April 17, 2026
Friday of the Second Week of Easter
Lectionary: 271
Reading
1
A Pharisee in the
Sanhedrin named Gamaliel,
a teacher of the law, respected by all the people,
stood up, ordered the Apostles to be put outside for a short time,
and said to the Sanhedrin, "Fellow children of Israel,
be careful what you are about to do to these men.
Some time ago, Theudas appeared, claiming to be someone important,
and about four hundred men joined him, but he was killed,
and all those who were loyal to him
were disbanded and came to nothing.
After him came Judas the Galilean at the time of the census.
He also drew people after him,
but he too perished and all who were loyal to him were scattered.
So now I tell you,
have nothing to do with these men, and let them go.
For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin,
it will destroy itself.
But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them;
you may even find yourselves fighting against God."
They were persuaded by him.
After recalling the Apostles, they had them flogged,
ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus,
and dismissed them.
So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin,
rejoicing that they had been found worthy
to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.
And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes,
they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (see
4abc) One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life's refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
One thing I ask of the LORD
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia
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
Jesus went across
the Sea of Galilee.
A large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.
Jesus went up on the mountain,
and there he sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish feast of Passover was near.
When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"
He said this to test him,
because he himself knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered him,
"Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough
for each of them to have a little."
One of his disciples,
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?"
Jesus said, "Have the people recline."
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
"Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted."
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
"This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the
world."
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041726.cfm
Commentary on Acts
5:34-42
At the end of yesterday’s reading we saw that the members of
the Sanhedrin were so infuriated by the boldness of Peter and his companions
that they wanted to put them to death.
It was at this point that Gamaliel, a Pharisee and a member
of the Sanhedrin, stood up and ordered that the accused disciples be put out of
the chamber for a short time. Gamaliel was a teacher of Paul and belonged
to the school of Hillel; he may have actually been a grandson of Hillel.
He was a leading exponent of a more liberal and humane interpretation of the
Law, and was respected by the council members. What he was urging here
was in line with the teaching of the Pharisees.
As soon as the Apostles had left the chamber, he addressed
the assembly. He warned his fellow council members not to be too hasty in
their judgements. He gave two examples of leaders—Theudas and Judas the
Galilean—who started rebellious movements and in both cases attracted quite a
large following of supporters.
The Jewish historian Josephus mentions the revolts of
Theudas and of Judas the Galilean. They must have taken place about the
time Jesus was born. Judas apparently led a revolt against paying tribute
to Caesar—a contentious issue, as we know from the Gospel. Although his
revolt was crushed, it is possible that it lived on in the party called the
Zealots. As we also know from the Scriptures, one of the Apostles, Simon, is
described as a Zealot (Mark 3:18 and Luke 6:15). However, in both cases the
leaders died or were killed and then their movements fell apart and their
followers scattered.
Gamaliel suggested that, on the basis of these experiences,
this ‘Jesus movement’ should be left alone. Their leader had also died
and what was happening now might be just a flash in the pan. He said:
So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these
men and let them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking is of human
origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow
them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!
These are wise words. This kind of phenomenon occurs
constantly and is frequently seen in our Church, and like Gamaliel, we should
have confidence in the principle that, in the long run, the truth will always
prevail. We sometimes get very concerned about new ideas or new movements
that surface in our Christian communities, but the same principle applies.
In current debates about married priests and women priests,
as well as problems about marriage and sexuality, we should be confident that
in the long run truth and justice here too will win out, whatever decisions are
made.
The Sanhedrin was persuaded by Gamaliel’s argument, but they
still had to express their anger and—quite unjustifiably—had the Apostles
flogged. This would have been according to Jewish law, which meant 40
lashes minus 1 (the Romans, who scourged Jesus, had no such limitations).
It reminds one of what happened to their Master. Although declared
innocent by Pilate, he was still subjected to the scourging. The Council
then repeated their orders for the Apostles to stop preaching.
Far from being cowed or depressed, Peter and his companions
left the court and:
…they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer
dishonor for the sake of the name.
They were experiencing the blessedness that Jesus had spoken
of in the Sermon on the Mount:
Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of
righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(Matt 5:10)
and
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be
glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted
the prophets who were before you. (Matt 5:11-12)
Since that time, many have been happy and proud to suffer
for the sake of the gospel and its message. One remembers the civil
rights activists beaten and subjected to attacks from savage dogs, joyfully
singing “We shall overcome” as they were carted away to jail in paddy wagons.
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Commentary on John
6:1-15
Today we begin the great chapter 6 of John with its strong
Eucharistic overtones. We are bypassing chapters 4 (the Samaritan Woman)
and chapter 5, which was read earlier. The stage is set by the story of the
multiplication of the loaves and fishes, a story we find in all four Gospels
but which, in John, has some characteristics of its own.
