• Acts 6: 1-7. The early church grows with many converts including Jewish Priest. The Deaconate is developed to help serve the needs of the poor.
• 1 Peter 2:4-9. Peter continues with this early baptismal liturgy by commissioning the disciples as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood.”
•  John 14:1-12. Jesus describes the intimate relationship that he shares with God the Father and assures those of us who follow him a place in the Kingdom of God.

Thoughts for your consideration:

During this Easter season it is appropriate for us to reflect on the development of the early Church and to consider the various issues that they had to address as they strove to build on the foundation that Jesus left them. The first reading attests to one of these early social issues that they faced. The evangelical mission of the Apostles was neglecting the basic needs of some of their poorer members. In what appears to be a creative and open process the Apostles deliberated with the community of followers and gave them the resources to organize another layer of church structure that would address this most pressing social need. It has always impressed me how the early church took the “option for the poor” with such a priority. The poor widows were being neglected and the Church recognized this as an immediate priority. The Apostles wrestled with their desire to continue promoting their evangelical mission but they would not allow this noble duty to become a legitimate excuse for neglecting the poor. Instead they sought a creative solution and empowered the larger community to design this solution. So impressed is the Jewish community to this model of service and participation that even the elite members of the Jewish priesthood begin to join.

In the second reading Peter continues to offer the baptismal liturgy that we have been reading for the past couple of weeks. In this section however we hear Peter calling the followers of Christ ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood.’ Consistent with the first reading Peter is again empowering us all to take part in the mission of building the Kingdom of God. Peter invites us all to share in the intimate union with God and one another. An invitation which flowed from the mystical union that Jesus had with the Father and which he shares with the Apostles in the Gospel passage. This union invites us to consider the great dignity that we have through God but it also forces us to see and respect that same dignity in all others.

One can see in the Gospel passage how Jesus really wanted to convey this intimate union that he shared with God. Poor Thomas and Philip tried to understand this relationship from a human experience but Christ had to challenge them to see the radical nature of this union which he wanted them to share in. Jesus invites them to engage in a relationship of solidarity with God and one another where they can truly see their own purpose and interest vested in each other.  

Going back to the first reading we see the earliest development of the Church’s “preferential option for the poor.” By this principle the Church evaluates the state of the Body of Christ based on how the poorest members of their community are faring. The option for the poor serves as a common denominator that forces us to reevaluate our community obligations based on the neglect of those who are most in need. To preach of God’s love requires us to be agents of justice and peace to one another.  Jesus tells the apostles that his intimate relationship with God the Father can be acknowledged through the works that he does. “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.”

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group

• Thomas’ question is one that we continue to hear today. “How can we know the way?” Indeed how can people know the way if so many Christians offer any number of options and perspectives for following Christ? How will our works help people believe in the Gospel message of justice and peace?
• The “preferential option for the poor” is a wonderful theological concept that occupies many scholarly works. But how can this principle be applied within the concrete context of the parish or faith community? Who is being “neglected in the daily distribution?”

• Acts 2:14, 36-41. Peter, on Pentecost, preaches that “the whole house of Israel should know… that God has made both Lord and Messiah this Jesus whom you crucified.” The people must reform and be baptized.
• 1 Peter 2:20-25. Peter continues his baptismal instruction that the newly baptized follow in the suffering footsteps of Jesus, who brought our sins to the cross. By his wounds we are healed.
• John 10:1-10. The opening section of John’s well known “Good Shepherd” discourse. Jesus is the shepherd whose sheep go in and out for pasture.

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

The first reading and the gospel passage firmly affirm that Jesus Christ is Lord. Calling Jesus Lord may not sound surprising to us and in fact it may sound a bit cliché. However, when Peter made this pronouncement in first century Jerusalem it would have jarred many and angered many others. To call Jesus Messiah or anointed one would not have been a shock as other have already been deemed anointed ones of God and others would come afterwards. But Lord was a title reserved to God, for the apostles to be able to declare that Jesus is Lord means that they were aware of an amazing truth that they were willing to make such a dangerous and socially unsettling statement. It is said that if you wanted to examine amazing miracles in scripture the greatest for one to investigate is how a rag tag band of Galileans could have mobilized one of the most powerful religious movements ever seen based on an almost insane report  that an executed criminal was in fact God.

