08 June 2019. Saturday of Week 7 of Easter

(or Vigil Mass of Pentecost: Genesis 11:1-9, or Ezekiel 47:1-14. Romans 8:22-27. John 7:37-39)

1st Reading: Acts 28:16-20, 30-31

Paul is imprisoned in Rome, for two years, awaiting trial

When we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him. Three days later he called together the local leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, yet I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. When they had examined me, the Romans wanted to release me, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to the emperor–even though I had no charge to bring against my nation. For this reason therefore I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is for the sake of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.” They replied, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken anything evil about you. But we would like to hear from you what you think, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.”
After they had set a day to meet with him, they came to him at his lodgings in great numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. Some were convinced by what he had said, while others refused to believe. So they disagreed with each other; and as they were leaving, Paul made one further statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah,
“Go to this people and say, You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn–and I would heal them.” Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”
He lived there two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

Responsorial: Psalm 103: 1-2, 24, 27-30, 35

Response: Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.

Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory,
wrapped in light as in a robe! (R./)
How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your riches.
Bless the Lord, my soul. (R./)
All of these look to you
to give them their food in due season.
You give it, they gather it up:
you open your hand, they have their fill. (R./)
You take back your spirit, they die,
returning to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the earth. (R./)

Gospel: John 21:20-25

John’s Gospel is incomplete: the world could not contain all that could said about Jesus

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

Journey’s end

The readings today are the final words of both the Acts and of John’s gospel. Acts completes Saint Luke’s theological purpose, which extended from book one (Gospel) into book two (Acts). In his Gospel Luke moves from late Old Testament Jerusalem (chs. 1-2) via the Jordan River and John the Baptist (ch. 3) and Jesus’ ministry of preaching and healing, to complete the circle back in Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified and glorified and where the disciples are again in the temple, praising God (Chs. 22-24). A major section of Luke’s gospel is the Journey Narrative (chapters 9-19, which sets Jesus’ entire ministry as a “going up” to Jerusalem, on his way toward the cross and glorification. Then the Acts begins in Jerusalem and its central section (chs. 13-28) reports Paul’s “Journey Narrative,” his travels through the Greek speaking world, founding churches and bringing people into the Christian community. All of Paul’s activity leads up to Rome, where Israel’s cherished hope now triumphs through the worldwide spread of the faith. Rome, then, is the new Jerusalem where the disciples praise the Lord.
The “Journey” theme of Luke and Acts must go on in our lives. Every experience, easy or difficult, is bringing us toward the new “Jerusalem,” or new “Rome” that is our destiny. Here we can praise God for his grace in our lives. Both the Gospel and Acts declare that all of life is part of a meaningful journey. There are stages of joy and of effort. There is the need for resting and recouping strength, such as we find in the gospel and in Acts. Jesus enables us to turn each experience, of whatever kind, into a stage of our journey toward our destination, the heavenly Jerusalem.
“Wait until I come,” he said. But spiritually, Jesus comes to us again and again. Our prayer now is a foretaste of heavenly joy. What Paul said to his Jewish visitors in Rome, he says to us: we too share the hope of Israel, as fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus at Jerusalem.

Comparing ourselve with others

Three characters feature, Jesus, Peter and the Beloved Disciple. Jesus had just given Peter an important role, “Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.” Instead of asking what this might mean, Peter starts to wonder about future of the Beloved Disciple, “What about him, Lord?” The Lord seems to say, “Look I have other plans for him. You follow me, doing the work I have given you.”
Peter and the Beloved Disciple had different roles to play. Peter’s great ministry ended with his martyrdom in Rome, in the first persecution under emperor Nero. The Beloved Disciple produced the fourth gospel and seems to have lived to an old age, in Ephesus or on the island of Patmos. The Lord has different roles for all of us. God has something for each of us to do that nobody else can do. Rather than wondering what God wants from others, like Peter, we need to discern the particular calling the Lord has given to us personally. Comparing with someone else is not the way forward; we can only be ourselves. The Lord whas a unique role in mind for each of us.