Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Easter Week: Year 1
Morning, Psalms 146 and 147; Evening, Psalms 148 and 149;
Ezekiel 37:1 to 14; Acts 3:11 to 26 or 1st Corinthians 15:41 to 50; John 15:12 to 27:
“You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, “And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Acts 3:25)
Most of today’s readings are very instructional. I highly encourage everyone to read and savor all of the readings for today. It was hard for me to select a verse to spring from for today. All of the readings are just that meaningful. The Acts 3 reading however is assigned for both the Daily Office reading and our Eucharistic readings. It is a very inclusive message from God. I believe that while God called the descendants of Abraham to become Israelites, the Israelites were commissioned to spread the news about the love that God has for all the people of the earth regardless of their lineage. The message is, “And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Psalm 8 is assigned in our Eucharistic reading for today. There are words in this Psalm that causes me to ponder. It says, When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, What is man that you should be mindful of him, the son of man that you should seek him out? (Psalm 8: 4 and 5). Our Creating God loves humanity so much that God’s self deemed us worthy enough to come among us as one of us in our Lord Jesus. And according to the Gospel of Luke, the Resurrected Jesus opened our minds in order that we might better understand the scriptures. “Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,” (Luke 24: 44 and 45). Still today, such understanding of scripture only comes with prayer and the company of other believers with open hearts and minds. Then our Lord Jesus will open us even further.
Peter tells the amazed witnesses of the healing that they should not be so surprised. He says, ‘And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets,” (Acts 3:17 to 21). It seems then that there is a correlation between ignorance, awareness, repentance and forgiveness. Acts that we have done from ignorance may be forgiven. God is so good and merciful. Thank You Lord Jesus.
Let us live to love, more than we just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 