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| “Healing Of The Cripple And Raising of Tabitha” (detail) by Masolino da Panicale, 1426-27 |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Acts 9:31-42
Commentary on Acts 9:31-42
The Church is at peace following Paul’s conversion, and the cessation of persecution by the Sanhedrin’s main enforcer. Peter now demonstrates, through miraculous healings, that the authority of Christ over illness and death has been passed on to the Apostles. In both situations, the cure of the paralytic (Aeneas), and the raising of Tabitha from the dead, the actions were taken not to increase the reputation of Peter, but to bring people to belief in Christ; an objective accomplished according to Luke’s account of the events.
CCC: Acts 9:34 1507
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 116:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
R. (12) How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?
or:
R. Alleluia.
Commentary on Ps 116:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
Psalm 116 is a song of thanksgiving. This selection is an individual prayer and promise to God. The singer understands that the Lord is his salvation. A little confusing is: “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.” The meaning of this phrase is the death of God's faithful is grievous to God, not that God is pleased with the death.
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Gospel: John 6:60-69
Commentary on Jn 6:60-69
St. John describes the ebb and flow of the Lord’s followers. He is concluding his discourse on the “Bread of Life” and has just told the disciples once more: “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” This was cannibalism, they did not understand the transformative event that was to take place, and they did not like what they did understand. As a result, many who had seen him perform the sign of the "Multiplication of the Loaves" and followed him now were repulsed and went home.
The twelve stayed with him and in response to Jesus’ question: “Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answers with his profession of faith: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
CCC: Jn 6:60 1336; Jn 6:61 473; Jn 6:62-63 728; Jn 6:62 440; Jn 6:63 2766; Jn 6:67 1336; Jn 6:68 1336; Jn 6:69 438
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Reflection:
Sacred scripture on this day describes two contrasting images of the ministry of Christ. There seems to be an almost logical inversion of what should be happening. In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul has been converted, removing the major force of persecution of the Christians. St. Peter (the same Saint Peter who denied Christ three times) now walks among the people, curing many and even raising them from the dead using the power of Jesus’ name.
Yet, following St. John’s great Eucharistic discourse in the Gospel, Jesus himself seems on the verge of failure. He has tried to help the people who had followed him understand his relationship to God, following his great sign of the Multiplication of the Loaves. He had tried to make them understand that he was God’s loving face, revealed to them in human form. He tried to tell them that he would leave a precious gift in the Eucharist. Yet, instead of understanding, they left him in droves. It was so bad that he turned to his disciples and asked them if they wanted to leave too.
The personal message we can take away from this seeming role reversal is that we must never lose heart when our efforts at bringing the Lord to others fail. Jesus preaches a “hard” word to those who had listened to him on the hillside and been fed. All they wanted was another sign. They did not want to pay the price of faith for the real reward. We too must not think that by “sugar coating” the Lord’s message we somehow succeed, because we have offended no one. Those who cannot accept the truth of our faith have not reached a point of spiritual maturity (may never reach a point of spiritual maturity) that will allow them to come to faith in Christ.
When people we meet do not accept the Good News, it does not mean we should not be pastorally sensitive. It does not mean we should hammer home the more difficult precepts of our faith and drive people away because they cannot come to our level of faith or understanding immediately. We must have the attitude of Christ as we invite people, through our words and actions, to walk with us on the path of faith. His was a persistent loving invitation, and even so many could not follow him.
Today we take heart at the Lord’s seeming failure to reach the people who could not accept His Body and Blood as real food and drink. We see in St. Peter’s example that the power of God will not be defeated and know that we too may invoke that Holy Name to great purpose for God’s Glory. Our prayer today is that we demonstrate that loving persistence shown by our Savior and that all we meet know our faith in Christ.
Pax
[2] The picture used is “Healing Of The Cripple And Raising of Tabitha” (detail) by Masolino da Panicale, 1426-27
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