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“St. Peter and Paul”
by El Greco, 1592 |
Readings
for Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter [1]
Readings
from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and
Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: Acts
28:16-20, 30-31
When he entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself,
with the soldier who was guarding him.
Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews.
When they had gathered he said to them, "My brothers,
although I had done nothing against our people
or our ancestral customs,
I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.
After trying my case the Romans wanted to release me,
because they found nothing against me deserving the death penalty.
But when the Jews objected, I was obliged to appeal to Caesar,
even though I had no accusation to make against my own nation.
This is the reason, then, I have requested to see you
and to speak with you, for it is on account of the hope of Israel
that I wear these chains."
He remained for two full years in his lodgings.
He received all who came to him, and with complete assurance
and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God
and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Commentary on Acts
28:16-20, 30-31
In this
selection from Acts we hear of St. Paul’s imprisonment in Rome and how he used
his affiliation and knowledge of Jewish law and customs to reach out to the
Jewish community in Rome with an eye to conversion. “Although the ending
of Acts may seem to be abrupt, Luke has now completed his story with the
establishment of Paul and the proclamation of Christianity in Rome. Paul's
confident and unhindered proclamation of the gospel in Rome forms the climax to
the story whose outline was provided in Acts 1:8—‘You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem [...] and to the
ends of the earth.’” [4]
CCC: Acts 28:20 453
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 11:4, 5
and 7
R. (see 7b) The just will
gaze on your face, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD's throne is in heaven.
His eyes behold,
his searching glance is on mankind.
R. The just will gaze on your face, O
Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD searches the just and
the wicked;
the lover of violence he hates.
For the LORD is just, he loves just deeds;
the upright shall see his face.
R. The just will gaze on your face, O
Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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Commentary on Ps 11:4, 5 and 7
Psalm
11 is a song (not a prayer) of one who takes refuge in the temple of the Lord.
The psalmist sings of his trust in God’s protection and laments those who
trade in violence. The song continues with praise for the one who is steadfast
in God’s law.
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Gospel: John 21:20-25
Peter turned and saw the disciple
following whom Jesus loved,
the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper
and had said, "Master, who is the one who will betray you?"
When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?"
Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?
You follow me."
So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die.
But Jesus had not told him that he would not die,
just "What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?"
It is this disciple who testifies
to these things
and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.
There are also many other things that Jesus did,
but if these were to be described individually,
I do not think the whole world would contain the books
that would be written.
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Commentary on Jn 21:20-25
Here we
see the very end of the Gospel of St. John. In it we pick up the dialog between
Jesus and Peter. Jesus has just told Peter he will be led where he does not
wish to go indicating that Peter will suffer martyrdom. Peter sees St. John
following and asks about his fate, to which the Lord replies “What if I want
him to remain until I come?” Peter interprets this as an affirmative
statement and tells the others.
This
part of the selection caused problems among the early Church when St. John did
die before the Lord came again. The Church lost some credibility and followers
as a consequence.
CCC: Jn
21:22 878; Jn 21:24 515
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Reflection:
The very end of the Gospel of St. John tells us something
that we suspected throughout its reading to be true: that the “disciple whom Jesus loved” was the
author himself. He alone among the disciples did not suffer martyrdom. Even
Matthias, chosen to replace Judas the betrayer, was martyred for Christ. In his
life St. John had time to reflect upon Jesus and all of the events of his life
on earth. It was St. John’s community that often grasped the most significant
meanings of these events and provided a theological subtext for our
understanding of the three previous Gospels in our canon of the Bible: Mark,
Matthew, and Luke – the synoptic Gospels.
From the evangelist's perspective, as he either wrote or
more likely dictated this end to his great work, we wonder about his own
feelings. He reveals in these final verses that he alone will not follow his
Lord in the kind of death his brothers will suffer. Did he feel guilty? As he
set those final words on the page, did he feel fulfilled, or did he look at his
work as so many authors do and feel that he had not done credit to the subject
of his most important work?
As the “Beloved
Disciple” we can only speculate that he, knowing Jesus as intimately as he
did, would have accepted his role as the one who must tell the story of Jesus
with the clearest understanding of the Lord’s deeper intent and with a view
born of decades of reflection and contemplation.
For us, who read his work and marvel at his truth these
millennia later, Saint John’s Gospel is the Gospel of Love. Here more than any
other book in Sacred Scripture do we most completely feel Christ’s love for us
and hear most clearly his commandment to love God and love one another.
For the sake of the Savior of the world and to please the
Beloved Disciple who even now must be “reclined
upon his chest,” we pray that from this hour onward our effort to follow
these simple-sounding commands will be redoubled.
Pax
[1]
The picture used is “St. Peter and Paul” by El Greco, 1592.[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 28:30-31.
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