The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the consolation and reassurance against fear that our relationship with Christ offers through the inspiration of the Spirit.
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes the events leading to the Arrest of Stephen.
* [6:8–8:1] The summary (Acts 6:7) on the progress of the Jerusalem community, illustrated by the conversion of the priests, is followed by a lengthy narrative regarding Stephen. Stephen’s defense is not a response to the charges made against him but takes the form of a discourse that reviews the fortunes of God’s word to Israel and leads to a prophetic declaration: a plea for the hearing of that word as announced by Christ and now possessed by the Christian community. The charges that Stephen depreciated the importance of the temple and the Mosaic law and elevated Jesus to a stature above Moses (Acts 6:13–14) were in fact true. Before the Sanhedrin, no defense against them was possible. With Stephen, who thus perceived the fuller implications of the teachings of Jesus, the differences between Judaism and Christianity began to appear. Luke’s account of Stephen’s martyrdom and its aftermath shows how the major impetus behind the Christian movement passed from Jerusalem, where the temple and law prevailed, to Antioch in Syria, where these influences were less pressing. (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 6, n.d.)
Psalm 119 praises the Glories of God’s Law.
* [Psalm 119] This Psalm, the longest by far in the Psalter, praises God for giving such splendid laws and instruction for people to live by. The author glorifies and thanks God for the Torah, prays for protection from sinners enraged by others’ fidelity to the law, laments the cost of obedience, delights in the law’s consolations, begs for wisdom to understand the precepts, and asks for the rewards of keeping them. (Psalms, PSALM 119, n.d.)
The Gospel of John presents the Bread from Heaven.
* [6:22–71] Discourse on the bread of life; replacement of the manna. Jn 6:22–34 serve as an introduction, Jn 6:35–59 constitute the discourse proper, Jn 6:60–71 portray the reaction of the disciples and Peter’s confession.
* [6:23] Possibly a later interpolation, to explain how the crowd got to Capernaum.
* [6:27] The food that endures for eternal life: cf. Jn 4:14, on water “springing up to eternal life.” (John, CHAPTER 6, n.d.)
Andy Alexander, S.J. (2012) comments that the Easter message comes back: Work for food that endures for eternal life. Jesus is that food.
In this chapter he will say it quite clearly: feed on me and have life because of me. (John 6:57) We all know, deep down inside that this is the remedy we are looking for. Allowing Jesus back into our consciousness and into our spirits, throughout each day, will be the nourishment we need for that deeper kind of life we've been hungering for. It just feels more peaceful, just to think about it and breathe it in. We can imagine restoring some needed habits, like looking at a cross or crucifix each morning or making the sign of the cross early in our day. We can place our life in his hands as we prepare for the day. Everything starts to re-align. Tensions and anxieties begin to fade. It's hard to feed on Jesus and yell at someone I live with. When I'm being fed by reminding myself of his love and mercy, it's hard to be as impatient and frustrated with everyone. Gradually, Easter returns. We remember that the tomb is empty, Jesus is alive, and we are too. We become alive again with the gift of eternal life he won for us. And, we start giving thanks again, counting our blessings rather than recounting our problems. (Alexander, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “God is our landlord,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Our wish, you see, is to attain to eternal life. We wish to reach the place where nobody dies, but if possible we do not want to get there via death. We would like to be whisked away there while we are still alive and see our bodies changed, while we are alive, into that spiritual form into which they are to be changed when we rise again. Who wouldn't like that? Isn't it what everybody wants? But while that is what you want, you are told, Quit. Remember what you have sung in the psalm: 'A lodger am I on earth'" If you are a lodger, you are staying in someone else's house; if you are staying in someone else's house, you quit when the landlord bids you. And the landlord is bound to tell you to quit sooner or later, and he has not guaranteed you a long stay. After all, he did not sign a contract with you. Seeing that you are lodging with him for nothing, you quit when he tells you to. And this, too, has to be put up with, and for this, too, patience is very necessary." (excerpt from Sermon 359A,8) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 6:8-15 comments that we, too, have been raised with Christ, so we don’t have to be controlled by the fear of death—or of anything else, for that matter. Because whatever difficulties we encounter in this life, we know that one day we will be ushered into God’s kingdom and see our Lord face-to-face. Of course, that doesn’t mean we won’t experience fear from time to time. It just means that fear doesn’t have to dictate how we approach life.
You might never proclaim the gospel as forcefully as Stephen did. But as you live your life without being controlled by fear, you’ll become a witness to the world of the hope of Jesus’ resurrection and of life everlasting just the same.
“Jesus, thank you for the promise of eternal life. May it dispel all my fears.” (Meditation on Acts 6:8-15, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the relationship of the Greek speaking Jews with the Law and the Temple in the events leading to the arrest of the Greek speaking Stephen. In the Gospel of John, the great sin is not to believe Jesus is the Son of God. Friar Jude notes the conflict between seeking Jesus' help with material needs and ignoring the deepest needs of our heart.
James Finley comments on the writings and sermons of medieval mystic Meister Eckhart (1260–1327) who counseled detachment from anything that would separate us from God, whom he understood as the very ground of our being. He gives some practical strategies so that we can practice finding our way to the ground in day-by-day consciousness by being sensitive to certain tendencies in our heart.
Every time we catch ourselves getting reactive, every time we catch ourselves acting as if the outcome of the situation has the authority to name who we are, we are to take a deep breath and remind ourselves that it’s not true. That there’s this hidden, unfelt, deep, abyss-like center in which we’re being unexplainably sustained in the midst of the circumstances. [4] (Finley, 2023)
We are prompted by the Spirit to pause and allow the Love of Jesus and our trust in His care to be the Way to navigate the storms and fears of our journey.
References
Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 6. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/6?8
Alexander, A. (2023, April 24). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/042423.html
Finley, J. (2023, April 24). God Is the Ground of Our Being — Center for Action and Contemplation. Daily Meditations Archive: 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/god-is-the-ground-of-our-being-2023-04-24/
John, CHAPTER 6. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/6?22
Meditation on Acts 6:8-15. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/04/24/663473/
Psalms, PSALM 119. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/119?23
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=apr24
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