thegoodfellas/blogset-br huggingface dataset:
disciples had. And when this happens hope disappears from ourlives. Hope. The greatest, ultimate burden is a burden of despair. When I haveno more hope. When life is not worth living anymore. And suicide is the onlyanswer. We had hoped, they said. And now what did the stranger do? And you canrecognize by now that the stranger was no stranger, was Jesus himself. AndJesus noticed in these two disciples the three greatest emotional burdens ofevery human being. The first burden is sadness. Sadness because they lostsomeone and because they lost hope in the future. The apostles were sad. Howoften we read in the last chapter of the gospels, they say They were sad. Andeven today as I have been down helping people all over the world, I will saythe greatest hurt and grief of people is sadness in the heart. Sadness that canbe so great that there are not even tears in the eyes. The sadness is only deepin one s heart. The apostles were sad. The second thing that happened tothe apostles was that they were filled with doubt. How often do we read thatthe apostles doubted? When they heard people saying that Jesus was alive, theydid not believe. For three years when they saw Jesus healing people, theybelieved in Jesus. Peter tells Jesus To whom else will we go? You only havethe words of eternal life. The apostles would tell Jesus in John s gospel,chapter 6, We believe that you are the son of God. And now there was no morefaith, only doubt. Men s second greatest burden when the person cannot and doesnot trust anyone any longer. He cannot even trust God. Especially if you arebetrayed by someone close to you, you lose all trust in every human being. Youcannot even trust the church anymore, even the priests, even God. Can youimagine a person who is only having doubt in her heart and no faith? Is like aliving corpse. And third burden Jesus saw in the apostles was fear. Theapostles were filled with fear. When they saw Jesus being crucified in thatterrible way on the cross. When they say or heard about the agony of Jesus, theguards scourging Jesus at the pillar. When they saw Jesus carrying the cross onthe way to Calvary. They were terrified, they were afraid the same thing wouldhappen to them. John s gospel says they were behind closed doors for fear ofthe Jews. How often do we read in the lasts chapters of the gospels theapostles were afraid, they were afraid. And eve today we have seen thatperhaps the third greatest burden of people is fear. Yesterday we met in SaoPaulo, a young lady that was afraid even of Jesus. Afraid even of thecrucifix. Afraid even of God. What is aperson s life if that person is just full of fears? Fear to be alone, fears of darkness,fears of the future, fears that person may have cancer or even AIDS. And theapostles were filled with fear. And Jesus said to himself How can I use theseapostles for my work of evangelization if they were
sad people, doubting peopleand fearful people? Fear. And Jesus knew that first he had to free them, toheal them from sadness, from doubt and fear before sending them to evangelizethe world. And that is why the first thing Jesus did for his church was to givethem inner healing and deliverance. Have you understood what I am trying tosay?Alright, the most important thing,the last thing, how did Jesus heal them and free them from sadness, from doubtand from fear? Number one, he freed them from doubt by explain to them thebible. Jesus told them Don t you know from the law and the prophecy that themessiah had to suffer and to in this way to enter into his glory? And thusenter in his glory? And then Jesus began to explain to them the whole OldTestament. Jesus gave them a real bible class. He explained to them everyprophecy, everything in the Old Testament. This the first thing Jesus does forus even as today. The very first step in our healing and deliverance islistening to the words of God. And as they listened to Jesus speaking to themabout the word of God, what happened to them? Something happened not only totheir minds, not only they were enlightened, but more important to theirhearts, the hearts were being healed, doubt was leaving them. They said to oneanother Well now our hearts are burning. And yesterday when we prayed withsomeone in Sao Paulo he said Everything inside of me is burning. Which is abiblical sign of the wrong things being burned away. And the good sign of theHoly Spirit s fire now entering one s heart. My dear brothers and sisters, theEucharist of Jesus will also heal us to the proclamation of his words fromevery doubt in our lives. And as you listen to God during these four days everyword of God will bring a deeper and deeper healing and freedom from every doubtyou