30 May 2021: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity B

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Dt 4:32-34, 39-40	Ps 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22	Rom 8:14-17	Mt 28:16-20
RCL: Is 6:1-8		RCL: Rom 8:12-17	RCL: Jn 3:1-17

Trinity: the continuing mystery of God-in-relationship

Unlike other liturgical feasts that celebrate events, Trinity Sunday celebrates the mystery that is God’s own inner life: a single being who lives in community. The Trinity is implicit rather than explicit in Hebrew and Christian scriptures. This week’s readings trace how God’s self-revealing words and actions lead us to explore God’s three-fold nature and how we encounter God.

First reading (Dt 4:32-34, 39-40)

The first reading is from Deuteronomy, the fifth and final book of the Torah. Hebrew scripture is full of triadic formulas and triple structures that describe the people’s encounter of God: humans experience God in revelation, in redemptive actions, and also in the believing response in human hearts to God’s actions. In today’s pericope, Moses recalls God’s might acts throughout history. He begins by invoking creation (“God created humans upon the earth”) and God’s revelation to Israel at Sinai (“the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire”). Moses concludes with God’s saving action: redeeming Israel from Egypt’s slavery (“take a nation from the midst of another nation . . . with strong hand and outstretched arm”). The Lectionary editors chose this reading because it describes God’s threefold actions of creation, revelation, and redemption.

Second reading (Rom 8:14-17)

The second reading is from Paul’s letter to the Roman ekklesia, which is Paul’s final letter. In today’s pericope, Paul continues his letter’s theme: hope of glory. He states all who are “led by the Spirit” are God’s children and also heirs to God’s promises. The Spirit “leads” or shapes believers for eternal life (Rom 8:13) by making them “children of God.” In baptism, God invites a believer into a personal relationship (using the metaphor of adoption as God’s son or daughter) and pours out God’s Spirit on the believer. Through the Spirit, a believer confidently addresses God as “Father,” and more intimately as “abba” (in English, “daddy”), the Aramaic word Jesus uses for the Father (Mk 14:36; also Gal 4:6). God’s adoption makes a believer also a future inheritor (“heir”) of God’s eschatological blessings and Christ’s resurrection and glory (eternal life), the basis for Christian hope. The Lectionary editors chose this reading because it summarizes the Father’s (adoption), the Son’s (eternal life) and the Spirit’s (empowerment) roles in a believer’s life.

Gospel (Mt 28:16-20)

Matthew’s gospel is Jesus’ final post-resurrection appearance in which Jesus commissions his disciples and promises to be present and help them forever. Today’s pericope contains Matthew’s baptismal formula, the early ekklesia‘s clearest expression of Trinitarian belief.

• Make disciples. For Matthew’s community, Jesus’ commission to baptize gentiles (“all nations”) urged a mainly Jewish Christian ekklesia to seek new members from non-Jews. Jewish Christians would understand that Jesus was the messiah. Through Jesus, God inaugurates the messianic age; this new age includes God’s gift of the Spirit. In this view, baptism has always been implicitly Trinitarian. Scholars believe this Trinitarian baptismal formula (“in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”) was already in use in Matthew’s community when he wrote his gospel (~85 AD).
• I am with you all days. In the other gospels, Jesus’ continuing presence is his gift of the Spirit. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus himself fulfills the Spirit’s function. The gospel’s final line (“I am with you all days, to the end of the age”) points back to Matthew’s Isaiah quotation that opens his gospel: “His name shall be called Emmanu-el, which means ‘God with us‘” (Mt 1:23). Jesus’ promise fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy: God’s continuing presence with God’s people.

Summary and reflection

The Trinity Sunday readings ask us to think how we personally encounter the Father, Son, and Spirit. Deuteronomy remembers God’s mighty acts of creation, revelation, and salvation. Paul reminds the Romans that baptism creates a personal relationship with God, who adopts, redeems, and empowers believers to live in God’s life. Jesus gives God’s authority to his still-hesitant followers to make disciples, while his protective Spirit remains with them forever. We should not let theology’s technical descriptions of the Trinity overwhelm our own lived experiences of God. Do we encounter God acting in history, revealed in scripture’s stories and in the words and actions of the incarnate Word? Do we encounter God when invited into relationship through sacramental words and actions that include us, feed us, and empower us? Do we encounter God when we reach out to others who seek God’s continuing presence in our world?

