 |
| “St. Athanasius” iconifer and date are unknown |
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.
-------------------------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------
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.
-------------------------------------------
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.
-------------------------------------------
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."
-------------------------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
Heavenly Father, we
humbly pray that those suffering from the coronavirus be returned quickly to
full health by the power of your Son’s healing presence, and those in fear be
calmed through the Holy Spirit.
In Christ’s name we
pray. – Amen.
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,
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 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.
In this strange year where many
of us will not be able to receive the Blessed Sacrament or celebrate as a
community in our houses of worship, we must be prepared to receive spiritual
communion in prayer:
My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most
Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all
things,
and I desire to receive
You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this
moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually
into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself
wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.
Pax
[1]
The picture
used is “St. Athanasius” iconifer and date are unknown.
[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.
No comments:
Post a Comment