In the first reading we see the beginnings of this miraculous movement and we are told that after Peter makes this irrational declaration “about three thousand persons were added that day.” It is the ongoing pursuit of the theological community to consider “how could this have happened”? “How did they experience the resurrected Christ and furthermore how were they able to convey this in such a way as to convince others to believe in this bizarre message? One clue that we are given is in the passage that immediately follows the first reading and which we read about a couple of weeks ago. This pronouncement was visually depicted in a new communal style of living that was consistent with the healing and hospitality ministry of Christ. This week’s gospel passage tells us that Jesus Christ is Lord and Jesus attempt to describe this based on the relational and compassionate image of the good shepherd. But let us not forget that Jesus also tells us that “not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Mt. 7:21)

The second reading helps us to make a link between the declaration that Jesus Christ is Lord and our responsibility in becoming living agents of this declaration. Through the example of Jesus we are called to be wounded healers to a world that is immersed in suffering and injustice. Peter gives us the challenge to take on the suffering of the world and to be ministers who heal by sharing in the suffering of those we encounter. Our hope in suffering springs from Jesus since it was “by his wounds [that we] have been healed.” Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that this call bears a social responsibility to be present and responsive to all who suffer in our society:

The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for society. A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through “com-passion” is a cruel and inhuman society. – Spe Salvi #38

Fr. Henri Nouwen wrote a wonderful little book called “The Wounded Healer.” This book offers us some insights into how we can be ministers of suffering especially in these times where many suffer specifically from the isolation that comes from our individualistic culture or the condition that he calls “nuclear man.” In order to accompany others in their suffering Fr. Nouwen instructs us to journey through our own sufferings and isolation so that through our own wounds we too can offer a sincere healing. We heal by relating at a very deep level to the suffering of those we encounter. We speak of social issues like poverty, immigration or criminal justice but until we can integrate through our own experience the isolated feelings of marginalization (which at some level we all experience in different forms) then we are not addressing these issues at a Christian level.

Christ healed us through his wounds. Christ heals us because he undertook our journey of isolation and injustice and through him we can enjoy the hope that comes through His redemptive suffering. This hope becomes our wellspring through which our own suffering can offer others a vision of redemption. The reason Peter’s words brought him converts rather than ridicule was because his message of redemption through Christ was not empty words but a living reality that people could also see within the communal experience of a people whose wounds and weaknesses were healed by the living God who shared in their suffering. To fully comprehend how people could have responded to what they heard in Acts 2:36-41 it helps to also understand what they saw in Acts 2:42-47.

• Acts 2:14, 22-28. On Pentecost, Peter stated that Jesus was handed over to death “by the set purpose and plan of God” and therefore could not be bound by death’s bitter pangs. He was shown “the paths of life.”
• 1 Peter 1:17-21. We have been redeemed not “by silver or gold but by Christ’s blood beyond all price.” “Your faith and hope, then, are centered in God.”
• Luke 24:13-35. The account of the two men on their way to Emmaus.

Thoughts for your consideration:

For the Christian every Sunday is a celebration of Easter Sunday. The Liturgy of the Word may have us focus on different relevant moments of the life of Christ and the early church but the Liturgy of the Eucharist always brings us back to the Easter moment. As a community we share in the Emmaus journey where the breaking of the bread reveals to us the risen Christ that the two disciple of the today’s gospel reading experienced. The privilege that we have during the Easter season which we are in is to further reflect on the Easter message in the readings and preaching that we receive.

