Saturday in the Octave of Easter
Reading I
Acts 4:13-21
Observing the boldness of Peter and John
and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men,
the leaders, elders, and scribes were amazed,
and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus.
Then when they saw the man
who had been cured standing there with them,
they could say nothing in reply.
So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin,
and conferred with one another, saying,
“What are we to do with these men?
Everyone living in Jerusalem knows that a remarkable sign
was done through them, and we cannot deny it.
But so that it may not be spread any further among the people,
let us give them a stern warning
never again to speak to anyone in this name.”
So they called them back
and ordered them not to speak
or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Peter and John, however, said to them in reply,
“Whether it is right in the sight of God
for us to obey you rather than God,
you be the judges.
It is impossible for us
not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”
After threatening them further,
they released them,
finding no way to punish them,
on account of the people
who were all praising God
for what had happened.
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The second half of the “trial” of Peter and John before the Sanhedrin.
They are astonished at the self-confidence of the two apostles, considering that they are uneducated fishermen. They had no training in rabbinic schools nor did they have any standing in recognised religious circles. They were, in the eyes of their judges, “only” lay people.
It is important to remember that faith and convictions do not depend on learning. It is clearly implied also that the source of their strength and confidence is Jesus. (”They recognised these men as having been with Jesus.”) Our Church consists of the highest intellectuals and complete illiterates: all have equal access to knowing and loving God, all have equal access to the highest levels of contemplation, mysticism and sanctity.
The apostles’ judges in this case are obviously intellectual snobs, a kind not unknown in Christian circles. Because they could not deny the extraordinary cure that had taken place in the full view of a large number of people, the Jewish leaders could only tell the apostles not to speak any more about Jesus. In matters of this kind it seems that the accused, unless they were rabbis, could not be jailed except for a second offence.
We can never be stopped from preaching the Gospel. Nor can we ever obey such an order. As Peter told his judges: “Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges. It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”
It reminds one of Thomas More’s words to his accusers: “The King’s good servant but God’s first.” The judges felt obliged to implement the law but there are situations where the law cannot be followed.
Of course, we have to be careful that it is not our own interpretation of it that we proclaim. At the same time, we are bound to follow our conscience and follow the truth as we know it. If we are wrong, it will be exposed. Real Truth will always come to the surface eventually.
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Responsorial
Psalm 118
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me.
“The right hand of the LORD is exalted;
the right hand of the LORD has struck with power.”
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.
Though the LORD has indeed chastised me,
yet he has not delivered me to death.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me.
Open to me the gates of justice;
I will enter them and give thanks to the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD;
the just shall enter it.
I will give thanks to you,
for you have answered me
and have been my savior.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me.
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Gospel
When Jesus had risen,
early on the first day of the week,
he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom he had driven seven demons.
She went and told his companions
who were mourning and weeping.
When they heard that he was alive
and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
After this he appeared in another form
to two of them walking along
on their way to the country.
They returned and told the others;
but they did not believe them either.
But later, as the Eleven were at table,
he appeared to them
and rebuked them
for their unbelief and hardness of heart
because they had not believed those
who saw him after he had been raised.
He said to them, “Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
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This passage, known as the ‘Longer Ending’, is a kind of summary of all that we have been reading during the past week. It comes from the very end of Mark’s gospel, verses many commentators believe are not part of the original text. Most commentators believe the original text ends with 16:8. However, that ending is so abrupt that many feel the original ending was somehow lost and this ending was put in its place.
Although the style shows it was not written by Mark, it has long been accepted as a canonical part of the gospel and was defined as such by the Council of Trent. It was known to Tatian and to Irenaeus in the 2nd century, and is found in the vast majority of Greek manuscripts.
The text consists of brief summaries of longer stories which appear in the other gospels [Luke 24 and John 20] such as, the appearance to Mary Magdalene, the disciples going to Emmaus, and the appearance in the upper room.
The common theme is the incredulity of the disciples who could not accept that Jesus was truly risen. Right to the very end of his gospel, Mark continues to be harsh on the disciples’ lack of understanding. It is, of course, not about them he is writing but us.
The passage seems directed at many of the early Christians’ contemporaries who would not accept the message of Christ risen. But, as we can see from the First Reading today, the disciples very soon not only found faith but were more than ready to suffer and die for it.
In our times of doubt, let us remember their experience and their example and the fruits of their work. It is a work that still urgently needs to be done.
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2 comments:
"In our times of doubt, let us remember their experience and their example and the fruits of their work. It is a work that still needs urgently needs to be done."
I like to read. It never ceases to amaze me how the same message can be expressed in so many, many different ways and how all of a sudden, you'll read something and the message finally "clicks".
"The tomb of forgetfulness".
CLICK!
Simon Peter, the other disciple, Mary Magdalene, the fellows on the road to Emmaus and others, why, they were in the tomb of forgetfulness big time...until, of course, the resurrected Jesus rolled back the stone and helped them out of it. Indeed, what an experience to draw from!
It can't stop there though because we are, in a sense, the fruits of their work. We need to reflect, to become aware, to see, to remember, Jesus being in our own experience thus far. We need to let Jesus roll back the stone for us, so we too, in our own experience, right here, right now, can help get the job done.
Ah yes.
"The tomb of forgetfulness".
CLICK!
Anonymous wrote:
Simon Peter, the other disciple, Mary Magdalene, the fellows on the road to Emmaus and others, why, they were in the tomb of forgetfulness big time...until, of course, the resurrected Jesus rolled back the stone and helped them out of it. Indeed, what an experience to draw from!
<<<
We can certainly draw from their experience, my anonymous friend, but what we learn will not help us to become another Peter, another Magdeleine, another Cleophas. That message is implicit in your post, but I want to point to it in order to bring us to a more significant truth, also in your own words:
"We need to let Jesus roll back the stone for us, so we too, in our own experience, right here, right now, can help get the job done."
I am aware that my "own experience, right here, right now can help me to get the job done" ... according to who I am today, with all of the experiences I have, whether positive or negative (and, for those who are 'wondering', I'm not going to go there on either route.)
I had a conversation earlier today with a sister in Christ who was concerned about how she could do God's work -- at her usual occupation -- while she was away from the job, recovering from surgery that I will not describe further.
The answer is (and in summarizing this dialogue I'm not about to reveal which of us got there first ((even if I could, which I doubt)) ...
We have to live with who we are. We are never going to achieve perfection (and, by the way, our notion of "perfection" is probably not what perfection is). We have to complete our journey to the Land of Promise one step at a time. And it will happen more often than we would like that the steps we chose did not lead us where we believed that were called to go.
God knows where He wants to lead us. He didn't want Augustine to be a critic of the Church in his time, He wanted him to reform the Church. He didn't want Teresa of Avila to reform the Carmelite Nuns -- at least, that's not all He wanted -- He also wanted her to be a fount of knowledge about how to get closer to God (whoever and wherever you are). Don't avoid the writings of Saint Teresa de Jesùs because they're -- never mind the excuse! --
Read, absorb what you have read, and allow the grace of God inherent in what you have read for you (perhaps, but not necessarily, only for you), allow that divine grace to lead you from where you are to where you ought to be.
That's what happened to me. But that's a story for another time -- if God wills.
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