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| “Healing Of The Cripple And Raising of Tabitha” (detail) by Masolino da Panicale, 1426-27 |
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.
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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 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
[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 re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private
use only.
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