[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: April 14, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: May your people exult for ever, O God, in renewed youthfulness of spirit, so that, rejoicing now in the restored glory of our adoption, we may look forward in confident hope to the rejoicing of the day of resurrection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

• Cool Sunday Dinner Sample Menu

ACTIVITIES

• Easter Prayer Practices
• Rejoice, O Rejoice, Heavenly Queen

PRAYERS

• Easter Season II Table Blessing 3
• Prayers for the Easter Season

Easter: April 14th

Third Sunday of Easter

Old Calendar: Second Sunday after Easter

"When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus." For the third time Jesus appears to His disciples and on the lake of Genesareth renews the miraculous draught of fishes. The Fathers did not fail to see in the one hundred and fifty-three great fishes that Peter brought to land the neophytes born to supernatural life in the waters of baptism and brought by Peter to the feet of the risen Christ.

Click here for commentary on the readings in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

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Sunday Readings
The first reading is taken from the Acts of the Apostles, 5:27-32, 40b-41. The Apostles' failure to obey the Sanhedrin is obviously not due to pride or to their not knowing their place; the Sanhedrin is imposing a ruling which would have them go against God's law and their own conscience.

The second reading is from the Book of Revelation, 5:11-14. The host of angels around the throne act as a kind of guard of honor proclaiming the sublime perfection of Christ the Lamb; they list seven attributes which all point to the fact that he has everything that belongs to the Godhead.

The Gospel is from St. John, 21:1-19, The primary purpose in recounting this appearance of the Risen Christ to his Apostles, was to stress the actual conferring of the Primacy on Peter. From this very first meeting with Christ at the Jordan (Jn. 1:42) the Savior had told him that his name Simon bar-Jonah would be changed to Cephas, which means Rock. Some year or so later, at Caesarea Philippi, this change took place when Christ said to Simon, "You are (Peter) Rock. and upon this Rock I will build my Church . . . and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 16:18-19).

This promise, that Simon would be the foundation, the source of strength and unity, in the new Christian community, was made factual on the occasion described here by John. Christ uses a new metaphor—Simon (Peter) is to be the new shepherd—he would take the place of Christ, as head and director of the Christian flock. He would provide protection and pasturage for Christ's sheep and lambs. He would, in other words, be the keeper and head of Christ's Church.

That this position of authority was recognized by his fellow Apostles and by the first Christians, is evident in almost every page of the Acts—the book which describes the infant Church. It was Peter who presided at the election of Matthias, who succeeded Judas in the apostolic college (Acts 1:15-26): he gave the first Christian sermon after the descent of the Holy Spirit (2: 14-40); he worked the first recorded miracle wrought by any Apostle (3:1-11); he pronounced sentence on Ananiah and Sapphira (5:1-11); it was he who received the first Gentile convert into the Church (11:1-18) and it was he who defended Paul's action at the Council of Jerusalem (15:6-11).

In face of such evidence no serious historian can doubt but that the other Apostles and the first Christians saw in Peter the living head of the Church, the representative of Christ. The Church in the succeeding generations and centuries saw the successor of Peter, and the living representative of Christ in the occupant of the See of Rome, the bishopric held by Peter, when he was martyred for the faith. History is witness to this.

There were Christians who refused obedience to him, but not one of them claimed for himself the privilege of Peter and his successors. That the Church, the society founded by Christ to bring salvation to the world, should need a visible Head on earth, needs no further (and has not stronger) proof than that Christ himself saw it as necessary and arranged it accordingly. The power of the keys, given to Peter, were more necessary in the second and succeeding generations than in Peter's day, when the other Apostles were still alive. When Christ laid the foundation of his Church on a Rock. it was to be a Rock that would last as long as the Church. Peter died, but Peter's office will last until the last man goes to heaven. The Sheep and the Lambs of the twentieth and thirtieth centuries have as much need of pasturage and protection as, if not more than, those of the first century. Christ, our Savior and our Good Shepherd, provided for all time.

Excepted from The Sunday Readings, Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Acts 5:27-32, 40-41

 3rd Sunday of Easter

We must obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:29)

Is this the same Peter who had denied that he even knew Jesus? Doesn’t it take years—if ever—for us to overcome our fears? Let’s take a look at what happened in Peter to bring about such a transformation.

Spiritual transformation is usually connected to the grace of repentance. Luke tells us that just after Peter denied knowing Jesus three times, “the Lord turned and looked” at him. That look must have broken Peter’s heart, because it moved him to “weep bitterly” (Luke 22:61, 62).

Jesus must have known that those tears would move Peter to repentance, because he told him at the Last Supper, “Once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32). He told Peter to use this experience to warn, comfort, and sustain the members of his Church.

In addition to the grace of repentance, Peter received the grace of the Holy Spirit—a grace to help him keep Jesus in the forefront of his mind long after Jesus had ascended into heaven. It was the Holy Spirit, living and active in his heart, who kept encouraging and helping him to stay faithful to the call to obey God, even if it meant disobeying the Jewish elders.

Here’s the good news: what happened to Peter can happen to us. We can be transformed! When we confess our sins, Jesus doesn’t just forgive us. He teaches us how to use our experience of his mercy to comfort and sustain the people around us. And at the same time, he gives us a greater outpouring of his Spirit so that we can find the strength and courage to remain faithful to the Lord and his calling on our lives.

Obeying God’s commands is meant to be a joy, not a burden. If we can learn to rely on God’s grace—both the grace of repentance and the grace of the Holy Spirit—we will be transformed as well.

“Come, Holy Spirit, and change my heart!”

Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19

 

Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion

1. In the first reading, we hear these words “So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name” (Acts (5:41). Why do you think the apostles were willing to suffer dishonor for Jesus? Would you be willing to suffer dishonor for Him, because you are a Catholic Christian? Why or why not?

2. In the Responsorial Psalm, the psalmist expresses his total confidence and faith that no matter what happens to him, the Lord will be with him and rescue him. His response to this is rejoicing, praise, and thanksgiving? How does your confidence in the Lord’s protection over your life (and your family) compare to the psalmist? What steps can you take to increase your own confidence and faith in the Lord? Can you share any examples of when the Lord rescued you from a difficult situation? What was your response to it?

3. The second reading gives us a glimpse of the celebration of praise and worship that goes on in Heaven. What is your reaction to this scene in Heaven? What do you think is the basis for this celebration? In what ways can we as Catholics share in this heavenly celebration?

4. In the Gospel reading, what do you think was Jesus’ reasons for his questions to Peter? Why the same question three times? Why do you think Peter seemed to be so uncomfortable with Jesus’ questions?

5. If Jesus were to ask you the same question he asked Peter, “Do you love me?”—what would be your action and why?

6. The meditation ends with these words, “Obeying God’s commands is meant to be a joy, not a burden. If we can learn to rely on God’s grace—both the grace of repentance and the grace of the Holy Spirit—we will be transformed as well.” In what ways have you experienced the grace of repentance and the grace of the Holy Spirit? How would you describe the impact it has had on how you live out your Christian walk?

7. Take some time now to pray and ask the Lord Jesus to transform you more and into his image and likeness. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as a starting point.