Virgin and Doctor of the Church
St. Catherine of Siena[1]
Readings for Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Acts 8:1b-8
There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem,
and all were scattered
throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria,
except the Apostles.
Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him.
Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church;
entering house after house and dragging out men and women,
he handed them over for imprisonment.
Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
Thus 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 and crippled people were cured.
There was great joy in that city.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Acts 8:1b-8
This selection describes the first concerted effort to eradicate Christianity. Following the death of St. Stephen, we are told that “all were scattered…except the Apostles.” This is pointed at by many scholars as implying that it was the Hellenists (Greek) Jews only who were scattered (recall that St. Stephen and the other deacons were appointed to minister to that community and that it was St. Stephen, buried in this passage, that had enraged the Sanhedrin.).
As the main force in this persecution, Saul (later St. Paul) clearly sees the threat by Christianity to the Jewish Tradition that has evolved. He leads the persecution of the Church which has the unintended effect of spreading the Good News outside of the Jewish community in Jerusalem as we see St. Philip taking it to Samaria with good results.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 66:1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 66:1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a
Psalm 66 is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. In the first part presented here, the psalmist praises God for His salvation, recalling the exodus from Egypt and the great signs he gave the people.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John 6:35-40
Jesus said to the crowds,
"I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.
But I told you that although you have seen me,
you do not believe.
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 6:35-40
St. John’s “Bread of Life” discourse continues with the repetition of the great Eucharistic pronouncement – “I am the Bread of Life.” The Lord states that in spite of their lack of belief, his presence with them is part of God’s revelatory plan (“I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”) and that all who come to believe in the Son of God, the Bread of Life, will be welcome (“I will not reject anyone who comes to me”).
The selection concludes with the promise of eternal life for those who believe in Jesus, the Son of God; they will be raised with him in glory on the “last day.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
As we look at the remarkable Gospel passage one line at a time we find it so full of possibility yet so difficult to accept. The Lord promises himself, his body, blood, soul and divinity will be offered up for all creation. This offer is made unconditionally and universally to everyone.
When it is stated in this way, in general theological terms, we understand it intellectually. We see what was offered in the Gospel as if from a distance, unemotionally, very rationally. It is only when we pull the pieces apart that the impact of what is offered in this passage suddenly grasps us by the heart. Let’s try just a couple of phrases:
“…whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” Obviously the Lord is speaking at the spiritual level, not physically. If we accept the Eucharist, the Bread of Life, as it is offered, the hunger we feel for love, for something larger than ourselves, the hunger for peace, will be satisfied. We become, like the Holy Mother, “full of grace”; joined with God through the essence of His Son. If we accept the Eucharist as it is offered, the Blood of Christ slakes the thirst we have for life and love because what does Christ offer in His Blood but the love of God out-poured for us. He takes away that which causes us pain, our sins. He washes it away more completely than any bath takes away dirt and grime. All this he does, time and again so we will never hunger and never thirst. All we need to do is accept the Bread of Life he offers.
“…I will not reject anyone who comes to me” There is nothing standing between us and the offer of life except our own resistance. The Lord opens his arms and virtually begs us to come to him. But we resist. We find it so difficult to relax the defenses that we have built up so people cannot hurt us that we cannot give ourselves completely to Jesus. It is like flinging ourselves off a high cliff with no apparent safety net of means of protection. We hold back that most central piece of ourselves the core of our being cannot be exposed. Until we can release this to Christ, we have not accepted his offer.
“And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me“ What he offers seems so simple – “Come to me” he says and he will give himself to us and we will have life. But it is so hard. It means becoming vulnerable to others as well. We cannot just give ourselves to Christ in the safety of our homes. We must also offer the love we give him to those who he also calls his own because he lives in them as well.
Today we are offered this Gospel as the challenge. We are offered the Bread of Life and all that entails. The question we must answer is can we accept it?