—Terence Sherlock

23 May 2021: Pentecost Sunday B

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Acts 2:1-11	Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34	1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Gal 5:16-25	Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 15:26-27; 16:12-15
RCL: Acts 2:1-11 or Nm 11:24-30		RCL: 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13	RCL: Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 15:26-27; 16:4b-16

Lectionary note: Pentecost celebrations
The Lectionary presents two sets of readings for Pentecost Sunday: the Vigil/Extended Vigil of Pentecost or Pentecost Sunday. This commentary uses the standard readings for Pentecost Sunday.

Easter time: the gift of the Spirit and start of the ekklesia

In the Easter season, Jesus appeared to his disciples and explained his resurrection’s meaning. He revealed himself as good shepherd, true vine, and one who laid down his life. He prayed for us whom he sends to continue his mission. Pentecost is the final Easter season celebration. This week’s readings ask us, the believing community, what the Spirit’s outpouring means.

First reading (Acts 2:1-11)

The first reading is from Luke’s Acts of the Apostles. In today’s pericope, Luke describes the outpouring of the Spirit on the believing community during the Jewish feast of Pentecost. In Luke’s time, the Jewish people understood Pentecost as a celebration commemorating God’s gift of Torah to Moses and the Israelites at Sinai. Luke uses the images of sound (“rushing wind”) and fire (“as tongues of fire”) to connect the giving of the Torah with the giving of the Spirit. Wind and fire also echo the Baptizer’s description of the messiah’s baptism “with the Holy Spirit and fire” in Lk 3:16. Pentecost fulfills Jesus’ repeated promise and prophecy that the disciples would receive “power from on high” (Acts 1:8). The Pentecost event begins the restoration of the remnant people: first, the Twelve and the disciples, then offered to the Jews of Jerusalem. The Spirit’s coming is about a disciple’s personal spiritual transformation, not the theophany’s external pyrotechnics. The “Jews from every nation” does not refer to temporary pilgrims in Jerusalem for the feast, but to Jews from the diaspora who had returned to live in Jerusalem. These returned exiles (or remnant) hear the disciples’ proclamation in their “own languages;” Luke stresses communication of the good news, rather than ecstatic speech (“speaking in tongues”). The Lectionary editors chose this reading to show the risen Lord’s continued working in the ekklesia.

Second reading (1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13)

The second reading is from Paul’s first letter to the Corinth ekklesia, which he founded in the early 50s AD. Paul’s letter expands on ideas he taught while visiting the Corinthians, and corrects errors or misunderstandings. In today’s pericope, Paul discusses two ideas: first, that the one God gives the community diverse spiritual gifts, and second, that the spiritual gifts given at baptism should unite the diverse believing community. The first idea is that God gives different “spiritual gifts,” “forms of service,” or “workings” to each believer for the benefit of the whole believing community. (Paul is correcting the Corinthians’ mistaken belief that a gift indicates the recipient’s importance.) Paul affirms that all Christians are charismatics; everyone receives a gift and has a corresponding obligation to exercise the gift (Rm 12:6b-8). The second idea is that baptism unites the diverse believing members (“many parts”) into a unified believing community (“one body”). Baptism literally incorporates (a Latin word meaning “to include into the body”) individuals into Christ’s body. “Drink of one Spirit” refers to the Eucharistic cup; the early Rites of Initiation included baptism and Eucharist. The Lectionary editors chose this reading for its description of the Spirit’s effects in the believing community.

Gospel (Jn 20:19-23)

John’s gospel is a post-resurrection appearance in which Jesus bestows the gift of the Spirit. Luke presents the resurrection, ascension, and coming of the Spirit events using a symbolic chronology (40 days, ten days); John presents the same events in narrative groupings (Peter and the other disciple, Mary Magdalene, the disciples without and with Thomas). Today’s pericope shows the connection between Jesus’ commission and the gift of the Spirit.

• So I send you. As the Father consecrated and sent Jesus into the world (Jn 10:36), Jesus now gives the Spirit to empower his disciples to continue his work. Jesus promised (Jn 14:16-17) the Spirit to help them make the Father’s name known and love one another. Like the Father and Son, the Spirit remains or abides within the sent disciples, enabling them to bear witness (Jn 15:26-17).
• Gift of the Spirit. Jesus’ breathing on the disciples is John’s version of Luke’s Pentecost event. Just as God breathes life into the first human (Gn 2:7), so Jesus breathes the Spirit into the disciples, giving them his power to complete his mission. The Spirit unites the disciples to the risen Jesus and makes the disciples a “new creation.” The Spirit is with the community and in the community and will abide (remain, dwell) with the community forever, but the community must reach beyond itself (“so I send you”) to accomplish Jesus’ instruction.

