Monthly Archives: April 2016

3rd Sunday of Easter (Year C)
Acts 5:27-32,40-41; Psalm 29:2,4-6,11-13; Rev 5:11-14; John 21:1-19

Today’s Gospel depicts the “coming of age” of Peter. It starts out with him going out to sea to fish with his companions, a random and almost childish impulse that literally nets nothing. Then Jesus appears on the scene, and suddenly their nets are so full of fish that they can’t haul them in.

I believe this is intended as an object lesson: Begin your task with God in mind, and things will go much better than trying to get it down by your sweat alone. Sadly, it’s rather easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of modern life; making sure I don’t forget is one reason why I’ve committed myself to this daily Bible-blogging.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Have you ever wondered why Peter is eventually anointed as the first leader of the universal church, even though it’s “the disciple Jesus loved” (perhaps John the Apostle) who actually recognized Him? It seems a little odd for the Master to appoint as His direct representative one who doesn’t seem to know him very well, to the point of publicly disavowing Him when He was sore beset. Too, when Jesus asks Peter three times to reaffirm his love, Peter throws what might now be considered a hissy fit.

And yet…leaders throughout history have been chosen for their ability to lead, not necessarily to be paragons of holiness. Indeed, new CEOs are sometimes brought in specifically to be slayers of sacred cows and reapers of dead wood, so that an ailing company can be brought back to growth and profitability. With two millennia worth of hindsight, it’s clear that Peter was able to rise above his mistakes and faults, and build God’s Church quite admirably, despite seemingly not being the disciple that Jesus loved most.

I think we too are called to stop telling ourselves that we are unworthy to be lay shepherds, to instead ask God to send the Holy Spirit to enflame our hearts, rule our minds, and grant us the strength and confidence to share that precious food that is the Word of God:

Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, bring the weary home to me.
Be the eyes for the blind to see the truth.
Spread the word, I am here, bring good news to those in fear
I have loved you since the world began
Be my shepherds, feed my lambs

Amen.

Saturday of the 2nd Week of Easter (Year C)
Ac 6:1-7; Ps 32:1-2,4-5,18-19; Jn 6:16-21

Ye cannot serve God and manna.

This punny riff off Mt 6:24 summarizes the beginning of today’s reading: The apostles are stretched wafer-thin, trying to both preach and manage the daily food distribution to the poor. As a result, they left out the Greek Christian widows during the latter, and probably didn’t give full attention to their anointed task of spreading the Word of God.

So they asked the faithful to nominate seven men of upstanding character and spirituality, to whom they would delegate the temporal tasks of the fledgling church, freeing them to focus on their primary task of evangelization. These seven would be the church’s first lay deacons, from the Greek διάκονος (“diakonos”, lit. “servant”).

Though the modern Catholic Church distinguishes between ordained deacons and lay ministers, I believe we are all called to “diakonia” with the same sense of Spirit and wisdom, the former to inspire others with our words and actions, and the latter to discharge our responsibilities in a moral and practical manner. In the words of David Haas:

We are called to act with justice.
We are called to love tenderly.
We are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.

Amen.

Friday of the 2nd Week of Easter (Year C)
Ac 5:34-42; Ps 26:1,4,13-14; Jn 6:1-15

Five loaves, two fish, one little lad.

Five thousand fed, all-you-can-eat, twelve baskets of scraps left over.

One unique miracle – it’s the only one worked by Jesus that’s recorded in all four canonical Gospels (Mt 14:13-21; Mk 6:32-44; Lk 9:10-17; Jn 6:1-13). No other feat merited universal coverage; for instance:

• the raising of Jairus’ daughter was omitted from John’s Gospel (Mt 9:18,23-26, Mk 5:21-24,35-43; Lk 8:40-42,49-56)
• Luke passes over Jesus walking on water (Mt 14:22-33; Mk 6:45-52; Jn 6:16-21)
• only John mentioned the miracle at Cana (Jn 2:1-11) and Lazarus (Jn 11:1-45)

What makes this miracle so special that it even trumps raising the dead? I suspect it has something to do with the sheer scale of the miracle, and the basic impact thereof.

If someone came along and raised a young girl from the dead, it’s at least plausible that she might have ingested some plant rich in reserpine, or some similar compound that can temporarily confer death-like symptoms. Recovery might therefore have simply coincided with the resurrection “act”.

Turned water into wine? Someone could argue that it was just some sleight of hand with carefully-hidden wine jugs.

But even the boy with the loaves and fish could tell you that hiding enough food to feed five thousand people out in the desert wilderness…is not going to happen. If you were one of the five thousand, you’d immediately realize that Something Authentically Important just happened, and you’d probably be spreading the news to every one you knew: “This man can feed us for life!” No wonder they wanted to kidnap Jesus and make him king!

Now the gospel authors would have had to pick and choose from the many miracles that Jesus worked:

There are also many other things which Jesus did; which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written. (Jn 21:25)

It’s no surprise, then, that all of them independently decided to include this incredible feat.

Thursday of the 2nd Week of Easter (Year C)
Ac 5:27-33; Ps 33:2,9,17-20; Jn 3:31-36

Today’s reading is a stark illustration of faith being challenged, and the proper response.

