Readings for Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Acts 11:1-18
The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea
heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem
the circumcised believers confronted him, saying,
'You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them."
Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,
"I was at prayer in the city of Joppa
when in a trance I had a vision,
something resembling a large sheet coming down,
lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me.
Looking intently into it,
I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth,
the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky.
I also heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.'
But I said, 'Certainly not, sir,
because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'
But a second time a voice from heaven answered,
'What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.'
This happened three times,
and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.
Just then three men appeared at the house where we were,
who had been sent to me from Caesarea.
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.
These six brothers also went with me,
and we entered the man's house.
He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying,
'Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,
who will speak words to you
by which you and all your household will be saved.'
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,
'John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us
when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I to be able to hinder God?"
When they heard this,
they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,
"God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Acts 11:1-18
This passage makes it clear that at this early point in the development of the Church, Christians still considered themselves to be of the Jewish faith (much like the Messianic Jews of today) but having come to the realization that God had fulfilled His Messianic promise. “The Jewish Christians of Jerusalem were scandalized to learn of Peter's sojourn in the house of the Gentile Cornelius. Nonetheless, they had to accept the divine directions given to both Peter and Cornelius. They concluded that the setting aside of the legal barriers between Jew and Gentile was an exceptional ordinance of God to indicate that the apostolic kerygma was also to be directed to the Gentiles.”[4]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm:42-3; 43:3, 4
R. (see 3a) Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps:42-3; 43:3, 4
Psalm 42 and 43 form a single continuous song. It is an individual lament for a return to Jerusalem where God may be encountered in the temple. For us this longing is for the Lord and the reference to running water links us to the baptism described in Acts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John10:1-10
Jesus said:
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers."
Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
they did not realize what he was trying to tell them.
So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn10:1-10
Set to follow “Good Shepherd” Sunday, this discourse consistently lengthens our consideration of the topic of Jesus – the Good Shepherd. St. John records the Lord’s criticism of the Pharisees. They, of course, do not believe he is the Messiah and therefore do not follow him and think they will enter the kingdom of heaven another way (climb over the fence of the sheepfold- “climbs over elsewhere “).
Jesus uses this metaphor in support of his earlier statement “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him” (John 6; 44). Jesus is the gate and gatekeeper and comes for the salvation of the sheep.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The Gospel for Monday continues the Good Shepherd message of the 4th Sunday of Easter. The emphasis throughout is that Jesus is the way to God’s Kingdom, the source of salvation. Again it is unambiguous and is routinely used by some, to whom the title “Elitist” belongs, to describe in no uncertain terms that if you have not made some sort of public profession about Jesus you ARE NOT SAVED.
There is a great joke running around on the web about a thermodynamics professor who asked on an exam’ “Is Hell endothermic or exothermic?” that is, is it growing or shirking? The question went further and asked for a proof. I will not go through the whole thing here because it is a bit long and supposedly won the student whose answer was published got an “A” on the exam. One part of the answer given though does seem appropriate. The student contended that every organized religion in the world had claimed at some point that if you did not believe and worship God the way they did, you were going to hell. The logic was that every one must therefore end up in hell. (Along those same lines, I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said: “If it ain’t King James it ain’t Bible”)
The Catholic Church went through a period where this was the case, probably several periods in which some of the worst atrocities were committed against people in the name of God. It is truly amazing; as students of Church History know, that the Church has survived in spite of itself. The Crusades were an example of this kind of inhumanity (although human greed was the underlying cause). The Spanish Inquisition was a pure form of this elitism (Imagine torture and burnings in the name of God). The attitude in the Church truly changed in the 1960s in response to the Vatican II Council. Understanding Christ’s will and intent is a dynamic process and growth always follows discernment.
In spite of these changes, you must know that all of the things the Church or any part of it has done in its 2,000 year history considered, by today’s standards, to be barbaric or elitist are still being held by many of the Anti-Catholic groups as being current teachings and condoned by the modern Church. (We will not provide web addresses here but if you think Christians are one in Christ, Google Catholic and see what turns up. If you have not done this before, do it when you have some time to calm down afterwards because some of what is out there will make you blood boil.)
Fortunately for us, our first Pope, St. Peter the Apostle, has given us the example we must take to heart. In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we see him getting instruction from God about all mankind being invited to follow Christ and how one Baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit binds us all to one truth. Thank God that the same Holy Spirit works among us today. Our prayer today is for Christian unity and that the name of Jesus is taken to every part of the world that their might be “One Shepherd and one flock”.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used is “The Holy Family with a Lamb” by Raffaello Sanzio, 1507
[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] See NAB footnote on Acts 11:1-18
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Acts 11:1-18
The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea
heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem
the circumcised believers confronted him, saying,
'You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them."
Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,
"I was at prayer in the city of Joppa
when in a trance I had a vision,
something resembling a large sheet coming down,
lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me.
Looking intently into it,
I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth,
the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky.
I also heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.'
But I said, 'Certainly not, sir,
because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'
But a second time a voice from heaven answered,
'What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.'
This happened three times,
and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.
Just then three men appeared at the house where we were,
who had been sent to me from Caesarea.
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.
These six brothers also went with me,
and we entered the man's house.
He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying,
'Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,
who will speak words to you
by which you and all your household will be saved.'
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,
'John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us
when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I to be able to hinder God?"
When they heard this,
they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,
"God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Acts 11:1-18
This passage makes it clear that at this early point in the development of the Church, Christians still considered themselves to be of the Jewish faith (much like the Messianic Jews of today) but having come to the realization that God had fulfilled His Messianic promise. “The Jewish Christians of Jerusalem were scandalized to learn of Peter's sojourn in the house of the Gentile Cornelius. Nonetheless, they had to accept the divine directions given to both Peter and Cornelius. They concluded that the setting aside of the legal barriers between Jew and Gentile was an exceptional ordinance of God to indicate that the apostolic kerygma was also to be directed to the Gentiles.”[4]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm:42-3; 43:3, 4
R. (see 3a) Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps:42-3; 43:3, 4
Psalm 42 and 43 form a single continuous song. It is an individual lament for a return to Jerusalem where God may be encountered in the temple. For us this longing is for the Lord and the reference to running water links us to the baptism described in Acts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John10:1-10
Jesus said:
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers."
Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
they did not realize what he was trying to tell them.
So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn10:1-10
Set to follow “Good Shepherd” Sunday, this discourse consistently lengthens our consideration of the topic of Jesus – the Good Shepherd. St. John records the Lord’s criticism of the Pharisees. They, of course, do not believe he is the Messiah and therefore do not follow him and think they will enter the kingdom of heaven another way (climb over the fence of the sheepfold- “climbs over elsewhere “).
Jesus uses this metaphor in support of his earlier statement “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him” (John 6; 44). Jesus is the gate and gatekeeper and comes for the salvation of the sheep.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The Gospel for Monday continues the Good Shepherd message of the 4th Sunday of Easter. The emphasis throughout is that Jesus is the way to God’s Kingdom, the source of salvation. Again it is unambiguous and is routinely used by some, to whom the title “Elitist” belongs, to describe in no uncertain terms that if you have not made some sort of public profession about Jesus you ARE NOT SAVED.
There is a great joke running around on the web about a thermodynamics professor who asked on an exam’ “Is Hell endothermic or exothermic?” that is, is it growing or shirking? The question went further and asked for a proof. I will not go through the whole thing here because it is a bit long and supposedly won the student whose answer was published got an “A” on the exam. One part of the answer given though does seem appropriate. The student contended that every organized religion in the world had claimed at some point that if you did not believe and worship God the way they did, you were going to hell. The logic was that every one must therefore end up in hell. (Along those same lines, I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said: “If it ain’t King James it ain’t Bible”)
The Catholic Church went through a period where this was the case, probably several periods in which some of the worst atrocities were committed against people in the name of God. It is truly amazing; as students of Church History know, that the Church has survived in spite of itself. The Crusades were an example of this kind of inhumanity (although human greed was the underlying cause). The Spanish Inquisition was a pure form of this elitism (Imagine torture and burnings in the name of God). The attitude in the Church truly changed in the 1960s in response to the Vatican II Council. Understanding Christ’s will and intent is a dynamic process and growth always follows discernment.
In spite of these changes, you must know that all of the things the Church or any part of it has done in its 2,000 year history considered, by today’s standards, to be barbaric or elitist are still being held by many of the Anti-Catholic groups as being current teachings and condoned by the modern Church. (We will not provide web addresses here but if you think Christians are one in Christ, Google Catholic and see what turns up. If you have not done this before, do it when you have some time to calm down afterwards because some of what is out there will make you blood boil.)
Fortunately for us, our first Pope, St. Peter the Apostle, has given us the example we must take to heart. In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we see him getting instruction from God about all mankind being invited to follow Christ and how one Baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit binds us all to one truth. Thank God that the same Holy Spirit works among us today. Our prayer today is for Christian unity and that the name of Jesus is taken to every part of the world that their might be “One Shepherd and one flock”.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used is “The Holy Family with a Lamb” by Raffaello Sanzio, 1507
[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] See NAB footnote on Acts 11:1-18
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