Sixth Sunday of Easter

Reading I: Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Psalm 98:1-4
Reading II: 1 John 4:7-10
Gospel: John 15:9-17

God is love, and He revealed that love in sending His only Son to be a sacrificial offering for our sins. In these words from today’s Epistle, we should hear an echo of the story of Abraham’s offering of Isaac at the dawn of salvation history. Because Abraham obeyed God’s command and did not with-hold his only beloved son, God promised that Abraham’s descendants, the children of Israel, would be the source of blessing for all nations (see Genesis 22:16-18).

We see that promise coming to fulfillment in today’s First Reading. God pours out His Spirit upon the Gentiles, the non-Israelites, as they listen to the word of Peter’s preaching. Notice they receive the same gifts received by the devout Jews who heard Peter’s preaching at Pentecost—the Spirit comes to rest upon them and they speak in tongues, glorifying God (see Acts 2:5-11).

In his love today, God reveals that His salvation embraces the house of Israel and peoples of all nations. Not by circumcision or blood relation to Abraham, but by faith in the Word of Christ, sealed in the sacrament of baptism, peoples are to be made children of Abraham, heirs to God’s covenants of promise (see Galatians 3:7-9; Ephesians 2:12).

This is the wondrous work of God that we sing of in today’s Psalm. It is the work of the Church, the good fruit that Jesus chooses and appoints His apostles for in today’s Gospel.

As Peter raises up Cornelius today, the Church continues to lift all eyes to Christ, the only one in whose name they can find salvation.

In the Church, each of us has been begotten by the love of God. But the Scriptures today reveal that this divine gift brings with it a command and a duty. We are to love one another as we have been loved. We are to lay down our lives in giving ourselves to others—that they too might find friendship with Christ, and new life through Him. - Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn

Saints of the Week

St. John the Silent, St. Matthias – Apostle, St. Dymphna, St. Simon Stock, St. Paschal Baylon, St. Pope John I, St. Celestine

Pray for Priests

Fr. Patrick Patterson – CPPS, Fr. James Colopy, Fr. James Klima, Fr. Jerome Chavarria, Fr. Nicholas O’Brien, Fr. Robert Penhallurick, Fr. Carmen Arcuri

May 6th 2012 – Fifth Sunday of Easter

Reading I: Acts 9:26-31
Psalm 22:26-28, 30-321
Reading II: John 3:18-24
Gospel: John 15:1-8

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that He is the true vine that God intended Israel to be—the source of divine life and wisdom for the nations (see Sirach 24:17-24). In baptism, each of us was joined to Him by the Holy Spirit. As a branch grows from a tree, our souls are to draw life from Him, nourished by His word and the Eucharist.

Paul in today’s First Reading seeks to be grafted onto the visible expression of Christ the true vine—His Church. Once the chief persecutor of the Church, he encounters initial resistance and suspicion. But he is known by his fruits, by his powerful witness to the Lord working in his life (see Matthew 7:16-20).

We too are commanded today to bear good fruits as His disciples, so that our lives give glory to God. Like Paul’s life, our lives must bear witness to His goodness.

Jesus cautions us, however, that if we’re bearing fruit, we can expect that God will ‘prune’ us—as a gardener trims and cuts back a plant so that it will grow stronger and bear even more fruit. He is teaching us today how to look at our sufferings and trials with the eyes of faith. We need to see our struggles as pruning, by which we are being disciplined and trained so that we can grow in holiness and bear fruits of righteousness (see Hebrews 12:4-11).

We need to always remain rooted in Him, as today’s Epistle tells us. We remain in Him by keeping His commandment of love, by pondering His words, letting them dwell richly in us (see Colossians 3:16), and by always seeking to do what pleases Him. In everything we must be guided by humility, remembering that apart from Him we can do nothing.

As we sing in today’s Psalm, we must fulfill our vows, turning to the Lord in worship, proclaiming his praises, until all families come to know His justice in their lives.

Saints of the Week

Blessed Edward Jones, St Rose Venerini, St. Peter of Tarantaise, St. Pachomius, St. Solange, St. Ignatius of Laconi, Sts. Nereus & Achilleus

Pray for Priests

Fr. Joseph Trapp II, Fr. Leo Connolly, Msgr. John Wolf STD, Fr. Mugagga Lule, Fr. William Arnold, Fr. John Park – Deceased, Fr. Gregory Schnakenburg CP