Readings for Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Acts 16:22-34
The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas,
and the magistrates had them stripped
and ordered them to be beaten with rods.
After inflicting many blows on them,
they threw them into prison
and instructed the jailer to guard them securely.
When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell
and secured their feet to a stake.
About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying
and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,
there was suddenly such a severe earthquake
that the foundations of the jail shook;
all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose.
When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open,
he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,
thinking that the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul shouted out in a loud voice,
"Do no harm to yourself; we are all here."
He asked for a light and rushed in and,
trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.
Then he brought them out and said,
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus
and you and your household will be saved."
So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.
He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds;
then he and all his family were baptized at once.
He brought them up into his house and provided a meal
and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Acts 16:22-34
We are given another part of the first of the “we sections” in Acts. Here the events of Paul and Silas being first beaten and jailed, and then released is given. The jailer and those present interpreted the earth quake and its effect on the jail cells as a sign from God. This gave weight to Paul’s evangelical approach that led to their release and the jailer’s conversion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
R. (7c) Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Because of your kindness and your truth,
you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Psalm 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
While Psalm 138 is a song of thanksgiving, here it supports the rescue of Paul and Silas who prayed and whose prayers were answered by divine intervention (“When I called, you ansered me”).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John 16:5-11
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Now I am going to the one who sent me,
and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'
But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.
But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:
sin, because they do not believe in me;
righteousness, because I am going to the Father
and you will no longer see me;
condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 16:5-11
In this selection Jesus reemphasizes that he is returning to the Father and it is only when he does so that the Paraclete will be given to the disciples. Above the active support and guidance promised of the Advocate earlier, we now here of its role as judge.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
As we hear Jesus talking about his impending ascent and Paul doing great signs and miracles in the name of Jesus, we cannot help but think of the great analogy of wheat for the life of the world. The image is just so right.
If we think about a stalk of wheat when it is ripe, it looks magnificent, a waiving golden sea. Then comes the harvest and almost all of what had been visible to us is taken away and used for nothing more than beading for animals or ground cover. Bailed as straw it is of little use. The grain on the other hand, that’s the important part.
If we look at our lives in comparison to wheat we can see that all we grow for, all we work for is so the seed can grow and flourish. In the case of this analogy, the seed could be viewed as our children or as the seed of our faith. And what of the body that is the wheat plant – when we have matured and the seed has been produced for the world- that worthless hulk has served its purpose and goes back to the earth.
It is the seed, the grain that is important and it survives. But, if we look at it, this tiny bit of material, there is nothing that would tell us it is alive. A seed looks like just another piece of organic matter. Yet, if it is put into fertile soil and given water the life within it springs forth. That seed, and its hundreds of brothers and sisters, bring an abundance of new life into the world.
The Lord Jesus himself, our Eucharistic Bread, was harvested so that the seed he produced could become food for the whole world. We must ask ourselves are we growing like a weed would grow, producing no grain, growing for the sake of growth. Like wild grapes, they produce not fruit. They look like grape plants but all they do is grow. They grow and strangle any plant growing near. If the can’t reach the plant with their tendrils, they shade it out with their broad leaves. But they produce no fruit. Are we to be like them?
Is our growth for the sake of producing the good seed? The grain that feeds others, the grain that gives life and hope to the world? When we live each day for God’s glory and not our own we are growing toward the Son. When the work we do is to demonstrate that we are following God’s commandment to love one another and not to tear down another person or family, we are growing toward the Son. When the words that come out or our mouths give joy and hope to the grieving or hopeless we are becoming that grain that gives life.
Each day we can choose to grow toward the Son or to be like the wild grape vine that grows to no other purpose than growth itself. We choose. We decide each day what we will be. Today we choose to become wheat and pray that God gives me the strength each day to make that same choice.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used is “Buckwheat Harvest Summer” by Jean-François Millet, 1868-74
[3] [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.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Acts 16:22-34
The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas,
and the magistrates had them stripped
and ordered them to be beaten with rods.
After inflicting many blows on them,
they threw them into prison
and instructed the jailer to guard them securely.
When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell
and secured their feet to a stake.
About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying
and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,
there was suddenly such a severe earthquake
that the foundations of the jail shook;
all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose.
When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open,
he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,
thinking that the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul shouted out in a loud voice,
"Do no harm to yourself; we are all here."
He asked for a light and rushed in and,
trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.
Then he brought them out and said,
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus
and you and your household will be saved."
So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.
He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds;
then he and all his family were baptized at once.
He brought them up into his house and provided a meal
and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Acts 16:22-34
We are given another part of the first of the “we sections” in Acts. Here the events of Paul and Silas being first beaten and jailed, and then released is given. The jailer and those present interpreted the earth quake and its effect on the jail cells as a sign from God. This gave weight to Paul’s evangelical approach that led to their release and the jailer’s conversion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
R. (7c) Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Because of your kindness and your truth,
you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Psalm 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
While Psalm 138 is a song of thanksgiving, here it supports the rescue of Paul and Silas who prayed and whose prayers were answered by divine intervention (“When I called, you ansered me”).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John 16:5-11
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Now I am going to the one who sent me,
and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'
But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.
But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:
sin, because they do not believe in me;
righteousness, because I am going to the Father
and you will no longer see me;
condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 16:5-11
In this selection Jesus reemphasizes that he is returning to the Father and it is only when he does so that the Paraclete will be given to the disciples. Above the active support and guidance promised of the Advocate earlier, we now here of its role as judge.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
As we hear Jesus talking about his impending ascent and Paul doing great signs and miracles in the name of Jesus, we cannot help but think of the great analogy of wheat for the life of the world. The image is just so right.
If we think about a stalk of wheat when it is ripe, it looks magnificent, a waiving golden sea. Then comes the harvest and almost all of what had been visible to us is taken away and used for nothing more than beading for animals or ground cover. Bailed as straw it is of little use. The grain on the other hand, that’s the important part.
If we look at our lives in comparison to wheat we can see that all we grow for, all we work for is so the seed can grow and flourish. In the case of this analogy, the seed could be viewed as our children or as the seed of our faith. And what of the body that is the wheat plant – when we have matured and the seed has been produced for the world- that worthless hulk has served its purpose and goes back to the earth.
It is the seed, the grain that is important and it survives. But, if we look at it, this tiny bit of material, there is nothing that would tell us it is alive. A seed looks like just another piece of organic matter. Yet, if it is put into fertile soil and given water the life within it springs forth. That seed, and its hundreds of brothers and sisters, bring an abundance of new life into the world.
The Lord Jesus himself, our Eucharistic Bread, was harvested so that the seed he produced could become food for the whole world. We must ask ourselves are we growing like a weed would grow, producing no grain, growing for the sake of growth. Like wild grapes, they produce not fruit. They look like grape plants but all they do is grow. They grow and strangle any plant growing near. If the can’t reach the plant with their tendrils, they shade it out with their broad leaves. But they produce no fruit. Are we to be like them?
Is our growth for the sake of producing the good seed? The grain that feeds others, the grain that gives life and hope to the world? When we live each day for God’s glory and not our own we are growing toward the Son. When the work we do is to demonstrate that we are following God’s commandment to love one another and not to tear down another person or family, we are growing toward the Son. When the words that come out or our mouths give joy and hope to the grieving or hopeless we are becoming that grain that gives life.
Each day we can choose to grow toward the Son or to be like the wild grape vine that grows to no other purpose than growth itself. We choose. We decide each day what we will be. Today we choose to become wheat and pray that God gives me the strength each day to make that same choice.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used is “Buckwheat Harvest Summer” by Jean-François Millet, 1868-74
[3] [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.
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