Catechism Links[1]
CCC 2746-2751: Christ’s prayer at the Last Supper
CCC 459, 1823, 2074, 2196, 2822, 2842: “As I have loved you”
CCC 756, 865, 1042-1050, 2016, 2817: A new heavens and a new earth
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| “St Paul Healing the Cripple at Lystra” by Karel Dujardin, 1663. |
Reading 1: Acts 14:21-27
Commentary on Acts 14:21-27
This reading recounts the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas. It describes the model of how the church was built. Persecution drives further expansion of the Church to another town. Paul and Barnabas would enter a region and proclaim the Good News. They would then identify leaders among the converted and entrust the word to them. This action is seen by the Church as establishing the priesthood within the early church. The apostles insured continuity of teaching and a source of strength for the community. Once the leaders were trained and installed, Paul and Barnabas would then move on, having accomplished the establishment of a foothold among the Gentiles. (See also 1 Corinthians 16:9 and 2 Corinthians 2:12.)
Even though St. Luke records the progress and success of the Word of God, he also shows that its preachers certainly encounter the cross (cf. Acts 13:14, 50). The Gospel meets with acceptance everywhere--and also with opposition. "Where there are many laurels", St. Ambrose says, "there is fierce combat. It is good for you to have persecutors: that way you attain more rapid success in your enterprises" ("Expositio in Ps 118", 20, 43). [5]
CCC: Acts 14:22 556, 2847
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13
R. (cf. 1) I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Commentary on Ps 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13
This psalm selection is a song of thanksgiving. The hymn extols God’s saving works and commends the people to proclaim the word to all “the children of Adam,” the whole human race. We see this exhortation as prefiguring St. Paul's mission to the Gentiles.
CCC: Ps 145:9 295, 342
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Commentary on Rv 21:1-5a
In this selection from St. John’s Revelation, John has a vision of the “new heaven” and the "new earth,” after Christ begins his reign at God’s right hand. The "new Jerusalem," is the image of God’s Church, viewed as the bride with Christ the bridegroom. In the "new Jerusalem" (the Church), God dwells, and there he will show his tender mercy (“He will wipe every tear from their eyes”). The old order is washed away: “Behold, I make all things new” (see also Isaiah 43:18ff, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and Galatians 6:15).
"This passage of the Book of Revelation strengthens the faith and hope of the Church--not only St John's own generation but all generations down the ages for as long as the Church makes its way through this valley of tears. The Second Vatican Council says: 'We know neither the moment of the consummation of the earth and of man nor the way the universe will be transformed. The form of this world, distorted by sin, is passing away and we are taught that God is preparing a new dwelling and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, whose happiness will fill and surpass all the desires of peace arising in the hearts of men. Then with death conquered the children of God will be raised in Christ and what was sown in weakness and dishonor will put on the imperishable: charity and its work will remain, and all of creation which God made for man, will be set free from its bondage to decay'” ("Gaudium Et Spes", 39). [6]
CCC: Rv 21:1-22:5 117; Rv 21:1-2 756; Rv 21:1 1043; Rv 21:2-4 677; Rv 21:2 757, 1045, 2016; Rv 21:3 756, 2676; Rv 21:4 1044, 1186; Rv 21:5 1044
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Gospel: John 13:31-33a, 34-35
Commentary on Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35
In the Gospel of St. John, this passage is a key part of what is called the Book of Exultation: “Those who accept him become Sons of God.” We enter the Jesus story in St. John’s Gospel during the Last Supper. Judas has just fled. Jesus, in Johannine fashion, demonstrates his foreknowledge of what must happen in his passion and resurrection: "I will be with you only a little while longer." The Lord next delivers the “New Commandment: love one another." Christ’s love is not only the model, but the motive. By using those words, Jesus places himself with God whose commandments the disciples follow.
CCC: Jn 13:34 782, 1823, 343, 2195, 2822, 2842
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Homily:
There are probably not many of us who would recognize the name “Nikki Carpenter.” Nikki was one of the ten people killed in the tornadoes the spread across the Deep South six years ago this spring. Nikki was 31 years old and the mother of three sons Austin, 1, Ethan, 2, and Layne, 7. They were all together in their mobile home near Yazoo City, Mississippi one Saturday. According to Layne, the 7 year old, Nikki got a call just prior to a severe storm from someone telling her that there was a tornado on the ground and headed her way. With no time to get somewhere safer, she got the kids in the house, piled some pillows under the little ones, put Layne at her feet and laid her body across the top of Austin and Ethan. Accounts say the trailer was picked up by the storm and thrown one hundred yards. Rescuers found the children bruised but safe under Nikki’s body. She had been killed when the walls and ceiling collapsed.
Around Yazoo City Nikki was hailed a hero for sacrificing her own life for those of her children, and rightfully so. Here’s is a modern-day example of what Jesus meant when he told his disciples to love one another. Whatever else Nikki did in her life, good or bad, she will be remembered for her last act of sacrifice on behalf of her children. For those of you who are curious, nothing was ever said about the father of the children. They are now being taken care of by Nikki’s parents.
We do not use this story because acts of heroism by mothers to protect their children are unusual. No doubt, more heroic actions have been taken by others with less fanfare or recognition. But what is important is our understanding of what it means to love one another as Christ loved us.
No one who hears this story and knows Jesus would doubt for one minute that, if it had been Jesus with those children, he would have done the same thing. He did, after all, give up his own life (a life by the way which was probably about at the same age as Nikki’s) for all of us. His words, passed on by St. John, carry both an instruction and an example.
It is especially important to hear Christ’s commandment in this day and age where the word “love” is twisted and used so synonymously with “lust.” The media uses the word poorly at best. They tell us, and most especially our children, that love is a selfish act directed only at self-gratification. Too frequently the idea of love that Jesus intended, the idea that love is an act of selfless charity to others, is hidden under media that celebrates sex and violence and calls it love.
So what is it that we must do to refute secular values and demonstrate, by our actions, that we understand what the Lord meant when he said to: “Love one another”? Perhaps, if we redouble our efforts to be constantly aware that we are all adopted by Jesus as his Father’s children, we could show our attitude of love and concern for others. Familial love is what Jesus calls us to. We help one another at need, and hold each other accountable to the same standards to which we ourselves are held by Christ. We give to those in need, and forgive those who, out of ignorance, have done us wrong. At the very high point of our love for one another is self-sacrifice for those we love. It is difficult what the Lord asks. But it is what we are called to be.
St. John the Evangelist, whose words we heard today, is said to have spent the last years of his life on an island called Patmos. One of his followers recounts that each day around noon he would come down to his followers and deliver a short message. He would say simply: “Love one another.” After having done this for some time, one of his disciples asked him “Master, you spent three years with the Lord and he must have taught you so much. Why is it that you only tell us in your messages to: ‘Love one another’?”
St. John answered and said, “Yes, he taught us many things, but he repeated that message, to love one another, frequently and I have come to believe that it is the most important message he left us.”
As we continue our Easter journey we are asked to remember this most important commandment that the Lord left us. St. John
Pax
[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 image today is “St Paul Healing the Cripple at Lystra” by Karel Dujardin, 1663.
[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.
[5] The Navarre Bible, Gospels and Acts, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, pp. 809-10.
[6] The Navarre Bible: “Revelation and Hebrews and Catholic Letters,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 118.
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