Catechism Links [1]
 |
“Blessing Christ”
by Raffaello Sanzio, 1506 |
Readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary: [4]
Acts of the Apostles 8:5-8, 14-17
Philip went down to the city of Samaria
and proclaimed the Christ to them.
With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip
when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.
For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,
came out of many possessed people,
and many paralyzed or crippled people were cured.
There was great joy in that city.
Now when the apostles in Jerusalem
heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God,
they sent them Peter and John,
who went down and prayed for them,
that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
for it had not yet fallen upon any of them;
they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then they laid hands on them
and they received the Holy Spirit.
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Commentary on Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
St. Philip (the deacon ordained with St. Stephen) begins his missionary activities immediately following the death of St. Stephen. We hear many of the Hellenists were scattered following the deacon’s witness against the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. St. Philip goes with them into Samaria and proclaims the arrival of the Messiah in Christ. The Word is spreading, ironically because of the persecution of Christians by Saul.
We note the omission of verses 9-13. This passage speaks of the conversion of Simon the magician which was important for the community in that it differentiated the signs being done by the apostles from illusions being done by those believed to be sorcerers by the local inhabitants of the region. This important distinction is qualified in Acts 8:6-7: “With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.”
CCC: Acts 8:9-24 2121; Acts 8:12-13 1226; Acts 8:14-17 1315; Acts 8:15-17 1288; Acts 8:17-19 699
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,
sing praise to the glory of his name;
proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!”
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
“Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you,
sing praise to your name!”
Come and see the works of God,
his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has changed the sea into dry land;
through the river they passed on foot;
therefore let us rejoice in him.
He rules by his might forever.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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Commentary on Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
Psalm 66 is a song of thanksgiving. As it continues, the selection starts with part of the whole community blessing the Lord and follows in the second and third strophes with individual responses to the communal prayer. In the final strophe, v.20, we see the usual action of the person who has been rescued coming forward to teach the community what God has done.
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Reading II: 1 Peter 3:15-18
Beloved:
Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.
Always be ready to give an explanation
to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,
but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear,
so that, when you are maligned,
those who defame your good conduct in Christ
may themselves be put to shame.
For it is better to suffer for doing good,
if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered for sins once,
the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous,
that he might lead you to God.
Put to death in the flesh,
he was brought to life in the Spirit.
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Commentary on 1 Pt 3:15-18
Speaking again to the persecuted Christian community, St. Peter tells them to always be ready to bear witness to their faith, but to do so without condescension, but with love. Witnessing in this way with “gentleness and reverence” and not being defensive or vehement, their attackers will cause the Christians to look like victims, giving no one a reason to punish them. In this way, they were to follow the example of Christ who “suffered” (many sources read “died”) for all mankind, the righteous and the unrighteous.
CCC: 1 Pt 3:18-19 632
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Gospel: John 14:15-21
Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,
because it neither sees nor knows him.
But you know him, because he remains with you,
and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
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Commentary on Jn 14:15-21
The farewell speech of the Lord continues with the promise of the Holy Spirit – the Paraclete. We note he says “another advocate.” Jesus himself is the first advocate (in St. John’s Gospel the term used synonymously with spokesman, mediator, intercessor, comforter, and consoler). Jesus says this gift is “the Spirit of truth” (from the Qumran or Dead Sea Scrolls- a moral force put into a person by God.). This promise is made because the disciples are becoming worried and are afraid of being left without Jesus’ guidance. In addition to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he leaves his peace, not just the greeting “Shalom,” but an inner peace that conquers fear.
CCC: Jn 14:16-17 729, 2615; Jn 14:16 692; Jn 14:17 243, 687, 2466, 2671; Jn 14:18 788
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Reflection:
On this 6th Sunday of our Easter season, spring is trying valiantly to take over and give us a wonderful Michigan summer. In just two short weeks we get to the climax of our celebration of the Lord’s resurrection – Pentecost – the celebration of the gift Jesus gave to all of us at his parting, the Holy Spirit.
I don’t want to get ahead of the season, but it is hard when St. John’s Gospel is reminding us of what took place all those years ago as he was preparing to return to the Father. The Gospel just proclaimed is part of that wonderful farewell speech he gave to his disciples as he prepared for that spiritual journey home. In it, we hear him promise what we anticipate in two weeks. He is leaving us “another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth.”
We notice he says “another Advocate” which tells us the very nature of what that gift is. It is another person of God. Jesus was our first and greatest Advocate. He came that our path to the heavenly kingdom might be opened, our sins have been forgiven in his great sacrifice. All of God’s promises made throughout the history of humankind, his covenants documented in the Old Testament, were fulfilled in Christ Jesus as he hung upon the cross. Now as our great Advocate returns to the Father, he is going to leave us another. One he says, “whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him.”
Sometimes we wonder why living the Christian life, following the Lord’s commandments is so difficult. It’s right there in the Lord’s final message – the world cannot accept it. It was given to the followers of that age at the great celebration of Pentecost where “tongues as of fire” came and rested upon each of them. For us, it was different. For most of us who were adopted by Christ at baptism, we were too young to remember the small tongue of fire, burning on the Easter Candle as the gift of the Holy Spirt was imparted at that first sacrament. The Holy Spirit became indwelling from that instant and resides in each of the baptized throughout our lives. But we note that there is also a condition in the Lord’s parting words. He says “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father.”
Ah, so what are “my commandments?” There is an anecdote about St. John’s time on Patmos where he received his Revelation recorded in Sacred Scripture. Fr. Bill is currently giving a series of talks on the book of Revelation, the next of which will take place in the parish hall on Wednesday evening. The anecdote says that toward the end of St. John’s life on Patmos he would come to the village square near his cave and speak with his disciples. Toward the very end, he would come down and just say “love one another.” And he would leave.
After a few of these short visits, a disciple stopped him and asked, “Sir, you walked and lived with Jesus for three years. He must have taught you so many things. Why are you just telling us, ‘love one another?’” It is said that St. John replied, “Yes, he told us many things, but love one another, was what he repeated most often and was clearly most important that we pass this message on.”
What are the commandments to which Jeus was referring on this, his final farewell to his disciples. It is almost certainly the Great Commandment “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39)
So now we have been reminded, the gift of the Holy Spirit, given to us at our baptism, is with us our whole lives. But his voice of truth will be heard as long as we do our best to put the love of God first and loving one another second. It sounds so easy when we say it as fact, often quoted. But living that commandment, because we can only follow that greatest of commandments if we live it, is extraordinarily challenging. I’m pretty sure that is why the sacrament of reconciliation was so heavily emphasized in the early Church after many of the faithful stopped getting baptized because they could only get baptized once and what did they do if, after being baptized, they sinned?
The Gospel message today is a challenge to each of us – love one another! Do our very best to live that commandment daily and listen carefully to that inner voice of God telling us the best way to do that.
Pax
On May 10th in other years: Optional Memorials of either
Saint Damien Joseph De Veuster of Molaka’i, Priest
Or Saint John De Avila Priest and Doctor of the Church
[1] Catechism links are taken from the
Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture used today is “Blessing Christ” by Raffaello Sanzio, 1506.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
