Readings for Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Acts 20:17-27
The steady and lively growth of Christianity has started to spark significant resistance from multiple sources. Paul now feels compelled to return to Jerusalem but wants to make sure he has left a final message with the leaders in the region of Ephesus. Here he begins his discourse reminding them of his fidelity to the message he received from Jesus.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21
R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
We use Psalm 68 for a second day in a row. The hymn of thanksgiving praises God for salvation and all that He has provided to the people and lifts them up even in the face of death.
Gospel John 17:1-11a
We begin the part of Jesus final dialog called the “High Priestly Prayer.” In this first section, the Lord begins a petition for the disciples (those he has now and those to come) speaking directly to the Father (not to the disciples, they are just overhearing this prayer). The emphasis is clearly that the disciples have become what the Lord wanted, faithful believers, and he asks the Father to support them.
Reflection:
“Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”
As the Lord prays for his disciples and all that follow, we must reflect upon one of his gifts, the great prize we are offered; Eternal Life. If we think very literally, the concept is frightening to us, even repulsive. Our definition arises out of our earthly interpretation of life. To continue the existence we have indefinitely, interminably, forever is something for which we hope for those we love – but the reality of that hope is that we know that death must come to the body and eternal life therefore is something else.
Pope Benedict XVI, in his encyclical letter Spi Salvi, devoted whole section to this topic. In it he quoted St. Ambrose who said; “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.”[3]
This great gift he offers is the home and hope of the spirit, not the body. This eternal life we are offered is the happiness we experience in those moments or harmony with all God’s creation, amplified and extended eternally, it is, as St. John said, knowledge, no certainty, or even unity with God the Father. That is what the Lord refers to when he says “…that they should know you”. In perfect knowledge of God, our inmost being is suffused with the love of His Son; “…the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”
Today we marvel at the incredible gift offered to us – Eternal Life – a perpetual state of grace, our spirit rejoicing in the glow of that perfect love possible only through God’s only Son. Because of our faith we do not find that idea repulsive as the world might. We pray today that we might be heralds of this great gift and those we meet might see the Lord’s promise through our words and actions.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “The Ascension” by John Singleton Copley, 1775
[3] De excessu fratris sui Satyri, II, 47: CSEL 73, 274
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Acts 20:17-27
The steady and lively growth of Christianity has started to spark significant resistance from multiple sources. Paul now feels compelled to return to Jerusalem but wants to make sure he has left a final message with the leaders in the region of Ephesus. Here he begins his discourse reminding them of his fidelity to the message he received from Jesus.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21
R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
We use Psalm 68 for a second day in a row. The hymn of thanksgiving praises God for salvation and all that He has provided to the people and lifts them up even in the face of death.
Gospel John 17:1-11a
We begin the part of Jesus final dialog called the “High Priestly Prayer.” In this first section, the Lord begins a petition for the disciples (those he has now and those to come) speaking directly to the Father (not to the disciples, they are just overhearing this prayer). The emphasis is clearly that the disciples have become what the Lord wanted, faithful believers, and he asks the Father to support them.
Reflection:
“Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”
As the Lord prays for his disciples and all that follow, we must reflect upon one of his gifts, the great prize we are offered; Eternal Life. If we think very literally, the concept is frightening to us, even repulsive. Our definition arises out of our earthly interpretation of life. To continue the existence we have indefinitely, interminably, forever is something for which we hope for those we love – but the reality of that hope is that we know that death must come to the body and eternal life therefore is something else.
Pope Benedict XVI, in his encyclical letter Spi Salvi, devoted whole section to this topic. In it he quoted St. Ambrose who said; “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.”[3]
This great gift he offers is the home and hope of the spirit, not the body. This eternal life we are offered is the happiness we experience in those moments or harmony with all God’s creation, amplified and extended eternally, it is, as St. John said, knowledge, no certainty, or even unity with God the Father. That is what the Lord refers to when he says “…that they should know you”. In perfect knowledge of God, our inmost being is suffused with the love of His Son; “…the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”
Today we marvel at the incredible gift offered to us – Eternal Life – a perpetual state of grace, our spirit rejoicing in the glow of that perfect love possible only through God’s only Son. Because of our faith we do not find that idea repulsive as the world might. We pray today that we might be heralds of this great gift and those we meet might see the Lord’s promise through our words and actions.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “The Ascension” by John Singleton Copley, 1775
[3] De excessu fratris sui Satyri, II, 47: CSEL 73, 274
No comments:
Post a Comment