Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Lectionary: 302
Lectionary: 302
When he entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself,
with the soldier who was guarding him.
Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews.
When they had gathered he said to them, “My brothers,
although I had done nothing against our people
or our ancestral customs,
I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.
After trying my case the Romans wanted to release me,
because they found nothing against me deserving the death penalty.
But when the Jews objected, I was obliged to appeal to Caesar,
even though I had no accusation to make against my own nation.
This is the reason, then, I have requested to see you
and to speak with you, for it is on account of the hope of Israel
that I wear these chains.”
He remained for two full years in his lodgings.
He received all who came to him, and with complete assurance
and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God
and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.
with the soldier who was guarding him.
Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews.
When they had gathered he said to them, “My brothers,
although I had done nothing against our people
or our ancestral customs,
I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.
After trying my case the Romans wanted to release me,
because they found nothing against me deserving the death penalty.
But when the Jews objected, I was obliged to appeal to Caesar,
even though I had no accusation to make against my own nation.
This is the reason, then, I have requested to see you
and to speak with you, for it is on account of the hope of Israel
that I wear these chains.”
He remained for two full years in his lodgings.
He received all who came to him, and with complete assurance
and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God
and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Responsorial Psalm PS 11:4, 5 AND 7
R. (see 7b) The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD’s throne is in heaven.
His eyes behold,
his searching glance is on mankind.
R. The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD searches the just and the wicked;
the lover of violence he hates.
For the LORD is just, he loves just deeds;
the upright shall see his face.
R. The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD’s throne is in heaven.
His eyes behold,
his searching glance is on mankind.
R. The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD searches the just and the wicked;
the lover of violence he hates.
For the LORD is just, he loves just deeds;
the upright shall see his face.
R. The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel JN
21:20-25
Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved,
the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper
and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you?”
When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”
Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?
You follow me.”
So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die.
But Jesus had not told him that he would not die,
just “What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?”
It is this disciple who testifies to these things
and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.
There are also many other things that Jesus did,
but if these were to be described individually,
I do not think the whole world would contain the books
that would be written.
the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper
and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you?”
When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”
Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?
You follow me.”
So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die.
But Jesus had not told him that he would not die,
just “What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?”
It is this disciple who testifies to these things
and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.
There are also many other things that Jesus did,
but if these were to be described individually,
I do not think the whole world would contain the books
that would be written.
Meditation: The immensity of what Jesus has done
Why do we often compare
ourselves with others? Do we envy those who seem more fortunate than ourselves?
Why did Peter question Jesus about John's future? Jesus had predicted that
Peter was to suffer and die as a martyr for his faith. What would John's fate
be? Jesus seems to indicate that John would live a long life - in fact he
outlived all the other apostles.
While Peter and John were
both called as disciples of Jesus, each was given a different task or function.
When Peter questions John's role, Jesus retorts: "What is that to
you? Follow me!" Peter's given task was to "shepherd the sheep
of Christ", and in the end to die for Christ. John's role was preeminently
to witness to Christ and to give his testimony to the gospel. John lived to
long age and wrote the gospel as his testimony to the reality of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
John ends his gospel with
an astonishing remark: "Human books cannot exhaust the person and work of
Jesus Christ." His power is inexhaustible, his grace is limitless, his
wisdom unfathomable, his triumphs are innumerable and his love is unquenchable.
We can never say enough of the power, majesty and glory which belongs to him
alone. Do you witness to others the joy of the gospel?
"May the power of
your love, Lord Christ, fiery and sweet as honey, so absorb our hearts as to
withdraw them from all that is under heaven. Grant that we may be ready to die
for love of your love, as you died for love of our love." (Prayer
of Francis of Assisi, 1182-1226)
 You Follow Me |
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John 21:20-25
Peter turned and saw
the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon
his chest during the supper and had said, "Master, who is the one who
will betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what
about him?" Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until
I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me." So the word spread
among the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus had not told
him that he would not die, just "What if I want him to remain until I
come? What concern is it of yours?" It is this disciple who testifies to
these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.
There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be
described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the
books that would be written.
Introductory
Prayer: Lord, I believe in you
and all that you have revealed for our salvation. I hope in you because of
your overflowing mercy. Every single act of yours on this earth demonstrated
your love for us. Your ascent into heaven before the eyes of the Apostles
inspires my hope of one day joining you there. I love you and wish you to be
the center of my life.