Summary and reflection

Jesus’ resurrection has many meanings and many implications. After Eastertime’s reflection on this cosmos-changing event, we enter the age of the Spirit, who comes to inhabit and to guide the believing community. Luke describes how the Spirit’s outpouring affects the disciples and their hearers. Paul teaches how the Spirit’s gifts affect each believer and the community’s unity. John shows how the Spirit enables and emboldens the disciples to continue Jesus’ mission. How has our receiving of the Spirit changed our lives and the lives of others? Has our encounter with the Spirit enabled us to communicate the good news? Are we using the Spirit’s gifts to benefit others and build up the community? Is the indwelling Spirit leading us to make the Father’s name known and to love others?

—Terence Sherlock

16 May 2021: Seventh Sunday of Easter B

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Acts 1:15-17, 20a, 20c-26	Ps 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20	1 Jn 4:11-16	Jn 17:11b-19
RCL: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26		RCL: 1 Jn 5:9-13	RCL: Jn 7:6-19

Eastertime: Jesus and disciples in transition

In the Easter season, Jesus has appeared to his disciples and explained his resurrection’s meaning; revealed himself as good shepherd, true vine, and one who has laid down his life. In today’s final Easter season reading, he prays for those whom he now sends into the world to continue his mission. This week’s readings ask us, the believing community, how change affects our discipleship.

First reading (Acts 1:15-17, 20a, 20c-26)

Throughout the Easter season, the first reading is a semi-continuous reading from the Acts of the Apostles. In today’s pericope, Luke describes the apostles’ process for choosing Judas’ successor, based on the symbolism of the number twelve, expressed in the twelve tribes of Israel. Luke completes this numerical housekeeping before the Spirit is poured out on the Twelve at Pentecost, the traditional foundation of the ekklesia. Peter appeals to Hebrew scripture to argue that “another take his office.” The believing community proposes two disciples, Barsabbas and Matthias, who were with Jesus from his ministry’s start (“John’s baptism”) through its earthly conclusion (“his resurrection”). After a discernment prayer, the disciples follow Jewish custom of “casting lots” to determine God’s will. With Matthias now numbered among the Twelve, the believing community is ready to receive the Spirit. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to show the risen Lord’s continued working in the ekklesia.

Second reading (1 Jn 4:11-16)

Throughout the Easter season, the second reading is a semi-continuous reading from John the Elder’s first letter. In today’s pericope, the author continues teaching about Jesus’ command to “love one another.” A disciple who loves (“love one another”) experiences (“sees”) God’s love and God’s indwelling. God’s love initiates the possibility of mutual indwelling, but the disciple’s response (“testify” and “acknowledge”) accepts and begins the mutual relationship. “God is love” means God is the source of love. God’s life and actions reveal what love is. To “remain” or abide in love is to remain in relationship with God. If a disciple remains in relationship with God, God remains in a mutual love relationship with the disciple. Love remains (or abides) in a disciple who remains (or abides) in love because God is love. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to continue the Easter story of Jesus’ transformative and saving act, and how a disciple experiences God’s love.

Gospel (Jn 17:11b-19)

John’s gospel is from Jesus’ final discourse, from the section called his “final prayer.” This pericope has two parts: Jesus asks the Father to become father to the disciples; and Jesus requests that the Father make the disciples holy.

• Caring for fragile disciples. Jesus asks the Father to care for (“keep”) the disciples as a human father cares for his children. The fragile disciples face a hostile world; they will survive only if the Father keeps them in the Father’s name. The Son has made “the name” (the reality of God) known to his disciples. By gathering the disciples into the reality of God, the Father creates a unity among all the disciples, repeating the oneness of the Father and Son (“that they may be one as we are”).
• Making the disciples holy. The phrase “holy Father” is based on the Jewish belief of God’s fundamental holiness (Lv 11:44-45). Jesus’ holiness flows from his oneness with the holy Father. He reveals God to the disciples and prays that they may be caught up in the same oneness and so become holy as he is holy. The disciples are made holy because they accept Jesus’ revelation (“in truth”) of God. Jesus sends them “to make God known;” their mission requires that they be holy.

