Fifth Sunday of Easter (C) -- Back dated Post

Acts 14:21-27
Ps 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13
Rv 21:1-5a
Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35

Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, with the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Fifth Sunday of Easter. During World War II, my great-uncle in Italy served as a "partisan," a resistance fighter against the Nazis, and he gave his life for that cause. Resistance fighters like him fought throughout occupied Europe. They had to communicate secretly, often in code, as they tried to give hope to their captive brothers and sisters.

On these Easter Sundays, we read from the Book of Revelation. This New Testament work is puzzling, with its strange descriptions and symbolism. Many readers misunderstand its purpose, and try to find involved, often convoluted references to specific events in our own time or the future. But much of Revelation refers to the time in which it was written. Like those resistance fighters in occupied Europe, the early Christians lived through persecution under Roman rule. I like to understand the Book of Revelation as a kind of "resistance literature," a message of hope shared by persecuted Christians. Jesus has triumphed over evil; God's enemies will be defeated, even death itself.

Today, we Christians face our own troubles. We need to hear encouragement, as the Book of Revelation tells us that all will be made new, that death is not the end. It's an ancient message of hope as new as today's dawn.

Scripture:

•… they called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. (Acts 14:21)

•…your dominion endures through all generations. (Psalm 145:13)

•Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. (Revelations 21:3)

•This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

Reflection:

•How does God dwell in the human race?

•Is love limited by time, space or logic?

•What is an outward sign of the eternal dwelling?

Christ the Lord is a mountain, a mountain gathered and rich. He is a mountain in sublimity, gathered in the bringing together of a multitude, rich in charity. Now see how he draws all things to himself, how he unites all things in unity, substantial, personal, spiritual, sacramental. He has the Father in himself, with whom he is one in substance. He has the assumed humanity, with which he is one person. He has the faithful soul clinging to him, with whom he is one spirit. He has the one church of all the elect, with which he is one flesh.(St. Bernard of Clairvaux)