Year A

Jan 09 2025

Scripture Study for

In Acts, the gospel proclamation radiates from Jerusalem, eventually reaching Rome. Just previous to this passage, we read that persecution in Jerusalem has scattered the disciples “throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria” (8:1). Philip, one of the seven “deacons” chosen in last week’s reading, finds himself among the Samaritans, a people long estranged from Jews. His preaching of the Jewish Messiah, accompanied by healings and exorcisms, leads nevertheless to many being baptized. This might be considered something of a reconciliation between Jew and Samaritan, and therefore a sign of the kingdom of God. The effect of the baptisms is completed with the bestowal of the Holy Spirit through the ministry of the apostles.

The letter of Peter supports persecuted Christians in their struggle to remain faithful to Christ. Echoing one of the Beatitudes, the apostle reminds his audience that they are blessed who suffer because of righteousness (3:14). Righteousness means, among other things, responding to hostility as did Christ, the Lord of their hearts: with peace and gentleness. The animosity they face for being Christians constitutes a temptation to respond in kind, a temptation that should be resisted, lest they act with a bad conscience and do evil. Those who suffer for Christ can be strengthened by the reminder that he too suffered and although he died “in the flesh,” he now lives “in the Spirit.” His followers can expect the same.

The Last Supper discourse continues with Jesus’ promise of the Spirit. He has just assured the apostles that he will not abandon them but will return to take them to the Father (see last week’s Gospel). Now he promises them that in the meantime, he will send “another” Advocate, suggesting that the Spirit will do for them what Jesus did. And indeed the Spirit is a Spirit of truth, as Jesus himself is the truth (14:6). He then reverts to his promise to return, using language that emphasizes the mutual indwelling of Christ and his followers. It is on the basis of this indwelling that the followers are commanded to love Jesus, and thus be loved by the Father and by Jesus. To those who love, God the Father and the Son will be revealed.

Jan 08 2025

The Holy Spirit—The Tie That Binds

I was the chaplain on call for the day shift that day. A nurse called, “Please come!”

When I got to the seventh floor, by the nursing desk two men and a woman were shouting at each other. The room opposite was bursting with large people, arguing. I bent my head to the nurse, “What’s going on?” “Nine children. They’re fighting over their mother’s last wishes.” We got them calmed enough to pray together and be silent so they could focus on their dying mother. A few minutes later, with her last words, she pleaded quietly, “Children, please don’t fight.”

The deepest desire of a mother’s heart is for her children to flourish. Integral to that flourishing is her desire for them to get along and to care for each other. My grandma said to my dad and his six siblings, “Stay together.”

If this is how a mother feels, how much greater, then, are the desires of God’s heart? As we build in the next few weeks toward the empowerment of Pentecost, what are the Lord’s designs for our flourishing?

The Holy Spirit is the tie who binds a community together. When the early Christians bickered over who was getting enough food, the apostles were inspired to anoint the first deacons to serve. That way the church could be at peace and prosper.

Jesus prays that we all be one. The tension in today’s Gospel is that Jesus knows that he is about to go away. How are his followers to stay together? He wants them to flourish. They flourish best together. He is the Way. If they remain focused on him, they will stay together. They are about to be handed an important mission: to be Christ to the world. They need that focus. So do we.

Consider/Discuss

One of the most rewarding elements in the Christian life is to find out God’s vision and take it for our own. What is God’s dream for the world? What is your part in that grand vision?
Jesus says that he is “the Way.” He doesn’t say, “I am a nice idea.” In a world sometimes unconvinced, is the Christian message good for human flourishing? How does faithfully following Jesus matter?

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord, we put our hope in you. There is much that pulls us apart from each other. Your vision is for us to be together. We pray earnestly for you to heal our divisions, for you are our unfailing help. We commit ourselves to you again this day. Be our Way, our Truth, and our Life.

Jan 08 2025

Scripture Study for

The early Christian community comprised both Jews (Hebrews) and Gentiles (Graeco-Roman). Social divisions between them were not easily overcome, even in the care of the needy. The apparent neglect of the Gentile widows, whether intended or not, presents itself to the apostles as a practical problem that needs to be addressed structurally. They cannot take time from their particular ministry to make sure that everyone’s needs are met. Yet they recognize the importance of solicitude for needy widows and others, as shown not only by their desire to choose men with good reputations, known to be filled with the Spirit and wisdom, but also by their prayer and imposition of hands.

Peter’s audience has been born anew through the word of God (1:23). This word draws them to the Lord, who is building them into a temple where they will offer spiritual sacrifices to God. Like Israel, Christians are to be for God a chosen race, a holy and royal priesthood, and a holy nation, whose purpose is to proclaim the praises of God, and thus draw others to God as well. Like Peter’s audience, Christ too was rejected by those without faith and thus became a stumbling block for them. Yet he remains alive to nurture and support them, the living cornerstone on which the church is founded.

