Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (Cycle C)
Readings:
Acts 14:21-27
Psalms 145:8-13
Revelation 21:1-5
John 13:31-35
Abbreviations: NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh).
God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, and that is why we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of
the Readings: The Reward of Persevering in Faith is the Joy of
the Heavenly Beatitude
During the
fifty days of Easter, the Church's Liturgy invites the faithful to be joyful
because our Savior has defeated death in His glorious Resurrection. And, as
God's adopted children, He has promised us that one day we will live with Him
forever. In the meantime, it may be necessary for us to endure struggles and
hardships before we enter the Kingdom of God, but we must "persevere in faith"
(Acts 14:22) and keep our focus on the prize that awaits us at the end of our
faith journey (Heb 12:1-4).
In the First Reading, the Holy Spirit commanded the vibrant Christian community at Antioch, Syria, to commission Saints Barnabas and Paul to take a missionary journey to the Gentiles living in Asia Minor (Acts 11:22-26; 13:1-3). Despite opposition from the Jews, who incited crowds to stone and beat them, Barnabas and Paul established the first Christian communities in the Roman provinces of Pisidia and Pamphylia in obedience to Jesus's command to take the Gospel of salvation beyond Judah and Samaria to the "ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
The Psalm Reading invites everyone to praise God, whose mighty works make His Divine Presence known to His people. God's actions in nature and the lives of men and women are evidence of His divine kingship that He graciously makes known to all generations. In the New Covenant, we have a similar relationship with God the Son, whose sovereign authority we recognize over our lives. Jesus is the King of kings whose dominion is an everlasting kingship that extends over the entire earth and every generation of humanity (Rev 15:3; 17:14; 19:16).
In the Second Reading, St. John has the joyful vision of a new creation of Heaven and earth at the end of time as we know it. Formerly, God's Divine Presence resided in the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple. But, in the Age of the Messiah, His Spirit lives in the reborn lives of all baptized believers whose bodies become temples of the Holy Spirit. However, at the end of the Messianic Age, there will be a new kind of Divine Presence for all the members of God's holy covenant family. St. John has a vision of the "new Jerusalem" coming down from Heaven as the new Temple for humanity's redeemed covenant people. All that is "new" is initially already present in the lives of New Covenant Christians, but it will not be fully established until the Second Advent of Christ, when the events St. John witnessed will take place.
The Gospel Reading takes place on the night of the Last Supper (Jn 13:27-30) during Jesus's Last Supper Discourse. In the discourse, He encouraged His disciples concerning events that would soon take place and told them about His coming glorification. He also gave them a "new commandment." He called them to love one another as He has loved them with love founded in the joy of unlimited self-giving despite personal sacrifices and rooted in Jesus's self-sacrificial death and resurrection. This unique willingness to submit oneself to the self-sacrificial love of Christ living in His disciples is a characteristic that will distinguish all New Covenant believers. Jesus's "new commandment" defines our relationship to the Most Holy Trinity, He who is the fullness of and definition of love.
The First
Reading Acts 14:21-27 ~ Paul and Barnabas Persevere in Sharing the Gospel
21 After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed
the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they
returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. 22 They strengthened the spirits of the
disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, "It is necessary
for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." 23 They appointed elders [presbyters] for
them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in
whom they had put their faith. 24 Then,
they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. 25 After proclaiming the word at Perga,
they went down to Attalia. 26 From
there, they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of
God for the work they had now accomplished. 27
And when they arrived, they called the church together and reported
what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the
Gentiles. [...] = Greek term, IBGE, vol. IV, page 367.
In verse 21, "that city" was Derbe in the Roman Province of Galatia in the ethnic region of Lycaonia in Asia Minor (see verse 20), also mentioned in Acts 14:6, 20; 16:1 and 20:4.
In obedience to the command of the Holy Spirit, the leaders of Paul (Saul) and Barnabas's faith community in Antioch, Syria, sent them to spread the word of the new order of the New Covenant in Christ and His Gospel of salvation to the Gentiles in the Roman provinces of Asia Minor (Acts 13:1-3). They took Barnabas's cousin to assist them on their missionary journey. John-Mark was a young Christian with a Jewish-Christian mother and Roman father (Acts 13:5; Col 4:10). His mother's house in Jerusalem was the regular meeting place of the Apostles (Acts 12:12).