may have in your life. How did Jesus heal them from sadness? We are sadwhen someone we love is not there anymore. A little child will cry when hecannot see his mother, but once the mother comes back this child is full ofjoy, he will run to the mother. And how did Jesus free them from that sadness?By revealing himself to them. As they went close to the town of Emaus, Jesuswas now making as they were leaving them, and they told Jesus Why don t youcome to our home? And have supper with us? And Jesus went into their home andI am sure in their home Jesus must have talked to them even much more. And asudden joy began to come into their hearts and then at a certain moment theyrecognized that stranger to be Jesus. All sadness left their hearts and joy wasnow filled into them. Jesus freed them from their sadness by their presence.Therefore is not only the word of God that heals us but presence of Jesus inthe blessed sacrament. Yesterday, we came back from Sao Paulo after a healingmass very late. Well, not yesterday, it was this morning at
3 o clock. And thenat breakfast time I met father Jonas and then he embraced me and he said Que alegria. (What a joy). So he wasfilled with joy. How much more will we be filled with joy when we recognizeJesus to be with us. Jesus said I will be with you always. As only the presenceof Jesus will heal us of every sadness. His presence will heal every wound inthe heart. His presence will wipe every tear from our eyes. And the last thingJesus did was to heal the apostles from fear. And how did Jesus heal them fromfear?By making them aware that hispresence was not needed, the presence of the church was now needed. The momentthat they recognized Jesus he disappeared from them. And Jesus was telling themNow, I don t need to be with you physically. I am present with you in thefellowship of my disciples in the church. And this is what happened, themoment Jesus left them, they went back to Jerusalem. Once again they said Nowwe know what to do. Now we know Jesus is not dead, he is alive. And now we knowthat the kingdom of God will come into this world. I can imagine how they went back toJerusalem, almost running. They wanted to tell the apostles that Jesus wasreally alive. And when they went into the upper room, the same upper room wherethe apostles had load themselves with fear of the Jews. They saw the apostlesalso filled with joy. And they told the disciples Yes, Jesus appeared even tous. And as the fellowship of the apostles every fear disappeared. Why are weafraid? Because we feel we are alone, there is no one with us. But once youhave the support of brothers and sisters who love you and are with you, thereis no more fear. When a child misses his mother, is afraid. But once he seeshis mother back, there is no more fear. And this is how Jesus healed them fromfear, by telling them in this way You have to belong to the fellowship of hisbody. And then they shared with one another, and then Jesus appeared to themat the end of the gospel Saint of Luke. Now that the church was complete, thosetwo disciples back again in the church, Jesus could now appear to his completedchurch. And then they told them that they would have to preach the gospel, whatgospel? The remission of sins, the forgiveness of sins. And then Jesus toldthem that he was leaving them, but that he would send them the Holy Spirit. Andthe gospel of Saint Luke ends in this way. And they worship Jesus and theirhearts were filled with unspeakable joy. My dear brothers and sisters, Jesus isthe same today as he was yesterday. And we are the same today as Jews were twothousand years ago. And if in your hearts at this moment, there is a sadness inyour life, with nothing that never can take away from you, if there is yourmind doubts, doubting everything, even God, if there is in your whole personfears of everything, let
us know that Jesus has come to free us from everydoubt in our lives. Through the proclamation of his words, through theproclamation of his good news, Jesus has come to take away from our lives everysadness, by giving us the experience of his presence, of his presence speciallyin the Eucharist, of his presence in the mass. And Jesus has come to take awayevery fear that we have, by reminding us, that we are not individuals, we are notalone, that we cannot deal with life alone, we need help, we need support ofour brothers and sisters. As the Vatican calls to remind us those who believein Jesus and accept his gospel, and receive the Holy Spirit, now become onefamily, the family of God, God our father. And we are brothers and sisters. Webecome one body, where Jesus is our head and we are his members, some hishands, some his feet. We are all members of one body and we become the templeof the Holy Spirit, with Jesus the corner stone, the principal stone of thattemple. And each one of us as the living stone of that one big temple. And inthis way, again to use the words of the Vatican Council, we will then became asacrament, a sign to the whole world. And in the words of Jesus himself, wewill become witnesses until the ends of the world. Amen.(theend)
