Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
(Acts 25:13b-21; John 21:15-19)
A Catholic biblical scholar wrote a book entitled
Jesus and Paul: Parallel Lives. According to the author, the two had more in
common than one being the prodigious proclaimer of the other. We can find one of the parallels between Jesus
and Paul in today’s first reading.
In Luke’s gospel Jesus’ case presented a dilemma
for Pontius Pilate. The Roman procurator
knew Jesus was innocent of any crime against the state. But he did not want to offend the Jewish
leaders who brought Jesus to him for execution.
When he heard that the Jewish king Herod Antipas was in Jerusalem, Pilate
imagined a way out of his difficulty. He
referred the case to Herod for adjudication.
The king, however, recognizing Jesus’ innocence, sent him back to Pilate.
A generation later, the Roman procurator is
a man named Porcius Festus. He has to
deal with Paul who was brought to him much like Jesus to Pilate. Because Festus is undecided about Paul’s
innocence, he invites the Jewish king Herod Agrippa II to hear his story. Like his ancestor determined of Jesus, Herod
Agrippa finds Paul innocent. Festus,
however, finds another way to avoid making a final judgment. Since Paul, a Roman citizen, has asked to be
tried by the emperor, Festus sends him to Rome for judgment.
We too can live parallel lives to
Jesus’. He lived as a simple person like
most of us. When we are patient in
suffering, always loving and serving others, and intent on our relationship
with God, we become like Jesus. Like him, as well, we can look forward to
eternal life.
