Thursday of the
Third Week of Easter
A university professor tells of the importance of a good teacher. She writes that a friend had the most difficult time understanding St. Augustine’s Confessions when he first read it in college. He knew it was an important book but could not appreciate its quality. Rather than give up, he sought the help of a professor who guided his study so that it became profitable. In the reading from Acts today Philip serves as such a guide.
Friday of the Third Week of Easter
(Acts 9:1-20; John 6:52-59)
At the beginning of John’s gospel, we are told, “…the Word became flesh,
and made his dwelling among us.” We have
access to the Word by means of Baptism.
Through this sacrament we share in the life of the Father and the
Son. In today’s passage Jesus tells his
Jewish deniers that the same flesh nurtures us so that his life may grow within
us. Like an infant cannot develop
without her mother’s milk, we cannot develop without the Eucharist.
We can see the effect of this new life and its growth in the reading
from Acts today. Paul, full of religious
zeal but without Christ in his heart, wants to persecute Christians. Then he has a direct encounter with the Lord
which leads to his Baptism. For the rest
of his life Paul never seeks the persecution of others. Rather he preaches the
love of Christ who gave his life for the salvation of the world.
People will object to our scenario of conversion to Christ and commitment
to love of others because the Church has apparently persecuted non-believers through
the ages. Most often these persecutions
were conducted by the state which had reason to maintain a unified
society. Nevertheless, zealous people
have been found in the Church who have insisted upon if not carried out
persecution. We can only ask forgiveness
for these aberrations and pray they never happen again.
Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter
(Acts 8:1b-8; John 6:35-40)
Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
the president of Ukraine, may have had a small place in history if Russia had
not invaded his country. But it seems
now that he will be remembered as a courageous defender of freedom whether or
not the Ukrainians defeat the Russians.
Zelenskyy has refused to back down to the mighty Russian forces. He has successfully appealed to the world for
solidarity in the cause of national sovereignty. There is a parallel here with what takes
place in today’s first reading.
The Greek-speaking Jewish Christians have been expelled from
Jerusalem. Stephen’s diatribe against
the temple set off a persecution against them but apparently not against the
Hebrew-speaking church. The oppression
is not so much a threat to Church maintenance as it is a catalyst to its
growth. Powerful preachers like Philip
will win converts, especially among non-Jews like the Samaritans. The Church as a whole is beginning to fulfill
its mission to the world.
Both Zelenskyy and the Greek-speaking Christians should
inspire us to not surrender to defeatism when facing opposition. Rather we should pray to God for courage,
strength, and prudence to fulfill our destiny.
Of course, prayer is often accompanied by action. We should pursue the struggle of justice and
love while protecting our loved ones.
Feast of Saints Philip and James, apostles
(I Corinthians 15:1-8; John 14:6-14)
Today’s readings have been chosen because they name the two
apostles we celebrate. Both apostles are
encountered several other times in the New Testament. Still their legacies are uncertain or at least
have caused some confusion.
James is sometimes called “the Less” because of his small
stature or relatively young age. He may
have been an almost forgotten apostle – the son of a certain Alpheus. But he may have been “the brother of the
Lord” which traditionally means a relative of Jesus. If he is the latter, he not only received an
appearance of the risen Lord but was the leader of the Jerusalem community.
Philip is one of Jesus’ first disciples called in the gospel
of John. The gospel mentions him on
several other occasions such as his misguided request at the Last Supper in
today’s gospel reading. This Philip is
not to be confused with the Greek-speaking Philip of the Acts of the Apostles
who converted the Ethiopian magistrate.
Both Philip and James show us that Jesus was not a mythic
figure, but a human being with relations and a following. They welcome us into Jesus’ company. We take Jesus’ body and blood which give an
intimacy even greater than that of a blood relative. We heed his teaching which allows us to know
the source and goal of our existence.
Memorial of Saint Athanasius, bishop and Doctor of the Church
(Acts 6:8-15; John 6:22-29)
Jesus tells the crowd that meets him in Capernaum to believe
in the one God sent. He means himself,
of course. He wants all people to accept
him not only as God’s messenger, but as God’s only begotten Son. St. Athanasius suffered multiple indignities
proclaiming this truth.
The reigning theological issue in the fourth century when
Athanasius lived was Jesus’ divinity. Arians,
the followers of the theologian Arius, believed that Jesus was not quite God. To them, Jesus was distinguishable from the
Father in grandeur and scope. Athanasius
as well as anyone championed the contrary, orthodox position. He taught that Jesus Christ shares the same
nature as the Father such that the two differ only in their respective
relations. God is Father and Jesus is
Son. This teaching is also known as the Nicene
position.
Athanasius was exiled five times for defending Christ’s
equality with the Father. We should be
as persistent in our defense of Church teachings. More than that, we should contemplate on what
it means for us that Jesus Christ, who also shared our human nature, was really
God. What does it mean that his unconditional
love has created and sustained the universe?
