Today, in Mercy,Acts describes Peter in the full energy of his discipleship. The infant Church was at peace, being built up by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Peter, completely filled with this sacred power, raises a woman from the dead. He does this in the Name of Jesus to Whom he has given his entire being.
Our Gospel describes the moment of Peter’s total commitment. Some have turned away from Jesus because of his teaching on the Eucharist. Jesus asks the Twelve if they to wish to go too.
Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.
At pivotal points in our faith life, Jesus asks us the same question. May we always have the strength and insight to turn toward Christ. May we pour our hearts into the welcoming love of Jesus, just as Peter did.
Music: To Whom Shall We Go – Robin and Staci Calamaio – Father and daughter team
Today, in Mercy, John gives us the core teaching of the Eucharist.
For many, it is a hard teaching. How can Jesus give us his flesh and blood to nourish us? How can mere bread and wine embody this gift?
Have you ever been profoundly hungry? For most of us, probably not in a physical sense. But what about your heart and soul?
Have you ever longed to be loved, understood, accepted, or valued?
Have you ever felt famished for peace, rest, comfort, security, or solitude?
Have you ever longed to be delivered from gnawing anxiety, depression, fear, sorrow or loneliness?
Jesus recognizes all our hungers. He desires to enfold them in his Healing Mercy. He unites us to himself in the sacred reality of Eucharist, made visible to us in bread and wine.
In Eucharist , these fruits of the earth are not simply symbols pointing to another reality. By the power of God, they become sacraments embodying the reality themselves.
This mystery is one that must be embraced by the heart and soul, not one only to be analyzed by the mind. By opening the deep hungers of our spirit to the healing presence of Christ in Eucharist, we will be fed in ways we could never have imagined. In Mercy, we will become sources of nourishment for the broken world around us.
Music: Bread of the World in Mercy Broken – Reginald Heber
Today, in Mercy, the inevitable shadow falls over the early Christian community. Stephen is martyred – the first, the proto-martyr of many, down through the centuries, who will die for their faith.
This slaughter of innocence happened at the feet, and at the approbation, of Saul – yet untouched by the glorious grace of Christ.
How the community must have mourned beloved Stephen who, as our hymn describes him, was “bright with Love”:
Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5)
Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people (Acts 6:8)
All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen and saw that his face was like the face of an angel. (Acts 6:15)
Stephen, filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:8)
Stephen, as they were stoning him, called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. ( Acts 7:55)
What a treasure of a man! What a devastation to see his young, gracious life crushed by rejection, suffering and pain!
It is so hard to lose our prophets and saints!
I still remember, with great awe, the funeral of our Sister Mary Joanna Regan – one of the graced treasures of the Sisters of Mercy. Our Beloved Community was raw with her loss – as was the larger community of her love and influence.
Joanna’s dear friend, Father John Comey, SJ – now also of beloved memory – preached the sermon at her funeral liturgy. This was his first sentence:
How can such a woman die?
Dear Readers, haven’t we all felt that way in the face of some great loss? Whenever human frailty seems to bend to the powers of death, hatred, or oppression, our souls are crushed. We are astounded that life and goodness seem to yield. So was the early Christian Church when Stephen seemed to fall to hateful hands.
Nevertheless, they believed that there is an eternal life in God beyond that apparent yielding. They persisted in the ardent work of building up the reign of Christ.
Now those who had been scattered continued preaching the word. … and there was great joy in that city.
And the witness of Stephen impelled not only them, but twenty centuries of committed Christians who find their fullness of life in Jesus Christ.
Certainly our Church, with its many recent fractures and falls, needs a resilient, faithful community to lift it up and carry it forward. Let’s pray to St. Stephen today that we may be that community!
(English and Latin canticle today, plus lovely poem after them)
Music:Sancte Dei, Pretiose– sung by the Benedictine Monks of St. Michael’s de Laudes
Latin Version
Sancte Dei, pretiose,
Protomartyr Stephane,
Qui virtute caritatis
Circumfulsus undique,
Dominum pro inimico
Exorasti populo
Et coronae qua nitescis
Almus sacri nominis,
Nos, qui tibi famulamur,
Fac consortes fieri :
Et expertes dirae mortis
In die Judicii.
Gloria et honor Deo
Qui te flora roseo
Coronavit et locavit
In throno sidereo :
Salvet reos, solvens eos
A mortis aculeo. Amen.
English Version
Saint of God, elect and precious,
Protomartyr Stephen, bright
With thy love of amplest measure,
Shining round thee like a light;
Who to God commendest, dying,
Them that did thee all despite.
Glitters now the crown above thee,
Figured in thy honored name:
O that we, who truly love thee.
May have portion in the same;
In the dreadful day of judgment
Fearing neither sin nor shame.
Laud to God, and might, and honor,
Who with flowers of rosy dye
Crowned thy forehead, and hath placed thee
In the starry throne on high:
He direct us, He protect us,
From death’s sting eternally.
Poem: St. Stephen by Malcolm Guite
Witness for Jesus, man of fruitful blood,
Your martyrdom begins and stands for all.
They saw the stones, you saw the face of God,
And sowed a seed that blossomed in St. Paul.
When Saul departed breathing threats and slaughter
He had to pass through that Damascus gate
Where he had held the coats and heard the laughter
As Christ, alive in you, forgave his hate,
And showed him the same light you saw from heaven
And taught him, through his blindness, how to see;
Christ did not ask ‘Why were you stoning Stephen?’
