Saturday, May 10, 2008

Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter


Readings for Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Commentary:

Reading 1 Acts 28:16-20, 30-31

In this selection from Acts we hear of St. Paul’s imprisonment in Rome and how he used his affiliation and knowledge of Jewish Law and customs to reach out to the Jewish community in Rome with an eye to conversion.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 11:4, 5 and 7
R. The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.

The psalmist sings of his trust in God’s protection and laments those who trade in violence. The song continues with praise for the one who is steadfast in God’s law.

Gospel John 21:20-25

Here we see the very end of the Gospel of St. John. In it we pick up the dialog between Jesus and Peter. Jesus has just told Peter he will be lead where he does not wish to go indicating that he (Peter) will suffer martyrdom. Peter sees St. John following and asks about his fate, to which the Lord replies “What if I want him to remain until I come?” Peter interprets this as an affirmative statement and tells the others.

This part of the selection caused problems among the early Church when St. John did die before the Lord came again. The Church lost some credibility and followers as a consequence.

Reflection:

If there was ever a wonder about why St. Paul was adopted as the thirteenth Apostle, today’s account of his activities in Rome give adequate rationale. Recall that after his missionary work among the Gentiles he was called back to Jerusalem. He went saying farewell to the various communities of believers he had founded and left them in the care of individuals he had trained.

When he got to Jerusalem, the Jewish leadership, for whom he had worked and been a part of, found out he was back. No doubt word had reached them about his treasonous conversion and subsequent evangelization among not only the gentiles throughout the region but also the Jewish populations. They had heard how many had taken up this new “Way” and how Paul had deified Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had forced to be crucified for blaspheming that he was the Messiah. Now he came back to Jerusalem with this blasphemous claim and they wanted him dead with his Savior.

But the Lord was not done with St. Paul. To his rescue came and unlikely supporter, the civil Roman government. They ended up rescuing St. Paul from vicious physical attacks and put him into protective custody. It was there that Jesus came to him a second time. St. Paul, who must have at that point been tired (we know he was sore after the beatings he had take). Yet the Lord told him to take the Word to Rome, the belly of the beast.

In response to this call, St. Paul used his Roman Citizenship to appeal the charges brought against him by the Sanhedrin to the Proconsul (even though the Proconsul dismissed them as being an internal “religious disagreement” rather than a legal issue)

So, today’s reading puts him in Rome where the Lord sent him. He immediately begins spreading the “Word” as the Lord wished and he did it first with the Jewish leadership, diffusing their potential animosity by explaining how he was an innocent victim of misunderstanding by the Jews in Jerusalem. He took out the very people who would prosecute him in front of the Romans with this stroke.

The lesson he gives us is that, even though the message of the Lord is not one many will like to hear, it is one that can be brought to bear on situations by using the structures and faith that already exist. St. Paul used his knowledge of the Jewish faith to bring the Lord to them, he used his Roman citizenship to bring Christ to the center of the modern world. We should take a page from his book.

Pax

[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “St. Peter and Paul” by El Greco, 1592

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