Comments on the Sunday Readings--The Second Week of Easter
Christ is truly Risen alleluia!
1st Reading--Acts of the Apostles 4:32-35
Shortly after the Birth of the Church Peter (the first pope, and the one entrusted with the "keys of the Kingdom, Matt 16), begins to preach the gospel message. Here his message is simply Christ, the prophesied Messiah, Crucified and Risen according to the scriptures. We can read about this preaching in the first few chapters of Acts, here we are told that the Church was supernaturally united together "of one heart and of one mind." In addition, all possession were held in common, there was no sense of personal ownership or selfishness related to this type of ownership, but all belong to all. Is St. Luke, the author of The Acts of the Apostles trying to tell us that the first Church was communistic in its Character? Not quite, It was far from communist and far from capitalistic. There was a sharing in the Church which almost seems irrational in our modern society due to our strong sense of personal ownership. virtually all of our laws are attached to this sense of ownership and posses ion. In the early Church this was not so, St. Paul in His letters expresses this concept in a number of ways, "You are not your own (1 Cor. 3-6) and your citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3). Because all things in this world were passing away (Rom. 8) there was no need to be overly concerned with the things of this world and, they therefore could be generously shared.
Interestingly all this generosity was placed at the feet of the apostles, and then it was distributed according to need. Ironically people will complain about the Church saying that the church is too rich or that it has too much money. Such anti-catholic propaganda is far from the truth....The Catholic Church, which teaches the fullness of the faith, is most likely per capita the poorest of all the churches in the world. Most of its works of Charity hardy receive notice, from hospitals, to employment training, to emergency aid etc.
The generosity of the the early church testifies to a great desire for the return of Christ. The Church desired one thing, and their generosity expressed it: Maranatha- come Lord! When we are generously we testify to the same desire, that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven and that His kingdom be established in all its fullness.
Responsorial Psalm-Psalm 118--The Church sees the person of Church throughout this Psalm, especially in the words that read"The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. By the Lord this has been done and it is marvelous in our eyes." We know and celebrate that this stone is Christ and the the marvel in our eyes is that He is the Risen Savior of the world. The "Joyful shout if victory in the tents of the just" can be attributed to His Resurrection. what could me more Joyful than to personally know the Resurrected Christ? To live the fullness of the faith is to personally know the resurrected Christ. This knowing of Christ is expressed in a special was when we receive the Eucharist, the Body and blood of Christ. My advice to you is to read this Psalm often and spend some time meditating on its meaning.
2nd Reading 1 John 5:1-6
Have you been begotten by God....in other words, are you his child? Well, the answer is a simple "yes" if you believe that Jesus is the Christ. John goes on to explain that this believe is more than a simple intellectual belief, but is is that type that must more the heart and the mind to act in such a way the one's whole life is entrusted to our Lord. Hence, One who believes that will will keep the commandments of God and these commandments will not be burdensome. One of the major problems with our world today is that people find the commandments of God a burden. this is especially true in the areas of teachings on Marriage, contraception, abortion, prayer, holiness, greed etc. As the teaching of faith are challenge by our society, more and more organization will criticize the Church and declare its teachings to be a burden. They will make you feel like you are a looser simply because you are catholic and you will not concede to the thinking of the world. On the contrary! John tells us that this is a victory! It conquers the world because it will not concede to the immoral and faithless demands of our society. For us who believe, the victory has already been won, we have only to proclaim it and to live it.
Finally, John talk about the one who has come through water and blood and that this is a testimony of the Spirit. Here he is alluding to the the two great sacraments of the Church: Baptism and the Eucharist. Numerous fathers of the early Church tell is that the water and blood that flowed from the side of Christ call our attention to these great sacraments. Two sacraments that we must not only receive, but the very gift that we receive, we also must live.
1st Reading--Acts of the Apostles 4:32-35
Shortly after the Birth of the Church Peter (the first pope, and the one entrusted with the "keys of the Kingdom, Matt 16), begins to preach the gospel message. Here his message is simply Christ, the prophesied Messiah, Crucified and Risen according to the scriptures. We can read about this preaching in the first few chapters of Acts, here we are told that the Church was supernaturally united together "of one heart and of one mind." In addition, all possession were held in common, there was no sense of personal ownership or selfishness related to this type of ownership, but all belong to all. Is St. Luke, the author of The Acts of the Apostles trying to tell us that the first Church was communistic in its Character? Not quite, It was far from communist and far from capitalistic. There was a sharing in the Church which almost seems irrational in our modern society due to our strong sense of personal ownership. virtually all of our laws are attached to this sense of ownership and posses ion. In the early Church this was not so, St. Paul in His letters expresses this concept in a number of ways, "You are not your own (1 Cor. 3-6) and your citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3). Because all things in this world were passing away (Rom. 8) there was no need to be overly concerned with the things of this world and, they therefore could be generously shared.
Interestingly all this generosity was placed at the feet of the apostles, and then it was distributed according to need. Ironically people will complain about the Church saying that the church is too rich or that it has too much money. Such anti-catholic propaganda is far from the truth....The Catholic Church, which teaches the fullness of the faith, is most likely per capita the poorest of all the churches in the world. Most of its works of Charity hardy receive notice, from hospitals, to employment training, to emergency aid etc.
The generosity of the the early church testifies to a great desire for the return of Christ. The Church desired one thing, and their generosity expressed it: Maranatha- come Lord! When we are generously we testify to the same desire, that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven and that His kingdom be established in all its fullness.
Responsorial Psalm-Psalm 118--The Church sees the person of Church throughout this Psalm, especially in the words that read"The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. By the Lord this has been done and it is marvelous in our eyes." We know and celebrate that this stone is Christ and the the marvel in our eyes is that He is the Risen Savior of the world. The "Joyful shout if victory in the tents of the just" can be attributed to His Resurrection. what could me more Joyful than to personally know the Resurrected Christ? To live the fullness of the faith is to personally know the resurrected Christ. This knowing of Christ is expressed in a special was when we receive the Eucharist, the Body and blood of Christ. My advice to you is to read this Psalm often and spend some time meditating on its meaning.
2nd Reading 1 John 5:1-6
Have you been begotten by God....in other words, are you his child? Well, the answer is a simple "yes" if you believe that Jesus is the Christ. John goes on to explain that this believe is more than a simple intellectual belief, but is is that type that must more the heart and the mind to act in such a way the one's whole life is entrusted to our Lord. Hence, One who believes that will will keep the commandments of God and these commandments will not be burdensome. One of the major problems with our world today is that people find the commandments of God a burden. this is especially true in the areas of teachings on Marriage, contraception, abortion, prayer, holiness, greed etc. As the teaching of faith are challenge by our society, more and more organization will criticize the Church and declare its teachings to be a burden. They will make you feel like you are a looser simply because you are catholic and you will not concede to the thinking of the world. On the contrary! John tells us that this is a victory! It conquers the world because it will not concede to the immoral and faithless demands of our society. For us who believe, the victory has already been won, we have only to proclaim it and to live it.
Finally, John talk about the one who has come through water and blood and that this is a testimony of the Spirit. Here he is alluding to the the two great sacraments of the Church: Baptism and the Eucharist. Numerous fathers of the early Church tell is that the water and blood that flowed from the side of Christ call our attention to these great sacraments. Two sacraments that we must not only receive, but the very gift that we receive, we also must live.
Labels: homily
posted by CFS at
10:13 AM
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