After proclaiming the Gospel in Derbe, they returned to the three communities they had previously founded in what is now modern-day Turkey. The cities of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, like Derbe, were in the territory of Lycaonia and under the jurisdiction of the Roman province of Galatia in central Asia Minor (Acts 13:14-14:19). Revisiting those faith communities, Paul and Barnabas urged the newly baptized Christians "to persevere in faith" and be prepared to "undergo many hardships" for Christ's Kingdom of the universal Church. They also ordained "presbyters" or priests to guide the faith communities (see 1 Tim 4:14 and Titus 1:5). The anointing of presbyters (priests) and episcopois (bishops) as the successors of the disciples and Apostles will assure the Church's continued growth and dominion over the earth (Phil 1:1).
After leaving Antioch of Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas continued through the territory of Pisidia, reaching Pamphylia on the southern coast of Asia Minor between Pisidia, Cilicia, and Lycia (modern Turkey). Perga was a principal city in the region. John-Mark left them there and returned to Jerusalem (Acts 15:37-38). With the completion of their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas returned to their home church in Antioch (Syria) to report on the success of their mission. They had "opened the door of faith to the Gentiles" who were no longer children in the family of Adam but now, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Christian Baptism, were reborn as children in the family of God (Jn 3:3, 5; CCC 1265).
|
THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY Approximate dates: AD 45 – 49 Missionaries: Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark Mission field: Cyprus and Asia Minor (Turkey) Approximate miles traveled: 1,400 miles Sent by the church at Antioch, Syria |
|
| Mission to Cyprus by way of Seleucia | Acts 13:4-12 |
| Antioch in Pisidia | Acts 13:13-51 |
| Iconium | Acts 14:1-5 |
| Lystra in Lycaonia | Acts 14:6-19 |
| Derbe | Acts 14:20 |
| Back through Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch Pisidia | Acts 14:21-26 |
| Return to the home church at Antioch, Syria | Acts 14:27-28 |
Responsorial Psalms 145:8-13 ~ God's Mighty Works Make Him
Present to His People
The response is: "I will praise your name forever, my king
and my God" or "Alleluia."
8 The LORD [YHWH] is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in love. 9 The
LORD [YHWY] is good to all, compassionate to every creature.
Response:
10 All your works give you thanks, O LORD
[YHWH], and your faithful bless you. 11 Let
them speak of the glory of your reign and tell of your great works,
Response:
12 Let them make known to all your power, the glorious splendor of
your rule. 13 Your reign is
a reign for all ages, your dominion for all generations. The LORD is trustworthy
in every word, and faithful in every work.
Response:
This psalm, attributed to King David, is one of the acrostic poems in which every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Usually, the acrostic poems in the psalms do not develop ideas; instead, they typically consist of loosely connected statements.
The psalmist invites everyone to joyfully praise God, whose mighty works make Him present in the lives of His people (verses 8-10). God's works are evidence of His divine kingship and power as He graciously continues His relationship with Israel that began at Mt. Sinai with all generations of His covenant people (verses 11-13; Ex 19-24). He expressed His relationship with the children of Israel in terms of the Divine King who cares for Israel, His faithful vassal people (Ps 5:2; 10:16; 24:7-10; etc.). In the New Covenant, we have a similar relationship with Jesus Christ, whose sovereign authority we recognize over our lives. Jesus is the King of Kings. His dominion is an everlasting kingship that extends over the whole earth, calling all men and women of every nation and generation to joyfully acknowledge His sovereignty over their lives (Rev 15:3; a href ="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/revelation/17?14">17:14; a href ="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/revelation/19?16">19:16).
The
Second Reading Revelation 21:1-5 ~ A Vision of the New Creation
21:1 Then, I, John, saw a new heaven and a
new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea
was no more. 2 I also saw
the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. 3 I
heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with the
human race. 4 He will dwell
with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will always be with
them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be
no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away."
5 The one who sat on the
throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."
The inspired writer of the Book of Revelation identifies himself as "John," and the Fathers of the Church identify him as the Apostle, John Zebedee. In our passage, St. John had a vision of the creation of a new Heaven and earth as the old Heaven and earth, with its many dangers, passed away. That the sea was no more (verse 1) symbolized the end of everything that was a threat since, for the ancients, the vast sea represented peril and fear of the unknown. John was consoling those who must face many hardships for the sake of the Church until that time with the promise that God "will wipe every tear from their eyes" and will put an end to death and suffering; recalling the prophecy of the 8th century BC prophet Isaiah: he will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD [YHWH] will wipe away the tears from all faces; the reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth. For the LORD [YHWH] has spoken (Is 25:8).