The Easter season of the Church is observed between Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. This is the time of transition where the disciples struggle to make sense of the events that have just taken place and their communal identity as the disciples of the risen Christ. In today’s first reading we see Peter making his first public pronouncement after the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples. Peter is preaching the Paschal mystery with conviction. His message is one that can resonate with us as we contemplate the social realities of our day. In his explanation Peter is offering a juxtaposition between the social actions of our worldly leaders and the Divine action of God. In his explanation we can hear what the Church teaches us about society’s “culture of death” and what God and His Church offer us through the “Gospel of life.”

This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it.

We are taught that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection were foreordained by God. Indeed this passage above tells us that this is the case. But we sometimes think or are taught that God brought Jesus into this world to die a horrible death in order to pay for our sins. Under this interpretation the human agents are not culpable since as far as God’s plan was concerned they merely did what was ordained from above. But the readings tell us that what Christ had to suffer was not a prescribed sacrifice to satisfy a divine payment. Instead Jesus had to share in the “culture of death” and the social injustice that was part of the deformed social condition of humanity. In the second reading God is not attributed to giving Jesus a death sentence, instead God is identified as the one “who raised him from the dead and gave him glory.” We have been ransomed by Christ insofar as Christ shared in our pain and social suffering and through him we see that God will respond with the gift of Divine love and eternal life.

In the Gospel passage Jesus offer the two disciples on the way to Emmaus an explanation into the events surrounding his passion, death and resurrection by placing it within the context of the prophetic tradition. The Prophets shared in the mission to preach the countercultural word of God’s justice and peace and they were persecuted for challenging the social powers of their time. The Major Prophets including Isaiah, Jeremiah and Micah all tried unsuccessfully to turn the Kingdom of Judah back from the brink of disaster through a life of fidelity to God and the adoption of a political, economic and social agenda that flows from God’s vision of justice and peace. They each faced persecution and ridicule and so they placed their hopes on a future intervention where God will demonstrate the redemptive power of His own living Word. God would have to demonstrate the true power of the “Gospel of life” in the midst of our own “culture of death.”     

A Passionist biblical scholar Fr. Don Senior, who is president of the Catholic Theological Union and a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, offers this wonderful insight in his own treatment of the Passion narratives in the book “The Passion of Jesus Christ”.

The Gospels portray Jesus’ death as the culmination of his mission, the final act of selfless love and service that sealed a life totally committed to others. Jesus’ death was a prophetic witness in the cause of God’s justice. Despite opposition and hostility directed at him and his mission, Jesus remained faithful until the end and ultimately was vindicated by God’s love, a love stronger than death.

• Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7. In this first song of the Suffering Servant within the prophesy of Isaiah, God summons his chosen one to bring forth justice to the nations, quietly, considerately.
• Acts 10: 34-38. Peter instructs the first gentile converts beginning with Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist when he was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power.
• Matthew 3:13-17. Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus proclaiming “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Thoughts for your Consideration:

This week our Church celebrates the Baptism of the Lord. In celebrating this event we are observing a number of important moments for our faith tradition. We celebrate the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. This beginning is marked in two ways which testifies to Jesus’ humanity (the baptism by John) and his divinity (the anointment by the Holy Spirit). We also acknowledge the foundation for the rite of baptism and confirmation as important sacraments of the Church and in our lives. We also observe the importance of John the Baptist and his prophetic role in preparing the way of the Lord.

But if we reflect on three readings together then we are confronted with another element that must be observed with this amazing event: Jesus’ ministry is grounded within the prophetic tradition. Isaiah’s suffering servant songs offer a resume for the anointed messiah. In this passage that we read today Isaiah reminds us that this resume fulfills the prophetic call for justice:

He shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. a bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth;

Isaiah tells us two things in this passage. First he tells us about the mission of the “suffering servant” in bringing forth social justice. He describes this mission as having a liberating effect to all of God’s people. Peter, in the second reading, receives his own epiphany by realizing that “God shows no partiality.” The people of God are not defined by a particular ethnicity or creed, and the gentile converts force Peter to recognize the universal extant of this liberating call to justice. The second thing that Isaiah tells us is the way in which the “suffering servant” will conduct this mission. He describes a nonviolent and humble approach in bringing about this call to justice. The “suffering servant” will not bestow justice with a firm hand or with harsh punishment; instead justice will be applied with mercy, humility and gentleness. Peter describes this in terms of simply being good and bringing about healing.

