Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

The ascension of Jesus brought closure to his earthly activity, while at the same time launching the ministry of the apostles. Thus the Ascension is a turning point in the history of the church. The actual account of the Ascension is brief. Jesus is lifted up and concealed by a cloud. Attention shifts to the men (angels?) who now appear. They rebuke the disciples and assure them that Jesus will return on the clouds just as he left. The church is now in a liminal state. Jesus has left, but the Spirit has not yet come.

The reading from Ephesians is a prayer for spiritual enlightenment. God’s power raised Christ from the dead and seated Christ in the place of honor in heaven; God’s power made all things subject to Christ and exalted Christ as head of the church. It is this same power that is now called upon. The church is characterized as a body. As members of this exalted body, believers share in the wisdom and insight to grasp these mysteries and to live lives informed by them.

Marks’ account of Jesus’ ascension ties together many themes found elsewhere in the gospel. It begins with a Resurrection experience in which Jesus commissions the apostles to preach the gospel to all. Jesus is then taken from their sight. The reading clearly states that just as he was raised from the dead by the power of God, so he is taken up today. This reflects the early church’s concern to show that it is the power of God that is active in Jesus, not some kind of miraculous force. As exalted Lord, Jesus takes his rightful place of privilege next to God. The concluding verse succinctly summarizes the entire apostolic age: the apostles went into the entire world and preached the gospel; the Lord was with them, confirming their ministry through wondrous signs.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

Cornelius, the newly converted Roman centurion, recognizes Peter as a messenger of God. The real power of the narrative is seen not in the disposition of Peter but in the action of the Holy Spirit. The event is a kind of Gentile Pentecost. While Peter’s companions are surprised that the Spirit is given to the uncircumcised he intervenes on their behalf, insisting that God shows no partiality. Those who received the Spirit at the first Pentecost and those who have received it at this second Pentecost are now joined by a special bond, the shared outpouring of the Spirit. The ritual of baptism is a sign of the church’s acceptance of God’s action.

The teaching about love is the heart of the message of the second reading. Several dimensions of this reality are examined: Love is of God; love begets others of God; it is revealed in the salvation realized through the sacrifice of the Son of God. The most startling statement about love is: God is love! This divine love is the fundamental reality of our faith. The love described here is neither exemplary piety nor altruistic concern for others. Actually, there is nothing merely human about it. It is divine in its origin and only those who have been begotten of God can have a share in it.

The passage from John’s Gospel is one of the best-known discourses on love. The source of this love is divine love itself: “As the Father loves me, so I love you;” “love one another as I love you” (15:9, 12). Jesus promises the disciples that if they abide in his love and obey his commandments, they will abide in his joy as well. Although the passage does not describe the character of this joy, we can presume that it flows from union with God. The love that is described here is active love, reaching out to others—God to Jesus, Jesus to his disciples, the disciples to one another.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

Saul, the formidable persecutor, has now become a disciple of the risen Lord. Initially he meets resistance, not to his message but to his claim of conversion. It takes another member of the community to witness to the saving grace of God that transformed Saul into a believer. If God can raise Jesus from the dead, surely God can recreate Saul. Saul’s rebirth as a disciple is a sign of the grace that has been unleashed by the Resurrection. It was the risen Jesus that Saul encountered and it is that same risen Jesus that he now proclaims. The power of God is unfathomable.

The author of the Letter of John insists that it is not enough to proclaim love for God; it must be demonstrated through concrete action. There seems to have been a sense of guilt somewhere in the community. The writer assures them that God’s love far exceeds any guilt that they may experience. They are called to believe this, thus rooting their faith in confidence. This confidence is also manifested in the way they turn to God in prayer. Although only one commandment is placed before them here, its focus is twofold. They are to believe in the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another.

The metaphor of vine and branches characterizes the intimate nature of the relationship between Jesus and his followers. Jesus lives in his branches, and his branches live in his life. The vine is not totally dependent on any one branch or group of branches. Therefore, it can endure pruning without withering and dying. However, there is no vine if there are no branches at all. The basis of this union is acceptance of and fidelity to the words of Jesus, not ethnic or national identity. The vitality expressed by this image is unmistakable. The vine and the branches are alive with the life of God.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

Peter responds to the leaders of the Jewish community in Jerusalem who challenged the healing of a crippled man. He claims that it was in the power of Jesus’ name that the man was healed, and it will be in the power of this same name that all will be saved. Peter speaks out against the leaders of the people, not because they are Jewish but because they have rejected Jesus. For the crippled man, salvation took the form of healing; for others, it can take the form of spiritual transformation. The name of Jesus is the one and only source of salvation, hence no one can afford to reject it.

The love of which the author of the second reading speaks is generative, transforming; it makes believers children of God. Everything that happens in the lives of believers is a consequence of their having been recreated as God’s children. As children of God, they are a new reality and hence not accepted by the world, the old reality. The “now but not yet” of Christian eschatology is clearly stated. Believers have already been reborn as children of God. However, their transformation has not yet been completed. That is dependent on a future manifestation. Promised an even fuller identification with God, believers will see God as God is.

As shepherd, Jesus is committed to the well-being of the sheep. He is willing to protect his flock even to the point of risking his own life for them. He has a mutual, intimate relationship with them based on the mutual, intimate relationship that he has with God. This is true even of sheep that are not now his. The high Christology can be seen in the control that he has not only over his death but also over his resurrection. He has the power to take up his life again. He received this power from God. The universally saving death of Jesus is the work of the Father through the Son.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

Peter stands as a witness to the Resurrection. His attitude toward his Jewish compatriots is hardly a case of anti-Judaism. He is opposed to those who refuse to accept Jesus as Messiah, not to the Jewish nation as a whole. His Christology is rooted in the prophetic tradition of ancient Israel, employing language that is reminiscent of the Suffering Servant tradition of Isaiah. He weaves various thematic threads together, reinterpreting earlier traditions, thus developing his own Christian theology. The power of God to bring life out of death is the point of the passage, not the assignment of blame for Jesus’ death.

The major portion of the second reading goes beyond promotion of righteous living. It offers encouragement for those times when believers stray from righteousness and do in fact sin. In these times, Jesus will be an advocate for them before God. Jesus does not assume the role of comforter, a role traditionally assigned to the Spirit. Rather, he is an intercessor, one who atones for the sins of the world. The knowledge of God discussed here is experiential knowledge, knowledge that results in a relationship with God. To know God is to love God. Both knowledge and love of God manifest themselves in obedience to God’s commandments.

The risen Lord Jesus addresses a group of women and men with the customary Jewish greeting: Peace be with you! They are terrified, for they think that they are seeing a ghost. Jesus rebukes them for having doubts and then calls attention to the marks of the nails in his hands and feet, demonstrating that it is really he. In a final demonstration of his bodily reality, he eats a piece of cooked fish. Although this is not the official ritual meal of the community, it may have eucharistic overtones. Having assured the disciples of his bodily resurrection, Jesus proceeds to explain his suffering and death by turning to the scriptures.