As we continue our Easter celebration, we give praise and thanks to God for sending the Son, who sacrificed his life to save us, who has shown us the way to eternal life. “I am the way and the truth and the life,” Jesus tells his disciples in today’s Gospel. They will not understand what he means until after he dies and is raised. As we already know what came later, may the words he said then inspire us to follow him now.
Introduction to the Liturgy of the Word
During the Easter season, we are invited to reflect on all the wonderful implications of the Resurrection. The early church grew and expanded to the extent that more leaders were needed to minister to everyone. We are, as Peter puts it, “living stones,” built upon the cornerstone who is Jesus. In the Gospel, Jesus assures his disciples that he is preparing dwelling places for them in his Father’s house. Let us place our trust in the Lord, that we will one day reach God’s dwelling place.
Reflections
The first disciples had a problem. The Greek-speaking converts (“Hellenists”) complained to the original disciples because their widows were being neglected by the Hebrew-speaking disciples who controlled the “daily distribution”: the food and other essentials they held for the common good. The Hebrew-speaking disciples could have decided to split the community in two and leave the Greek-speaking disciples to handle it themselves. Instead, the diversity of the early community inspired a wise decision. The Hebrew-speaking leaders decided to split up the work among themselves and new leaders from among the Hellenists: not only the responsibility for serving the community, but also the basic ministries of preaching and serving. Now all the needy widows would be fed, and by those who spoke their own language.
The eleven apostles who remained after the Resurrection selected Matthias to replace Judas so that they could once again be twelve, symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel. Today we hear them commission seven leaders from among the Hellenists. Seven signifies universality and completion, for it was considered a perfect number. The numbers of those called to lead—twelve and seven—symbolize both their roots and their mission.
Jesus promises his disciples a dwelling place in his Father’s house. When asked where they can find this place, he tells the disciples that he is the way. Then he asserts that he is in the Father and the Father is in him. The destination, therefore, is already found in the journey. Our home is in the Lord, who accommodates us in all our diversity of languages, ages, cultures, and orientations, for he has many dwelling places, all brought together in one God. In Jesus we encounter not only the way but our eternal home, for he is also the truth and the life. Also, as Jesus prepares a dwelling place for us in God, he also prepares in us a dwelling place for God.
Question of the Week
Whom in my parish or in the wider community do I feel called to serve? How can I serve them and bring them on our journey to the Lord?
-from Pastoral Patterns
readings of the mass
LISTEN HEREto the Audio Recordings of the Readings of Sunday, May 7, 2023
SELECT HEREfor the Readings of Sunday, May 7, 2023
Offerings
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