May 9, 2026
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Lectionary: 290
Reading
1
Paul reached also
Derbe and Lystra
where there was a disciple named Timothy,
the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer,
but his father was a Greek.
The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him,
and Paul wanted him to come along with him.
On account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised,
for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
As they traveled from city to city,
they handed on to the people for observance the decisions
reached by the Apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem.
Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith
and increased in number.
They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian territory
because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit
from preaching the message in the province of Asia.
When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia,
but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them,
so they crossed through Mysia and came down to Troas.
During the night Paul had a vision.
A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words,
"Come over to Macedonia and help us."
When he had seen the vision,
we sought passage to Macedonia at once,
concluding that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (2a) Let
all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
If then you were raised with Christ,
seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his
disciples:
"If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.
Remember the word I spoke to you,
'No slave is greater than his master.'
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050926
Commentary on Acts
16:1-10
Today we find ourselves on the second missionary journey of
Paul. Just in case we think that quarrels and divisions in our church are
something that only happened later in the Church’s history, we need to see how
this Second Journey got under way.
Some time after the First Journey, Paul suggested to
Barnabas that they should go back and visit the places they had evangelised.
However, Barnabas wanted to take John Mark (his cousin, also just called Mark)
along with them. But Paul disagreed because he said that Mark had abandoned
them early on at Pamphylia on the First Journey and he did not want him along
this time.
Their disagreement was so strong that they decided to go
their separate ways. Barnabas took Mark and they went off to his native Cyprus.
Paul, however, with the blessing of the Antioch community, instead took Silas
as his companion. They began by going through Syria and Cilicia, visiting the
churches Paul had been to on his First Journey.
It is at that point that our reading begins today. We find
Paul back in places where he had proclaimed the gospel before—Derbe and Lystra.
As Paul is approaching this time from the east, the order of the towns is
reversed.
It was in Lystra that Paul met Timothy, whom he invited to
join him in his work. Timothy was to become one of his closest and most loyal
companions, and there are two letters of the New Testament dedicated to him.
His mother was a Jew, but his father was a gentile Greek and because of that he
had never been circumcised (we saw how that could have been an issue during the
meeting in Jerusalem). Since Paul addressed him as a young man some 15 years
later (see 1 Tim 4:12), he must have been only in his teens at this time.
On the basis of the decision that had been made in
Jerusalem, there was now no need for Timothy to be circumcised. But Paul,
sensitive to the strong feelings of the Jews to whom they would be preaching,
had him circumcised. In general, Paul opposed circumcision for converts from
paganism, but because Timothy had a Jewish mother, he was an Israelite
according to Jewish law. Conversely, in the case of Titus, Paul refused
circumcision because it was being demanded by some people as a condition for
salvation. All of this is an indication of how flexible Paul could be on
non-essentials and it should not be seen as mere compromising with unreasonable
people.
Paul himself was a totally free person, but he was very
aware that other people were not so liberated. As he says elsewhere:
…whenever I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor
12:10)
Here he tolerates the weakness of some people. Circumcision
was not necessary for baptism, but if it made some people happy and furthered
the growth of the Kingdom, then have at it. As Paul would discuss elsewhere,
being circumcised or not makes no difference whatever.
At the same time, we are told today that Paul was
disseminating the decisions made at Jerusalem about circumcision and the status
of Christian gentiles to all those he met. And the churches in these places
were growing in faith and numbers. It was a very encouraging situation.
After visiting these places of the First Journey, Paul now
began to tread new ground, visiting new places in Asia Minor (Turkey today).
However, when he and his companions tried to go into the Roman province of
Asia, they met some unspecified obstacles on the way which were seen as the
guiding hand of the Spirit indicating that they should go in a different
direction. Asia at this time was a Roman province in what is western Turkey
today, and included the districts of Mysia, Lydia and Caria.
After leaving Iconium, it seems they had originally intended
going west to Ephesus (on the west coast of Turkey), but instead the Spirit
intervened and Paul and his companions turned first north, then in a
north-westerly direction. They found themselves going through the territories
of Phrygia and Galatia (to the west and north of where they had been). Phrygia
formerly had been Hellenistic territory, but more recently had been divided
between the Roman provinces of Asia and Galatia. Iconium and Antioch, where
Paul had been during his First Journey, were in the Galatian part of Phrygia.
They found themselves headed for the Galatian countryside.
Here, where illness kept Paul for a time as we know from the letter to the
Galatians (4:13-15), he preached the gospel and later would return to visit the
disciples he had evangelised there (Acts 18:23).
When they then tried to enter Bythinia, a province lying
along the shores of the Black Sea, through Mysia, they were again blocked by
unspecified obstacles (perhaps landslides, floods, earthquakes, civil unrest or
the like—it is unclear).
Eventually they found themselves at Troas, which is just at
the entrance to the Dardanelles. Troas was located just 16 km (10 miles) from
ancient Troy. Alexandria Troas (to give it its full name) was a Roman colony
and an important seaport between Macedonia and Greece to the west and Asia
Minor. Paul would return there following his work in Ephesus on his Third
Journey (see 2 Cor 2:12). At some point—on this journey or on the Third—a
church was established there. We know that Paul ministered to believers in
Troas when he returned from his Third Journey on his way to Jerusalem (Acts
20:5-12).
It was in Troas that Paul had a vision of a man from
Macedonia, a Roman province since 148 BC, calling him to come over and help
them. Paul immediately decided to respond to this call.