Petition: Lord, increase my faith, hope and love.
1. The Disciple Whom
Jesus Loved: Peter is walking with
Jesus along the shore where Jesus has just foretold his future martyrdom. He
turns to ask Jesus about John, who was following them. Throughout his Gospel,
John designates himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. It is as if the
most striking point of John’s life and experience with Christ was that Jesus
loved him. It became his identity. How often do I reflect on Christ’s love
for me? How often do I cherish it?
2. What About
Him? Jesus responds to Peter’s question with a
question of his own. What concern is it of yours what happens to John?
Christ’s relationship with his disciples is deeply personal. Each has a
mission to complete in life. We can get distracted thinking about and
comparing ourselves to others, or whether they may or may not be following
Christ. However, these comparisons with others (or their gifts, or their
mission) can frequently be a sign of our pride. We have our own mission to
fulfill, and no one can take our place. We need to concentrate instead on
that part of our mission which is still ahead of us, yet to be fulfilled.
3. We Know That His
Testimony Is True: John is a witness to
all that has taken place in his Gospel. His testimony was entrusted to a
community of believers and has come down to us under the guarantee of the
Church. The Gospel presents us with what Jesus actually said and did. We need
to hold fast to our faith in the Gospel and not get sidetracked by modern
interpretations that cast doubt on everything. When we read the scriptures we
hear God’s voice. Do I read them with such faith?
Conversation with
Christ: Lord Jesus, thank you
for the testimony of your life that I find in the Gospel. Increase my faith.
Help me to read the Scriptures and meditate on them with greater fervor. I
know that you want to speak to me through them. Help me to follow you today.
Resolution: Today I will help another person read a passage of the
Gospel prayerfully.
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SATURDAY, JUNE 7, JOHN 21:20-25
JOHN 21:20-25
(Acts 28:16-20, 30-31; Psalm 11)
JOHN 21:20-25
(Acts 28:16-20, 30-31; Psalm 11)
KEY VERSE: "What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours?" (v 23).
READING: Jesus warned Peter what sort of death awaited him as shepherd of the flock. He then offered Peter another opportunity to follow him (v 19). As they walked along, John, the beloved disciple, followed them. Peter wanted to know about the apostle's fate. Jesus told Peter that it was not his business to know God's plan for someone else. Peter's only concern should be following Jesus. John the evangelist concluded his Gospel by testifying to the truth he had written. Although the whole world could not contain all that might be said about Jesus, we must be content, like Peter, with those things God wishes to reveal to us. Our business is to follow the Lord with our hearts, minds and wills in step with his.
REFLECTING: In what way am I being asked to follow Jesus today?
PRAYING: Risen Lord, help me to trust in God's plan for my life.
NOTE: According to the apocryphal Acts of Peter, the apostle was crucified head down. Tradition also locates Peter's burial place as directly beneath the high altar where the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome was later built
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
A Living Body
The Church is not a charitable, cultural or political association,
but a living Body, that walks and acts in history. And this Body has a head,
Jesus, who guides, nourishes and supports it. –Pope Francis
The just will gaze on your face, O Lord
Jesus’ response to Peter’s question reminds us that God calls each of us personally. Ultimately, no one but the individual can decide what God’s unique call happens to be for him or her. Only by encountering God in prayer can we discern the way we are being called. Yet in no sense are we meant to be silent or unconcerned with others on their spiritual journeys. Paul received many people and spoke about the Lord with them. And why did John write his gospel other than to hand on his experience of Jesus? Let us be committed to meeting the Lord in the solitude of private prayer, and then equally committed to sharing that experience with others.
June
7
Blessed Franz Jaegerstaetter
(1906-1943)
Blessed Franz Jaegerstaetter
(1906-1943)
Called to
serve his country as a Nazi solider, Franz eventually refused, and this
husband and father of three daughters (Rosalie, Marie and Aloisia) was executed because of it.
husband and father of three daughters (Rosalie, Marie and Aloisia) was executed because of it.
Born in
St. Radegund in Upper Austria, Franz lost his father during World War I and was
adopted after Heinrich Jaegerstaetter married Rosalia Huber. As a young man, he
loved to ride his motorcycle and was the natural leader of a gang whose members
were arrested in 1934 for brawling. For three years he worked in the mines in
another city and then returned to St. Radegund, where he became a farmer,
married Franziska and lived his faith with quiet but intense conviction.
