Friday, May 21, 2021

 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.

Friday, May 29, 2020

(Optional) Memorial of Saint Paul VI, pope

(Acts 25:13b-21; John 21:15-19)

Today the Church remembers St. Paul VI.  He was pope during most of the Second Vatican Council and its immediate aftermath. Paul allowed many priests and sisters to be dispensed from their vows with all the soul-searching in the council’s aftermath.  Yet he was not a modernizer.  On the defining issue of the age, artificial contraception, Paul maintained the Church’s censure.  He was a man with a mission much like his namesake St. Paul of Tarsus whom is encountered once again in today’s first reading.

Paul feels a calling to Rome.  He has written the church there to seek assistance.  He intends to launch from Rome a missionary journey to Spain.  The reading from Acts tells of Paul’s request to be tried by the emperor.  Could this have been a ploy to put in motion his grand scheme of a western mission?  In any case, Paul has suffered for Christ much.  He has already been imprisoned for two years.  Shortly he will embark for Rome on a journey that will see him shipwrecked.  In Rome he will undergo martyrdom, the ultimate persecution.  He will be beheaded because of his belief in Christ. 

Neither Paul VI nor Paul of Tarsus would deny that it is hard to follow Christ.  His way of love means not only self-denial but also the resentment and rebuke of others.  Yet their lives had at their base a profound joy.  Evidently Christ stops along the way to let his followers catch up.  They then experience the wonder of his company.

Friday, May 22, 2015

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Acts 25:13b-21; John 21:15-19)

Jerome Murphy-O’Connor died last year.  For a while at least he probably knew as much as any Catholic scholar about the apostle Paul.  One of Murphy-O’Connor’s books is entitled Jesus and Paul: Parallel Lives.  According to the author the two had much more in common than one being the prodigious proclaimer of the other.  We can find one of the parallels among the two men in today’s first reading.

In Luke’s gospel Jesus’ case presented a singular problem for Pontius Pilate.  The Roman procurator felt Jesus’ innocence but had to contend with the angry Jewish leaders.  When he heard that the Jewish king Herod Antipas was in Jerusalem, he referred the matter to him.  Herod recognized Jesus’ innocence and sent him back to Pilate who betrayed his conscience by sentencing him to death.  The Roman procurator a generation later 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 a way to avoid giving making a final judgment.  Since Paul as a Roman citizen 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.