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4th Sunday of Easter - Cycle B

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During Lent the focus of our readings was on our Salvation History, but during Easter we focus on the basic truths of our faith – those taught to us by Jesus, and then through the Apostles, who slowly realized these truths as they set out to spread the Gospel.  In the Acts of the Apostles, we witness the evolution of both their ministry and their understanding of Jesus’ teaching.  This week, we see the Trinity at work in our readings – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, all acting in concert to reveal to us God’s love and how we should live as his people.

The Word for the 4th Sunday of Easter
Acts 4:8-12
Psalms 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29
1 John 3:1-2
John 10:11-18

We begin with Acts of the Apostles where Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, finds the courage to speak up to the people and the elders.  His message is simple; the one you rejected is the one who can save you.  While the story is powerful in its own right, the context of the events surrounding the story makes it much more powerful – Peter isn’t standing before any average group of people when he makes this speech, he’s standing before the Sanhedrin.  The “people” in this case are the chief priests and elders that ordered Jesus crucified.  Peter, John, and others had spent the night before in the temple prison for speaking in the name of Jesus, as they will find themselves again after this moment.  Through the Holy Spirit, Peter finds the strength to do what he couldn’t when Jesus was alive, and now, just as they did with Jesus, the Sanhedrin is trying to stop them.

In the first reading we hear Peter referring to Jesus as the “stone the builders rejected” becoming the cornerstone.  Through our Psalm we see that same idea as we sing that same phrase, that what man rejects is in fact that which the Lord anoints.

Our second reading continues our examination of the 1st Letter of John, where we are reminded that we are “Children of God.”  John, though not directly referring to Jesus in this passage, is reminding us that it was Jesus who taught us to see God as “Our Father,” and through his death and resurrection, we are reconciled to him.  We are, therefore, sons and daughters of God, and thus why we can say we are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Our Gospel this week returns to John and the story of the Good Shepherd.  Here again it is helpful to put this reading into the context of the events surrounding it.  This particular reading is about midway through the Gospel, coming right after the story of the Man Born Blind (which we hear for the second Scrutiny).  Jesus is using this story as a metaphor to give the Apostles and his disciples the opportunity to see the truth though his actions, not just by his words.  Following this reading, not all in the crowd understands, and they continue to push Jesus for a straight answer.  They say, “If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”  Jesus knows they’re not ready to hear the answer, but he tells them anyway, forcing him to leave Jerusalem for the Jordon river.

Final Thoughts:
Gaining faith, whether it is religious faith, faith in a person, or faith in one’s own abilities, is almost never an instantaneous thing.  Even St. Paul, who was struck blind at the sight of the risen Christ, spent 3 years in near isolation trying to make sense of the experience and sort out what he needed to do next.  As we read through the Acts of the Apostles, we see a genuine evolution of the faith of Peter, James, John, and all the other Apostles.  Even after all the time they spent with Jesus, even after witnessing the risen Christ, even after receiving the Holy Spirit, it still took the Apostles time to process the experiences, to understand what it was they needed to do, and develop their voices and will to speak the Gospel truth.  

We as Church continue to process these events and teachings, and we continue to evolve in our understanding of what we have been taught and experienced.  Faith isn’t something that just happens.  Faith is something that needs to be practiced – to be lived out in order to be realized.  So if you feel like you don’t get it, or sometimes feel unsure, that’s OK.  If it took Peter, James, John, and the others time to sort it all out, we should be willing to give ourselves that time as well.

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