Baptism and confirmation does not make us good. By virtue of being created by a good God we and all creation are designated as good (Gen. 1:31). Baptism instead consecrates us to a life of perfect goodness. For us Catholics confirmation offers us the added grace of being anointed by the Holy Spirit which will aid us in the pursuit of perfect goodness. Justice is a virtue that belongs to all who seek the good. Justice was pursued not only by the prophets before Christ but also by every human civilization that ever existed. But through Christ we have been given the perfect model for our humanity and for our mission to pursue justice and all that is good.

You have heard that it was said, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also… Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Mt. 5: 38-39, 48)

This call to perfect goodness challenges us to adopt an ethic of peace and nonviolence in promoting social justice. The call to nonviolence is not a call to passivity. Instead we are still called to promote what is just and fair but our means are limited since they require us to apply mercy, respect and gentleness in addressing the injustice that we face. As we consider the social injustices and conflicts in our world let us reflect on our baptismal calling to model the “suffering servant” in our pursuit of perfect justice.

• Acts 5:27-32, 40-41. The Apostles respond to the High Priest and the Sanhedrin: God has raised up Jesus whom you put to death. The Sanhedrin, after being consulted by Gamaliel, dismissed the apostles after having them whipped.
• Revelations 5:11-14. In a vision about heaven, John heard the voices of many angels, crying out “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom, strength, honor and glory and praise!”
• John 21:1-19. Miraculous haul of fishes. Jesus prepares a meal and eats with his disciples. Peter is commissioned and Jesus predicts that he will die a martyr.

Thoughts for your Consideration: By John Gonzalez

The lectionary readings continue to offer us the situation of Peter, John and the Early Christian community. The first reading touches on an important theological principle but unfortunately the reading will skip over this. I encourage the reader to take up their own Bible and read the omitted verses of Acts 5:32-40. Having had Jesus put to death the Sanhedrin are now confronted with the community of disciples who are now preaching in the name of Jesus and who refuse to be silent. At first it seems that the Sanhedrin is contemplating putting them to death, but then a wise Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel offers this rule “if their purpose or activity is human in its origins, it will destroy itself. If on the other hand, it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them without fighting God himself.” It was based on his wisdom that the Sanhedrin opted to flog the apostles instead and then having them released.

The situation of the early Christian community may give us the false romantic impression that the early Church boomed with great enthusiasm, success and undivided focus. But the fact of the matter was that this community faced all the challenges of identity, leadership, and even mission. The Sanhedrin and the Apostles saw themselves as one common family of faith; it was not until the temple was destroyed in 70 AD that saw the ultimate rift with the Jewish followers of Jesus and the evolving rabbinic form of Judaism. In the first reading Gamaliel’s rule is based on his openness to the possibility that God works in mysterious ways. He humbles himself to think that perhaps this Jesus movement may have an authentically divine mission and if this is the case how does one go about defeating God Himself? Gamaliel suggest that the Jewish leadership apply tolerance and patients to another vision of hope for the Jewish community.

Many times we can get lost in placing all our hopes on a specific theological of social school of thought. We may become so ardently attentive to a specific ideological framework and point of view that we close our minds to any other creative possibility. Tolerance and patients are social virtues that are sorely lacking in our own contemporary society. Recently I offered a workshop on a structure for globalization based on the Catholic principles that were outlined in the Pope’s recent encyclical “Caritas in Veritate.” Because the principles were outside the norm of economic liberalism and national sovereignty some people found this structure much to challenging to accept. Sometimes Christian values may seem utopian and lofty. They are nice and all but they are simply not considered pragmatic. These are the times when we have to think outside of the box and apply Gamaliel’s rule. The former social and economic ideologies pose many issues with regards to a globalized society, perhaps it is time to be open to a new vision based on a powerful faith tradition.

