Raising Up

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to react to persecution as Jesus and be raised up to turn tragedy into relationship.

Raised from tragedy

The passage from Acts outlines the consequence of persecution of the Church that moved Phillip to teach in Samaria.

* [8:1–40] Some idea of the severity of the persecution that now breaks out against the Jerusalem community can be gathered from Acts 22:4 and Acts 26:9–11. Luke, however, concentrates on the fortunes of the word of God among people, indicating how the dispersal of the Jewish community resulted in the conversion of the Samaritans (Acts 8:4–17, 25).1 

In Psalm 66 the community praises God for powerful acts for Israel.

* [Psalm 66] In the first part (Ps 66:1–12), the community praises God for powerful acts for Israel, both in the past (the exodus from Egypt and the entry into the land [Ps 66:6]) and in the present (deliverance from a recent but unspecified calamity [Ps 66:8–12]).2 

The Gospel of John is taken from the Bread of Life Discourse as Jesus declares the promise to raise us up.

* [6:35–59] Up to Jn 6:50 “bread of life” is a figure for God’s revelation in Jesus; in Jn 6:51–58, the eucharistic theme comes to the fore. There may thus be a break between Jn 6:50–51.3 

Candice Tucci, O.S.F., comments that the martyrs followed the WAY of JESUS in healing, teaching, praying, restoring dignity to the poor, the alienated, and so forth. She asks: Do we find healing in Jesus? In the places we feel paralyzed, do we ask for freedom? In the struggles within our heart, do we find consolation? Through prayer, discernment and relationships can we say yes to these questions? She believes Jesus always desires a relationship and is faithful in providing life and wholeness of body, mind and spirit.

Those baptized were immersed in the waters of Baptism as a sign and symbol of dying and rising with Christ.  They were anointed not to just follow the Gospel teachings of Jesus, but also to be the living embodied Gospel of Jesus. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship wrote, “it is only because Jesus became like us that we can become like him.”
Let us also remember Jesus challenged the leaders of faith and government which led him to the cross. Do I, or we, dare to speak out to help heal a broken government, church or world? At what cost? Again, Bonhoeffer tells us we need to ask for the grace for such witness. He called it “costly graces.”  “Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a (person) must knock.” 4 

Don Schwager quotes “Possessing the Scriptures,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"When you understand anything in the Scriptures, it is love that is manifesting itself to you. When you fail to understand, it is love that is hiding itself from you. Those, therefore, who possess charity possess both what is manifest in the divine words and what is hidden in them." (excerpt from Sermon 350,2)5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 8:1-8 asks: What if the early Christians had focused on their precarious situation instead of on all the good they saw happening? Instead of rejoicing, they would have become fearful and discouraged. They might have decided to abandon their newly found faith instead of continuing their mission to spread the good news.

Most of us don’t experience the same kind of persecution that the early Christians faced. But we may still feel overwhelmed at times by what we see around us. Even if we don’t experience it directly, we hear plenty of bad news—homicides, drug overdoses, famine, abuse, and so much more. A steady diet of such news can wear us down over time and cause us to lose our joy.
But here’s what doesn’t make the news: how the love of Jesus in the hearts of his people causes them to reach out to others in love. Think of all the men and women who dedicate their lives tending to the poor and forgotten. Think of all those who teach RCIA or work in Catholic schools or campus ministry. Think of the people who care for women who need healing after an abortion. You are probably part of this “good news” yourself!6 

Friar Jude Winkler traces the evangelization that flowed from Jews, to Gentiles and to “half Jews” in Samaria. The realized eschatology of most of the Gospel of John becomes future eschatology in the Bread of Life Discourse. Friar Jude reminds that the Eucharist is lived as both realized and future eschatology.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, observes that the Trinity shows that God’s power is not any kind of domination, threat, or coercion. If the Father does not dominate the Son, and the Son does not dominate the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit does not dominate the Father or the Son, then there’s no domination in God. All divine power is shared power and the letting go of autonomous power. This God is not seeking control, as we do, but handing on the power to the Other.

There’s no seeking of power over in the Trinity, but only power with—a giving away, a sharing, a letting go, and thus an infinity of trust and mutuality. This should have changed all Christian relationships: in marriage, in culture, in church, and across borders. The prophet Isaiah tried to teach such servanthood to Israel in the classic four “servant songs.” [1] He was trying to train them in being “light to all nations” (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6), but Hebrew history predicted what Christianity then repeated: human nature prefers kings, domination, wars, and empires instead of suffering servanthood or leveling love.7 

The experience of tragedy may open our heart and mind to the Life offered without coercion in our acceptance of the invitation to the Life of the Trinity.

References

1	(n.d.). Acts, chapter 8 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 8, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/8
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 66 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 8, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/66
3	(n.d.). John, chapter 6 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 8, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/6
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved May 8, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 8, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). 3rd Week of Easter - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily Meditations .... Retrieved May 8, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/05/08/
7	(2019, May 8). The Power of Giving and Receiving — Center for Action and .... Retrieved May 8, 2019, from https://cac.org/the-power-of-giving-and-receiving-2019-05-08/