Readings for Monday, May 5 2014; Monday of the Third Week of Easter

Lectionary: 273

Reading 1
Acts 6:8-15

Stephen, filled with grace and power,
was working great wonders and signs among the people.
Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,
Cyreneans, and Alexandrians,
and people from Cilicia and Asia,
came forward and debated with Stephen,
but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.
Then they instigated some men to say,
“We have heard him speaking blasphemous words
against Moses and God.”
They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes,
accosted him, seized him,
and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
They presented false witnesses who testified,
“This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law.
For we have heard him claim
that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place
and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”
All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him
and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30

R. (1ab) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.

Though princes meet and talk against me,
your servant meditates on your statutes.
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.

I declared my ways, and you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.

Remove from me the way of falsehood,
and favor me with your law.
The way of truth I have chosen;
I have set your ordinances before me.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel
John 6:22-29

[After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.]
The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea
saw that there had been only one boat there,
and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat,
but only his disciples had left.
Other boats came from Tiberias
near the place where they had eaten the bread
when the Lord gave thanks.
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
they themselves got into boats
and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
And when they found him across the sea they said to him,
“Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jesus answered them and said,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me
not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you. 
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” 
So they said to him,
“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

REFLECTION
SOURCE: Creighton.edu

By

Joe Zaborowski

“While reading today’s passages I was struck by my perception of a juxtaposition between Acts and John’s gospel. In the first reading the events leading up to St. Stephen’s martyrdom are related. These events, at first glance, seem in contrast to the talk of “imperishable food” in John’s Gospel. A re-read touched me in a different way. Stephen is portrayed as being filled with “wisdom and the Spirit.” The question to me is how this happened in the face of death, and yet at the same time, he was able to still proclaim the Good News.

The answer to that may be found in John’s gospel. Stephen, as an early Christian, was able to partake in “the food that endures for eternal life.” John 16 begins the Bread of Life discourse in which Christ repeatedly tells His followers He is the Bread of Life and that His flesh is true food. If I understand that this powerful spiritual gift is available to me and has been to followers of Christ since the beginnings of the Church, I can have the same opportunity to attain the wisdom and courage Stephen had.

During the time between Triduum, during which we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and Pentecost Sunday, I can  feed on the food that endures for eternal life and be filled with the wisdom of the Spirit. During this time between Easter and Pentecost, I need to take the time to reflect on this gift and offer prayers of thanksgiving.