The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today encourage us to look beyond our first impressions for the signs of Presence and opportunities for fuller life in the encounters we have with challenging people and programs.
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles presents the Accusation against 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 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 119 declares Your decrees are my delight.
* [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. Several expected elements do not appear in the Psalm: Mount Sinai with its story of God’s revelation and gift to Israel of instruction and commandments, the Temple and other institutions related to revelation and laws (frequent in other Psalms). The Psalm is fascinated with God’s word directing and guiding human life. The poem is an acrostic; its twenty-two stanzas (of eight verses each) are in the order of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the eight verses within a stanza begins with the same letter. Each verse contains one word for “instruction.” The translation here given attempts to translate each Hebrew word for “instruction” with the same English word. There are, however, nine words for “instruction,” not eight, so the principle of a different word for “instruction” in each verse cannot be maintained with perfect consistency. The nine words for “instruction” in the translation are: law, statute, commandment, precept, testimony, word, judgment, way, and promise. (Psalms, PSALM 119 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of John presents the Bread of Life Discourse.
* [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.)
Tamora Whitney shares a comment about not being too hard on Peter and the other Jews with him who hesitated when it came to going into Cornelius’ house. God was stretching them and that can be painful.
The beauty of Jesus is that he, too, died, but he died for me. He laid down his life for his friends. Those friends of mine who died didn’t die for me, but I know they would have, and I would have given my life for them. However, when they were alive, they put their lives on the line for me repeatedly. They were filled with the Spirit of Jesus who taught them how to do it. They then taught me about love, namely, how to be a friend. (Whitney, 2025)
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 notes that we might wonder what the “work” of believing involves. Isn’t believing just a matter of our minds? But Jesus seems to indicate that belief is something that requires us to be active, not passive. Let’s see what that might be.
Believing in Jesus means that, just as we would with any loved one, we seek to nurture our relationship with him. This is why listening to him in prayer and reflecting on the Scriptures are so essential. It’s why we need to do the “work” of setting aside time each day for him.
The “work” of believing requires that we trust in the Lord, even when we are suffering or when we are going through a trial. In those times, we may be tempted to doubt God’s love or care for us. That’s when we need to actively lean into our relationship with Jesus, making a point of turning to him as often as we can. It’s also when we have to set aside our doubts and proclaim our trust in the Lord.
Along with trust, the “work” of believing involves surrendering our lives to Jesus and placing ourselves in his capable hands. It involves actively believing that Jesus can handle any problem we encounter and that he knows better than we do what is best for us.
This “work” of believing is the work of a lifetime. But of course, it’s not all up to us. Faith is a gift, and Jesus always answers our prayers when we ask for the grace to believe in him!
“Lord, help me to believe in you more deeply today!” (Meditation on John 6:22-29, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the more liberal attitude that Stephen and Greek speaking Jews may have portrayed towards the Temple, because they may have visited Jerusalem once in their lifetimes. The multiplication of the loaves and fishes and the calming of the sea in John are allusions to Psalm 23. Friar Jude reminds us of the theme in John that the only sin is to not believe in Jesus, as Son, who satisfies our greatest hunger.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that it takes a shock to encourage the ego to let go of the passing self, the false self, the relative self, the self created by circumstance, memory, and choice.
This is the spiritual art of detachment, which is not aloofness or denial, but the purifying of attachment. In our world, detachment itself can become a kind of EXODUS, an abandoning—whether forced or chosen—of the very things that give us status, make us feel secure or moral, and oftentimes that pay the bills.
We live in a time of great hostility, and we must resist the temptation to pull back from others, deny our shadow, and retreat into our own defended camps or isolated positions. This temptation is not true detachment, but rather succumbing to the illusion of separation. True spiritual action (as opposed to reaction) demands our own ongoing transformation and a voluntary “exile,” choosing to be where the pain is, as Jesus exemplified in his great self-emptying. Rather than accusing others of sin, Jesus instead “became sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He stood in solidarity with the problem itself, and his compassion and solidarity were themselves the healing. (Rohr, n.d.)
We ask the Spirit to encourage our contemplation of the signs and personal encounters that may shake our comfort with our Christian observance by pointing to a wider understanding of the Love of God.
References
Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 5, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/6?8
John, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 5, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/6?22
Meditation on John 6:22-29. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved May 5, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/05/05/1267760/
Psalms, PSALM 119 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 5, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/119
Rohr, R. (n.d.). A Litany of Liberation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved May 5, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-litany-of-liberation/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Labor for the Food Which Endures to Eternal Life. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 5, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=may5
Whitney, T. (2025, May 5). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved May 5, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/050525.html