The Baptism of the Lordby Fr. Rufus PereiraHave you ever wondered why the Gospel narratives of the ministry of Jesus begin with the episode of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in the River Jordan, which may seem to be such a trivial incident? Or why Pope John XXIII made the Baptism of Jesus the first Feast of the Ordinary Year of the Church, immediately after the Solemnity of Epiphany, which may also seem to be surprising? Things became clearer to me, when I noticed that the memorial in the Canon of the Mass in the Syro-Malankara rite, calls to mind not just the death and resurrection of Jesus, as in the Latin rite, but even his baptism in the River Jordan. For in the early church then, as reflected especially in the oriental rites now, the Baptism of Jesus was not just one more story in his life, - but it is a mystery, on par with the great mysteries of his Incarnation and our Redemption (i.e. his death and resurrection), - in fact connecting them both in a meaningful salvific whole.Jesus was now filled with the Spirit (Luke 4:1)As I re-read the Gospel story and mystery of the Baptism of Jesus, I saw in it the capture of a vision and the beginning of a mission, - a turning point, so to say, in the life of Jesus 'as man', for the gospels tell us almost nothing about Jesus before that event. In fact people would later on say in astonishment, "How can he do all this? Where did he get such wisdom and the power to work these miracles? Isn't he the carpenter, the son of Mary?" (Mk 6:2,3). For in the eyes of his countrymen Jesus was like anybody else - there was nothing to distinguish him from the rest of the village. So something did happen to him in the Jordan. It couldn't be that Jesus came there simply to be baptized by John the Baptist, for John was on the contrary preparing the people for Jesus through a 'baptism of repentance'. But Jesus went through this baptism, which he obviously did not need, to publicly identify himself with sinful humanity, becoming one like us by taking upon himself all our weaknesses.It was after this act of emptying himself of his glory that the heavens were opened and the real Baptism took place from above to prepare Jesus for the people. Heaven opened before him and he saw the Spirit coming down upon him and He heard the Father speak to him, "You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you" (Mk 1:10,11; Lk 3:21,22). In other words, he had a vision of his messianic task and an experience of special anointing for it. For he was now filled with the Holy Spirit, receiving the wisdom to know what to do and the power to enable him to do it (Lk 4:1). He was now aware that he had received the authority from the Father to preach the Good News of Salvation and the power
of the Holy Spirit to heal the sick and deliver the oppressed - and all could see the difference.His very reading of the Scriptures in the synagogue made them gaze at him in amazement. His teaching was strikingly new in content and given with an unusual authority. All the sick were healed by a mere word or touch. Those possessed by Satan were allergic to and afraid of his very presence. Peter found it hard to believe that a man could command the seas and the winds to obey him. He would later reveal the source of such incredible authority and power to Cornelius: "God had anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the power of the Holy Spirit and that is why Jesus went about doing good and healing everyone who was under the power of the devil" (Acts 10:38). But this experience was meant to be an example to and a channel for his apostles and his disciples down the ages.And the believers were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4)For what happened to Jesus at his Baptism happened in a certain degree to the Apostles at Pentecost. Before that day they were all so slow to understand the teachings of Jesus, so reluctant to pray with him, whether at Tabor or in Gethsemane, so jealous of one another, so ambitious for power and prestige, so suspicious even of Jesus, even ready to use violence to save their own skin, - and that in spite of being with Jesus for three years, listening to his captivating words and witnessing to his marvelous deeds. But just head knowledge or human talent would not change them or their situation. For that they would have