Friday, April 26, 2024

Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 13:26-33; John 14:1-6)

Before the disciples were called Christians, they were known as members of the Way.  It is no mysterious title as Jesus calls himself “the way” in today’s gospel.

The way refers to the kind of life one must lead to be saved from the continual strife of this world.  Its fullness comes in the afterlife which many Jews in Jesus’ time believed existed.  The way conforms to faith in Jesus as God’s emissary and Son.  Faith, however, is always more than saying the right words.  It is sacrificing oneself in love for God and one’s neighbor.

Such love is costly.  One writer called it “a harsh and dreadful thing.”  Yet we should not doubt that following the way is worth any difficulty we endure.

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Feast of Saint Mark, evangelist

(I Peter 5:5b-14; Mark 16:15-20)

Today’s first reading was probably chosen because the passage cites a certain “Mark.” It was presumed for centuries that this Mark is the author of the third gospel.  But it could have been chosen because of its first line: “clothe yourselves with humility.”  After all, Mark’s is seen as the humblest of the four canonical gospels.

The gospel’s size is only about two-thirds that of Luke’s, the longest gospel.  It was also the first written and contains some inaccuracies and crudeness of composition.  Nevertheless, it more than adequately conveys the good news of Jesus’ ministry, passion, and resurrection from the dead.

Many of us can identify with the humility of Mark’s gospel.  We may often become tongue-tied or confused in thought.  These impediments will make proclaiming Jesus’ lordship difficult.  Nevertheless, God often uses people like us to preach the gospel by loving actions. 

Wednesday, April 24, 2014

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 12:24-13:5a; John 12: 44-50)

Physician-assisted suicide looms as a major issue today.  Modernity has been able to extend life, but as people age, they become more helpless.  Rather than giving costly care, some societies have chosen to assist those with terminal illness and irreversible insanity to end their lives.

The practice conflicts with Jesus’ word.  He begs his disciples to offer one another sacrificial love.  He demonstrated what this meant when he washed their dirty feet.  Certainly this would include caring for the terminally sick and the mentally destabilized.  Those who will not accept this responsibility are condemned by Jesus’ word.

But can Christians expect those who do not value sacrificial love in these cases to accept a civil ban on assisted suicide?  We believe that it is the best public policy.  A prohibition on taking human life not only values all human life highly; it also guards against an erosion of reasons for life-taking until it becomes arbitrary.  The injunction against taking innocent human life has served societies well for millennia. There is no proportionate reason for abandoning it today. 

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 11:19-26; John 12:22-30)

In today’s first reading St. Luke, the author, states that at Antioch the disciples of Jesus were first called “Christians.” The name must have taken hold quickly and universally.  Luke probably wrote his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles in the eighties of the first century.  His matter-of-fact way of saying that Jesus’ followers Jesus were “Christians” indicates that it was a popular movement in Middle Eastern religion.

The term “Christ” comes from the Greek word meaning anointing. As Jesus says on his visit to Nazareth as recorded by Luke, he was anointed by the Spirit to bring good news to the poor.  His followers also were anointed by the Spirit to bring about a universal community of fellowship – very good news to people of goodwill.

It is imperative that we ask ourselves, are we faithful to the name “Christian”?  Do we sow seeds of justice and peace among those we encounter?  Some Christians – even among those who come to church regularly – often create strife and contention.  To be faithful to the one for whom we live we should strive to fair and reconciling so that people may come to Christ through us. 

Monday, April 22, 2024

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 11:1-18; John 10:1-10)

“Growing pains” occasionally affect children in their sleep.  They cause some to wake up in the night with discomfort in their legs.  Since researchers have not found an underlying cause for these pains, they are named for growth, a phenomenon associated with children.  In the first reading we find the early Church afflicted with its “growing pains.”

One of the great issues for the Church in its first decades is whether to accept non-Jews into its fold.  Non-Jews are not gentiles who become Jews through circumcision and eating kosher but gentiles who refuse to accept Jewish customs.  Since Jesus was a Jew, could gentiles follow him without living as he did?  This is the critical question.  In the reading from Acts today Peter defers to none other than the Holy Spirit for an answer.  He explains to the Jerusalem inquisition that he baptized Cornelius’ household upon seeing that they manifested the gifts of the Spirit.

Today the Church has other issues to deal with.  We can easily name a few – homosexual couples, the care of the sick in “permanent vegetative states,” the possibility of ordaining women to the diaconate, etc.  Too often differences on these questions create fragmentation and suspicion.  Like Peter we should turn to the Holy Spirit for guidance.  This means that we recognize that what is most authentically Christian is the primacy of charity.  On some issues change may be impossible for reason of consistency with tradition and coherency with established teaching.  Even here, however, there is an imperative to treat the people who are involved with respect.