People usually want leadership that is decisive and immediate. The values of tolerance and patients are usually not prized characteristics for leaders. But in the Gospel the risen Jesus challenges Peter to adopt the difficult commission of leadership that is tolerant and patient. While the final words that Jesus offers Peter is seen as a prediction of his own martyrdom there is another dimension to this passage. On his own Peter had the right and freedom to choose where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do. But in leadership this freedom is not his own. He has subscribed to a Will that is greater than him. Peter is to lead not based on his own will and interest but based on the Divine Will. Furthermore he has the challenging responsibility of nurturing a community towards a vision that will contradict social wisdom. Peter must employ tolerance and patience to lead a community that will express the creative vision of the Body of Christ. Peter, like Gamaliel, is humbled and open to the possibility of what God’s divine plan might be, even if it forces him to sacrifice everything.  

Gamaliel’s rule has much to offer our own society. Social movements are developing that are not showing any tolerance or patience with creative possibilities for a future vision. We need not get stuck with dead end movements that can only react by endorsing yesterday’s secular vision and ideologies. We need to be creative and open to new possibilities and we also must employ tolerance and patients to other ways of seeing things.

• Isaiah 6:1-8. The prophet’s inaugural vision and call to ministry.
• 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. Paul transmits the creed preached in the early church about the resurrection of Jesus. “I handed on to you what I myself received.”
• Luke 5:1-11. A miraculous catch of fishes. Peter’s protestations of unworthiness; Jesus’ call of Peter, James and John to be fishers of men and women for the kingdom of God.

Thoughts for your consideration: by John Gonzalez

This week’s reading shares the sense of unworthiness that Isaiah, Paul and Peter had as they were all called to serve God. These three each identified themselves as sinners and humbled themselves before God and Christ before accepting their new mission to be a prophet or preacher for the kingdom of God.  It is interesting for me to see the different professional areas that are covered between them. Peter is a simple fisherman and a hardworking common man. Paul is a theological academic who was trained as a Pharisee. Isaiah is a politician in the service of the royal court of King Uzziah. These are three very different people with three very different professions. In each case they all experienced a significant change in their life that seems to have rocked the very foundations of their relatively stable lives. In each case they realized how unworthy and sinful they all were before reluctantly accepting their new divine mission.

The role of humility cannot be understated in what took place with these three people. At the moment that they humbled themselves before God and Christ they became open to another way of thinking. They were able to accept a major paradigm shift that had gone against the social reality they were used to. Isaiah was quite skilled with his “unclean lips” that dominated the political atmosphere of the royal court. Paul was zealous for protecting the traditional Pharisaic doctrine that he had studied under. Peter was used to a certain style of fishing and was obviously in charge of his own fishing crew. And yet, after suffering some form of setback, they all allowed themselves to be open to a new way of seeing their world and of serving something beyond their own social profession.

The three readings revolve around God or Christ calling each of them to a new life and ministry and after they all humble themselves to God they accept their new calling. The Book of Jonah would be interesting for us to examine in relationship to this theme. In this case Jonah already exists as a prophet of the Lord and he seems to have quite a reputation in this field. God calls on him again to fulfill another mission within his prophetic ministry but Jonah, in his professional arrogance, reluctantly accepted the mission but was greatly disappointed with God for being merciful to a people Jonah wanted to condemn. In the end Jonah was “angry enough to die.”

The distinction here is how Peter, Paul and Isaiah were humble and submissive to God’s ways while Jonah allowed himself to be filled with arrogance and pride. The issue in our own world is not that God is no longer calling people to Him but that many of us chose to see the world only from the perspective of our own opinions and desires and thus reject opportunities to serve God and His church because they do not meet our expectations. In my experience with parishes and retreats I have come across a number of people with good intentions who are ready to offer social criticisms against society and the church based on personal experience or political platforms and when they are challenged on some of the church’s social issues that do not fit their own opinions they can become defensive and sometime dismissive to the entire social teachings of the church rather than allowing themselves to being open to a broader social vision.

