Readings:
Acts 8: 1-8
John 6: 35-40
Reflection:
Goodness me, here we are already in the 3rd week of Eastertide. Yes, it is Easter, the victory of love over everything that tries to snuff it out. We listen to the old story of the opposition to the new community that forms in the power of Jesus’ resurrection. The best way to deal with it is to use violence. “A bitter persecution starts against the church in Jerusalem. Saul is in full flight as he works for the “total destruction of the Church. He went from house to house, arresting both men and women and sending them to prison.” He doesn’t know what awaits him. He is soon to be called by the Risen One, Jesus, Crucified and now Risen, to change direction and become his powerful apostle no longer as apostle of revenge and hatred, but as his apostle of love.
The gospel today brings the words of Jesus: “I am the bread of life… The will of the One who sent me is that I should lose nothing of all that he has given to me and that I should raise it up on the last day.”
So I, and maybe even you, need to listen to the things happening in the world now refracted back to us from these words of Jesus, now risen.
I find it a bit of a help to remember that the start of the church was filled with pain, challenge, and even persecution. And yet we are still here!
Pope Francis in his autobiography with a one-word title HOPE, says “Gratitude is at the very heart of faith, especially for a believer. A Christian who cannot say thank you is simply someone who has forgotten the language of Good.”
Francis tells us: “If Mercy is the name of God, Hope is the name that He has given to us – the name that responds to our deepest reality. We are made of life and for life. We are made of relationships.
May that hope of the Risen One give us fresh energy and enthusiasm to keep on keeping on even in challenging times.
Fr. Kevin Dance CP lives at St.Brigid’s Retreat, Marrickville. He is very actively involved in ministries locally and at Passionist International where he served as the Executive Director for many years.