us to be Pure! Life offers many challenges to face and overcome. In every way, we are tired and weighed down, but not crushed down. Hardships are part of life, and one has to overcome them with courage and fortitude. The Lord is with us in our journey of brokenness. As Jesus overcame the world, we, too, will overcome the world with victory marked with the sign of the cross and faith in Jesus. One has to have faith in Jesus and his saving actions. Do we trust in the guiding hand of God? Mt 5: 27-32 Everyone is called to live a life of purity. People of all walks of life love purity. Purity is an ideal that everyone should reach. Purity means being faithful to one’s spouse and not engaging in extramarital relationships. Today, the world has changed, and people travel and meet new people. Though the situation has changed, the value and virtue of purity are upheld in everyone’s heart. Let everyone take ...

  10th Week: Ordinary Time Thursday Year One Stop Enmity! 2 Cor 3:15- 4:1, 3-6 5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor   4: 5-6). Christians are proclaimers and witnesses to faith. They are proclaimers of Christ. They are proclaimers of their weaknesses and the goodness of God. God came to save many in his mercy, for he loved the wonder of man, who is his own creation. We do not proclaim ourselves, for we are finite, but God, who is infinite. There is a tendency in humans to proclaim themselves; an undue self-proclamation is vanity and sin. We have nothing to proclaim but our creator and our saviour who suffered, died and rose again. We are not abandoned but we are up lifted and given glory with God. For we are ...

  10 th Ordinary Week, Wednesday Acts 11:21-26; 13:1-3 Meditation Be at the Service of the Holy Spirit Barnabas was sent to Antioch; he accompanied Paul; he preached the Word of God to the people, and many followed the message of Christ. We notice that the Spirit of the Lord prompted them to set aside Barnabas and Paul for the ministry.   We realize God prepares Barnabas to take up the responsibility of a minister of the Word. He was able to be the minister of the Lord for the Spirit of the Lord was upon him. The Spirit of the Lord blooms in us to the full if we cooperate with the designs of God. We have to allow the Spirit to work in us. We have to keep ourselves always ready to listen to the promptings of the Spirit. Let us learn from Barnabas to be available to the Spirit and do the will of God. Are we available to the works of the Spirit of God? Gospel: Mt 10:7-13 The missionary mandate is really great. Missionaries are those who go to the people with empty ...

  10th Week: Ordinary Time Tuesday Year One 2 Cor 1:18-22 21 But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, 22 by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment (2 Cor 1:21-22). God is faithful. What do we mean by the faithfulness of God? God will not abandon us. He will not leave us in the storms of life. He will not leave to the evil people and evil to overtake us. He will guide us and guard us. Let us remember that Jesus came to this earth as a human being, lived among us, showed the love of God, died for us like a criminal and rose to life never to die again but to be seated at the right hand of God forever to judge the living and the dead.   Jesus is faithful to us. His faithfulness is manifested in our lives. We have to bear witness to it. Let us recognize the anointment, he has given us through the sacraments and made us his own children. Are we aware that we are sealed with  the  Merc...

  10th Week Ordinary Time Monday Year One 2 Cor 1:1-7 Trust that God Provides Our Needs. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation,   who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.   For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ.   If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we, so also you share in our consolation(2 Cor 1:3-6). Human life has afflictions.   Afflictions are part of everyone. Along with the afflictions, there are also consolations added to life. They are not just part of life; we look at these afflictions and consolations with an eye ...

  7th Week of Easter Saturday Acts 28:16-20, 30-31 Meditation God is our Protector Paul owns the people of Israel as his own people and he loves them. He wants their good will and wishes well of them in their hope in the awaited Messiah.   It was the Jews who complained against him to Rome and he was sentenced to death. But he was found without any guilt. He clarifies that he is not against Israel and its good customs. He is only preaching the message of the Messiah whom he experienced. Paul was given a guard to protect him and to be free from himself. Though the Jews were falsely accused, he was given a guard to protect him. God provides what each one needs so that we may be safe to do his mission. God’s protection is for a purpose and for the work of God. God makes use of each one for his glory. Let us be bold and entrust ourselves to him. Do you know that God is our protector? Gospel: Jn 21:20-25 Meditation In the gospel of today, a question is ask...

