Texts taken from the missal “On Your Word” May-June 2025
4th Sunday of Easter (C)
4th week, alternate cycle
FIRST READING
From the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 13:14, 43-52)
In those days, Paul and Barnabas, continuing on from Perga, arrived at Antioch in Pisidia and, entering the synagogue on the Sabbath day, sat down. Many Jews and God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, and they spoke with them, trying to persuade them to persevere in the grace of God. The following Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When they saw the crowd, the Jews were filled with jealousy and contradicted Paul’s statements with insults. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly: “It was necessary that the word of God be proclaimed to you first, but since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, behold: we are turning to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have appointed you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” On hearing this, the Gentiles rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were destined for eternal life came to believe. The word of the Lord spread throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and they stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. – The word of God.
Commentary on the first reading
Israel is the people of God, but the prophets (especially Isaiah and Jeremiah) had repeatedly announced that salvation was for all peoples, not only for the small kingdom of the Israelites. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19), says the Lord Jesus. And in Antioch of Pisidia the pagans welcomed Paul and Barnabas very warmly. “Almost the whole city gathered,” says today’s text. A resounding success. Their enthusiasm was such that, when they heard that the two apostles would address only them and no longer the Jews, they rejoiced and opened themselves to the true faith. Believing in Christ means breathing fresh air: freedom, victory, light and peace. This was exactly what the pagans needed. The Jews, bent down and consumed by jealousy, plotted in the darkness in small numbers and involved a few people, but powerful ones, who brought their influence to bear and succeeded in having the apostles driven out of their territory. But what does it matter? The seed had been planted and had taken root. Envious jealousy brings death; the freedom of the children of God gives rise to life.
SECOND READING
From the Book of Revelation of Saint John the Apostle (Rv 7:9, 14b-17)
I, John, saw: behold, an immense multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were all standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and holding palm branches in their hands. Then one of the elders said: “These are the ones who have come through the great tribulation and have washed their robes, making them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they stand before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and the One who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. They shall hunger no more, nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat, because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd and will guide them to springs of the waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” – The word of God.
Commentary on the Second Reading
In the eternal kingdom of the blessed, the martyrs receive the reward for their faithfulness and enjoy a very special presence of the Lord Jesus. The martyrs resemble him, because Jesus, let us never forget, died a martyr. They wear white robes, not red ones, because they have been washed in the blood of Christ. What a wondrous image! Imagine a laundress dipping a cloth into a basin full of blood and then bringing out an utterly white robe from the wash! That is what really happens: the martyr enters into Christ's sacrifice, and Christ somehow “suffers” in the person who is dying and purifies him through his own death on the cross. The martyr resembles Jesus in a striking way. But there is not only the bloody martyrdom of the classic martyrs: they are an “immense multitude” because there are also the witnesses (“martyr” means witness) of the faith, who suffer mistreatment and humiliation because of the name of Jesus. All are washed in the blood of the Lamb, and this is great news for us, because this form of martyrdom is our daily bread. Blessed are we!
GOSPEL
From the Gospel according to John (Jn 10:27-30)
At that time, Jesus said: "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." - The word of the Lord.
Commentary on the Gospel
In today's Gospel, we learn that we are in the Father's hands. Did you know that? Of course, the condition is that we listen to Christ's voice and put his words into practice. Those who are faithful to Jesus, the one true Shepherd, and to the Church are safe because their roots are planted in a rock that has stood for a thousand years. But there is more: Jesus, the true good shepherd, places us safely in the hands of the eternal Father and leaves us there, blessed because we are safe and protected from every snare. Let us try for a moment to think about and realize this with an act of faith: Jesus has placed me in the Father's hands... let us repeat it slowly and believe it firmly. Certainly, we are sinners, but Jesus came to free us from sin, and every act of human conversion is a leap from the earth into God's arms. We are "within" the Most Holy Trinity, and this is an unfathomable mystery. Let us feel ourselves "within" God, let us allow ourselves to be covered by God, let us invoke God's name, and the world will lose its power of seduction. There is the mystery of evil in the world, but there is also the mystery of good. Good comes before evil and surpasses it, because God is love. "Love needs nothing," Marthe Robin wrote, "except not to encounter resistance."
