Fifth Sunday of Easter / Msgr. Owen F. Campion
The Sunday Readings
The Acts of the Apostles supplies the first reading for the Mass this weekend. It reports some of the missionary activities of St. Paul and St. Barnabas. Although eventually they parted, Paul and Barnabas (a disciple of Paul) visited several prominent cities in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) in the Roman Empire of the first century.
While ancient traditions see all the Apostles as missionaries, since most of them went far and wide to proclaim the Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles concentrates on Paul’s evangelization efforts.
The reading is more than a travelogue. It is a lesson about the faith of Paul and Barnabas and about their uncompromising determination to make Jesus known. It also reveals the conditions in which these two great figures in early Christianity lived.
As they spoke to Christians in the cities that they visited, they warned these fledgling followers that hostility and difficulties faced them. Their warnings sprang from their own personal experiences. Paul and Barnabas met opposition and endured difficulties. And it is not surprising that these two great champions of the Gospel faced hardships.
The culture of the Roman Empire was hostile to the Gospel. The political order and the law were becoming hostile as well.
Nevertheless, Paul and Barnabas were undaunted. They continued to move from city to city, reassuring believers in Christ there and promoting Gospel values. It was a risk, but despite the dangers and the rejection they at times faced, their faith inspired them and impelled them.
For the second reading, the Church this weekend offers a passage from the Book of Revelation. This book, the last book of the New Testament, is highly poetic and symbolic. Its symbolism is often so complex or so unique to life in the first century that understanding the book is not easy without reading scholarly commentaries along with the text itself.
For example, in this reading, the vision is of heaven, but symbolizing heaven is the holy city of Jerusalem, the ancient geographical heart of the Jewish people. Jerusalem, however, is presented as having been transformed and glorified because Jesus had been crucified there and had risen again. The reading is a statement of faith.
St. John’s Gospel is the source of the last reading. This is not a Resurrection narrative. But it is strongly reminiscent of the resurrection and of the Lord’s death on Calvary, because Jesus obliquely refers to the crucifixion.
He also refers to rising from the dead. Eternal life is possible with the help of God’s grace for humans who follow the Lord in obedience to God, in sacrifice and in faith. With Jesus, the faithful will die but also rise to eternal life.
Reflection
A month ago, the Church called us, with joy and confirmed faith, to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus after the terrible event of the crucifixion.
Since then, unrelentingly, the Church has called upon us personally to respond to Jesus, to respond to his grace and bond ourselves with the risen Lord Jesus, the Savior.
The Apostles and other early members of the Church encountered obstacles and problems special to their time. But believers today confront many of the same difficulties. Contemporary culture often runs counter to the Gospel.
The call to be strong in faith and witness is sent to us just as much as it was to the first followers of Christ. We need the grace and strength of Jesus as much as the first Christians needed Christ.
While still in this life, we authentically become disciples by loving God, each other and all people as Jesus loved. It is hard.
The first Christians found encouragement and guidance in Paul and Barnabas. We are not alone in our effort to be with God, to love as Jesus loved. The Apostles are with us still in the Church in their successors, the bishops. †