Home Bible Acts of the Apostles CATHOLIC MASS: Fifth Sunday of Easter 4.24.16 – Video, Scripture, Links

CATHOLIC MASS: Fifth Sunday of Easter 4.24.16 – Video, Scripture, Links

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Bible-200“Paul and Barnabas … strengthened the spirits of the Disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the Faith ….” …”I will praise Your Name for ever, my King and my God.”  … ‘Then I, John, saw a New Heaven and a New Earth. ….” … “I give you a new Commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are My Disciples ….”

MASS READINGS 4.24.15 – FIRST READING: Acts 14:21-27 – PSALM 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13 – SECOND READING: Revelation 21:1-5a – GOSPEL: John 13:31-33a, 34-35
FIND A MASS: MassTimes.org – FIND A MASS: TheCatholicDirectory.com

 

SUNDAY TV MASS: Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

SUNDAY TV MASS: Heart of the Nation (Wisconsin)

LINKS & RESOURCES

FIRST READING

FIRST READING: Acts 14:21-27

Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas participate in God’s Building Up of the early Church.  They exhort the early Christians, and us, to put Faith in God and persevere in the face of the hardships that are part of the Journey of Discipleship.

… Paul and Barnabas … Proclaimed the Good News … and made a considerable number of Disciples ….. 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.’ * * * [later] they … reported what God had done with them and how He had opened the door of Faith to the Gentiles.

They appoint elders in each church.  That act, by its nature, emphasizes a church as community, and the importance of loving service with wisdom.

The Church is not a mechanistic human bureaucracy, but rather a community focused prayerfully upon God. Paul and Barnabas therefore employ prayer and fasting as part of the appointing of elders, with a focus on God and Faith.

They appointed elders for them in each church and,
with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord
in Whom they had put their Faith.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALM 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13

I will praise Your Name for ever, my King and my God.

 

SECOND READING

SECOND READING: Revelation 21:1-5a

This day’s Reading from the Book of Revelation sets out on of the most central Readings in all Holy Scripture to the unfolding history of humanity, and God’s Promise to us of Eternal Life, if we say yes to His Invitation and cooperate with Him in our conversion and Salvation.

The Apostle John, as an old man exiled to the island of Patmos, has a vision of the end times that culminate in a New Heaven and New Earth.

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.
I also saw the Holy City, a New Jerusalem,
coming down out of Heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

God’s Will is to be with us, and those who are Saved are to enjoy God’s Holy and Loving Presence for Eternity.

I heard a loud Voice from the Throne saying,
‘Behold, God’s Dwelling is with the human race.
He will dwell with them and they will be His People
and God Himself will always be with them as their God.

The death and pain we encounter in our current existence will no longer exist in Eternal Life.  God will comfort us and lead us to neverending Life with Him.

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.”

The One who sat on the Throne said,
“Behold, I make all things new.”

This passage is not talking about someone simply passing on and going to Heaven as a Soul.  After the Apocalypse, there is a New Heaven and a New Earth, when those who are Saved are reunited with Glorified Bodies, and are to Live with God in that State.  We see that the Apocalypse is not simply a dramatic, sometimes-violent ending, but rather a New Beginning with New Life in God’s Presence, as part of a New Heaven and a New Earth.

New Life, likewise, is a central them of the Easter Season, as we confess, bear witness to, and celebrate Christ’s Resurrection from the Dead back the Life in His Glorified, Resurrected Body; as Christ Redeems us from our sins and opens up for us the Gates of Eternal Life.  Our God is an Awesome and Loving God, Who, with the Final Judgment and Final Resurrection, will complete our Creation as persons whom He wishes to call to Eternal Life.

 

GOSPEL

GOSPEL: John 13:31-33a, 34-35

At the Last Supper, after Judas departs, Jesus will soon embark upon His Passion, Death and Resurrection, and He speaks of He and God the Father Glorifying one another.

Jesus goes on to Command the Apostles, and us, to love on another as He has Loved us.  Indeed, to love another like Christ will be a way to identify ourselves as Disciples of Christ.

I give you a new Commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
This is how all will know that you are My Disciples,
if you have love for one another.”

Note that we are not simply to love one another by whatever definition suits us.  We are to love one another in a manner that imitates Christ.

In contrast, since Christ is incapable of sin, then sinful activity masquerading, or mischaracterized as “love” does not count.  Indeed, elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus also reminds us that the way we show we love Him, and all Three Persons of the Holy Trinity, is by keeping God’s Commands, by following God’s Law of Love, which includes acting without sin.

So we are challenged to learn more about what it means to truly Love like Christ and to imitate Christ.

 

More Resources

[Scripture passages excerpted or adapted from the NABRE, available online from the USCCB, which provides the following rights statement:

Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.]

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