Acts 13:44-52 / John 14:7-14
A young lady asked, “How can Christians claim to have a special knowledge of what God is like?” The answer, of course, depends on who you say Jesus is. No other bona-fide religious leader in history ever made the incredible claims that Jesus did. Muhammad admitted he was a sinner. Buddha rejected all personal veneration. Jesus is the only religious leader who dared to say, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” If Jesus was who he claimed to be, then Christians can correctly claim access to a personally revealed knowledge of God. The whole issue rises and falls on Jesus’ question to Peter: “Who do you say I am?”
What convinces us most that Jesus was who he claimed to be? “Men have been so wrong about God that he had to come and tell us who he was.” Louis Evely
****
From the pictures taken from outer space, we know that Earth is a big blueish roundish mass. It is in this Earth that all of us live and we are bound to this Earth for our existence. Yet, despite the fact that we all live on this Earth, it seems that some want to push others out of this world. These people do not seem to understand that they can only push others from one corner to the other but never out of this world.
That was what happened in the 1st reading. Some people, blinded by jealousy, plotted to drive Paul and Barnabas out of their city. They were blinded to the extent that they could only drive Paul and Barnabas out of their city but they could never drive them out of this world. They were also blinded to the fact that Paul and Barnabas were just ordinary human beings like themselves and yet they see them as threats that are to be eliminated and done away with.
In the gospel, Jesus told Philip and the disciples that to have seen Him is to have seen the Father. And how do we see Jesus? We are all created in the image of God and when we look closely and deeply at each other, we will see the face of Jesus and eventually see the face of the Father. We not only live in the one and only Earth, we even look alike and we even form the one unique species called the human race.
How else are we supposed to live but in peace and love! We don't need to go to outer space to realize that!
Easter: Sat-4th Week - Liturgy
Introduction
In their particularism, the Jews of Antioch in Pisidia wanted to monopolize salvation, perhaps allowing pagans to share in it later through them. For this reason, they reject Christ, his gospel and his missionaries. But no particularistic group can monopolize Christ. He came as the light of the whole world. By coming among us, Christ accepted people so to speak on their own terms, to save them in their own situation, mentality, and culture. So was the Church of the apostles to welcome not only Jews, but also pagans. So is the Church to be missionary today by welcoming all and serving all. In this way the Church will do as Christ did, be the sign of Christ to the world, show the distant God close by and present in us.
Penitential Rite
-In the midst of conflicts and contradictions, you come as our wisdom, LHM
-In the midst of oppositions and rejections, you come as our support, CHM
-In the midst of doubts and confusions, you come as our enlightenment, LHM
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, you are distant and unknown, and yet so near that you know and love and save us through your Son Jesus Christ. May he be present in us and in our actions that we may do the same works of justice, truth and loving service and thus become the sign to the world that your Son is alive and that you are a saving God now and for ever.
General Intercessions
- For the Church, that we may listen with attention and joy to the word of God, that we may come to know the Lord better, we pray:
- For all of us, that we may not selfishly keep the Lord Jesus for ourselves only but make him known to others by the way we live his good news, we pray:
- For our Christian communities, that we may be fervent in prayer and ask in the name of Jesus for more unity and love, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, in these signs of bread and wine you give us your Son as the light to all people, but only if we believe can we see the light. Give us these eyes of faith and let the light of your Son shine in the works we do, that people may praise you. We ask you this in the name of Jesus, who lives in you for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God, through your Son Jesus Christ you entered our world to save people in their concrete situation and mentality. Through your Son, who is with us now, open your Church and missionaries and all of us to welcome all peoples with love and to accompany them with humility in their mentality and culture on their road to you. We are sure you will hear our prayer, for we ask you this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Commentary
As Jesus spent time with His apostles, He revealed to them the mystery of His person. He taught them gradually, all in accord with their ability to understand His identity and His purpose.
Words alone would not suffice to teach the apostles His divine nature. Only after the resurrection would they understand that they had experienced first-hand in Jesus the only begotten Son of God. That understanding would allow them to preach with all of their might the Good News of His resurrection, and His invitation to share in His divine life.
