The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to be open to attend to the people we meet that may present ideas that are foreign to our understanding and life experience.
The Reading from the Acts of the Apostles presents the Accusation against Stephen by members of the synagogue of Freedmen.
* [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.
* [6:13] False witnesses: here, and in his account of Stephen’s execution (Acts 7:54–60), Luke parallels the martyrdom of Stephen with the death of Jesus. (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 119 proclaims “Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!”
* [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 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of John presents an introduction to Jesus' discourse on the bread of life.
* [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 | USCCB, n.d.)
Jeremy Graney comments that we parent in hopes that our children grow to be persons for and with others and we accompany others on this journey, creating a message and a space for hope.
I have been in education my entire professional career, accompanying youth on their journey, hopefully helping foster some hope along the way. As an educator, I am but one chapter or verse in another’s journey. I hope that I give space and time to reflect beyond their immediate needs and desires, to not only focus on the food that perishes but on a life that goes beyond the need of the now. I try to take this time for myself as I navigate the immediate (food that perishes) with the Holy. (Graney, n.d.)
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 John 6:22-29 asks how do we respond to this “work” of God? First and foremost, we turn to the Lord in prayer. All relationships require time, effort, and attention, and if that’s the case for our relationships with other people, it’s even more true with God. Our belief in the Lord grows and deepens as we sit at the feet of Jesus each day and listen for his voice speaking to us. At the same time, our hearts become more and more attentive to him and willing to follow his commands.
Another work God does in us is to open our eyes to the needs of our neighbors. When we are able to see Jesus in the faces of those who are poor or suffering, we want to console and care for them or just be available to listen and encourage them.
God is always working in you! Today in prayer, thank him for the gift of your faith. Ask him to help you believe in him ever more deeply each day. Be sure to ask him for the grace to respond to his work in you with all your heart. Then believe that he will do it!
“Jesus, I believe in you! Thank you for the work you are always doing in me to strengthen my faith.” (Meditation on John 6:22-29, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that in the reading from Acts we hear about Stephen and the ministry of charity to the Greek speakers. Ironically the synagogue of Freedmen, from the distant areas of the Empire remote from Temple worship attacked him ironically about the nature of his worship. The Temple and the Law were far away and it may be explained that they may have become super traditional, guardians of Jewish tradition. He is accused of things that they might have said. The crowd realizes there is only one boat and they are concerned how Jesus crossed the sea. Jesus accuses them of not looking for signs that point to a greater reality like the deepest hunger of their heart. They seek food and miracles and He wants to reveal the love of God and how much God wants them to live in that Love.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Black farmer and author Leah Penniman who celebrates the faith of agricultural scientist and inventor George Washington Carver (1864–1943). In conversation with Penniman, Chris Bolden-Newsome, co-founder of Sankofa Community Farm in Pennsylvania, shares:
I am a practitioner of in-cultured African (American) Catholic Christianity…. So much of Catholic Christianity has its origins within an earth-based African context that existed way before its settling and redefinition in central Europe. The Catholic Church as a whole is catching up to its origins. Starting in 1971, with Pope Paul VI, the church has expressed ecological concern, which was amplified to an urgent appeal by 2015, with Pope Francis writing:
If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled. [1] (Rohr, n.d.)
[1] Pope Francis, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. Read here for the full text of this encyclical.
We seek the inspiration of the Spirit to literally ground our relationship with people of different aspirations in life in the sanctity and sign of our common home as lately observed by the Artemis II crew, consisting of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
References
Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/6?
Graney, J. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-april-20-2026
John, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/6?22
Meditation on John 6:22-29. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/04/20/1547134/
Psalms, PSALM 119 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/119?23
Rohr, R. (n.d.). All that Breathes Gives Praise. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/all-that-breathes-gives-praise/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Labor for the Food Which Endures to Eternal Life. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
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