Just like Peter, Paul and Isaiah we too are called to serve God through our own baptism into the church. Vatican II reminds us of this in their document to the laity: “The laity derive the right and duty to the apostolate from their union with Christ the head; incorporated into Christ’s Mystical Body through Baptism and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit through Confirmation, they are assigned to the apostolate by the Lord Himself.” Through the church and religious communities like our own opportunities exist for people to take part in promoting a greater social vision based on divine principles that make up the Church’s social teachings. These include such principles as the common good, solidarity, human dignity, preferential option for the poor and care for the integrity of creation. If we allow ourselves to be open to the possibilities of service then we will become aware of these opportunities that we are given to be at the service of God and His divine mission.

• Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
• 1 John 4:7-10
• John 15:9-17

Thoughts for your consideration:

This week’s readings tell us that God is very active, and the source of his action is Love. In all three readings we are made aware that God is the active agent that creates the moments of possibilities for us to love him and in return all of humanity. Our active option is to respond to these moments. This image of God is one that is very different from the traditional metaphysics of God as a watchmaker who creates the Universe, winds it up and sits back to see how things go. These reading tell us that God does not sit back at all but rather he is front and center shaping the world like a potter. According to the readings we are being actively shaped by God to be a reflection of that divine Love to ourselves and each other.

In the first reading the Holy Spirit is intervening in bring Peter and Cornelius together and to begin the Gentile integration of the early Christian community. This is a stretch for Peter who has only understood his experience with Jesus within the parameters of the Jewish community. Yet he allows himself to be moved by the Spirit and to accept (perhaps with some trepidation) this development. With powerful visions the Holy Spirit guides Peter to an awareness that he “should not call anyone profane or unclean.” Amazed at the reception of the Holy Spirit by the gentile household of Cornelius Peter exclaims, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” With this event that was clearly guided by the Holy Spirit the Christian community begins its mission to spread the Gospel to all members of humanity because “What God has made clean [we] must not call profane.”

John declares that true love comes from God. It is too simple these days to say that we are called to love one another. Overall we take this for granted under the rubric that we tolerate each other and show random acts of kindness from time to time. The love that John invites us to express is a mystical love that transcends our own desires and interest. To love with the capacity that God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit has for all of creation is to love God and all creation with such intensity that we lose ourselves completely in becoming love for others. In our own limited mortality it is difficult to truly comprehend such an existence where we, like Jesus, can “lay down one’s own life for one’s friend.” This is the love of self sacrifice.

Jesus puts it all together when he offers the Great Commandment, “that you love one another as I have loved you.” Through the self sacrifice of Jesus in the Passion narratives God again acts with love towards creation. We however are not merely passive recipients in this mystical dance. Scripture constantly reminds us that we are expected to follow the way that Christ has opened for us by following his example. We are to engage in a mystical self sacrificing love for all members of humanity and creation. Within our own society this calls us to look at policies from the perspective of those who are being affected by them. There are no artificial borders or walls that the Spirit will respect with regards to the great love that God has for all creation, Peter became aware of this truth. We are called to love with the same openness where no artificial border such as nationality, culture, language or creed can keep us from honoring the dignity of others. God made all things; nothing God has created should ever be called profane or unclean.

Questions for Reflection with your faith sharing group:

• How have you witnessed God as an active agent in your own life or in society? How have you responded to these moments?
• Consider your own experience of Love. How does it mirror the love that Christ showed his disciples in life and in death? How do you consider the challenge to love all members of humanity with the same openness that Peter showed Cornelius?
• Identify artificial borders that exist in our society. Have you ever witnessed these borders limiting the creative work of God’s love? How do you respond to these borders?

Thoughts for your consideration:

Last week we left the Jerusalem community trying to comprehend the Easter mystery. Through the name of Jesus, whom they crucified, a crippled beggar was healed by Peter. The readings included the Gospel from John in which Jesus himself explains the mystery of his death and Resurrection. We also read from Acts and the first letter from John in which both Peter and John attempted to explain not only the transformation of Jesus through the Resurrection, but also the transformed community life of the apostles.

