Readings for Tuesday of Fifth Week of Easter[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Acts 14:19-28
In the first part of this passage, Paul is beaten and stoned but his zeal is not dampened. This selection recounts the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas. It describes the model of how the church was built. Paul and Barnabas would enter a region and proclaim the Good News. They would then identify leaders among the converted, entrust the word to them and then move on. Since the scripture says those converted were Gentiles we assume they did not, as they tried in Antioch, begin with the Synagogues.”
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 145:10-11, 12-13ab, 21
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Psalm 145 is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. The link we are given is back to the first reading as the psalmist proclaims: “May my mouth speak the praise of the Lord, and may all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.” We give thanks for St. Paul and the other evangelists who fearlessly proclaimed Christ and him crucified.
Gospel John 14:27-31a
We hear Jesus continue his monologue to the disciples at the Last Supper. They are afraid because of what he has told them and now he calms their fears. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.” He explains once more that he is returning to the Father so that the world might know his love for God and his faithfulness to the Father’s will.
Reflection:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” There were three great gifts left to us by Jesus and in this Gospel we hear the first one – Peace. The other two are his great sacrifice which took with it our sins and finally the gift we look forward to in just a few weeks not, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Today we try to accept the “peace” he left us.
We TRY to accept his peace because it is not offered as the world offers. The peace of Christ comes only with faith, hope and trust. It is said that a child’s ability to have faith in God is completely formed by the time that child is two years old. That statement, made by recognized authorities in the psychological field, is made because in those first two years the child has perfect trust and faith in its parents who love and nurture it. If that faith and trust is not there in their first two years, they cannot find it in God later in life.
We try to reach back into our innocent memories to accept the peace of Christ. Like children he calls us to place our faith in him. We must find that place in our hearts where there is complete confidence that he is with us. Like a small child, he has taken us by the hand and leads us down right paths, safe, in that inmost place, from any harm. How difficult it is to accept that peace. We look around and see all that the world casts our way.
As difficult as it is to find the peace of Christ, we cannot see our path clearly unless we try to accept it. The analogy has been made I believe best by Diodocious of Photice in his Treatise on Spiritual Perfection:
“Therefore, we must maintain great stillness of mind, even in the midst of our struggles. We shall then be able to distinguish between the different types of thoughts that come to us: those that are good, those sent by God, we will treasure in our memory; those that are evil and inspired by the devil we will reject.
A comparison with the sea may help us. A tranquil sea allows the fisherman to gaze right to its depths. No fish can hide there and escape his sight. The stormy sea, however, becomes murky when it is agitated by the winds. The very depths that it revealed in its placidness, the sea now hides. The skills of the fisherman are useless.”
The peace of Christ is found in that stillness of mind to which Diodocious refers. Today let us try to find that place in our hearts, a place embodied in the bread of life, the grace Christ gives us in his second gift, the gift of his sacrifice.
Pax!
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture today is “The Holy Family with a Lamb” by Raffaello Sanzio, 1507
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Acts 14:19-28
In the first part of this passage, Paul is beaten and stoned but his zeal is not dampened. This selection recounts the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas. It describes the model of how the church was built. Paul and Barnabas would enter a region and proclaim the Good News. They would then identify leaders among the converted, entrust the word to them and then move on. Since the scripture says those converted were Gentiles we assume they did not, as they tried in Antioch, begin with the Synagogues.”
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 145:10-11, 12-13ab, 21
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Psalm 145 is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. The link we are given is back to the first reading as the psalmist proclaims: “May my mouth speak the praise of the Lord, and may all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.” We give thanks for St. Paul and the other evangelists who fearlessly proclaimed Christ and him crucified.
Gospel John 14:27-31a
We hear Jesus continue his monologue to the disciples at the Last Supper. They are afraid because of what he has told them and now he calms their fears. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.” He explains once more that he is returning to the Father so that the world might know his love for God and his faithfulness to the Father’s will.
Reflection:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” There were three great gifts left to us by Jesus and in this Gospel we hear the first one – Peace. The other two are his great sacrifice which took with it our sins and finally the gift we look forward to in just a few weeks not, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Today we try to accept the “peace” he left us.
We TRY to accept his peace because it is not offered as the world offers. The peace of Christ comes only with faith, hope and trust. It is said that a child’s ability to have faith in God is completely formed by the time that child is two years old. That statement, made by recognized authorities in the psychological field, is made because in those first two years the child has perfect trust and faith in its parents who love and nurture it. If that faith and trust is not there in their first two years, they cannot find it in God later in life.
We try to reach back into our innocent memories to accept the peace of Christ. Like children he calls us to place our faith in him. We must find that place in our hearts where there is complete confidence that he is with us. Like a small child, he has taken us by the hand and leads us down right paths, safe, in that inmost place, from any harm. How difficult it is to accept that peace. We look around and see all that the world casts our way.
As difficult as it is to find the peace of Christ, we cannot see our path clearly unless we try to accept it. The analogy has been made I believe best by Diodocious of Photice in his Treatise on Spiritual Perfection:
“Therefore, we must maintain great stillness of mind, even in the midst of our struggles. We shall then be able to distinguish between the different types of thoughts that come to us: those that are good, those sent by God, we will treasure in our memory; those that are evil and inspired by the devil we will reject.
A comparison with the sea may help us. A tranquil sea allows the fisherman to gaze right to its depths. No fish can hide there and escape his sight. The stormy sea, however, becomes murky when it is agitated by the winds. The very depths that it revealed in its placidness, the sea now hides. The skills of the fisherman are useless.”
The peace of Christ is found in that stillness of mind to which Diodocious refers. Today let us try to find that place in our hearts, a place embodied in the bread of life, the grace Christ gives us in his second gift, the gift of his sacrifice.
Pax!
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture today is “The Holy Family with a Lamb” by Raffaello Sanzio, 1507
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