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.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM. Ps 33: 1-2. 4-5. 18-19
LORD, LET YOUR MERCY BE ON US, AS WE
PLACE OUR TRUST IN YOU.
Exult, you just in the Lord
Praise from the upright is fitting
Give thanks to the Lord on the harp
With the ten-stringed lyre chant his
praises
Uptight is the Word of the Lord
And all his works trustworthy
He loves justice and right
Of the kindness of the Lord the earth
is full
See, the eyes of the Lord are upon
those who fear him
Upon those who hope for his kindness
To deliver them from death
And preserve them in spite of famine
This psalm begins with an invitation to
praise the Lord, even using musical instruments.
The reason for this invitation is that
the love of the Lord fills the earth.
Trully if we look around us especially now that spring begins and life
comes back to the sleepy earth, we see the beauty of the wild flowers. All this
beauty is the fruit of God’s unconditional love for all of us, God who has
created all this beauty for our delight.
Another reason to acclaim our God is
because he cares for us “his eyes are upon his faithful ones. This image
reminds us of the mother who watches over her child while he or she is joyfully
playing, because the child knows that the mother is there with him or her.
This is our God, always with us, let
this thought fill us with peace and trust.
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 write 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.
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 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 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.
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