Summary and reflection

Jesus’ resurrection has many meanings and many implications. The Easter season closes this week after six weeks of reflection on this cosmos-changing event. In Acts, Luke shows the apostles preparing Jesus’ followers to become the believing community. John the Elder’s letter concludes his recommendations to faithful disciples on remaining in relationship with God, who is love. John’s gospel recounts Jesus’ prayer to the Father to care for disciples and make them holy as he begins his return to the Father. The readings present disciples facing transitions in personal relationships, their own community, and in the ekklesia. How do we meet change? Do we look to our faith traditions to guide us to the “next thing?” Do we continue to pray and to live out our mission while the “next thing” takes shape? Do we trust in the Father’s care and holiness as the “next thing” emerges?

—Terence Sherlock

9 May 2021: Sixth Sunday of Easter B

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48	Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4	1 Jn 4:7-10	Jn 15:9-17
RCL: Acts 10:44-48		RCL: 1 Jn 5:1-6

Eastertime: the obligation to love one another

In the Easter season, Jesus appears to his disciples and explains his resurrection’s meaning; reveals himself as good shepherd, true vine, and one who has laid down his life; and prays for those whom he sends into the world. This week’s readings ask us, the believing community, to think about our obligation as disciples to love one another.

Throughout the Easter season, the first reading is a semi-continuous reading from the Acts of the Apostles. In today’s pericope, Luke describes the conversion of Cornelius, a gentile and a “God-fearer.” Luke considers the event of great importance; he retells this story twice more (Acts 11:1-18 and Acts 15:7-11). Peter only slowly understands (“I see”) that God’s acceptance of a person has nothing to do with nationality or customs; God accepts someone based on the person’s response (“fears God and acts uprightly”) in faith. But Peter is moving too slowly for God, who immediately pours out the Spirit on the gentile and his household (“the Spirit fell upon all listening to the word”). Paul’s Jewish Christian companions are “astounded” that God would accept gentiles in this way (without them first becoming Jews). Now Peter fully understands God’s intent; Peter affirms the ekklesia‘s acceptance of God’s actions by baptizing the gentiles. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to show the continued working of the risen Lord in the ekklesia.

Throughout the Easter season, the second reading is a semi-continuous reading from John the Elder’s first letter. In today’s pericope, the author reminds disciples that they are obligated (“let us love”) to love one another, by Jesus’ command (“love one another as/because I have loved you” [Jn 13:34]). Disciples must also love one another because they are “begotten by God” and have come to “know God;” God is the source of their love (“of God”). Anyone who doesn’t love others cannot claim to “know God” or live out the life of God, because God is love’s source. God’s sending the Son reveals that God is the source of love; the Son’s life and transformational death saves us and gives life to all. The author concludes by defining love: love is God sending the Son to save us; love is not anything we have done. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to continue the Easter story of Jesus’ transformative and saving act, and how a disciple experiences God’s love.

John’s gospel is from Jesus’ final discourse. In this week’s pericope Jesus continues his vine-and-branches teaching about discipleship. Jesus describes his union (abiding, remaining-in-relationship) with disciples, and requires disciples to love one another.

• Jesus’ command. Love one another as I loved you. Jesus’ love is unconditional and without limit, laying down his life for his disciples while they still don’t recognize his identity and despite their failures. Jesus loves his disciples with the total self-giving of God. The Father gives the Son to the world to redeem the world; the Son lays down his life to fulfill his mission to the Father as an act of perfect love. Jesus charges disciples to love like he does.
• A new relationship. Jesus defines “remaining in relationship” as a relationship of equals, not subservience (through authority or force). True friends act out of concern for one another. Jesus, their friend, models the relationship he asks disciples to have with one another. Jesus chose them and commissions them to “bear fruit” and continue the Father’s mission. Disciples who ask will receive the Father’s help to love one another and to continue Jesus’ mission of fulfilling the Father’s plan.

Jesus’ resurrection has many meanings and many implications. The Easter season lasts six weeks to give us time to reflect on this cosmos-changing event. In Acts, Luke shows God pushing a lagging church to fulfill God’s saving plan. John the Elder’s letter teaches a disciple’s obligation to love others. John’s gospel reveals how Jesus’ command changes our lasting relationship with God and each other. How do we respond when God pushes us out of our comfort zone? Do we see and hear what the Spirit reveals, or do we stand behind personal rules and practices? Do we recognize Jesus’ requirement to love one another, or do we reject the command as humanly impossible? Do we allow Jesus’ words and actions to change us, or do we choose to remain slaves in ignorance?