In this week’s first reading we return to Peter and John, now before the council, again explaining the healing of the cripple. Peter had informed the community of their ignorance in having Jesus crucified. But now he admonishes the council for rejecting the cornerstone that is Jesus. What attracts my attention is that if we read a little ahead of today’s Gospel and first reading, we get a political picture of how the social powers of Jerusalem responded to Jesus and the early Christian community. Chapter 11 of the Gospel of John has Caiaphas declaring to the council “it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” With this declaration the Jewish council sought to have Jesus put to death.

In Acts, Caiaphas again shows up towards the middle of Chapter 4. The council’s attempt to silence the movement of Jesus by putting him to death has backfired. They are baffled at the apparent power and courage of these “uneducated and ordinary men” who followed Jesus of Nazareth. Now they realize that they have to be even more cautious. Instead of publicly punishing Peter and John they try to have them censured. This of course will also not work. A wise Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel explains why towards the end of Chapter 5; “if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them – in any case you may even be found fighting against God!”

I hear many people offer wonderful comments about the movie “The Passion of the Christ” by Mel Gibson. It is a good movie insofar as it allows us to experience the pain of Jesus’ Passion. But one criticism I offer is that it completely separates itself from the social causes that led Jesus to the Cross. Similarly it also excludes the social implications of what it means to be a Christian. In reading the Gospel of John and Acts one gets a sense of these social dimensions. Jesus challenged the powers of his time with his message of solidarity with all members of the human community, including the Gentiles and the poor. The image of the Good Shepherd is the image of the one who brings together all people who are marginalized from the single human community that was created by God the Father. Jesus tells us, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.”

The Apostles are very much aware of the social implications of being a follower of Christ. Peter and John recognize their call to heal the sick and to bring back the sheep that continue to be marginalized from the fold. They recognize this mission to promote the ultimate solidarity with all humanity that is the Kingdom of God.

In the second reading John uses an expression that conveys this image of solidarity under Christ. He reminds his community that “we are God’s children now.” We are part of this divine family and like our brother Jesus we must continue to challenge society by promoting the ultimate solidarity of God’s love for all humanity. That will inevitably challenge the power structures of today just as Jesus and the Apostles challenged the power structures of their day.

This solidarity calls us to reconcile all members of society both the wealthy and those who live in poverty. Catholic social teaching offers us the principle of the “Preferential Option for the Poor”. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development has a very simple and direct statement connecting Jesus as the Good Shepherd and the Preferential Option for the Poor. It can be found at http://www.usccb.org/cchd/jesus_shepherd.shtml. Please take some time to reflect on this principle and our calling to follow the Good Shepherd.

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:
• When have you experienced the care of a “Good Shepherd?”
• How has this experience helped you to shepherd others?
• The first letter of John refers to all of us as “children of God.”
• When have you experienced solidarity with those who are in need?
• When have you experienced a connection with people who were poor?

Thoughts for your consideration: by John Gonzalez

I find the readings during the Easter Season fascinating. Here the disciples of Jesus just experienced an amazing tragedy with the death of the Messiah at the hands of the authorities. Afterwards they experience the amazing intervention by God in raising Jesus from the dead. The disciples and followers of Jesus have been shaken to their very core, now they struggle to make sense of all this.

In Luke’s gospel Jesus helps his disciples understand what took place and what this means for the mission that God is giving the early Christian community. This week we take a break from Paul’s epistles to hear about how John and Peter came to understand this mission of being witness to the reconciliation of God and humanity.

Peter continues the miraculous power of Jesus by healing a cripple beggar. The Jerusalem community is again mystified but this time they nervously have to contend with their collaboration in having the Messiah crucified. Peter announces God’s message of mercy and reconciliation but he also corrects them for acting out of ignorance and again invites them to repent.

