Saturday of the Third Week of Easter

“St. Peter Raising Tabitha”
by Fabrizio Santafede, 1611

Readings for Saturday of the Third Week of Easter [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Acts 9:31-42
 
The Church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria
was at peace.
She was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord,
and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit she grew in numbers.
 
As Peter was passing through every region,
he went down to the holy ones living in Lydda.
There he found a man named Aeneas,
who had been confined to bed for eight years, for he was paralyzed.
Peter said to him,
"Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed."
He got up at once.
And all the inhabitants of Lydda and Sharon saw him,
and they turned to the Lord.
 
Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha
(which translated is Dorcas).
She was completely occupied with good deeds and almsgiving.
Now during those days she fell sick and died,
so after washing her, they laid her out in a room upstairs.
Since Lydda was near Joppa,
the disciples, hearing that Peter was there,
sent two men to him with the request,
"Please come to us without delay."
So Peter got up and went with them.
When he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs
where all the widows came to him weeping
and showing him the tunics and cloaks
that Dorcas had made while she was with them.
Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed.
Then he turned to her body and said, "Tabitha, rise up."
She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up.
He gave her his hand and raised her up,
and when he had called the holy ones and the widows,
he presented her alive.
This became known all over Joppa,
and many came to believe in the Lord.
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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.
 
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD
R. How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?
or:
R. Alleluia.
 
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
R. How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?
or:
R. Alleluia.
 
O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?
or:
R. Alleluia.
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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. "In this psalm man ponders the great things he has received from God, the great gifts of grace from the Almighty: God created man, sought him when he was lost, pardoned him when he was found, supported him when he struggled in weakness, did not abandon him when he was in danger, crowned him in victory, and gave himself as the prize." St. Augustine (Sermo 329 in natali martyrum: PL 38, 1454-1456)
 
CCC: Ps 116:12 224; Ps 116:13 1330; Ps 116:17 1330
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Gospel:  John 6:60-69
 
Many of the disciples of Jesus who were listening said,
"This saying is hard; who can accept it?"
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this,
he said to them, "Does this shock you?
What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
But there are some of you who do not believe."
Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe
and the one who would betray him.
And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me
unless it is granted him by my Father."
 
As a result of this,
many of his disciples returned to their former way of life
and no longer walked with him.
Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?"
Simon Peter answered him, "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."
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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 St. 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, we should be pastorally sensitive.  We should not become condescending or have a sense of superiority because we believe we are so much better at following the Lord. We should not 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 Jesus’ 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
 

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[1] The picture is “St. Peter Raising Tabitha” by Fabrizio Santafede, 1611.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] 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.