Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter


Readings for Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Readings and Commentary:
[3]

Reading 1:
Acts 5:17-26

The high priest rose up and all his companions,
that is, the party of the Sadducees,
and, filled with jealousy,
laid hands upon the Apostles and put them in the public jail.
But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison,
led them out, and said,
"Go and take your place in the temple area,
and tell the people everything about this life."
When they heard this,
they went to the temple early in the morning and taught.
When the high priest and his companions arrived,
they convened the Sanhedrin,
the full senate of the children of Israel,
and sent to the jail to have them brought in.
But the court officers who went did not find them in the prison,
so they came back and reported,
"We found the jail securely locked
and the guards stationed outside the doors,
but when we opened them, we found no one inside."
When the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this report,
they were at a loss about them,
as to what this would come to.
Then someone came in and reported to them,
"The men whom you put in prison are in the temple area
and are teaching the people."
Then the captain and the court officers went and brought them,
but without force,
because they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
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Commentary on
Acts 5:17-26

This is the second time the Apostles are attached by the Sanhedrin. They have already been told by the Jewish leadership to stop teaching and have been condemned as false prophets so there is no need for a second trial – they are jailed.

Jailing Apostles in Acts don’t seem to work very well (see also
Acts 12:6-11; 16:25-29.) They fearlessly return to the Temple area and resume their mission to proclaim Christ Crucified and Risen, forcing the Sanhedrin to take action.

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Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R.(7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.

The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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Commentary on
Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

This song of thanksgiving places emphasis on God’s mercy and compassion. The Lord in his faithful love always hears those who call to him for help and salvation.

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Gospel:
John 3:16-21

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
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Commentary on
Jn 3:16-21

The dialogue Jesus was having with Nicodemus has now turned into a famous monologue in this passage from the Gospel of St. John. Here Jesus is clear about his own identity as God’s “only-begotten Son” and his mission “…that the world might be saved through him.”

The Lord continues by explaining that the salvific event is dependent upon faith and acceptance by those to be saved (“…whoever believes in him will not be condemned”) and those who reject this belief are already condemned. The passage is concluded with the analogy or light and darkness where the Lord who is light comes to save the people but will be rejected by many (“…but people preferred darkness to light”). Those who believe in the Lord will be identified by their good works and the glory that those works bring to God the Father.

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Reflection:

In the most famous passage from St. John’s Gospel we are told that God sent his Son to us so that we might have “Eternal Life”. For us to appreciate the sacrifice and promise, it is important that we recognize the gift implied in that statement. Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, provided some wonderful insights into that gift in his encyclical “Spi Salvi”. Rather than paraphrase, we include a quote from that document:

[4]Faith is the substance of hope. But then the question arises: do we really want this—to live eternally? Perhaps many people reject the faith today simply because they do not find the prospect of eternal life attractive. What they desire is not eternal life at all, but this present life, for which faith in eternal life seems something of an impediment. To continue living for ever —endlessly—appears more like a curse than a gift. Death, admittedly, one would wish to postpone for as long as possible. But to live always, without end—this, all things considered, can only be monotonous and ultimately unbearable. This is precisely the point made, for example, by Saint Ambrose, one of the Church Fathers, in the funeral discourse for his deceased brother Satyrus: “Death was not part of nature; it became part of nature. God did not decree death from the beginning; he prescribed it as a remedy. Human life, because of sin ... began to experience the burden of wretchedness in unremitting labor and unbearable sorrow. There had to be a limit to its evils; death had to restore what life had forfeited. Without the assistance of grace, immortality is more of a burden than a blessing.” [5] A little earlier, Ambrose had said: “Death is, then, no cause for mourning, for it is the cause of mankind's salvation.” [6]

Our Pontiff, with the help of St. Ambrose, describes the difference between “Eternal Life” and living forever. After developing the theme a bit more using some of St. Augustine’s logic he describes this difference:

[7]To imagine ourselves outside the temporality that imprisons us and in some way to sense that eternity is not an unending succession of days in the calendar, but something more like the supreme moment of satisfaction, in which totality embraces us and we embrace totality—this we can only attempt. It would be like plunging into the ocean of infinite love, a moment in which time—the before and after—no longer exists. We can only attempt to grasp the idea that such a moment is life in the full sense, a plunging ever anew into the vastness of being, in which we are simply overwhelmed with joy.”

The gift of Eternal Life now becomes a more welcoming thought. It was for this that God sent his Son. It was for this that he created us. Just as a parent hopes only for supreme happiness for their children; God so loved us that he provided this remedy for human existence and opened the gates to heaven. Our Easter Joy is revitalized as we recognize the wondrous prize God has offered us.

Pax

[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used is “The Crucified Christ” by Pieter Pauweel Rubens, 1610-11
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
[4] Spi Salvi 10.
[5] De excessu fratris sui Satyri, II, 47: CSEL 73, 274.
[6] Ibid., II, 46: CSEL 73, 273.
[7] Spi Salvi 12.

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