Pax
St. Catherine of Siena[1]
Readings for Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Acts 8:1b-8
There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem,
and all were scattered
throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria,
except the Apostles.
Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him.
Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church;
entering house after house and dragging out men and women,
he handed them over for imprisonment.
Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
Thus 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 and crippled people were cured.
There was great joy in that city.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Acts 8:1b-8
This selection describes the first concerted effort to eradicate Christianity. Following the death of St. Stephen, we are told that “all were scattered…except the Apostles.” This is pointed at by many scholars as implying that it was the Hellenists (Greek) Jews only who were scattered (recall that St. Stephen and the other deacons were appointed to minister to that community and that it was St. Stephen, buried in this passage, that had enraged the Sanhedrin.).
As the main force in this persecution, Saul (later St. Paul) clearly sees the threat by Christianity to the Jewish Tradition that has evolved. He leads the persecution of the Church which has the unintended effect of spreading the Good News outside of the Jewish community in Jerusalem as we see St. Philip taking it to Samaria with good results.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 66:1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 66:1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a
Psalm 66 is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. In the first part presented here, the psalmist praises God for His salvation, recalling the exodus from Egypt and the great signs he gave the people.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John 6:35-40
Jesus said to the crowds,
"I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.
But I told you that although you have seen me,
you do not believe.
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 6:35-40
St. John’s “Bread of Life” discourse continues with the repetition of the great Eucharistic pronouncement – “I am the Bread of Life.” The Lord states that in spite of their lack of belief, his presence with them is part of God’s revelatory plan (“I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”) and that all who come to believe in the Son of God, the Bread of Life, will be welcome (“I will not reject anyone who comes to me”).
The selection concludes with the promise of eternal life for those who believe in Jesus, the Son of God; they will be raised with him in glory on the “last day.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
As we look at the remarkable Gospel passage one line at a time we find it so full of possibility yet so difficult to accept. The Lord promises himself, his body, blood, soul and divinity will be offered up for all creation. This offer is made unconditionally and universally to everyone.
When it is stated in this way, in general theological terms, we understand it intellectually. We see what was offered in the Gospel as if from a distance, unemotionally, very rationally. It is only when we pull the pieces apart that the impact of what is offered in this passage suddenly grasps us by the heart. Let’s try just a couple of phrases:
“…whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” Obviously the Lord is speaking at the spiritual level, not physically. If we accept the Eucharist, the Bread of Life, as it is offered, the hunger we feel for love, for something larger than ourselves, the hunger for peace, will be satisfied. We become, like the Holy Mother, “full of grace”; joined with God through the essence of His Son. If we accept the Eucharist as it is offered, the Blood of Christ slakes the thirst we have for life and love because what does Christ offer in His Blood but the love of God out-poured for us. He takes away that which causes us pain, our sins. He washes it away more completely than any bath takes away dirt and grime. All this he does, time and again so we will never hunger and never thirst. All we need to do is accept the Bread of Life he offers.
“…I will not reject anyone who comes to me” There is nothing standing between us and the offer of life except our own resistance. The Lord opens his arms and virtually begs us to come to him. But we resist. We find it so difficult to relax the defenses that we have built up so people cannot hurt us that we cannot give ourselves completely to Jesus. It is like flinging ourselves off a high cliff with no apparent safety net of means of protection. We hold back that most central piece of ourselves the core of our being cannot be exposed. Until we can release this to Christ, we have not accepted his offer.
“And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me“ What he offers seems so simple – “Come to me” he says and he will give himself to us and we will have life. But it is so hard. It means becoming vulnerable to others as well. We cannot just give ourselves to Christ in the safety of our homes. We must also offer the love we give him to those who he also calls his own because he lives in them as well.
Today we are offered this Gospel as the challenge. We are offered the Bread of Life and all that entails. The question we must answer is can we accept it?
Pax
[1] The picture used is “The Ecstasy of St. Catherine of Siena” by Pompeo Batoni, 1743
[2] ALTRE
[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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