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Fifth Sunday of Easter Mass Readings
First Reading: Acts 6:1-7
Responsorial: Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
Second Reading: 1 Peter 2:4-9
Gospel: John 14:1-12
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051020.cfm
https://www.deaconrudysnotes.org/
Peace be with you on this fifth Sunday of Easter, and a great big shout out to moms everywhere on this Mother’s Day! Even if today is not Mother’s Day in your culture, I think we can all agree that we don’t need a special occasion to lift up mothers everywhere both our own mothers and the mothers of our children!
I think so much about our world today is geared toward the individual. As Mycroft says in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, “he’s all me, me, me, isn’t he?”
But moms are different, aren’t they? A mom opens her heart and her life to her children – doesn’t matter whether they are natural or adopted. It’s the ideal image of service that we see described in our first reading from Acts. I know that reading is the first evidence of deacons in the early church, but what better role models for the clergy than the moms in our lives?
And it doesn’t matter whether she works and travels all the time or is a stay-at-home-mom, whether it’s an extravagant manor or a simple tent on the side of the road, moms put their hearts into creating a home. Moms create a space for us to live and to work. In fact, a home becomes such a comfortable place for many of us. In a way, it’s easy to relate the work our moms do to make a home to what Jesus says, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places,” (John 14:2).
That feeling we have when we walk through the door of our home – whether our current home or our childhood home – is joy. It’s not really an emotion. It’s just for want of a better term that feeling deep within us that means we are totally comfortable, totally at peace. It’s easy to associate our moms with the living stones we hear about in the second reading today from First Peter. It’s their presence that makes the house a home.
What does it mean to live with the Father? Thomas asks Jesus in today’s Gospel, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” (John 14:5) I don’t think it’s hard to blame Thomas for asking Jesus this question. For many of us, trying to wrap our minds around what heaven will be like is difficult.
But I think that feeling we have when go home – that feeling of welcome and comfort – might be like what heaven feels like. And of course, that makes sense, doesn’t it? If God is love, then that all encompassing feeling of love that our moms wrap around us is God.
Our moms work doesn’t end there. How many moms pray their children home? Look at St. Augustine? He was quite the playboy. But his mother, St. Monica, constantly prayed for his conversion. It probably didn’t happen as quickly as she would have liked, but in the end, Augustine converted and eventually became one of the most important leaders in the history of the Christian faith.
That’s what mom’s do, isn’t it? More often than not in too many households, it is mom who keeps the faith. And like Mary our spiritual mother, it is mom who leads us to Jesus Christ. That’s important because Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father except through me,” (John 14:6). Moms are the backbone of our faith leading us to Jesus who in turn leads us to the Father.
We have so much to be thankful for in all the moms around us. We may never fully appreciate the great blessing of God for a creating both men and women – equal in dignity, but with complementary natures. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. May God bless moms everywhere, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!
Homework! Having been nourished by the Word of God proclaimed and an Act of Spiritual Communion, I encourage you to reflect on the following questions.
- Do not let your hearts be troubled. How can I be force for calm and peace in a world changed by COVID-19?
- There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Where do I feel the presence of God most strongly? Where do I pray most often?
- I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father other than through me. Do I help lead others to God through my words and actions in all my interactions – in speech, writing, and on social media?
I think doing our homework will help us refocus our lives of discipleship as we emerge from sheltering in place. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!
Art for this post: PUBLIC DOMAIN. Migrant Mother 02 by Dorothea Lange, 1936. This image is a work of an employee of the United States Farm Security Administration or Office of War Information domestic photographic units, taken as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain in the United States. Original caption: “Destitute peapickers in California; a 32-year-old mother of seven children. February 1936.”
References:
1. Martin, Francis and William M. Wright IV. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2015.
2. Keating, Daniel. First and Second Peter, Jude. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2011.
3. Kurz, William S. Acts of the Apostles. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2013.
4. Lectio Divina Of The Gospels. Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2019.
5. The Bible: A Study Bible freshly translated by Nicholas King. Buxhall, Suffolk UK: Kevin Mayhew, 2013.
Catechism References: Easily search the Catechism at http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm
1. Christ the mediator and fullness, 65-66, 846
2. Believing in Jesus, 151, 1698, 2614, 2466
3. Jesus’ mysteries, 516
4. The Church as a spiritual temple, 756, 1179
5. The Church as the people of God, 781-86
6. A chosen race, a royal priesthood, 782, 803, 1141, 1174, 1269, 1322
7. Heaven, 1025-27
8. Common priesthood of the faithful, 1141, 1268, 1546
9. Deacons, 1554, 1569-71
10. Jesus teaches us how to pray, 2614, 2746-51, 2825
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Mass readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051020.cfm
Lectionary: 52
First Reading
ACTS 6:1-7
As the number of disciples continued to grow,
the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews
because their widows
were being neglected in the daily distribution.
So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said,
“It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table.
Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men,
filled with the Spirit and wisdom,
whom we shall appoint to this task,
whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer
and to the ministry of the word.”
The proposal was acceptable to the whole community,
so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit,
also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas,
and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
They presented these men to the apostles
who prayed and laid hands on them.
The word of God continued to spread,
and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly;
even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
Responsorial
Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
or:
R. Alleluia.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Second Reading
1 PT 2:4-9
Beloved:
Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings
but chosen and precious in the sight of God,
and, like living stones,
let yourselves be built into a spiritual house
to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For it says in Scripture:
Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a cornerstone, chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.
Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,
and
A stone that will make people stumble,
and a rock that will make them fall.
They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny.
You are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people of his own,
so that you may announce the praises” of him
who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Alleluia verse
John 14:6
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way, the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father, except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
John 14:1-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.
Where I am going you know the way.”
Thomas said to him,
“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.”