Likewise John also preaches on how Jesus has forgiven the sins of the whole world and how he is now our advocate as we struggle to atone. But if we are to accept Jesus as our advocate in this worldly struggle we “ought to walk just as he walked.” We must struggle to follow the commandments in the spirit of love as we journey to reach the state perfection that God calls us to.

The message of scripture is that God loves all of creation and he invites us to repent in order to abide in his love. Because we struggle with our own self-interest God breaks into human history with powerful moments that shake us all to the very core so that we can reassess ourselves based on these amazing moments of divine revelation. Peter and John share this powerful intervention by Jesus Christ in giving us a template for incarnational living. Now we are called to free ourselves from the same social ignorance which blinded the Jerusalem community and which continues to blind many of from the love of God. This love is expressed in the compassion that God has for all of humanity, especially for the poor and marginalized members of our society. From this compassion flows justice which God asks us to provide to all members of creation through the application of the commandments in the Spirit of divine love.

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:

• Are you aware of any social ignorance you may have had or that you may be struggling with now? Consider your own Easter journey, when have you allow the love of God to break into some aspect of ignorance during the Lenten and Easter season.
  
• Can you identify some aspect of social ignorance that blinds society from the love of God? What social institutions promote this blindness, and why? What can we do to move our society and our community towards the love that God has for all of creation?

Saturday Vigil:

• Genesis 1:1–2:2
• Genesis 22:1-18
• Exodus 14:15–15:1
• Isaiah 54:5-14
• Isaiah 55:1-11
• Baruch 3:9-15, 32–4:4
• Ezekiel 36:16-17a, 18-28
• Romans 6:3-11
• Luke 24:1-12

Easter Sunday:

• Acts 10:34a, 37-43
• Colossians 3:1-4  or  1 Corinthians 5:6b-8
• John 20:1-9 or Mark 16:1-7 or Luke 24:13-35

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

What are we to make of the significance of Easter Sunday? The Gospel of Mark sets the early tone for what took place. Women came to prepare the body when they witnessed an empty tomb. A series of unexplained events take place. An unknown young man informs them of the Resurrection causing the women to run away in fear and terror. The Gospel of John tells us that Peter and the favorite disciple also visit the empty tomb. According to Luke sometime after this Jesus begins to appear to Peter and the other disciples, including two who were walking to Emmaus.

A theologian once said that if you wanted to examine miracles you would not need to bother with Jesus walking on water, feeding of the five thousands or the numerous healing and exorcisms. Instead consider the greatest miracle which is that Christianity, perhaps the greatest religion on earth, began with the most unlikely event of a relatively unknown man being legitimately executed in a relatively obscure part of the world. By all worldly conditions this should not have happened. The only explanation being that the disciples must have witnessed something extraordinary in the person of Jesus.

For two thousand years we have explained this with the Easter event. Something powerful took place here. Not only did the disciples and the early Christian community witness Jesus who God brought back from the dead. They must have also received an amazing and divine understanding for the significance of what this event means for them and for the human community. We call this Pentecost.

This divine revelation is beyond history. The readings from Acts, Colossians and Corinthians all tell us that the significance of the Easter event was not only that Jesus was raised from the dead. We are called to witness and experience this resurrection ourselves. By the power of God Jesus was transformed back to life. We are called to live a transformed life through Christ. In Acts Peter becomes aware that this call is for everyone, since “God shows no partiality.” Paul tells the Colossians and Corinthians that they must reassess their lives to the priorities of God’s Kingdom over the priorities of our society. These are the priorities that Jesus preached:

• Reconciling the sinner
• Healing the sick
• Feeding the hungry
• Comforting the sorrowful
  
• Bringing to bear the Kingdom of God, A Kingdom that is built on the values of promoting peace, justice and the Integrity of Creation

This is the Resurrection we are called to witness. More than ever we need a spirit that will help and heal the death, violence, and injustice of the world. Peter in Acts reminds us that Jesus “… went about doing good and healing all those oppressed ….”   We are called to do the same.

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:

• When have your experienced the cycle of death & resurrection in your own ministry?