Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal May-June 2022

6th Sunday of Easter (C)
2nd week of the psalter

FIRST READING

From the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 15:1-2, 22-29)
In those days, some people who had come down from Judea were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Since Paul and Barnabas disagreed and engaged in a heated debate with them, it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and some others from their group should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this question. Then the apostles and elders, together with the whole Church, decided to choose some of their number and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas, men of great authority among the brothers. They sent them with this letter: “The apostles and elders, your brothers, to the brothers of Gentile origin in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: greetings! We have heard that some of our number, to whom we gave no instructions, have come to trouble you with words that have upset your minds. We have therefore unanimously decided to choose representatives and send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will convey these same things to you by word of mouth. It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to impose on you any burden beyond these necessities: to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from unlawful unions. You will do well to keep yourselves from these things. Farewell!” The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

During the Easter season, the first reading usually presents passages from the Acts of the Apostles. This is because they recount events concerning the birth of the Church, the fruit and result of the Lord’s resurrection. Today’s passage presents a crucial moment in the life of the early Church. Initially, its members were converted Jews, but then Gentiles also joined them. For a while, the two groups lived together without conflict, but at a certain point a problem arose. Some Christians from the Pharisee group believed that circumcision according to the law of Moses was necessary for salvation. The outcome of the assembly in Jerusalem is clear: no burden that is not strictly necessary should be imposed on anyone who wishes to enter the Church. This is guidance we must also keep in mind today. Those who approach the faith should not be asked to do anything that is not strictly indispensable to it, lest we close the doors that God opens. We must not allow ourselves to be imprisoned by our patterns and habits; rather, we must be willing to welcome the newness of God’s work.

SECOND READING

From the Book of Revelation of Saint John the Apostle (Rev 21:10-14, 22-23)
The angel carried me away in the spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, radiant with the glory of God. Its splendor was like that of a very precious gem, like crystal-clear jasper. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates: at the gates were twelve angels, and names were written on them, the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Three gates faced east, three north, three south, and three west. The city wall rested on twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. I saw no temple in it, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

The sacred writer describes the coming of the heavenly Jerusalem upon the earth. It represents the place where the eternal covenant between God and redeemed humanity is celebrated, intimately bound to Jesus Christ, as the bride of the Lamb. The symbols describe the beauty and strength of this city, which is not built by human hands but is God’s gift. Note one detail: this passage says that there is no temple in the city. The temple, a sacred space where one encounters the Lord, is no longer necessary, because it gives way to the immediacy of the presence of God and the Lamb, the symbol by which Revelation always alludes to the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. God and the Lamb are its temple and its light. In the heavenly Jerusalem there is no longer any need for mediation, because those who dwell there live with God in a full and definitive communion: sacred spaces and profane spheres no longer exist. With Jesus’ resurrection, light burst into history; through him it became sacred, filled with the fragrance of his salvation.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John (Jn 14:23-29)
At that time, Jesus said [to his disciples]: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. I have told you these things while I am still with you. But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have told you. I leave you peace; I give you my peace. Not as the world gives it do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. I have told you this now, before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.” The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

Those who love Jesus and live out, that is, fully realize, his words become a temple in which God dwells. By dwelling in him and in his love, we are certain that we are already in communion with the Father, even during our time of pilgrimage. What enables us to remain in the Word is the gift of the Holy Spirit, who teaches us everything by reminding us of all that the Lord Jesus has told us. This mystery of the indwelling of the Trinity in every believer is truly consoling and a source of great peace. From the day of our Baptism, there is a space within us where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwell. God is so good and great in love that he does not want to remain far from any of us, from any heart. But how can we allow the Trinity to “make its dwelling with us” permanently? Jesus says that this is possible to the extent that we listen to and put his word and his will into practice. This is, in fact, the concrete way in which we show that we love him, and it is precisely this “embodied” love that makes the miracle of the Beloved’s presence in the one who loves possible. Even along the journey, you can anticipate a taste of what awaits you: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwell in you.