Macedonia was a province in what is now northern Greece. It
was the place where Alexander the Great was king. Alexander’s father was King
Philip, after whom the city of Philippi, to whose Christians Paul wrote one of
his famous letters, was called. (Also note that Caesarea Philippi, where Peter
confessed Jesus as Messiah, was also partly named after this Philip.)
Paul accepted the challenge and prepared to cross the
Dardanelles. Christianity was coming to Greece, the hub of Mediterranean
culture at that time, and from there to Rome and the world. Incidentally, it is
at this point, too, that Luke begins to write in the first person plural. This
seems to indicate that he was a member of Paul’s mission from then on.
Probably, without anyone being aware of it at the time, what
seemed a minor change of route actually represented a major step in the
development and expansion of the young Church, with ramifications which would
affect not only the Church itself, but the whole of European history for
centuries to come.
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Commentary on John
15:18-21
Jesus has been urging his disciples to love all those around
them as a sign of their love of him. Today he warns them that there is no
guarantee that they will be loved in return. If people hated such a loving
person as Jesus so bitterly, his disciples cannot expect to be treated differently.
And the reason they will be hated is because they will
refuse to identify themselves with the values and priorities of the secular
world. They will reject materialistic greed and competitiveness, the scramble
for status and power, the hatred, anger, violence and revenge which mark so
many people’s lives.
The most terrible thing to happen to Christians is for them
to be loved by that world; it is a sign they have become part of it. Says
Jesus,
I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hates you.
Once again he reminds them that the servant is not greater
than his master.
If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they
kept my word, they will keep yours also.
In other words, hardly at all.
Some of us may find it difficult to understand this. We feel
that the Church should be honoured and respected. We can get upset when we hear
ourselves or our leaders rubbished in the media, or hear of Christians
languishing in jail or suffering torture simply for living their faith. But we
are rightly proud of our martyrs and our courageous witnesses.
But there is a fate we often undergo in modern society which
is far worse—when we are simply ignored and go unnoticed altogether. Our local
church may be filled every week, but what goes on there may have become
completely irrelevant to the surrounding society. It is as if we did not exist.
It is also tragic when we find hate and division within our
own community, which can be a major source of scandal to outsiders. And, of
course, all through the history of the Church there has been sinful behaviour
at all levels. We should not be surprised at that, but it is particularly
reprehensible when it goes on behind a veneer of moral superiority—the whited
sepulchres that Jesus speaks about (Matt 23:27). All of this compromises our
witness to the love of God for his people everywhere. When any of these things
happen, then we know we have really failed the gospel.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/e1057g/
Saturday,
May 9, 2026
Easter Weekday
Opening Prayer
Lord our God; it is good to live
in the friendship of your Son Jesus Christ.
Make us realize that also in this
love we are committed to him and share with him for better and for worse, in
misunderstanding and contradiction as well as in joy and intimacy.
Help us to rejoice even when treated with
indifference or ridicule on account of him, for it means that he is still with
us who is our Lord forever.
Gospel Reading - John 15: 18-21
Jesus said to his disciples:
"If the world hates you, you must realize that it hated me before it hated
you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own; but
because you do not belong to the world, because my choice of you has drawn you
out of the world, that is why the world hates you.
Remember the words I said to you: A servant is not greater
than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they
kept my word, they will keep yours as well. But it will be on my account that
they will do all this to you, because they do not know the one who sent me.
Reflection
•
John 15: 18-19: The hatred of the world. “If the
world hates you, you must realize that it hated me before it hated you.” The
Christian who follows Jesus is called to live in a way contrary to society. In
a world organized according to the egoistic interests of persons and groups
which seek to live and radiate the love which will be crucified. This was the
destiny of Jesus. This is why when a Christian is very much praised by the
power of this world and is exalted as a model for all by mass media; it is good
not to trust too much. “If you belonged to the world, the world would love you
as its own; but because you do not belong to the world, because my choice of
you has drawn you out of the world, that is why the world hates you”. It was
Jesus’ choice which separated us. And if we base ourselves on this gratuitous
choice or vocation of Jesus we will have the force to suffer persecution and
calumny and have joy, in spite of the difficulties.
•
John 15: 20: The servant is not greater than his
master. “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they
will persecute you too; if they kept my word they will keep yours as well”.
Jesus had already insisted on this same point in the washing of the feet (Jn
13: 16) and in the discourse on the Mission (Mt 10: 24-25). And it is this
identification with Jesus that, throughout the centuries, has given so much
force to persons to continue the journey and has been a source of mystical
experience for many saints and martyrs.
•
John 15: 21: Persecution on account of Jesus.
“But it will be on my account that they will do all this to you, because they
do not know the one who sent me.” The repeated insistence of the Gospel in
recalling those words of Jesus which can help the communities to understand the
reason for the crisis and persecutions is an evident sign that our brothers and
sisters of the first communities did not have an easy life. From the
persecution of Nero after Christ up to the end of the first century, they lived
knowing that they could be persecuted, accused, imprisoned and killed any
moment. The force which sustained them was a certainty that Jesus communicated
that God was with them.
Personal Questions
•
Jesus addresses himself to me and tells me: If
you belonged to the world, the world would love what is yours. How do I apply
this in my life?
•
In me there are two tendencies: the world and
the Gospel. Which of these two has the priority?
Concluding Prayer
For Yahweh is good,
his faithful love is everlasting, his constancy from age to age. (Ps 100: 5)
