April 14, 2010
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Breaking Open the Word By James Cavanagh April 18: Third Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday Scripture readings: • Acts 5:27-32; 40-41 The Overview: From the very beginning, the Gospel has posed a serious challenge to the rulers of this world. Sometimes it does this directly, as illustrated in our first reading. Other times it does so indirectly through symbolic images, as in the book of Revelation. In the first reading Peter and the other apostles had been under strict orders by the Sanhedrin (governing council) not to talk about Jesus. But in a bold act defiance that has inspired persecuted Christians throughout the ages Peter says, “We must obey God rather than men,” and immediately starts to preach to the very men who ordered him not to preach in the first place! What follows is one of the most concise accounts of the Gospel in the New Testament. It consists of three basic statements: (1) Christ was killed, having been “hung on a tree;” (2) God raised him from the dead thus making him “leader and savior” through whom (3) we can obtain forgiveness. The second reading during the Easter season is from the book of Revelation. In this week’s reading John has a vision of the heavenly liturgy, of which the liturgy on earth is but a reflection. At the center of this liturgy is “the lamb that was slain” who alone is “worthy to receive honor, glory and blessing.” This week’s Gospel is rich in symbolic imagery. The fact that the net (signifying the Church) was drawn up from the right side of the boat echoes the Last Judgment of Matthew 25. The crucified and risen Lord stands on the shore ready to welcome his “good and faithful servants” the first of which is St. Peter. The precise number of fish caught (153) has been the subject of various interpretations. Clearly it is connected to the apostolic mission to preach the Gospel to all nations. Leading that mission is St. Peter who “dragged the net ashore” and was appointed by Christ to shepherd the Church. Key verse: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). “Catechism of the Catholic Church”: “The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the Gospel.” Pope Benedict XVI: “The book of Revelation, which certainly stands on the periphery of the New Testament with its view of the empire, nevertheless made it clear to everyone that there were things that must not be persevered, things that had to be changed. (Revelation) showed a dimension of human existence that went beyond the political functions of maintaining peace and social order” (“Values in a Time of Upheaval”). Life application: God is the author of the moral order to which we are all subject. We will be judged according to whether we “obeyed God or men.” We should respect civil authorities, but our first allegiance is to the Lord who alone is “worthy to receive honor, glory and blessing:--not Caesar.
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