The apostles were commanded by God to preach the Good News of New Life wrought by Christ’s resurrection from the dead, an antithetical concept to the largely Sadducean Sanhedrin who didn’t believe in resurrection at all. The authorities thundered: “Stop this nonsense, or we will kill you all!” The apostles responded: “God Himself commands us to preach His Holy Word; who are you to tell us to stop?”

Note that the authorities’ reaction is naturally human, and all too common. I doubt many of us would take kindly to our subordinates challenging our assumptions, our processes, or even our expertise in our area of work. Such insubordination would merit chastisement at minimum, and possibly immediate termination.

And yet…faith that isn’t challenged is like a muscle that isn’t exercised; both will atrophy to useless shadows of their former selves. Our subordinates may adamantly disagree with us, but they may also be right. And if they are right, why not learn and grow from such dissent, instead of instinctively crushing them underfoot, or tossing them out into the metaphorical darkness to “weep and grind their teeth”?

This is why I’ve maintained for quite a few years now that one of God’s greatest gifts to me is my oldest and best friend…who is a vocal atheist. Over the decades, he’s poked and prodded at everything from my inconsistent practice of fasting and alms-giving, to why I “worship” Mary when “thou shalt have no other gods before God”, to why he overheard some random Catholic exclaiming “quick, quick, touch that Holy Door for good luck!” (I actually hurt myself with a facepalm on that last one.)

He once admitted to me that he took great delight in being my PDA (Personal Devil’s Advocate), and the main reason he considered me a good friend was that I was the only person he ever challenged who:

• admitted ignorance,
• promised to get back to him with an answer, and
• kept that promise (though the answer I gave often had a couple of holes that elicited more questions).

In return, I admitted to him that the main reason I still considered him a good friend, despite being faith-battered black and blue: I had discovered during some research on an unrelated question that, in the context of the Holy See, the advocatus diaboli was more properly known as the promotor fidei (“promoter of the faith”), so his repeated “attacks” actually served a higher cause.

His expression at that revelation? Priceless.

And so we continue till this day, him questioning some aspect of my imperfect Catholic outlook and actions, and me scrambling to find an answer…and improving myself in the process. Without this “adversary”, I might well be just another Sunday Catholic today…or worse. It’s an exhilarating way to live the faith, and though it may not be for everyone, I would still recommend occasionally taking the time to meet a faith challenge head-on, rather than turning away in silence or lashing out in anger. (Indeed, hell hath no fury like a believer found wanting.)

Today’s title was deliberately chosen as an oblique reference to Outward Bound International, whose motto perfectly describes the apostles’ motivation:

To serve, to strive, and not to yield.

Amen.

Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Easter (Year C)
Ac 5:17-26, Ps 33:2-9, Jn 3:16-21

John 3:16 is such well-trodden ground; you’d be hard-pressed to find a Christian who can’t recite that passage from memory.

The first reading, though, is more intriguing. It breaks the continuity established since Easter Monday by skipping over a large chunk of Acts 5 that can be summarized thus:

• Husband and wife Ananias and Sapphira try to take half off their donation to the apostles, and paid for their deceit with their lives. Everyone goes SHOCK! FEAR! (Ac 5:1-10)
• The apostles work lots of miracles, meeting with other believers in Solomon’s Colonnade, an area on the eastern side of the Outer Court in the Temple of Jerusalem. They draw crowds even from outside Jerusalem, all believing the apostles to wield such power that even Peter’s shadow could make them whole again, but none were willing to actually join them. (Ac 5:11-16)

This explains why the high priest and his cohort were filled with enough jealousy to order their arrest and imprisonment, only to have them be quietly teleported out in the middle of the night, right under the noses of their oblivious guards, and continue their preaching within the temple on the next day.

When the captain of the Temple and the chief priests heard this news they wondered what this could mean. (Ac 5:24)

Or in the words of far too many fictional characters: “I have a very bad feeling about this…”

Then they find out where the apostles went, and what they were doing. The captain and his troops gets tasked to recapture them, only to find an enthralled crowd surrounding the apostles. Imagine their frustration, having to dial back their usual jackbooted arrogance for fear of starting a riot.

Captain: PETER! You rotten piece of…

<crowd growls…dangerously>

Captain: <swallows angry oath in frustration> Peter, would you and your compatriots please come with us? The chief priests would like to have a word.

Peter: Of course, captain, since you asked so nicely.

Such is the power of the Truth that is the Good News. This is why I began this series of blogs reflecting on each day’s readings: I am compelled by One who is within and without me, to spend a large chunk of time each day ingesting, digesting and projecting the Word of God onto the public screen that is my website, a modern substitute to the temple courts that the apostles preached in. I pray that, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, this will truly become part of my daily life, and ask you, dear brothers and sisters, to firmly nudge me should I falter. Thanks be to God, and to you for reading this far.

Amen.

One more thing…

Every Sunday, I see some people entering church well into the Communion Rite, receive Holy Communion, and depart immediately afterwards. I’m genuinely curious to understand what compels them to take the trouble to navigate through the often-terrible traffic outside and inside the car park for just a brief few minutes. Could it be, in the light of Ac 5:11-16, that they seek healing without commitment, treating the Body of Christ as basically a “magic pill”?

If you know anyone who does this regularly, and has deigned to explain their rationale to you, please do share it in a comment below. Thanks much!

(Today’s title was inspired by Dr. Leslie Tay’s food blog ieatishootipost: Singapore Food Reviews and Recipes.)