Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter (Acts 13:26-33; John 14:1-6) Before the disciples were called Christians, they were known as members of the Way.  It is no mysterious title as Jesus calls himself “the way” in today’s gospel. The way refers to the kind of life one must lead to be saved from the continual strife of this world.  Its fullness comes in the afterlife which many Jews in Jesus’ time believed existed.  The way conforms to faith in Jesus as God’s emissary and Son.  Faith, however, is always more than saying the right words.  It is sacrificing oneself in love ..read more

Feast of Saint Mark, evangelist (I Peter 5:5b-14; Mark 16:15-20) Today’s first reading was probably chosen because the passage cites a certain “Mark.” It was presumed for centuries that this Mark is the author of the third gospel.  But it could have been chosen because of its first line: “clothe yourselves with humility.”  After all, Mark’s is seen as the humblest of the four canonical gospels. The gospel’s size is only about two-thirds that of Luke’s, the longest gospel.  It was also the first written and contains some inaccuracies and crudeness of composition.  Neverthele ..read more

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter (Acts 12:24-13:5a; John 12: 44-50) Physician-assisted suicide looms as a major issue today.  Modernity has been able to extend life, but as people age, they become more helpless.  Rather than giving costly care, some societies have chosen to assist those with terminal illness and irreversible insanity to end their lives. The practice conflicts with Jesus’ word.  He begs his disciples to offer one another sacrificial love.  He demonstrated what this meant when he washed their dirty feet.  Certainly this would include caring for the ..read more

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter (Acts 11:19-26; John 12:22-30) In today’s first reading St. Luke, the author, states that at Antioch the disciples of Jesus were first called “Christians.” The name must have taken hold quickly and universally.  Luke probably wrote his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles in the eighties of the first century.  His matter-of-fact way of saying that Jesus’ followers Jesus were “Christians” indicates that it was a popular movement in Middle Eastern religion. The term “Christ” comes from the Greek word meaning anointing. As Jesus says on his visit to N ..read more

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter (Acts 11:1-18; John 10:1-10) “Growing pains” occasionally affect children in their sleep.  They cause some to wake up in the night with discomfort in their legs.  Since researchers have not found an underlying cause for these pains, they are named for growth, a phenomenon associated with children.  In the first reading we find the early Church afflicted with its “growing pains.” One of the great issues for the Church in its first decades is whether to accept non-Jews into its fold.  Non-Jews are not gentiles who become Jews through circum ..read more

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (Acts 4:8-12; I John 3:1-2; John 10:11-18) As always, today’s mass readings are interesting. I say “always” because they are the “word of God” that instructs, comforts, and challenges us. All three readings have to do with names. In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles Peter says that the sick man was healed “in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.” The gospel reports that Jesus gives himself the name of “Good Shepherd.” In the second reading the priest John calls himself and the community he tends “sons of God.” It is worth investigating the relevance of these names to ..read more

Friday of the Third Week of Easter (Acts 9:1-20; John 6:52-59) For over fifty years dialysis has extended the lives of countless patients with compromised kidneys.  Like the kidneys, dialysis purifies the blood of contaminants that would bring about death if unchecked.  The gospel reading today tells how the Flesh and Blood of the Eucharist similarly extends the spiritual lives of Christians. The matter has always been controversial as the opening phrase indicates: “The Jew quarreled among themselves…” The Reformed Church split with the Catholic Church largely over this issue in the ..read more

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter (Acts 8:26-40; John 6:44-51) Humans often take signs very seriously.  If you cross a red light in front of the police, you will pay dearly. The sign of Baptism should carry such weight.  It is more than an indication of the soul being cleansed from sin.  Like with the exchange of marriage vows, it indicates that the baptized has committed him or herself to God.  St. Paul described the dynamic of Baptism as dying and rising with Christ to a new life of grace. In the reading from Acts the Ethiopian could not become Christian without underg ..read more

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter (Acts 8:1b-8; John 6:35-40) People sometimes call a subject worth pondering “food for thought.” Jesus presents his teaching in today’s gospel in this way.  His words are not only worth pondering but, even more cogently, bid one’s following. This is the first part of the great “Eucharistic Discourse” of John’s gospel.  In the second part Jesus’ references to the “Bread of Life” will reveal him as Eucharistic food. The two – wisdom and food – are meant to complement one another.  As the Word of God in the first part of the Mass gives perspecti ..read more

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter (Acts 7:51-8:1a; John 6:30-35) In today’s gospel Jesus makes one of his “I am” statements.  As God revealed His name to Moses as “I am who am,” Jesus reveals himself here as God who nourishes His people for eternal life. Jesus calls himself “the bread of God.” By this he means more than the Eucharistic food.  He is speaking of himself as the word of God that instructs, comforts, and chastises if necessary so that the people follow his righteous ways.  The words of Second Isaiah are at the front of his mind: “For just as from the heavens the ra ..read more