  7th Week of Easter Friday Acts 25:13-21 Meditation Do we Give a Chance for the Accused to Prove their Innocence? We accuse people from different walks of life. Accusing is at one level, and the other level is to give an opportunity to free them, whether guilty or innocent. Most of the time, people are accused and not given a chance to prove themselves right or wrong, or their situation and condition. It is unjust to condemn people without proving their guilt. Many in the world are accused innocently and condemned for life. Accusations can be out of Jealousy or to spoil the good name of others. It could be that there is some evidence, but the evidence is not enough to accuse and condemn. There are people and situations; on being accused unjustly, people’s lives have been ruined beyond repair. It is evil that is at work in accusing good people and condemning them for life. Let us not accuse anyone falsely. It is a good rule to give a chance to those accused of a f...

  7th Week of Easter, Thursday Acts 22:30-23:6-11 Do we trust in the guidance of God? Paul was freed and was made to stand before the council of Pharisees and Sadducees: Pharisees believe in the resurrection and Sadducees do not; Paul is a pharisee and the members of the council who are Sadducees had a difference of opinion and began to fight over the resurrection of the dead and the fact of no resurrection of the dead. Due to a fight among them, Paul was taken to the fort for safety. Paul was told in the vision by the Lord to take courage, for he has to preach and witness to him in Rome as he has done in Jerusalem. Do we trust in the guidance of God? Gospel: Jn 17:20-26 Meditation Jesus loved his disciples; he loved them till the end. He wished them good in this world, for their ministry and the world to come. He prayed to the Father that they may be with him in heaven. “O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that y...

  7th Week of Easter Wednesday Acts 20:28-38 Meditation How do we use Authority? The Holy Spirit is given to oversee the people entrusted to the care of the leaders and shepherds. There are wolves to destroy the sheep. There is danger that those who are in authority can be more dangerous in destroying sheep; if they are not filled with the holy spirit and disposed to the promptings of the Spirit. Gifts and authority is for service and not for show, name and fame. Leaders are for service and not for self-satisfying ego, for power, and wielding authority. Everyone in authority or without authority has to check his/her life of service; so that it may be lead by the spirit not by the spirit of evil, world and flesh. Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Let us consider the weak and the vulnerable sheep are in need of care and protection, and not use overpowering and authority, which only destroys them. How do we use authority? Gospel: Jn 17:11 b-19 Meditation Jesus pr...

  7th Week of Easter Tuesday Acts 20:17-27 Give a Good Memory to those who Visit You! St Paul writes to the church of Ephesus about his state of mind after the ministry in Asia. He was a captive and a prisoner in spirit. He says he has preached to them the true doctrine of the faith in Jesus. He did it out of love for them. He instructed all groups of people without any distinction or discrimination. Now Paul is anxious about what is going to happen to him. It is normal for every missionary to have anxieties about the future. He says that he not going to meet you again or visit you again for his journey is long. He says his conscience is clear in teaching you the right faith in Jesus. There is no falter in the things that he taught about Jesus the Saviour. It is the duty of them to keep living it and communicate to the others. It is a very good state of mind that St Pual enjoyed after the hard work for the proclamation of the gospel. Do we enjo...

  7th Week of Easter Monday Acts 19:1-8 Meditation Spirit-filled People are Noted! John the Baptist's baptism was the baptism of repentance. The baptism after the resurrection was known as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit are bold, and they can preach and argue persuasively about the kingdom of God. The spirit enables one to do God’s will and God’s work. People who are filled with the Holy Spirit can be noticed. They do things in an orderly manner, bear fruit, and help others live fruitful lives. In the world today, the only way to do everything is to be deceitful. Let everyone remember that the way of deceit is not the way; it leads to eternal darkness. Do we use ways to cheat others? Gospel: Jn 16:29-33 Meditation ‘When the time comes, you will be scattered. Far away from homes. But I stay because the Father is with me. I tell you this early so that you may be aware ahead of time. I have no fear, for I have overcome ...