In his farewell discourse at the Last Supper, Jesus assures his followers that they are not to be perturbed by his imminent departure, because he goes to the Father, where he will prepare a place for them. When he returns, he will take them there. Yet they will not be going someplace completely unknown to them. Indeed, the way to the Father they already know because they know Jesus, in whom they have met the Father. Not quite getting it, Philip asks that they actually see the Father, “that will be enough for us”(!). Jesus reminds his followers once again that in him they have actually seen the Father because the Father is in him.

Jan 08 2025

From Ruin to Restoration

When I was little, my grandpa gave me a packet of World War I postcards for my postcard collection. He had been stationed in Paris in 1918. I remember staring for long minutes at his sepia pictures of bombed-out buildings. The streets were empty and full of rubble. My ten-year-old imagination said that France was in ruins.

I went to France in 2011 to visit my brother. Streets bustled with cars. Apartment buildings were bright with petunias in window boxes. The sidewalks were full of people walking. Mothers were pushing strollers. My grown-up impression of France was of a community that had been materially restored.

Ruin comes in many forms. Thieves who break in and steal the sheep can devastate the owner of the sheep. Deceit, corruption, and insult can tear a person down. A leader who goes astray from a moral path can bomb holes in family and community. The rubble from the abuse crisis litters the streets of the Church and tests our ability to trek onward.

It is the Good Shepherd who wants to lead us from ruin to restoration and then to flourishing. Despite the impression that sentimental Jesus pictures might give us, a shepherd is not a soft character. He is weather-hardened and battle-ready. He is willing to fight to the death for his sheep so that they can safely walk through dark valleys. He restores and watches over all, for his protection is communal; sheep move in flocks.

Jesus says that he came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. We pray for this renewal. From a personal Spirit-filled abundance, we are to work toward the reinvigoration of the Church and the whole world. We go together. The Good Shepherd will lead us to a vibrant new life.

Consider/Discuss

This week we begin a subtle scriptural shift. In the first half of the Easter season, we’ve focused on the revelation of who Jesus is. In this second half as we build toward Pentecost, we shift our focus toward the empowerment to be the people Jesus calls us to be. Look back at today’s readings. Which passages, verbs, and images speak about what we are to do and who we are to be?
The hunger for restoration is a recurring theme in the Old Testament. As we form impressions of the world in which we live, do we think more about ruin than restoration, or more of restoration than ruin? Where does our information come from? How do those sources affect the way that we approach life? How does that impact our hope?

Living and Praying with the Word

Shepherd of the flock, if we are headed off of a cliff, use your staff to snatch us back. If we are scattering in all directions, herd us together and steer us where you want us to go. As we walk through today’s dark valleys, help us trust that your rod and your staff will help us to travel securely together. Bring us to abundance and help us to flourish. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Jan 08 2025

Scripture Study for

In concluding his Pentecost speech, Peter points out to the Jerusalem crowd that Jesus, whom he has just shown to be Lord and Messiah, was the same Jesus they had crucified. Realizing that they have committed such a grievous crime, the crowd wonders what is next for them. Peter’s response comes as a relief: God has not condemned for crucifying Jesus. Rather, they are offered the gift of repentance, forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit. The promises God made to them as Abraham’s children are now fulfilled in Christ. Rather than chastisement, Peter holds out the promise of life, if they will allow themselves to be saved by the same Christ they condemned to death.

In his letter, Peter continues to develop the implications of being Christian. He reminds his persecuted audience that in his own suffering, Christ showed them how to remain faithful as “aliens and sojourners” (2:11) in a hostile world. Jesus did not respond to insults with insults, or to threats with threats of his own. The death of Christ was part of God’s mysterious plan to free Christ’s followers from their sins and equip them to “live for righteousness.” Jesus’ followers have been healed not only of the wounds of past sins, but also from sinful inclinations to hurt those who hurt them, “worldly desires that wage war against the soul” (2:11). Jesus shows them a better way and guards those very souls against which the world (and worldly desires) wage war.

The image of the people of God as God’s flock is a venerable biblical metaphor. In Jesus’ figure of speech, the “thieves and robbers” who have illicitly entered the sheepfold are the Pharisees and other opponents, who do not have the people’s best interests at heart. Although he will soon call himself the good shepherd, here Jesus refers to himself as the gate for the sheep, an image that focuses on his role as the one who gives access to God, the source of life. Whereas others who claim to shepherd the people in fact only lead them to destruction, Jesus alone guides God’s flock to abundant life and salvation.