SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER - CYCLE C – 2019

      The readings of the sixth Sunday of Easter prepare us for the return of Jesus to his Father. The Church will have to discover the presence of the Lord among us in a different way, through the Sacraments. From the document Lumen Gentium of Council  Vatican II we learn that Jesus is the sacrament of God, and that we are the sacrament of Jesus.  

      After the day of the Ascension we, the followers of Jesus, will make him visible among our brothers and sisters who journey with us through the roads of history by means of our life, ministry and worship.   

FIRST READING ACTS  15:1-2,22-29

Ø  The Church, the first communities of believers, is faced with its first problem. From its solution depends the future of the Church, her fidelity to the Project of Jesus. 

Ø  Some brethren had come from the community of Jerusalem, and were saying to the community of Antioch that, to belong to the people of God in order to be saved, they had to be circumcised, baptism was not enough. 

Ø  They had not yet understood the newness of the teaching of Jesus who had come to reveal to us the    

full meaning of the covenant made with Abraham and his descendants.      

Ø  The faithful of Antioch went to the Apostles for an answer.  The Apostles were the leaders of the community; they were the witnesses of the resurrection and, thus the foundation of the Church.   

Ø  The Apostles had a meeting to discuss the matter. They invoked the Holy Spirit, they fasted, they reached the conclusion that to be part of the community of Jesus it is enough with baptism, and they did not have to be circumcised.   

Ø  They put only some conditions (not to eat meat sacrificed to the idols, abstain from blood and meat of strangled animals, and unlawful marital unions.)    Paul explained in one of his letters about the meals, he said that the follower of Jesus may eat anything, because we do not believe in idols, but if my eating the meat sacrificed to an idol  may cause my brother or sister to sin, then I will abstain from it.  What continues to be forbidden are the illicit marital unions, since it is the will of God expressed in the 6^th commandment.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Ps 67

«  Psalm 67 has three stanza separated by a refrain which is found in verses 4 and 6. This refrain is used as the response of the responsorial psalm.   

«   Every good thing, every gift comes from the goodness of God, and this is the cause of our joyful thanksgiving. 

O GOD, LET ALL THE NATIONS PRAISE YOU! 

May God have pity on us and bless us;

May he let his face shine upon us

So may your ways be known upon earth;

Among all nations, your salvation.

O GOD, LET ALL THE NATIONS PRAISE YOU! 

May the nations be glad and exult

Because you rule the peoples in equity

The nations on the earth you guide.

O GOD, LET ALL THE NATIONS PRAISE YOU! 

May the peoples praise you, O God

May all the peoples praise you!

May God bless us

And may all the ends of the earth fear him!

O GOD, LET ALL THE NATIONS PRAISE YOU! 

 SECOND READING  Rev  21:10-14, 22-23

ü  Today instead of reflecting on the meaning of the Second Reading, we will talk about some clues to help us to understand this wonderful book, which is filled with words and images of hope.   

ü  We know that to be able to understand a message we need to know what led the author write the book and what message did he want to convey to the reader.   

ü  There are two authors of this book: the human author who writes in a given time and place, in a concrete moment of history, with a given psychology and spirituality, in a language different from ours in a very different society. We need someone to explain the meaning of all of this to us, if we want to enjoy the message.  

ü  But, there is another author whom we may call the main author, the Holy Spirit, and the only way we will be able to understand the message, besides being aware of what we have already said, is in prayer. Through prayer, we listen to the words the Spirit  says to the Church, and which one of the words of Jesus he wants to remind to the Church. (Jn 14,26)

ü  I list below four different ways to look at the contents of this book:

1.      History. This book is about “the theology of history”. In reality, the whole Bible is understood as a reading of history through the eyes of God. The apocalyptic literature opens a door to hope: history has a meaning, evil does not have the last word, and the victory belongs to Christ, the lamb that has been slain.

2.      Symbolism.  The apocalyptic literature uses symbols: colors, numbers, animals, plants, natural phenomena to describe an experience which goes beyond the limits of our senses, beyond what is controllable.   