In 1938
he publicly opposed the German Anschluss (annexation) of
Austria. The next year he was drafted into the Austrian army, trained for seven
months and then received a deferment. In 1940 he was called up again but
allowed to return home at the request of the town’s mayor. He was in active
service between October 1940 and April 1941 but was again deferred. His pastor,
other priests and the bishop of Linz urged him not to refuse to serve if
drafted.
In
February 1943 he was called up again and reported to army officials in Enns,
Austria. When he refused to take the oath of loyalty to Hitler, he was
imprisoned in Linz. Later he volunteered to serve in the medical corps but was
not assigned there.
During
Holy Week he wrote to his wife: “Easter is coming and, if it should be God’s
will that we can never again in this world celebrate Easter together in our
intimate family circle, we can still look ahead in the happy confidence that,
when the eternal Easter morning dawns, no one in our family circle shall be
missing--so we can then be permitted to rejoice together forever.” In May he
was transferred to a prison in Berlin.
Challenged
by his attorney that other Catholics were serving in the army, Franz responded,
“I can only act on my own conscience. I do not judge anyone. I can only judge
myself.” He continued, “I have considered my family. I have prayed and put
myself and my family in God’s hands. I know that, if I do what I think God
wants me to do, he will take care of my family.”
On August
8, 1943, he wrote to Fransizka: “Dear wife and mother, I thank you once more
from my heart for everything that you have done for me in my lifetime, for all
the sacrifices that you have borne for me. I beg you to forgive me if I have
hurt or offended you, just as I have forgiven everything…My heartfelt greetings
for my dear children. I will surely beg the dear God, if I am permitted to enter
heaven soon, that he will set aside a little place in heaven for all of
you.”
Franz was
beheaded and cremated the following day. In 1946 his ashes were reburied in St.
Radegund near a memorial inscribed with his name and the names of almost 60
village men who died during their military service. He was beatified in Linz on
Occtober 26, 2007. His “spiritual testament” is now in Rome’s St. Bartholomew
Church as part of a shrine to 20th-century martyrs for their faith.
Comment:
Franz Jaegerstaetter followed his conscience and paid the highest price possible. In December 2008 his widow and three daughters were introduced to Pope Benedict XVI in connection with the presentation of a new biography, Christ or Hitler? The Life of Blessed Franz Jaegerstaetter. Many people first learned about him from Gordon Zahn’s book In Solitary Witness: The Life and Death of Franz Jaegerstaetter.
Franz Jaegerstaetter followed his conscience and paid the highest price possible. In December 2008 his widow and three daughters were introduced to Pope Benedict XVI in connection with the presentation of a new biography, Christ or Hitler? The Life of Blessed Franz Jaegerstaetter. Many people first learned about him from Gordon Zahn’s book In Solitary Witness: The Life and Death of Franz Jaegerstaetter.
Quote:
In his homily at the beatification Mass, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins quoted Giorgio La Pira, a 20th- century mayor of Florence, who wrote: “The holiness of our century will have this characteristic: It will be a holiness of laypeople. We encounter on the streets those who within 50 years may be on the altars–along the strees, in factories, in parliament and in university classrooms.” Cardinal Martins noted that after long internal struggles, Franz arrived at an extraordinary life of Christian witness. “Saints and blessed have always given an example of what it means and signifies to be Christians, even in particular, concrete historical moments.”
In his homily at the beatification Mass, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins quoted Giorgio La Pira, a 20th- century mayor of Florence, who wrote: “The holiness of our century will have this characteristic: It will be a holiness of laypeople. We encounter on the streets those who within 50 years may be on the altars–along the strees, in factories, in parliament and in university classrooms.” Cardinal Martins noted that after long internal struggles, Franz arrived at an extraordinary life of Christian witness. “Saints and blessed have always given an example of what it means and signifies to be Christians, even in particular, concrete historical moments.”
LECTIO DIVINA:
JOHN 21,20-25
Lectio:
Saturday, June 7, 2014
1)
OPENING PRAYER
Lord our God,
like Mary, the women and the apostles
on the day before the first Pentecost
we are gathered in prayer.
Let the Holy Spirit come down also on us,
that we may become enthusiastic believers
and faithful witnesses to the person
and the good news of Jesus.
