May 11, 2013

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Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter 
Lectionary: 296

Reading 1ACTS 18:23-28

After staying in Antioch some time,
Paul left and traveled in orderly sequence
through the Galatian country and Phrygia,
bringing strength to all the disciples.

Antioch was originally St. Peter's Bishoprick.  Then St. Paul arrived and preached there.  We know that St. Paul was sent to Rome by the Holy Spirit.  And, from Tradition, we also know that St. Peter arrived there before St. Paul.  Both Antioch and Rome were gentile cities.  And both Sts. Peter and Paul were the Apostles to the Gentiles (Acts 15:7; Romans 11:13).  St. Peter, of course, as leader of the Church, had a mission to both Jew and Gentile.  

St. Paul continued to travel through all of Galatia, ministering to the disciples of Christ. 

A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria,
an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus.
He was an authority on the Scriptures.
He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and,
with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus,
although he knew only the baptism of John.
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue;
but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,
they took him aside
and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.
And when he wanted to cross to Achaia,
the brothers encouraged him
and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him.
After his arrival he gave great assistance
to those who had come to believe through grace.
He vigorously refuted the Jews in public,
establishing from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.

Then, a Jew with a Greek name, Apollos, came to Ephesus.  He understood the Scriptures and could explain from Scripture that Jesus is the Christ or Messiah.  But he, at this point, had only received the Baptism of St. John.  St. Paul's friends, Aquila and Priscilla, took him in and introduced him to the rest of the brothers.

Responsorial PsalmPS 47:2-3, 8-9, 10

R. (8a) God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap your hands;
shout to God with cries of gladness.
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.
R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The princes of the peoples are gathered together
with the people of the God of Abraham.
For God’s are the guardians of the earth;
he is supreme.
R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.

God is King of all the earth and God's people are the earth's guardians.  It is an awesome responsibility.  We, by our prayers, intercede for all mankind.  Therefore, always rejoice and sing praise to God.  Because that is a great power indeed.

GospelJN 16:23B-28

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Amen, amen, I say to you,

whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

Until now you have not asked anything in my name;

ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

Anything good, which we ask the Father in the name of Christ, will be granted to us.  But St. James qualifies this teaching a bit:

James 4:3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 

“I have told you this in figures of speech.

The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures

but I will tell you clearly about the Father.

On that day you will ask in my name,

and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.

For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me

and have come to believe that I came from God.

No one comes to the Father but through Jesus.  But there comes a time when Jesus no longer asks for us, but we approach the Throne of the Father ourselves.  Because, we are in Christ and therefore, He loves us.

I came from the Father and have come into the world.

Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

So, Jesus went back to His heavenly Throne at the right hand of the Father.