to wait, Jesus impressed upon them, to receive power not from below but, as he himself did, from above, a power that was not something but someone, - the Holy Spirit. After nine days of waiting together with Mary in prayer, the promise of the Father was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, as the Spirit came upon them, like a mighty wind rushing from heaven and filling the house, and as tongues of fire resting on each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).And immediately after their Pentecostal experience, they threw open the closed doors of the upper room where they were hiding out of fear and ventured into the streets of Jerusalem praising God unabashedly. That same terror stricken Peter who denied Jesus when confronted by a mere maidservant now dared to proclaim him boldly to the whole of Israel as the only Savior and Lord, with startling results. That same doubting Peter who sank like a rock could now heal the lame man with a faith as strong as a rock in the power of the Spirit within him. No threats or punishment would stop him from speaking about what he had seen in and heard from Jesus, even counting it a joy to suffer for him. And under his leadership the first Christians were one in heart and
mind, even pooling all their resources together so that there was no needy person among them (Acts 4:32).So you too must be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18)What happened to Jesus in the Jordan, what happened to the Apostles in the Upper Room, has been happening to the Church during all these twenty centuries, - but in a very special way during the last four decades through the many and varied renewal movements in the Church, in answer to the prayer of Pope John XXIII on 25th January 1959 for a New Pentecost in the Church in order to usher in a Renewal that would be manifested by Signs and Wonders. The Holy Spirit has indeed been coming down upon God's people, as it did upon Jesus (Lk 3:22) and upon Mary and the Apostles (Acts 2:4), and God is now with them in power (Acts 10:38), and Jesus is working in them with wonders (Mk 16:20). But are we becoming more aware that we too have received the same Spirit (Acts 19:2). Are we letting the Spirit fill and control our life? (Eph 5:18). Let us therefore make our own the third Eucharistic Prayer, "Father, grant that we, who are nourished by the body and blood of your Son, may be filled with his Holy Spirit, and become one body, one spirit in Christ."O Batismo do Senhor por Padre Rufus Pereira Alguma vez voce ja se perguntou por que as narrativas do Evangelho do ministerio de Jesus comeca com o episodio de Joao Batista batizando Jesus no Rio Jordao, o que pode parecer um incidente trivial? Ou por que o Papa Joao XXIII fez o Batismo de Jesus a primeira Festa do Ano Ordinaria da Igreja, logo apos a solenidade da Epifania, que tambem pode parecer surpreendente? As coisas se tornaram mais claras para mim, quando notei que o memorial no Canon da Missa no rito, chamadas de rito Sirio-Malancar veio a mente nao apenas a morte e ressurreicao de Jesus, como no rito latino, mas mesmo seu batismo no Rio Jordao. Para a igreja primitiva, entao, que se reflete especialmente nos ritos orientais agora, o Batismo de Jesus nao era apenas mais uma historia em sua vida, mas e um misterio, comparavel aos grandes misterios da sua Encarnacao e nossa Redencao (ou seja, sua morte e ressurreicao), na verdade, conectando-os tanto em um todo salvifica significativa. Jesus estava agora cheio do Espirito Santo (Lucas 4: 1) A medida que eu relia a historia do Evangelho e do misterio do Batismo de Jesus, vi nele a captura de uma visao e o inicio de uma missao, um ponto de viragem, por assim dizer, na vida de Jesus 'como homem', para os evangelhos nao nos dizerem quase nada sobre Jesus antes daquele evento. Na verdade, as pessoas, mais tarde, no dizer atonitas: "Como ele pode fazer tudo isso? Onde ele conseguiu tanta sabedoria e poder para trabalhar esses milagres? Nao e ele o carpinteiro, o filho de Maria?". (Mc 6: 2, 3) para nos olhos de seus compatriotas Jesus era como