May our way of living bear witness
that Jesus is our light and life,
now and for ever.
like Mary, the women and the apostles
on the day before the first Pentecost
we are gathered in prayer.
Let the Holy Spirit come down also on us,
that we may become enthusiastic believers
and faithful witnesses to the person
and the good news of Jesus.
May our way of living bear witness
that Jesus is our light and life,
now and for ever.
2)
GOSPEL READING - JOHN 21,20-25
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following
them -- the one who had leant back close to his chest at the supper and had
said to him, 'Lord, who is it that will betray you?' Seeing him, Peter said to
Jesus, 'What about him, Lord?' Jesus answered, 'If I want him to stay behind
till I come, what does it matter to you? You are to follow me.' The rumour then
went out among the brothers that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus had not
said to Peter, 'He will not die,' but, 'If I want him to stay behind till I
come.' This disciple is the one who vouches for these things and has written
them down, and we know that his testimony is true. There was much else that
Jesus did; if it were written down in detail, I do not suppose the world itself
would hold all the books that would be written.
3)
REFLECTION
• Today’s Gospel begins with the question of Peter: Lord, what
about him? Jesus begins to speak with Peter, announcing the destiny or type of
death by which Peter will glorify God. And at the end Jesus adds: Follow me.
(Jn 21, 19).
• John 21, 20-21: Peter’s question concerning John’s destiny. At
this moment, Peter turned back and saw the Disciple whom Jesus loved and asks:
“Lord, what about him?” Jesus had just indicated the destiny of Peter and now
Peter wants to know from Jesus which is the destiny of this other disciple. It
is a curiosity which does not deserve an adequate response from Jesus.
• John 21, 22: The mysterious response of Jesus. Jesus says: If
I want him to stay behind till I come, what does it matter to you? You are to
follow me.” A mysterious phrase which ends again with the same affirmation as
before: Follow me! Jesus seems to want to stop Peter’s curiosity. Just as each
one of us has his/her own history, in the same way each one of us has his/her
own way of following Jesus. Nobody is the exact copy of another person. Each
one of us should be creative in following Jesus.
• John 21, 23: The Evangelist clarifies the sense of the
response of Jesus. Ancient tradition identifies the Beloved Disciple with the
Apostle John and says that he died very old, when he was almost one hundred
years old. Putting together the old age of John with the mysterious response of
Jesus, the Evangelist clarifies things saying: “The rumour then went out among
the brothers that this disciple would not die. Yet, Jesus had not said to
Peter: He will not die, but: If I want him to stay behind till I come; what
does that matter to you?” Perhaps, it is a warning to be very attentive to the
interpretation of the words of Jesus and not base oneself in any rumour.
• John 21, 24: Witness of the value of the Gospel. Chapter 21 is
an added appendix when the final redaction of the Gospel was made. Chapter 20
ends with this phrase: “There were many other signs that Jesus worked in the
sight of his disciples, but they are not recorded in this book. These are
recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and
that believing this you may have life through his name.” (Jn 20, 30-31). The
Book was ready but there were many other facts about Jesus. This is why, on the
occasion of the definitive edition of the Gospel, some of these “many facts”
about Jesus were chosen and added, very probably to clarify better the new
problems of the end of the first century. We do not know who wrote the
definitive redaction with the appendix, but we know it was someone of the
community who could be trusted, because he writes: “This is the disciple who
vouches for these things and has written them down and we know that his testimony
is true”.
• John 21, 25: The mystery of Jesus is inexhaustible. A
beautiful phrase to conclude the Gospel of John: “There was much else that
Jesus did; if it were written down in detail, I do not suppose the world itself
would hold all the books that would be written”. It seems an exaggeration, but
it is the truth. Never will anyone be capable of writing all the things that
Jesus has done and continues to do in the life of persons who up until now
follow Jesus!
4)
FOR PERSONAL CONFRONTATION
• Is there something in your life which Jesus has done and which
could be added to this book which will never be written?
• Peter is very concerned about the other disciple and forgets
to carry on and live his own “Follow me”. Does this also happen to you?
5)
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Yahweh in his holy temple!
Yahweh, his throne is in heaven;
his eyes watch over the world,
his gaze scrutinises the children of Adam. (Ps 11,4)
Yahweh, his throne is in heaven;
his eyes watch over the world,
his gaze scrutinises the children of Adam. (Ps 11,4)
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