St. John saw "the holy city, a new Jerusalem," coming down from Heaven to be the new Temple for the redeemed of humanity. God was present in the Holy of Holies of the old Jerusalem Temple, but in the future, there would be a new kind of Divine Presence for all members of God's holy New Covenant family. The promise of all that is "new" was initially present in the lives of New Covenant Christians but would not be fully realized until the Second Advent of Christ, when the event described by St. John would take place.
The Gospel Reading John 13:31-35 ~ The Glorification
of the Son of Man
31 When Judas had left
them, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified [has the Son of God been
glorified], and God is glorified [has been glorified] in him. 32 If God is glorified [has been
glorified] in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and God will glorify
him at once. 33 My children,
I will be with you only a little while longer. 34 I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I
have loved you, so you also should love one another. 35 This is how all will know that you are
my disciples, if you have love for one another." [...] = literal Greek
translation, IBGE, vol. IV, page 297).
At this point in the Gospel of John, on the first night of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the meal of the Passover victim was completed, and Jesus had established the institution of the New Covenant sacred communion meal of peace and fellowship with God. Jesus began His walk to the Cross by offering His Body and Blood to those assembled in the Upper Room. Under the old Sinai Covenant, the communion meal eaten in the presence of God was called the Toda ("Thanksgiving" in Hebrew). At the Last Supper, Jesus transformed His Body and Blood into the New Covenant sacred communion meal, which Christians would call the Eucharistia, "Thanksgiving" in Greek, eaten in the presence of God the Son (see Lev 7:11-15; Mt 26:17-30; Mk 14:12-26; Lk 22:19-20).
St. John assumes his readers are familiar with the other Gospel accounts of the Last Supper, and therefore, he does not repeat what is in them. After the meal, it was time for Jesus to present His final discourse to His disciples as He began with a proclamation of the glorification of God the Son. In verse 31, Jesus referred to Himself as the "Son of Man," His favorite title for Himself that not only identified His humanity but referred to the Prophet Daniel's vision of "One like a Son of Man" coming on the clouds of heaven (Dan 7:13). In that vision, the 6th century BC prophet Daniel saw a Divine Messiah who looked like a man ascending in the Glory Cloud (Ex 13:21-22; 40:38) to the Father in Heaven. Daniel saw that He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed (Dan 7:13-14; also see Daniel's prophecy of a future eternal kingdom in Dan 2:44 and Jeremiah's prophecy of an everlasting covenant in Jer 32:40 and 50:5).
St. John gave his account of Jesus's Last Supper discourse in John 13:31-17:26. Divided into three parts, it reached its climax with Jesus's High Priestly Prayer in Chapter 17. Many scholars see this final teaching at the Last Supper as a division between the miracles of Jesus in the "Book of Signs" in the first half of St. John's Gospel and progressing into the theme of "The Book of Glory" in the second half of the Gospel.
Jesus began His Last Supper discourse by repeating the theme of the mutual glorification of the Father and the Son in the context of the arrival of His "hour," as He did in John 12:23, 28-29. St. John's interpretation of Jesus's glorification relates to and cannot be separated from His suffering and death, as foreshadowed in the quotations from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah in John 12:38 and 40. Isaiah wrote: Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him, in order that the word which Isaiah the prophet spoke might be fulfilled: "Lord, who has believed our preaching, to whom has the might of the Lord been revealed?" For this reason, they could not believe because again Isaiah said: "He blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not see with their eyes and understand with their heart and be converted, and I would heal them." Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him (Jn 12:37-41, quoting Is 53:1 and 6:10).
Notice how many times John refers to Christ's glory in John 13:31-32: Jesus said, "Now has the Son of God been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and God will glorify him at once (literal Greek translation, underlining added). The passage mentions Christ's glory five times. In the symbolic significance of numbers in Scripture, five is the number of grace and power. See The Significance of Numbers in Scripture.
In the Greek text quoted above, there is a shift in tenses from the past tense in verse 31, has been glorified, to the future tense in verse 32b, will glorify. The change in tenses was a repeat of the same theme in John 12:28 when Jesus said I have glorified it and will glorify it again (IBGE, vol. IV, page 297). Why does Jesus use both the past and future tense when speaking of His glorification? Perhaps the past tense refers to the whole of His passion, death, resurrection, and ascension in "the hour" of God's Divine Plan. It is a path He has already begun to walk in the Upper Room as He held Himself in His own hands in the giving of His Eucharistic Body and Blood. While the future tense in verse 32 refers to the glory that will follow when the Son of God returns to the Father's presence and takes His throne on the right side of the Father to serve not only as King but as High Priest and unblemished "Lamb Standing" (Arnion Hestekos) of sacrifice in the heavenly Sanctuary (Heb 8:1-3; Rev 5:5-14). The repeated theme of glory gives this second half of John's Gospel the title "The Book of Glory" (Fr. Raymond Brown, The Gospel of John, page 610).
