Texts taken from the Missalette “On Your Word” May-June 2023

5th Sunday of Easter (A)
1st week of the Psalter

FIRST READING

From the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 6:1-7)
In those days, as the number of disciples was increasing, the Greek-speaking believers complained against the Hebrew-speaking believers because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. Then the Twelve summoned the community of the disciples and said: “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at tables. Therefore, brothers, choose from among yourselves seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, to whom we will entrust this responsibility. We, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.” This proposal pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert of Antioch. They presented them to the apostles and, after praying, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly; a large group of priests also became obedient to the faith. – The word of God.

Commentary on the First Reading

“We, for our part, will devote ourselves…”. This sentence of the Twelve is very important because it outlines the task to which the apostles feel called. It marks the beginning of the organization of the Church and the distribution of tasks and duties. The apostles understand that they must reserve all their energy for prayer and preaching. Since today’s bishops are their successors, we should believe that they too must apply themselves above all to prayer (dialogue with God) and preaching (dialogue with the people of God). We too have our own task in the Church. The Spirit tells us that it is not true that everyone must do everything. And the forms of service are extremely varied: from practical and material support for God’s ministers to services within parishes or religious orders, from prayer to offering one’s own sufferings for the good of the parish itself or the religious family to which one belongs. Yes, sick people too can and must “devote themselves,” placing their physical or moral suffering on the altar of their hearts… No life is useless in the Church.

SECOND READING

From the first letter of Saint Peter the Apostle (1 Peter 2:4-9)
Beloved, as you come to the Lord, a living stone rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, you too, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it says in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in it will not be put to shame.” Honor, then, belongs to you who believe; but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and a stumbling block, a stone that causes them to fall. They stumble because they disobey the Word. This is the fate destined for them. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people whom God has acquired for himself, so that you may proclaim the mighty works of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. – The word of God. 

Commentary on the Second Reading

Peter reserves sublime words for the ordinary people of the baptized, that is, for us. First he states that, together, we form a palace, like individual stones placed one upon another, built on the cornerstone, which is Christ. Then he “expands” on this and says that we are (because it is precisely to us that he is speaking) a “chosen race,” that is, called to live the divine life; we are a “royal priesthood,” because Baptism has made us all priests, to offer God the fruit of our labor and all of creation; we are “a people whom God has acquired for himself,” not through a commercial transaction, but by paying with the precious Blood of Christ and his divine sacrifice. One might say: but this is too much! We would be content simply to be good people and say a few prayers. No, God wants much more, because he has given us everything and because Christianity is a story of passionate love. Let us realize who we are; let us throw ourselves in faith into that “wonderful light” that envelops our souls, which God freely pours into us at Mass. Paraphrasing Saint John Paul II, let us say: “Christian, become what you are!”

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John (John 14:1-12)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God and believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And when I have gone and prepared a place for you, I will come again and take you with me, so that where I am you also may be. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him: “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him: “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered him: “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.” – The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the Day

The roads to Paradise are laid out before us and the gates are open. It is not a matter of climbing a mountain, but simply of following Jesus, who declared that he is the way. Welcoming Jesus’ teachings and living the Gospel therefore already means being with him in Paradise, even if we do not yet have the definitive experience of it. He is also the truth of all things, so if we seek elsewhere, beyond Christ, we will find nothing. Jesus is life, and this means that without his love we are dead, truly dead. May people be able to see God in us! You must be, in the world, a revelation of God, “a scandal and folly,” to use the words of Saint Paul. God has entrusted the world to us, and the whole world must be permeated with light, transformed by the action of fire. It is not you, you must not be the one who acts, but he, the Lord, Jesus, who is omnipotence and love. We can perform “greater works” than those of Christ, today’s Gospel says, but it is Christ who performs them in us. Divo Barsotti writes, speaking of the Christian’s action: “Not earth or heaven, not suffering or joy, but a blaze of fire that burns everything in its path until nothing remains but fire.”