Monday of Week 8 of Ordinary Time – First Reading
Commentary on 1 Peter 1:3-9
Today we begin readings from the First Letter of Peter. According to the St Joseph’s Weekday Missal:
“This letter was most likely written…about 64 AD and sets forth the nature of the Christian life begun in baptism as an experience of regeneration. By their acceptance of Christianity, the Christian communities of Asia Minor had become separated from their pagan countrymen, who were abusing and persecuting them. The apostle instructs his readers that Christianity is the true religion in spite of their trials and sufferings and exhorts them to lead good Christian lives.”
The first three verses of the chapter are not included in the reading, but in them the writer tells us to whom the letter is being addressed. They include five Roman provinces in Asia Minor and cover most of what is modern Turkey – Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
The letter begins in the usual way with a kind of prayer which is full of hope. In fact, an aura of hope suffuses this whole letter. In spite of the frequent suffering and persecution mentioned in the letter, hope is such a key thought in it (the word ‘hope’ itself is used here and in 1:13,21 and 3:5,15) that it may be called a letter of hope in the midst of suffering. Christian hope is not just wishful thinking; it is an utter conviction of what is going to be realised. Here there is a guarantee of “an inheritance that is imperishable” to which all can look forward with faith and confidence. The basis of that hope is the resurrection of Jesus, who passed through such terrible suffering and death to life. Our faith tells us that we can go the same way with him.
This hope leads to the enjoyment of an inheritance, an inheritance that is eternal, one that is being kept in store for us by God. And we are being made safe, first, by the power of God and, second, by our faith, our total trust and commitment to God. And this guarantees our salvation, which can be seen in three phases: 1) the salvation that comes when we first believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour; 2) the continuing process of salvation as we grow in holiness and wholeness; and 3) our ultimately being united face to face with our God and Lord in glory.
In spite of the many trials and tribulations that the Christians are passing through, the writer assures them that there is cause for rejoicing. Such trials test their faith like gold being purified in fire and will make them even more ready to welcome Christ when he comes:
…so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
As precious metals are purified by fire, so our faith is strengthened by the trials we experience in our living it out. Experience has shown again and again that persecution has been a strong reinforcer of faith in Christians. Jesus foretold that his followers would constantly face resistance, contempt and persecution. These challenges to our faith are not something to be deliberately sought or provoked, but at the same time, our fortitude in facing them is one of the signs of our commitment to the Kingdom and the Way of the Gospel. The true believer makes contact with Jesus in every person and every experience they encounter.
Peter, who himself had a personal knowledge of Jesus, is presented here as praising the readers of the letter, who:
Although you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him…
It reminds one of the words of Jesus to Thomas after the resurrection:
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. (John 20:29)
Through our faith, we are in direct contact with Jesus. The true believer makes contact with Jesus in every person and every experience.
So, they have reason to “rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy” because they are achieving the goal of faith – and indeed the goal of life – their salvation. ‘Salvation’ means much more than ‘going to heaven’ after we die. It implies a restoration of our fragile and weak lives to complete wholeness, and in being totally reunited in joy and peace with him from whom we came – God our Creator. And it begins in this life on earth.
Joy and consolation should be the over-riding experience of the committed follower of Jesus. This joy and consolation is not taken away by our experience of hardships, testings and disappointments in our lives…quite the contrary. If that joy is not the deeper part of our Christian experience, then we need to look further for the cause.
Read more
Divine Mercy Sunday (Year A)
Commentary on Acts 2:42-47; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31
On this Divine Mercy Sunday—the first Sunday after the celebration of Easter—the emphasis is on faith in the presence and power of the living Jesus in our midst. About Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope John Paul II stated:
It is a time where we are blessed with divine mercy as it reaches us through the heart of Christ crucified.
The Risen Jesus now lives on in the community which believes in him. The Apostles are endowed with the same powers that Jesus had during his life here on earth:
Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
The work of Jesus continues
The First Reading tells us how the community of disciples lived:
Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
People came crowding in from the towns round about Jerusalem, bringing with them their sick and those tormented by unclean spirits—and all of them were cured. This is the living testimony that Jesus is active and continues his saving and whole-making work among us for the disciples do these works—not in their own name, but in the name of Jesus their Lord.
The Second Reading shows the power of the Apostles’ faith as they proclaim the message of Jesus as Saviour and invite people to join their company. As we will learn from readings later this week, we know that many indeed did come. But there is also this telling phrase:
None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem. (Acts 5:13)
Perhaps this is a hint of the counter-witness of the early Christians when they were already being regarded with suspicion by the religious and civil authorities and when it was becoming dangerous to be identified with them? They were a group to be admired, but from a safe distance. It is yet another sign that the early followers were likely to share the same fate as Jesus himself.