qualquer outra pessoa nao havia nada para distingui-lo do resto da aldeia. Entao, alguma coisa aconteceu com ele no Jordao. Nao podia ser que Jesus veio ali simplesmente para ser batizado por Joao Batista, para Joao foi ao contrario era preparar as pessoas para Jesus atraves de um "batismo de arrependimento". Mas Jesus passou por este batismo, que ele obviamente, nao precisava, para identificar-se publicamente com a humanidade pecadora, tornando-se um como nos, tomando sobre si todas as nossas fraquezas. Foi depois desse ato de esvaziar-se de sua gloria que os ceus se abriram e o verdadeiro baptismo teve lugar a partir de cima para preparar Jesus para o povo. O ceu abriu diante dele, e viu o Espirito Santo descendo sobre ele e ele ouviu o Pai falar -lhe: "Tu es o meu Filho amado, e congratulo-me com voce" (Mc 1: 10, 11. Lc 3: 21, 22). Em outras palavras, ele teve uma visao da sua missao messianica e uma experiencia de. Uncao especial para ele para ele agora estava cheio do Espirito Santo, recebendo a sabedoria para saber o que fazer e o poder que lhe permita faze-lo (Lc 4: 1). Agora ele estava ciente de que ele havia recebido a autoridade de Pai de pregar a Boa Nova da salvacao, o poder do Espirito Santo para curar os enfermos e libertar os oprimidos e todos podiam ver a diferenca. Sua propria leitura das Escrituras na sinagoga fez olhar para ele com espanto. Seu ensinamento foi surpreendentemente novo em conteudo e dados com uma autoridade incomum. Todos os doentes eram curados por uma simples palavra ou toque. Aqueles possuidos por Satanas eram alergicas a.. E com medo de sua presenca. Pedro achava dificil acreditar que um homem poderia comandar os mares e os ventos a obedece-lo. Ele viria a revelar a fonte de tal autoridade incrivel e poder a Cornelio: "Deus ungiu a Jesus de Nazare com o o poder do Espirito Santo, e e por isso que Jesus passou fazendo o bem e curando todos os que estavam sob o poder do diabo " (Atos 10:38). Mas esta experiencia era para ser um exemplo para e um canal para seus apostolos e os seus discipulos ao longo dos seculos. E os crentes todos foram cheios do Espirito Santo (Atos 2: 4) Para o que aconteceu com Jesus no seu Batismo aconteceu em um certo grau aos Apostolos no dia de Pentecostes. Antes desse dia todos eles foram tao lentos para entender os ensinamentos de Jesus, tao relutantes em orar com ele, seja no Tabor ou no Getsemani, tao ciumentos uns dos outros, tao ambiciosos de poder e prestigio, tao desconfiados, mesmo de Jesus, ate mesmo dispostos a usar a violencia para salvar sua propria pele, e que, apesar de estar com Jesus por tres anos, ao ouvir suas palavras cativantes e testemunhando a sua maravilhas. Mas apenas a cabeca conhecimento ou talento humano nao iria muda-los ou a sua situacao. Por que eles teriam de esperar, Jesus imprimisse sobre eles, para receber o poder nao de baixo, mas, como
ele mesmo fez, a partir de cima, um poder que nao era algo, mas alguem, do Espirito Santo Depois de nove dias de espera, juntamente com Maria em oracao, a promessa do Pai foi cumprida no dia de Pentecostes, quando o Espirito veio sobre eles, como um vento impetuoso do ceu e enchendo a casa e, como linguas de fogo que descansam em cada um deles, e todos foram cheios do Espirito Santo (Atos 2: 1-4). E imediatamente apos a sua experiencia pentecostal, eles abriu as portas fechadas do cenaculo onde estavam escondidos por medo e aventurou nas ruas de Jerusalem, louvando a Deus descaradamente. Nesse mesmo terror atingidas Pedro, que negou Jesus quando confrontado por uma simples serva agora atreveu a anuncia-lo com coragem a toda a Israel como o unico Salvador e Senhor, com resultados surpreendentes. Nesse mesmo duvidando Pedro, que afundou como uma pedra agora podia curar o coxo com uma fe tao forte como uma rocha no poder do Espirito Santo dentro dele. Nao ha ameacas ou castigo iria impedi-lo de falar sobre o que tinha visto e ouvido de Jesus, mesmo contando-lhe uma alegria de sofrer por ele. E, sob sua lideranca os primeiros cristaos eram um so coracao e mente, mesmo reunindo todos seus recursos em conjunto para que nao havia entre eles necessitado algum (Atos 04:32). Assim, voce tambem deve ser preenchido com o Espirito Santo (Ef. 5:18) O que aconteceu com Jesus no Jordao, o que aconteceu com os Apostolos no Cenaculo, tem estado a acontecer a Igreja durante todos estes vinte seculos, mas de uma maneira muito especial durante as ultimas quatro decadas atraves dos muitos e variados movimentos de renovacao no a Igreja, em resposta a oracao do Papa Joao XXIII em 25 de janeiro de 1959, um novo Pentecostes na Igreja, a fim de inaugurar uma renovacao que seria manifestada por sinais e maravilhas. O Espirito Santo tem, efetivamente, vindo a descer o povo de Deus, como fez sobre Jesus (Lc 3:22) e sobre Maria e os apostolos (Atos 2: 4), e Deus agora e com eles no poder (Atos 10:38), e Jesus esta trabalhando neles com maravilhas (Mc 16:20) Mas sera que estamos cada vez mais conscientes de que tambem nos recebemos o mesmo Espirito (Atos 19:2)? Sera que estamos deixando que o Espirito preencha e controle a nossa vida (Ef 5:18)? Vamos, portanto, fazer a nossa propria a terceira Oracao Eucaristica: "Pai, concede que nos, que nos alimentamos do corpo e sangue de seu Filho, possamos ser cheios do seu Espirito Santo, e tornar-se um so corpo e um so espirito em Cristo."