FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER –
A -2023
As the Easter season moves towards
the Ascension, we read from the
farewell discourse of Christ in St.
John’s Gospel chapters 14 to 17.
FIRST
READING – Acts 6:1-7 Ø Jesus said to his apostles that the Holy
Spirit would remind them all his
words. In this reading from the
Acts, these words of Jesus become
real. Ø This
passage is like an image of what the Church has been doing during her journey
through history, whenever she is confronted with new problems or issues she
has to discern the new situation in order to be faithful to the Lord.
Ø Those who
have the mission to guide the Church, the pastors, will have to look at the
problems, difficulties or new situations which confront the
Christian community , discover
and try to understand the voice of the Spirit. Ø All the
groups in the Church will have to do the same, under the guidance of their
pastors. Ø And also,
all the members of the Church will have to do the same if they want to be
faithful to the words of Jesus. Ø Chapter 6
of Acts presents a very concrete situation.
There are differences among them, they did not take care of all the
poor in the same way. Ø At the
beginning the first community of the followers of Jesus was formed by persons
converted from the Jewish faith. They took good care of their widows and
orphans. That was not difficult since they had been doing that long before in
response to the law of Israel. Ø But now
there are also other widows who come from other countries, speak other languages. Ø The
community is too large now, and the apostles cannot take care of all the
needs that the community has. They decide to look for help among the men of
the community. A new ministry is born in the Christian community: the deacons
whose main mission will be to take care of those in need. Ø They
choose 7 men deeply spiritual and prudent, faithful to the teachings of the
Lord. Ø The first
community of the young Church that the book of Acts presents as a model has
its problems too. Ø There are
two groups, those who want to continue with the old way of the Jewish
traditions. We could call them conservatives. Ø The second
group was formed by persons converted from the pagan world. They were open to
new ways in the interpretation of the teachings of Jesus. Ø Faced with
this situation the community of the believers, the Church, has to listen to
the voice of the Spirit of Jesus who will remind her the words of Jesus “love
one another as I have loved you….” Ø This will
give birth to the local or ecumenical councils. The pastors assembled in
council will look at the different problems that the Church experiences in
different times, and they will look for answers listening in community to the
Spirit of Jesus. Ø Let us
reflect on our community, our apostolic movements and see if we are
faced with problems similar to those of the first
community of Jerusalem. Ø RESPONSORIAL PSALM. Ps 33: 1-2. 4-5.
18-19
R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in
you. The second stanza ends with these words: the earth is filled of the goodness of our God and Lord. What a wonderful sentence, very comforting for us who are so many times afraid and fearful of our Good Father God. SEGUNDA
LECTURA – First letter of Peter Since the second Sunday of Easter
we are reading from this letter. What do we
know about this letter? ü If we read
the first verse of the letter ü We know
that Peter is the author of the letter
ü That he
writes for the elect, the baptized-consecrated, from a very large region of
Asia. ü And let us
go now to the last chapter 5,12, Peter says to us that the letter has been
written by Silvanus. This means that Sylvanus has been the secretary who has
written down what Peter was dictating ü The
addressees are people from different countries who live all over the region.
It is a letter addressed to migrant persons, who work and live far from home
and from country. People discriminated against by those who are in a better
economic position. People considered like objects of
production, not as persons. Men and women who work to produce and thus increase the wealth
of the owners, who have forgotten that we are all equals. ü This
reality might as well explain the central theme of the letter, the sufferings
of Christ that give meaning to our own sufferings. ü The verb
suffer and the word suffering is repeated over and over throughout this
entire letter. Ø SECOND READING – 1Pt 2:4-9 « The
message of this fragment of the letter of Peter is very rich. « Peter
describes the young Church, the community of the believers as a temple and
each one of us is one of the stones. This is a beautiful image, the more
beautiful the stone the more beautiful the temple. « This
passage also reminds us of the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman. Jn 4,23-24. « In the
book of Revelation there is another image of the Church as the Holy City
which is at the same time the bride of the Lamb 21,10-27. « Peter
describes Jesus as the cornerstone. The cornerstone holds the building
together. « Jesus is
this stone. This stone is of value for those who have faith. « But it is a
stumbling blog for those who oppose it ( Is 28,16). « These
words remind us of the words of Simeon when Jesus was presented in the Temple
by Joseph and Mary Lk 2,34-35 « Peter
tells us that we are a priestly nation consecrated to proclaim the wonderful
works of God. « Let us
discover in our life the marvels God has done in the past, is doing now and
will continue to do for us.
GOSPEL
Jn 14:1-12
Jesus says to his apostles and to us “do not let your
hearts be troubled.”
He also invites them to believe in God and in Him.
Heaven is presented as a home with many rooms which Jesus
himself prepares for each one of us.
When we expect someone to visit us to stay for some days, we prepare
the room and everything so that person feels at home. Let this powerful image that John offers to
our contemplation help us to dream, to imagine the beauty of heaven, our
home; knowing that Jesus prepares an eternal room for us with the Most Holy
Trinity.
There are two other images in this text ü Jesus is the way to go to this “home” He is also the truth and the life. The way to discover
the truth in order to have abundant life. ü Whoever sees Jesus sees the
Father Jesus is in the Father and the Father in him. The words
of Jesus are the words the Father says to him. The works
Jesus does are the works the Fathers does in him.
The passage began
with the words of Jesus “do not let your hearts be troubled,” and ends with these powerful words which
will help us “not to be troubled”:
I SOLEMNLY ASSURE
YOU, THE MAN WHO HAS FAITH IN ME WILL DO THE WORKS I DO, AND GREATER FAR THAN
THESE, WHY? BECAUSE I GO TO THE FATHER.
CLARETIAN CORNER
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