Thursday, April 16, 2026

 

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

(Acts 5:27-33; John 3:31-36)

The words of today’s gospel are given without any indication of who spoke them.  They sound much like those that Jesus said to Nicodemus.  If we check the citation, however, we find that John the Baptist is speaking them to his disciples.  John is echoing what Jesus said in the gospel earlier this week and what the prologue tells us of the Word of God.

Jesus reveals to us the will of God.  He is not concerned with the things most of us bother with.  He does not speak of sports champions or beauty queens, how to make a million or how to get your children into a top-tier school.  Rather he speaks of selfless love willing to make sacrifices for the good of all.  Peter and the apostles exhibit this love in today’s reading from Acts.  They defy the Sanhedrin’s orders, not to rebel against authority but to carry out God’s command.  They risk punishment, even death, so that God’s love for the world in Jesus Christ may be made known.

We too should spread the word.  But at the same time let us reflect on it and live according to it.  No doubt, this means changes in what we think, say, and do.  As the Baptist implies in the gospel, doing so will give us eternal life.  

Thursday, April 15, 2021

 

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

(Acts 5:27-33; John 3:31-36)

Who is speaking in the today’s gospel?  The context indicates John the Baptist who is quoted in the previous passage.  But the words themselves sound like Jesus’ speaking of himself in the third person in his dialogue with Nicodemus.  Actually, the testimony is most like the apostles’ preaching about Jesus. The first reading citing Peter, provides a similar testimony.

The reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, testifies to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Given to the apostles, the Spirit strengthens their preaching.  It inspires them to enkindle the faith of many people. In the gospel the Spirit likewise enables the speaker to proclaim the Lordship of Jesus.  Those who accept the message receive the Spirit’s reward of eternal life.

The Holy Spirit moves the action along in the Acts of the Apostles.  Jesus testifies to its role of consoling and strengthening the apostles in the Gospel of John.  It comes with its manifold gifts to us as well.  We should ask the Father to send us a double portion so that we might meet the challenges we face.

Thursday, May 2, 2019

Memorial of Saint Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church

(Acts 5:27-33; John 3:31-36)

The Church in its first few centuries had to come to a common understanding of its belief.  One of the most perplexing issues was exactly who is Jesus Christ.  From passages like today’s first reading he might be understood as a most virtuous man whom God raised from the dead.  He would be of the order of Elijah or Enoch, an ancient patriarch who is said to have been assumed into heaven.  But surely the Gospel of John has more in mind when it says in today’s passage: “The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to the Son.”

The debate about Jesus reached its climax in the early fourth century.  A priest named Arius took the lesser view of Jesus.  He thought that putting Jesus on the same level as God would be like calling a cat a lion because it has teeth and whiskers.  Today’s patron St. Athanasius opposed the minimal view.  He rightly saw that God cannot be compared to earthly things.  Both Jesus and the Father are of another order or substance.  The Council of Nicea affirmed his position: Jesus and the Father are the same along with the Holy Spirit.

All this may sound heady and impractical.  But belief in Jesus as God affects us significantly.  Because he and the Father are one, we can feel confident in following him.  As guide and end, his teaching cannot lead us astray.  We can also pray to him.  He has the power to help us in our every need. 

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

(Acts 5:27-33; John 3:31-36)

Since atrocities have been committed in the name of religion, we have to be careful about Peter’s statement in today’s first reading, “We must obey God rather than men.”  We hear of Muslim “holy wars,” but there was a time when Christian Europe was so tragically engaged.  To discern whether a particular impulse is of God or not, we must, as the first Letter of John puts it, “test the spirits.”

Testing the spirits means to compare whether a proposed action conforms to Scripture.  Take the case of the committed Christian who asks herself, “Should I take on another ministry, or am I already failing to do justice to the work I have?”  She will find in St. Paul’s writing the bold statements: “I have become all things to all people” (I Cor 19:22) and “Be imitators of me” (I Cor 11:1).  At the same time she may note how Jesus makes strategic retreats at times (e.g., Mark 7:24) and refuses to become overly involved in any one locale (e.g., Mark 1:38).  Obviously we sometimes need assistance in our discernment.  Fortunately, most of us have wise people nearby whom we may consult. 

We Christians have Jesus as our primary model of virtue.  Unlike Mohammed who was a businessman and a warrior, Jesus was a pacifist teacher.  He will not lead us into battles at those which promote social supremacy more than defend the common good.  Some of his sayings are not to be taken literally.  (If you have ever looked at pornography, do not pluck on your eye.)  But we should always pray to him for assistance.  As he says in today’s gospel, he “does not ration the gift of the Spirit” of wisdom.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

(Acts 5:27-33; John 3:31-36)

Since atrocities have been committed in the name of religion, we have to be careful about implementing Peter’s statement in today’s first reading, “We must obey God rather than men.”  Today we hear of Muslim “holy wars,” but there was a time when Christian Europe was so tragically engaged.  To discern whether a particular impulse is of God or not, we must, as the first Letter of John puts it, “test the spirits.”

Testing the spirits means to compare whether a proposed action conforms to Scripture.  Should I take on another ministry, or am I already failing to do justice to the work I have?  St. Paul writes in one place that he has “become all things to all people” (I Cor 19:22) and in another, “Be imitators of me” (I Cor 11:1).  Yet we see Jesus retreating at times (Mark 7:24).  Obviously we sometimes need assistance in our discernment.  Fortunately, most of us have wise people nearby whom we can consult.  Virtuous people are not reluctant to ask for help.

We Christians have Jesus as our primary model.  Unlike Mohammed who was a businessman and a warrior, Jesus was a pacifist teacher.  He will not lead us into battle.  Some of his sayings are not to be taken literally.  (If you have ever looked at pornography, do not pluck on your eye.)  Pray to him for assistance.  As he says in today’s gospel, he “does not ration the gift of the Spirit” of wisdom.