Fifth Sunday of Easter
Reading 1: Acts 6:1-7
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
Reading 2: 1 Pt 2:4-9
Gospel: Jn 14:1-12
As mentioned previously, it is during the Easter Season that we celebrate the origins of the church in the first century. And the early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles depict a community of faith wherein everyone shares equally in the resources of that community.
Our first reading this week is an interesting passage from chapter 6 of “Acts” because it involves the appointment of seven men to “serve at table,” to relieve the apostles of that duty. However, there is more here than meets the eye. It could be argued that this passage depicts the institution of the diaconate, and these seven men are the first deacons of the church, and their duties will be more than simply making sure everyone gets an appropriate distribution of the food and the other resources of the community.
The dispute that leads to their appointment is between the “Hellenists” and the “Hebrews.” Both are to be understood as Jews: The “Hellenists” were Greek-speaking Jews, possibly from the diaspora (Jewish communities outside the Holy Land) or possibly Palestinian Jews who spoke only Greek. The “Hebrews” were Hebrew or Aramaic speaking Jews from the vicinity of Jerusalem. As there was a language barrier between the two groups, that barrier apparently led to a discrepancy in the distribution of goods.
Notice that the apostles called together “the community of the disciples;” so the entire community is considered disciples, even though there is a dispute within the community between the Hebrew-speaking and non-Hebrew-speaking Jews. The Greek names of these seven men indicate they were appointed from the Hellenists, so they are essentially the Hellenist counterpart of the apostles. But notice also how they are confirmed in their appointments after being chosen. The apostles prayed over them and laid hands on them, symbolically implying that these men have now been given some degree of authority over the community and have received that authority directly from the apostles and have, presumably, received the spirit of the apostles as the laying-on-of-hands would imply. If we consider the apostles to be the first bishops of the church, then we can see this scene as the ordination of the first deacons.
The duties of these seven men seem to be much more than serving at table. Stephen and Philip are the only two we hear any more about and as we progress further into Acts. We see that Stephen was “filled with grace and power,” had the “face of an angel,” and preached the Word of God in Jerusalem, resulting in his martyrdom. Philip left Jerusalem and preached in Samaria. So, Stephen and Philip (and presumably the remainder of the seven) were commissioned to preach the Word of God. If these men had responsibility for “serving at table,” it would seem that their responsibility was an administrative one, making sure the distribution was fair and equitable. But they were appointed by the apostles to carry on the preaching of God’s Word as we are told in verse 7 that “The Word of God continued to spread as the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly.” We notice also in that verse that “a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.” All members of the tribe of Levi were considered members of the priestly class with various duties within that ministry, so this verse tells us that even many of those responsible for various aspects of the Jewish religion were being converted to Christianity.
In our second reading from 1st Peter, quoting Isaiah 28:16, the author refers to Christ as “a living stone;” the cornerstone and foundation of the “spiritual house” which is the Christian community, and implores his readers (and us) to become ourselves living stones in that “spiritual house”. As mentioned in last week’s reflection, the letter is addressed to Christian communities outside of Palestine; communities probably originally evangelized by St. Paul and, therefore, mainly Gentile in nature. The author quotes passages from Isaiah 8 and 28 concerning the cornerstone in Zion that will become a foundation for those who accept the faith and a stumbling stone for those who reject it. Those who have accepted that faith, whether it was in the 1st century or the 21st century, have become living stones in that house, the foundation of which is Christ the “Living Stone.” And, as living stones, we become a “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (Ex 19:6), so that we may “announce the praises” of the one who redeemed his people.
Our gospel passage is from the “Last Supper Discourses” of the Gospel of John and the hearts of the disciples are troubled because Jesus has just announced to them that he will be with them for only a little while longer; that one of them would betray him; and that Peter would deny him three times before the cock crows. He will be leaving them but: “If I go…I will come back again and take you to myself.” This is a reference to the Parousia, the return of Christ, and the apostles probably interpreted this as happening within their lifetimes because Jesus said he would take them to himself. He also told them they know the way to where he is going. When Thomas asks: “How can we know the way?” Jesus responds: “I AM THE WAY AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE.” He is the WAY, because no one comes to the Father except through Jesus; He is the TRUTH, and truth leads to knowledge of the Father and knowledge of the Father leads to liberation from sin; He is the LIFE, because liberation from sin leads to eternal life in that happy existence we refer to as heaven. It is knowledge of the Father that we obtain through knowledge of Christ, and liberation from sin that we obtain through the sacraments of the church that he left us that makes us “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” And that is available to us because of the sacrifice Christ made on the cross to re-form us in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, as Jesus said: “If you know me, then you will also know my Father.” The message does not seem to sink in with Philip (not the same Philip we just read about in our first reading): “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus tells Philip: if you have seen me, you have seen the Father, because the reality of the Father is manifested in the person and works of Jesus.