As Jesus crosses the Sea of Tiberias, large crowds follow
him along the shore. This lake was more commonly known as the Sea of
Galilee. Its Roman name came from the new town of Tiberias, named after
the emperor and founded about AD 20, i.e. during Jesus’ lifetime.
The crowd’s motive in pursuing Jesus was because of the
“signs that he was doing for the sick.” The implication is that they were
not following Jesus for his own sake or because of his teaching. They
were not really disciples, but to some extent, people looking for something
just for themselves. It is possible for us to come to Jesus in that frame
of mind too, our prayers full of ‘Give me this and give me that’, but with
little real commitment to the mission of the Kingdom.
Jesus goes up the mountain and sits down with his
disciples. There are echoes here of Moses on Mt Sinai; Jesus is the new
Moses and his disciples are the nucleus of God’s new people. It is also
close to Passover, a time soon to be linked with the new Passover in the death
and resurrection of Jesus and with the Eucharist, which is the new Passover
meal. The whole of the chapter is linked to this.
Seeing the vast crowds approaching, Jesus teasingly asks
Philip, always presented as being somewhat simple and naive:
Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?
As Philip came from Bethsaida (John 1:44), which was nearby,
it was logical to ask him as a ‘local boy’. If Philip had any insight into who
Jesus really was, he might have given a different answer. As it was he
sees no solution:
Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each
of them to get a little.
Then Andrew, Peter’s brother and sometimes seen as a
companion of Philip (see John 1), mentions a small boy who has five barley
loaves and a couple of dried fish. Barley bread was the food of the
poor. Obviously, that would not go very far. But of course, it is
all that Jesus needs.
The British priest and author, Monsignor Ronald Knox, makes
much of this small boy who was picked out of the crowd and was being asked to
give up his precious lunch. The boy played a crucial role; it was his
tiny contribution which made it possible for the whole crowd to be filled and satisfied.
It is typical of Jesus to make use of someone, a very
insignificant person, in the doing of his work. This is something which
happens all the time. How many times have I been chosen to be an
instrument of God’s work? How many times have I failed to recognise some
person I regarded as being of no importance who was in fact bringing me
something from God? How often have I not recognised God’s presence in
what needed to be done?
Jesus now gets all the people (5,000 men not counting women
and children) to sit down on the grass:
In meadows of green grass the Lord lets me lie…[He] prepares
a table before me. (Ps 23:2,5)
Then, in a ritual reminiscent of the Eucharist, Jesus:
…took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he
distributed them to those who were seated.
All had enough and more than enough to satisfy their hunger,
and the disciples are instructed to gather up all that is left over. After
doing so, 12 baskets were filled. The Jews regarded bread as a gift of God and
it was required that any scraps that fell to the ground should be picked
up. These were collected in small wicker baskets which were carried as
part of one’s daily attire. Twelve represents a number of completeness and
abundance—an indication of just how much there was from the original five
loaves that the little boy offered.
The boy provided the offering, but the Lord gave the
increase. Such is always the case. The 12 baskets may also
represent the Twelve, the ones who actually did the distributing of the Lord’s
largesse—still the role of the Church today.
The crowd became excited at the sign they had witnessed and
were saying:
This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.
Recall that John the Baptist was also asked if he was the
‘prophet’ (John 1:21).
As we will see in the rest of the chapter, the sign was
pointing to Jesus and the food for eternal life which he will give. But
the people were thinking of the ‘Prophet’ mentioned in Deuteronomy (18:15) who
would be like Moses. Through Moses, God had provided food (manna) and water
(from the rock) for the people in the desert. The Prophet they were
expecting would do more or less the same.
Jesus, realising that they wanted to make him their leader,
fled to the mountains alone. This is an example of one of those
temptations experienced by Jesus when fasting in the desert:
…the devil…showed him all the kingdoms of the world and
their glory, and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall
down and worship me.” (Matt 4:8-9)
Jesus had come to win over the people to himself as Messiah
and Lord and here was a glorious opportunity when the people were, literally,
eating out of his hand. But Jesus knew that this was not the way he was
to become king, nor was he to be the kind of king that these people wanted him
to be—so he fled. The time for establishing his own kind of kingship
would come later on.
We, too, sometimes can be tempted to take steps which seem,
at first sight, to bring people to Christ, but on reflection, they may lead to
results which are far from the gospel vision. They tend to lead people to
ourselves rather than to God.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/e1026g/
Friday, April 17, 2026
Easter Time
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, your Son Jesus
fed those who followed Him in the desert, and they
received as much as they wanted. May we know and be convinced that
He can fill our own emptiness not just with gifts that fill our need of the moment but with Himself, and may we accept
Him eagerly, for He is our Lord forever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - John 6: 1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw
the signs he was performing on the sick.
Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover
was near. When Jesus raised
his eyes and saw that a large
crowd was coming to him, he said
to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" He said this to
test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered
him, "Two hundred days'
wages worth of food would
not be enough for each of
them to have a little." One of his disciples, Andrew,
the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves
and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five
thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed
them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments
left over, so that nothing will be wasted." So they collected
them, and filled
twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley
loaves that had been more than
they could eat.
When the people
saw the sign he had
done, they said,
"This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come
into the world." Since Jesus knew that
they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
Reflection
The reading of John today places before us two signs or miracles: the multiplication of the loaves (Jn 6: 1-15) and walking on the water (Jn 6: 16-21). Then the long discourse
on the bread of life is mentioned (Jn 6: 22-71). John places this fact close
to the feast of the Passover (Jn 6: 4). The central
issue is the confrontation between the old Passover
of the Exodus and the new Passover which takes place in Jesus. The discourse on the bread
of life will explain the new Passover which takes
place in Jesus.
•
John 6: 1-4:
The situation. In the ancient
Passover, the multitude crossed the Red Sea.
In the new
Passover, Jesus crosses
the Sea of Galilee. A great crowd follows Moses. A great crowd
follows Jesus in this new exodus. In the first exodus, Moses goes up to the mountain. Jesus, the new Moses, also goes up to the mountain. The crowds follow
Moses who presents great signs. The crowds follow Jesus because they have seen
the signs that He worked on behalf of the sick.
•
John 6: 5-7: Jesus and Philip. Seeing the multitude,
Jesus confronts the disciples with the hunger of the people and asks Philip,
“Where can we buy some bread for
these people to eat?” In the first
exodus, Moses obtained
food for the hungry
people. Jesus, the new Moses, will Himself provide the
same thing. But Philip, instead of looking at the situation in the light of the Scripture,
looked at it according to the system
and replies, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough!” One denarius was the minimum salary
for one day. Philip is aware
of the problem
and recognizes his
inability to solve
it. He complains but
presents no solution.
•
John 6: 8-9: Andrew and the boy. Andrew, instead of
complaining, seeks a solution. He finds
a boy who has five loaves of bread and
two fish. Five barley
loaves and two fish were the daily ration of food for the poor.
The boy hands over his daily ration of food! He could have said, “Five loaves of bread and two
fish, what is this for all these people?
It will serve nothing! Let us divide all this among ourselves, between two or three people,”
but instead, he has the
courage to give the five loaves of bread and the two fish to feed 5000 people
(Jn 6: 10) One who does this is either
a fool or has much faith, believing that out of love
for Jesus, all are ready
to share their
food as the boy did!
•
John 6: 10-11: The
multiplication. Jesus asks the people to sit down on the ground. Then He
multiplies the food, the ration of the poor. The text says, “Then Jesus
took the loaves,
gave thanks, and distributed them to those who
were sitting there; He then did the same with the fish, distributing as much as
they wanted.” With this phrase, written in the year 100, John recalls the action of the Last Supper (I Cor 11: 23-24).
The Eucharist, when it is celebrated
as it should be, will lead people
to share as it impelled
the boy to give all his
ration of food to be shared.
•
John 6: 12-13: The twelve baskets of what was left over. Number
twelve connotes the totality
of the people with their twelve tribes.
John does not say
whether fish were also left over. He is
interested in recalling the bread as a
symbol of the Eucharist. The Gospel
of John does not have the description of the Last Supper, but describes the multiplication of the loaves, symbol of what would happen in the communities through the celebration of the Eucharistic Supper. If among the Christian people
there was a true and proper
sharing, there would be abundant food and
twelve baskets would be left over for many other people!
•
John 6: 14-15:
They want to make Him king. The people interpret Jesus’ gesture, saying,
“This is indeed
the prophet who is to come into the world!” The people’s intuition is correct. Jesus in fact,
is the new Moses, the Messiah,
the one whom the people
were expecting (Deut 18: 15-19).
But this intuition had been corrupted by the
ideology of the time which wanted a great king who would be strong and a dominator.
This is why, seeing the sign, the people
proclaim Jesus the Messiah and ask to make him King! Jesus realizes what
could happen, and He withdraws and goes to the mountain alone. He does not accept
this way of being Messiah
and waits for the opportune
moment to help the people to
advance a step farther.
Personal Questions
•
With regard to the problem of hunger in the world, do
you act as Philip, as Andrew or like the boy?
•
The people wanted a Messiah who would be a strong and
powerful king. Do we want a powerful Messiah
in our life too, to take away all of our problems? Or do we submit as He did and
accept what God has given us and follow rather than conquer?
Concluding Prayer
Yahweh is my light and my salvation, whom should I fear? Yahweh is the fortress
of my life, whom should I dread? (Ps 27: 1)