—Terence Sherlock

2 May 2021: Fifth Sunday of Easter B

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Acts 9:26-31	Ps 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32	1 Jn 3:18-24	Jn 15:1-8
RCL: Acts 8:26-40		RCL: 1 Jn 4:7-21

Eastertime: remaining in relationship; bearing fruit

In the Easter season, Jesus appears to his disciples and explains his resurrection’s meaning; reveals himself as good shepherd, true vine, and one who has laid down his life; and prays for those whom he sends into the world. This week’s readings ask us, the believing community, to think about discipleship’s ongoing nature.

Throughout the Easter season, the first reading is a semi-continuous reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Today’s pericope introduces the converted Saul, who returns to Jerusalem to meet with disciples. Barnabas (the name means “son of consolation”) mediates between Saul and the Jerusalem ekklesia leaders (Peter and James). Luke shows Saul in full fellowship with the Jerusalem community (“moved about freely with them”), preaching, and challenging his former associates, the diaspora Jews (“Hellenists”) who killed Stephen. Now the Hellenists want to kill Saul for his preaching about Jesus. The ekklesia leaders hustle Saul out of Jerusalem and put him on a ship to his hometown Tarsus. In both his gospel and Acts, Luke associates “peace” with the coming of the good news. As in his earlier summaries, Luke highlights God’s blessings bestowed on the ekklesia. The Lectionary editors chose this semi-continuous reading to show the continued working of the risen Lord in the ekklesia.

Throughout the Easter season, the second reading is a semi-continuous reading from John’s first letter, written by an unknown author in John’s community near the end of the first century. In today’s pericope, the author connects several ideas about the command to love one another. First, disciples must love not only in words (“word and speech”) but also in actions (“deed and truth”). Next, disciples can be certain that, when they love one another, they “belong to the truth.” If disciples’ consciences (“hearts”) need reassurance, they can look to God who “knows all things.” Disciples also know that they “belong to the truth” because God gives them “whatever they ask.” Again the author repeats God’s command revealed in and by Jesus: love one another. Finally, disciples who love in words and actions (“believe in Jesus”) remain in relationship (“remains” or abides) with God through the Spirit’s indwelling (“that he gave”). The Lectionary editors chose this semi-continuous reading to continue the Easter story of Jesus’ transformative and saving act, and how a disciple experiences it.

John’s gospel is from Jesus’ final discourse. In last week’s “Good Shepherd”‘ discourse, Jesus instructed community leaders. In this week’s “vine and branches” discourse, he teaches about discipleship. This discourse has many themes (vine, branches, pruning, remaining, asking, glorifying); this reflection offers two discipleship-related ideas:

• Remaining in relationship. Only branches that remain attached to the vine bear fruit. This “remaining” or “abiding” describes an ongoing mutuality of the disciples’ union with Jesus and Jesus’ union with his disciples. Just as no branch separated from the vine can bear fruit, no disciple bears fruit apart and alone. Branches separated from the vine are useful only as fuel for burning. A disciple enters into an ongoing relationship with the Father and Jesus, characterized by love deep enough to lay down one’s life. Jesus’ words and actions model both “abiding” or “remaining-in-relationship” as well as “laying down one’s life.”
• Bearing fruit. “Bearing fruit” is not simply enjoying the oneness that exists between Jesus and a disciple. Fruitfulness requires that a disciple do something. Jesus has already defined that something when he gave his commandment: love one another (Jn 13:34-35).

Jesus’ resurrection has many meanings and many implications. The Easter season lasts six weeks to give us time to reflect on this cosmos-changing event. In Acts, Luke shows Saul remaining in fellowship with the Jerusalem community. John’s letter teaches disciples how to know they belong to God and how God remains in them. John’s gospel reveals Jesus as the true vine, giving life to disciples who remain in relationship with him. How has the unfolding Easter celebration fed our discipleship? Have we found a deeper appreciation for the fellowship of our believing community? Do we have a greater confidence that God will provide whatever we ask? Are we seeking more opportunities to remain in relationship and deepen our discipleship?

—Terence Sherlock