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“St Peter and Cornelius the Centurion”
by Bernardo Cavallino, c. 1640 |
Readings for Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
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."
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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 they too have 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]
CCC: Acts 11:14 1655
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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.
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Commentary on Ps:42-3; 43:3, 4
Psalms 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. The hind's (female red deer's) longing for water is used to provide the allusion to baptism, bringing belief out of unbelief.
CCC: Ps 42:3 2112
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Gospel: John 10:11-18
Jesus said:
“I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father.”
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Commentary on Jn 10:11-18
We come to the climax of Jesus' debates with the Jewish leadership. This discourse intensifies our consideration of the topic of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Here the Lord differentiates his love for humanity against those who do not take ownership of their charge. "'He did what he said he would do,' St. Gregory comments; 'He gave his life for his sheep, and he gave his body and blood in the sacrament to nourish with His flesh the sheep He had redeemed' (In Evangelia Homilae, 14, ad loc.)." [5]
The Lord is in the temple precincts at this point. He came there at a time when many Jews from all over the region would be there, the feast of Hanukkah. Here he contrasts himself (the Good Shepherd) with false shepherds (see Ezekiel 34:1-16), presumably the Pharisees who fail to recognize him as the Messiah.
Using the analogy of the sheepfold, he reminds the listener that all manner of people may enter a sheepfold. Those “false shepherds” scatter the sheep and they fall to utter ruin. But only the rightful owner will be recognized by the sheep and find safety (salvation). The analogy concludes with the universal statement of unity “there will be one flock, one shepherd."
The final verses speak directly of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the salvation of all: “I lay down my life in order to take it up again.” Special emphasis is placed on Jesus’ ability to lay his life down and take it up through the power he has been given by the Father. We note a contrast here between God’s active role in the resurrection (see Acts 2:24; Acts 4:10.; Romans 1:4; 4:24.) with Jesus' stated power to take up his own life. But even here, credit is given to the Father (“This command I have received from my Father.")
CCC: Jn 10:11-15 754; Jn 10:11 553, 754; Jn 10:16 60; Jn 10:17-18 614, 649; Jn 10:17 606; Jn 10:18 609
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Reflection:
The Gospel for Monday continues the Good Shepherd message of the Fourth 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 adjective “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 hell growing or shrinking (literally is it drawing heat from its environment or is it radiating heat)? The question went further and asked for a proof. I will not go through the whole text of the story here because it is a bit long and supposedly won the student whose answer was published an “A” on the exam. One part of the answer given, though, does seem appropriate. The student contended that every Christian denomination 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 everyone must therefore end up in hell. (Along those same lines, I saw a bumper sticker a while back that said: “If it ain’t King James it ain’t Bible.” In my weaker moments I’ve always thought of having a bumper sticker for Catholics say, “My Bible is bigger than your Bible,” but that would be childish.)
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 attitude in the Church truly changed in the 1960s in response to Vatican II. Understanding Christ’s will and intent is a dynamic process and growth always follows discernment.
In spite of these changes, we 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, are still being taught by many of the anti-Catholic groups as being current teachings, and as condoned by the modern Church. (We will not provide web addresses here, but if you think Christians are one in Christ, do a web search on “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 your blood boil.)
Fortunately for us, our first pope, St. Peter the apostle, has given us the example we must take to heart. In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we see him getting instruction from God about all mankind being invited to follow Christ. He speaks of 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 there might be “one shepherd and one flock.”
Pax
[1] The picture used is “St Peter and Cornelius the Centurion” by Bernardo Cavallino, c. 1640.
[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.
[4] NAB footnote on Acts 11:1-18.
[5] The Navarre Bible, Gospels and Acts (Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002), 625
