A Commentary and Reflection on the Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter – Year B. The Liturgical Sense of the Scriptures Podcast, by Catholic Author and Theologian David L. Gray. READINGS: Acts 9:26-31, 1 John 3:18-24, John 15:1-8.
The Liturgy of the Catholic Mass Forms Us to be Preachers
Of the four pillars of Dominican Spirituality, which are Study, Community, Contemplation, and Preaching, I have always found the latter of that group to be most representative of the exterior life of Christ Jesus and His mission with the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the other three pillars could be argued to be something we do; we study, we build community, and we contemplate, but the preacher is who we are; we are preachers. In fact, the liturgy of the Catholic Mass, in her great sending, informs us of this very thing: that who the liturgy has formed us to be is the same person God has been calling us to be. That is, Eucharistic people of the lex vivendi who preach with their words and their actions, or as today’s Second Reading for the Fifth Sunday in Lent – Year B from 1 John 3:18-24 teaches us, “Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.”
In today’s First Reading from Acts 9:26-31, we hear that Saul faced skepticism and fear from the disciples in Jerusalem after his conversion on the road to Damascus. This tension arose because Saul, previously known as a fervent persecutor of Christians, had suddenly become a disciple. The disciples were understandably wary, as they had known Saul as the one who “breathed threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.”[1] It was Barnabas who vouched for Saul, explaining his genuine conversion and how he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus, which eventually led to the disciples accepting him. The text also informs us, “Saul also spoke and debated with the Hellenists, but they tried to kill him. And when the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him on his way to Tarsus.” There was something about the witness of Saul’s bold and fearless preaching and the recklessness he demonstrated in putting his care for the truth of Christ Jesus before the care of preserving his own life that brought the community of believers together in trusting their former persecutor.
Paul not only preached with words but with actions. In other words, Paul embodied the message he delivered, exemplifying faith’s transformative power. One of his most compelling statements about this approach is found in 1 Corinthians 2:4, where he says, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.” This verse encapsulates Paul’s ministry philosophy, where the authenticity of his actions reinforced the truth of his words, thereby leaving a lasting impact on the early Catholic Christian community.
Indeed, the closer we are to God in being who He has called us to be in His Son, the shorter is the distance between our words and actions not reflecting who Christ Jesus was in the world. The Second Reading from 1 John says it this way, “Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he gave us.” In today’s Gospel Reading from John 15:1-8, Jesus taught this way, saying, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit because without me you can do nothing,” and “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want, and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” So, there is an intimate relationship between our closeness with Christ Jesus, His words remaining in us, and the fruit of His life living through us.
The surest way by which God has given us to remain in Christ Jesus and, thereby, allow His words to remain in us and the fruit of the Holy Spirit to pour out of us is to never depart from nearness to the holy Sacraments, most especially the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which is the only Sacrament that is truly Him in body, blood, soul, and divinity. This closeness to the Holy Eucharist finds its prerequisite through the emptying of vanity and the taking on the bondage of freedom in Christ. From the renewals of our Baptismal promises we make at the opening of the liturgy of the Mass when we sign ourselves with the Cross, to the non-sacramental absolution of venial sins, to offering up our lives to God in the Sursum Corda, we demonstrate to God in word and action that we belong to Him, and in return He says, I am with you always, as His divine body in the form of bread and wine enters our body to raise into His divinity.
But now what? Today’s readings answer the most profound of all Easter questions. Christ has Risen! Indeed, but now what? The answer for the Apostles and disciples who witnessed the first Easter was simply to follow the command they received to preach what they witnessed. Before Jesus’ ascension, His words were, “You will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”[2] For the Apostles, that witness took the form of preaching, teaching, and healing in word and deed. According to Luke’s writing in Acts 5:15, at times, their mere presence was healing, saying, “Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them.” These words are testimony of the fact that when the nearness of the proximity of Son of God shines upon you, even your shadow is Him. How much more powerful then is the Son of God in us through the Holy Eucharist? If we eat the Word of God, should the Word of God not proceed from our tongue and lips? Alternatively, as Saint Dominic de Guzman preaches, “We must sow the seed, not hoard it.”
This is just one way how the readings at Mass this Sunday connect to the liturgy and how the liturgy is forming us how to live our lives in the world. Be in the world what you have received through the liturgy.
[1] Acts 9:1.
[2] Acts 1:8.