We should also ask what is the link between Jesus's title for Himself, "the Son of man," and Christ's "glory"? The answer lies, as mentioned previously, in the vision of the prophet Daniel in Daniel 7:13. When Jesus uses the "Son of man" title, He is not just referring to His humanity but to the prophet Daniel's vision of the Divine Son of Man coming in His glory before God the Father in His Ascension into the heavenly Kingdom. Jesus will also refer to the Prophet Daniel's vision of the Divine Messiah during His trial by the Sanhedrin (Jewish high court). When the High Priest, Joseph Caiaphas, demands Jesus to tell them whether or not He is the Messiah, Jesus responds by referring to the passage in Daniel 7:13-14: Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory (Mk 14:62; also see 13:26 and Mt 24:64; Lk 22:69). It is then that the High Priest condemns Jesus to death for blasphemy (Mt 27:63-66).
In John 13:33, Jesus said, "My children [teknia, literally = "little children], I will be with you only a little while longer." This verse repeats the theme of Jesus's departure to a place where they cannot immediately follow (also see John 7:33-34 and 8:21-22). The tender address of teknia, "little children," occurs eight times in the New Testament and only in the writings of St. John (once in this passage and seven times in the 1st Epistle of St. John: 1 Jn 2:1, 12, 28, 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21). The affectionate address "little children" is particularly appropriate at the Passover supper. At that gathering, Jesus, as host of the Passover meal, serves in the role of the father of an extended family. The disciples are then the children whose function is to ask the father the questions designed to bring out the historical significance of the sacred meal of the Passover victim on the first night of Unleavened Bread (Ex 13:7).
Then Jesus told His disciples: 34 I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. 35 This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." This commandment is the heart and soul of Jesus's message and is grounded in the double love command found in the Torah in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18. The first part of the love command is also the opening line of what is known as the "Shema," the covenant people's oldest profession of faith. It begins: you must love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your souls, and with all your strength (Dt 6:5 NJB). The second part of the love command is in Leviticus 19:18, You will not exact vengeance on, or bear any sort of grudge against, the members of your race, but will love your neighbor as yourself (NJB).
When Jesus affirmed this formula for double love (see Mt 22:37-40, Mk 12:28-34; Lk 10:25-28), He was affirming what became the basis for His "new commandment" in this passage. He was setting forth a teaching that embodies the essential principles of the whole Law of Moses as found in the Ten Commandments: the first three commandments concern our relationship with God, and the remaining seven concern our relationship with each other. But now, this "new commandment" to love becomes transformed by Christ in the New Covenant into a love rooted in Jesus's self-sacrificial death and resurrection!
This unique willingness to submit oneself to the self-sacrificial love of Christ living in His disciples will distinguish New Covenant believers. It is a love that circumcises hearts and is the love God promised those who belong to Him, of which circumcised flesh was only a sign of a desired interior condition made possible through the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. It recalls God's promise in the Book of Deuteronomy: Yahweh, your God, will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love Yahweh your God with all your heart and soul, and so will live (Dt 30:6 NJB). Jesus's "new commandment" defines our relationship to the Most Holy Trinity, He who is the fullness of love. St. John the Apostle understood that unique love and wrote about it in his letters to the Church:
Are you living that unique and powerful love in your life and your relationship with others? It is a love that has changed the world, has offered hope to every generation since Christ's Ascension to the Father, and will continue to provide hope until His return in Glory.
Catechism
references (* indicates Scripture quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Acts 14:22 (CCC 556, 2847*)
Psalms 145:9 (CCC 295, 342*)
Revelation 21:2-4 (CCC 677*); 21:2 (CCC 757*, 1045, 2016); 21:3 (CCC 756*, 2676); 21:4 (CCC 1044, 1186); 21:5 (CCC 1044)
John 13:34 (CCC 782*, 1823*, 1970, 2195, 2822, 2842)
Christ's prayer at the Last Supper (CCC 2746*, 2747*, 2748*, 2749*, 2750*, 2751*)
"As I have loved you" (CCC 459*, 1823*, 2074*, 2196*, 2822*, 2842*)
A new Heaven and a new earth (CCC 756*, 865*, 1042*, 1043*, 1044*, 1045*, 1046*, 1047-1049, 1050*, 2016, 2817*)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2013; revised 2022 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.