It is not enough to understand the meaning of the symbols, we need to submerge ourselves into its meaning and allow the symbol to impress us.  

3.      Crisis.   The book of Revelation has been written in times of crisis for the first community. The community was been persecuted by Romans and by Jews. The book is not about the end of the world, but about moments in history like those of the first community, when we think that everything is lost. It is the book of the just who entrust their cause to God.  

4.      Christology. The Word apocalypse means revelation. The book is the revelation of the Risen and Glorious Lord Jesus Christ.  He died but now he is alive.  He is before the throne of God and   opening the book of the seven seals he reveals to us the   will of God, and the meaning of history. He, the Lord Jesus, is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of history.  Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Omega the last.

GOSPEL Jn 14:23-29

Jesus speaks with his disciples after the last supper, before his death. Last week he talked to us about the new commandment: to love as he has loved us. This week we will hear again, what he wants to tell us about this commandment.    

«  He who loves me will keep my Word. This is something easy to understand, since we also keep and remember the words of those we love.   

«  The Father will love those who keep the word of Jesus.   

«   What follows is unexpected: We will come to him and make our dwelling in him. Who are “we”, from the text we understand it is the Father and Jesus, but as we continue the reading we realize it is also the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the three divine Persons will come to dwell in us.  

«  The word of Jesus is the Father’s who has sent him to say to us this word. There is only One Word, the Creating Word incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, sent by the Father to tell this Word which is himself.   

«  Jesus has already said this Word to us, now the Holy Spirit will remind us all the words of Jesus, and he will teach us how to live this word in our human history.   

«  Jesus leaves us his peace, invites us not to be afraid, and even to be joyful that he leaves us, because this is what is convenient for us, and because the Father is greater than him.         

In some places the Ascension of the Lord is celebrated on the VII Sunday of Easter. In the USA in the VI Sunday we can take the second reading and the Gospel from the VII Sunday of Easter if we please. Therefore I am writing the commentary about  these two readings instead of the Claretian Corner, this week.

SECOND READING FOR THE VII SUNDAY OF EASTER   – Rev. 22:12-14. 16-17.20

v  This reading is full of symbolism and images from the Old Testament.  

v  It starts saying that a voice says “Behold, I am coming soon.” "Yes, I am coming soon." And the answer  is Come, Lord Jesus!   

v  This voice at the beginning and at the end is always Jesus,  the Lord. 

o   He brings the recompense  

o   He is the Alfa and the Omega, the First and the Last. 

o   He is the root and descendent of David. In the Old Testament we read that the Messiah will be called the Son of David.   

o   He is the bright morning star, what a beautiful image!   

v  The Spirit and the bride say “Come”  

o   The author of the book invites us to repeat this same petition “come”  

o   The author invites also those who are thirsty and want the gift of the living water to come to Jesus, the source of life.   

v  Let the beauty of this symbols surround us, let us listen to the words as if they were said to us, let the Lord put inside us the water of life eternal

GOSPEL – JOHN 17:20-26

Jesus prays to the Father   

Ø  For us who have believed by the preaching of those who saw him after his resurrection, the apostles. 

Ø  He asks for our unity, as the Father is one with the Son.   

Ø  That, we also may  be one  in them.  

Ø  So that the world may believe, that the Father has sent to us his Son Jesus.   

Ø  She repeats again his desire that we may be one. The repetition makes us realize  the difficulty of this petition.  

Jesus says something beautiful to the Father   

Ø  We are the gift from the Father to Jesus, we are a gift.  A gift is something that always makes us happy because it reminds us the love of the person who has given it to us. We remind Jesus that the Father has given us to him.  

Ø  He wants us to be where he is, with Him.   

Ø  That we may see his glory, this is the great joy for each one of us, one day we will see his glory, his beauty and we will enjoy his goodness, without veils.  

Ø  Jesus is also worried for the world, so that the world may know him and be happy.