Reading 1 Acts 6:8-15
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 PS 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30
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.
Alleluia Mt 4:4b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.One does not live on bread alone
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Jn 6:22-29
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.”
CATCH-Y?
"The apostles for their part left the Sanhedrin full of joy that they had been judged worthy of ill-treatment for the sake of the Name." –Acts 5:41
Peter went back into the fishing business and quit following Jesus (see Jn 21:3). He probably did this because of his long-standing problems with Jesus' command to take up the cross. When Jesus had first mentioned the cross to His disciples, Peter had downplayed the whole thing. Then "Jesus turned on Peter and said, 'Get out of My sight, you satan!' " (Mt 16:23) Peter had made plans to stay on the mountain of the Transfiguration rather than go into the valley of suffering and death on the cross (see Mt 17:4). When Jesus was about to die on the cross, Peter had denied Him three times. Therefore, it's reasonable to surmise that Peter went back into the fishing business to escape the cross.
The risen Jesus then intervened. He caught Peter's attention by telling the disciples how to catch 153 fish at one time (Jn 21:11). Later, after repeatedly asking Peter if he loved Him, Jesus "indicated the sort of death by which Peter was to glorify God" (Jn 21:19). Jesus began to show Peter that he would not only carry a cross but die on one. The Holy Spirit eventually guided Peter to the full truth (Jn 16:13) about his own death on the cross. Finally, Peter imitated Jesus to the point that he too died on a cross.
The risen Jesus is quietly running after you with a cross to give you. If you're running from the cross, you're running from the risen Christ. Let Him catch you. Be the fish Jesus catches.
| PRAYER: | Father, may I come to the point that I will boast of nothing but the cross (Gal 6:14). |
| PROMISE: | "We testify to this. So too does the Holy Spirit, Whom God has given to those that obey Him." –Acts 5:32 |
| PRAISE: | Glory and praise to You, risen Lord Jesus, for opening the way into heaven. Praise be to You forever! |
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