Mixed reactions—to be expected
Things have not changed greatly in our own time. For it is through the Christian community and its witness that people come to know of Jesus and are led to faith in his message of truth and life. It is a witness that rests on the shoulders of every single follower of Jesus and we do it not just by explicitly religious actions, but by the very pattern and impact of our daily lives. An impact that arouses both positive and negative responses.
However, the Gospel brings us back to an earlier stage when the disciples have not yet come to the full realisation that Jesus, whom they saw crucified, dead and buried, is now risen and alive. As the Gospel opens we see them huddled together in that room with the doors firmly locked “for fear of the Jews.” At any moment they dreaded the arrival of the police to arrest them as accomplices of the dangerous subversive who had been executed on Golgotha the previous Friday.
Peace instead of fear
And then, all of a sudden, the Jesus they presumed dead is standing among them. He says:
Peace be with you.
The greeting can be taken as a blessing, echoing the ordinary Jewish greeting, Shalom. Or it can be taken as a statement of fact—his presence among them brings deep inner peace. It is the same peace that comes when Jesus calms the surrounding storms in the Gospel stories. And there is also for them an unutterable joy when they see the Lord (‘Lord’ is the title for the Risen Jesus).
But it is not just to be a happy reunion. There is work to be done, the work that Jesus began and which they are to continue.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.
They are being given a mission. The word ‘mission’ comes from the Latin word ‘to send’ (mittere). All followers of Jesus have a mission and are missionaries.
Passing on his Spirit
He breathed on them, saying:
Receive the Holy Spirit.
In John’s Gospel, this is the Pentecost experience when the Holy Spirit comes down on the disciples. In Luke’s Acts, Pentecost takes place 50 days after the resurrection; for John it takes place on Easter Day. This apparent discrepancy makes no difference—the meaning is the same.
What Jesus does is reminiscent of the Creation story when God ‘breathed’ over the waters and brought life and order into the chaos. He ‘breathed’ again and Adam, the human being made into the image of God, came to life. Now, Jesus ‘breathes’ the Spirit of his Way, of his Truth and Life, making the disciples (in Paul’s term) “new human beings,” full of the Spirit of the Father and Jesus.
The meaning of forgiveness
The very empowering authority of Jesus is transferred to them:
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
When they act together in the name of Jesus, they have his authority. And, above all, their task is to ‘forgive sin’, that is, to bring about a deep reconciliation between people and God and among people themselves, to make all one in Him.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matt 5:9)
We are not just talking here about ‘confession’, instituting the Sacrament of Reconciliation, although its roots can be traced to this encounter. Forgiving sin is much more than a juridical act of declaring sins no longer held against someone. It involves the healing of wounds and division between God and people, and between people as brothers and sisters in one family based on truth, love and justice. That is the work of the Kingdom. That is the work of every Christian community and every member in it.
The doubter
But the story is not yet finished:
Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
Thomas stands for the sceptic in all of us, and says:
Unless I see …I will not believe.
In the Gospel story generally, Thomas comes across as a bit of a grump. He likes to criticise, to raise objections, to make difficulties, to call into question. He now wants convincing proof.
Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.
The following Sunday—the Sunday we are celebrating today—the doors are again closed. Perhaps now not out of fear, but as an indication of the way that the Risen Jesus now becomes present. Again, there is the reassuring greeting of ‘Peace’, and Thomas is directly addressed:
Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.
Extraordinary confession
There follows the greatest confession of faith in all of the Gospels as Thomas says:
My Lord and my God!
Thomas had been invited to touch the wounds, but he does not seem to have done so. And his cry of recognition is not based only on the evidence of his senses. He does not say, “Jesus, it’s you!”, but rather, “My Lord and my God!” It is, in fact, a profound act of faith in the reality and identity of the Person standing before him. And that is something he cannot see solely with his physical senses. Only the eyes of faith can lead him to so speak.
A further word of encouragement, though, is offered for those of us who have not had Thomas’ privileged experience:
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.
Of course, all belief in Jesus involves some element of seeing, of insight. But we have not had the experience of seeing and knowing the Jesus of his public life—Jesus before the crucifixion.
However, our faith enables us to see him in all the surroundings of our daily life, especially in those people who are filled with his Spirit and who bring him into our lives. And we also see and find him in all the sick, the weak, the oppressed, the poor around us who provide us with opportunities to know, love and show compassion for Jesus. We are even to see him in those who are hostile or who do harm to us, in the sense that we are challenged to be Christ for them in our unconditional love and concern for their well-being.
Breaking down barriers
To see and know Jesus in our lives is, at the same time, to recognise where he comes to us, and then to be ready for the day-to-day opportunities when we can bring him into the lives of others. Above all, can we be true to the mission Jesus gave to his disciples to be instruments of reconciliation, to be peacemakers, breaking down walls of hatred, prejudice and fear? We do this by living lives of integrity, of love and compassion, of real justice for all. Whenever we do that, Easter is celebrated and Jesus is alive among us.