The first reading for today (Acts 9:31-42) is about the baby church learning how to walk and is about its growing. Their focus is on Jesus and the growth comes from the Holy Spirit. The “baby” Christians are called “holy ones” and “disciples” or learners. We hear about Jesus working through Peter to heal two of the baby saints. Aeneas had been paralyzed for eight years and Jesus gave him the ability to walk. Tabitha had been “completely occupied with good deeds and almsgiving” before her death. She appears to have made clothing for people in need. What a gift to the young church to receive her back alive. The power and love of Jesus working in these events made believers out of many people.
The psalm response to this reading (Psalm 116) is so appropriate. I can imagine these words on the lips of Aeneas and Tabitha: “How can I repay the Lord for all the good done for me?” What exactly is the “good” that the Lord has done? The psalmist says to God: “you have loosed my bonds.” That reminds me of the words Jesus said when the risen Lazarus came out of the tomb: “Loose him. Take away the wrappings from around the corpse. He is alive now.”
What has the Lord done for us? Like Aeneas and Tabitha, he has raised us to new life. So how can we repay the Lord? Let us raise a toast to the Lord. Let us call on his name. Let us pay our homage. In other words, let us keep our commitments to Jesus. Let us offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving. That thought impresses me: I can offer God a sacrifice every time I say “thanks.” Isn’t the picture of God presented here fascinating? We are servants of God, yet it is He who sets us free. When we respond to his love, he accepts our offerings. And when we die, he grieves. The death of his faithful is simply “too costly in the eyes of the Lord.” And he wants to restore us to life.
The Gospel (John 6:60-69) lesson hits me pretty hard. There are disciples who decide that they can no longer walk with Jesus. What Jesus says is “too hard,” they murmur. One of his closest followers has even decided to betray him. Jesus knows all of this and wonders why eating his flesh and drinking his blood is any more difficult to do than God coming to earth or ascending to “where he was before.” Some of his followers chose to continue the journey. They do so by the grace of the Father who draws them to the Son. Jesus asks the Twelve, and us, “Do you also want to leave?” Frankly, yes, Jesus, sometimes I do. But what exactly is the alternative to following Jesus? Surely there are several. Yet, what if we believe that Jesus IS the Master? What if we conclude that Jesus HAS the “words of eternal life”? What if we “come to believe and are convinced that [Jesus is] the Holy One of God?” In that case, we keep walking. We keep growing. We keep striving. And we believe that, even in death, we will hear the words Aeneas and Tabitha heard: “Rise up. Walk with me again.”
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!
Dr. Terry Rees
Superior General/Executive Director
Order of St. John Paul II
916-896-1327 (office)
916-687-1266 (mobile)
tfrees@sjp2.org
Building the City of God®