But ‘Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
Each martyr after you adds to his story,
As clouds of witness shine through clouds of glory
Today, in Mercy, the crowd demands a sign from Jesus “that they may believe” in him. They refer to their ancestral memory of when God sent manna to their forebears in the desert – a miracle that restored their faith.
But although Jesus worked many wonders, he was not sent simply to be a “wonder worker”. The faith of the New Creation was not to be built on miracles but on sacrificial love.
Jesus tells the assembled crowd:
“ My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
He is talking about himself, the ultimate gift of God, feeding not just the body but the spirit – giving new life to all Creation.
The sacrament of the Eucharist embraces this mystery and extends it through the ages. Embodied in the Sacred Bread, this mystery is also incarnated in the People of God as they believe, hope and love God’s Presence into the world.
As with all sacred mysteries, we cannot simply choose to believe as a rational act. This faith is not willed by us, but rather gifted to us, as Jesus says:
“ You cannot come to Me unless the Father draw you.”
The crowd gathered around Jesus in today’s Gospel is asking him for a sign before they will believe. Let us instead ask God for the grace to open our hearts undemandingly to the deep gift of faith God wishes to give us.
Music: Bread of Heaven – Jessie Manibusan(Lyrics below)
Bread of heaven, Savior broken,
cup of life outpoured;
we your people thirst and hunger.
Come renew us, Lord;
come renew us, Lord.
From the mountain, blessing spoken
where we came to pray;
with the simple truth before us:
love them in my name;
love them in my name.
From the garden dark with sorrow,
from the tears you wept,
bloomed the flower of salvation:
new life born of death,
new life born of death.
From the hill where love was lifted
on the heavy wood,
flow the blood and streams of mercy
where your Mother stood,
where your Mother stood.
From the tomb that could not hold you
in the dark of night,
broke that morning of redemption,
raising us to life,
raising us to life.
Today, in Mercy, Acts tells us more about Stephen, who was introduced in Saturday’s reading as “a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit”.
Stephen is among the first group of Christians designated as deacons “to serve at table” – in other words, to do the administrative tasks that kept the community whole.
However, Stephen’s gifts went well beyond these services. Acts describes him like this:
Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people.
This man was radiant with Holy Spirit! He had so opened his soul to God’s grace and power that he was transformed even to the point that, when indicted:
All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
That same grace and power that fired Stephen’s spirit are available to us. In this holy Eastertide, as we await the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, let us give sincere time and intention to praying for these gifts – for ourselves, for our faith communities, our communities of love, for our leaders, for our world.
This poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins might help us picture how the Holy Spirit waits to be welcomed into our hearts and lives:
God’s Grandeur
The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs— Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
(Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89). Poems. 1918.)
Music: J.S.Bach – Gedenk an uns mit deiner Liebe (Think of us with your Love)
– from Cantata BWV 29 – Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir (Tranlations below)
Gedenk an uns mit deiner Liebe,
Schleuß uns in dein Erbarmen ein!
Segne die, so uns regieren,
Die uns leiten, schützen, führen,
Segne, die gehorsam sein!
Think of us with your love, enclose us in your pity! Bless those who govern us, those who guide, protect and lead us, bless those who are obedient!
Today, in Mercy, our Gospel recounts a scary episode for the disciples. Just as in most scary stories, “It was a dark and rainy night”. Worse yet, these guys were out in the middle of a turbulent sea!
Been there? Maybe not in actual nautical terms, but we’ve all had our storms. Right?
The miracle in our Gospel story is that Jesus comes to the disciples out of the midst of the storm. And he will do the same thing for us, if faith can clear our eyes to see him.
In a spiritual direction relationship, where we share our soul’s journey with a guiding companion, that mentor will often ask the question:
Where is God in this situation?
It is the perfect question to ask ourselves in both our small and mighty storms. In all that happens within and around us, God abides – perhaps in the center calling us to new depths; perhaps at the edges calling us away from darkness.
Where is God today for you, dear friends?
Music: Sometimes He Calms the Storm – Scott Krippayne
(You might want just to linger over the words of this beautiful song, so I have printed them below.)
All who sail the sea of faith
Find out before too long
How quickly blue skies can grow dark
And gentle winds grow strong
Suddenly fear is like white water
Pounding on the soul
Still we sail on knowing
That our Lord is in control
Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered peace, “Be still.”
He can settle any sea
But it doesn’t mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close
And lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times He calms His child
He has a reason for each trial
That we pass through in life
And though we’re shaken
We cannot be pulled apart from Christ
No matter how the driving rain beats down
On those who hold to faith
A heart of trust will always
Be a quiet peaceful place
Today, in Mercy, Jesus clearly tells us who he is for us:
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Jesus is the one, immovable Light in any darkness or confusion that engulfs us. How comforting and centering that thought – if only we can remember it!
Each of us, no doubt, has lost and found our way hundreds of times in our lives.
We have all been tossed back and forth on the half-truths, white lies, and deceptive silences of ourselves and others.
We have walked a razor line along the cliffs of death either of our beloveds or in our own spirits.
If we came through those times, it was because God found us, opened our hearts to the truth, breathed a Divine Recovery into our souls.
We are so often like Philip whose feast with James we celebrate today. Philip lived in the abundance of Christ’s presence. He listened every day to His blessed Word. Yet, after years of being with Jesus, Philip says
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus sounds a little surprised. He responds to Philip:
“Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”
God has been with us too from the moment Divine Life was breathed into us. We can completely trust that Presence, that Way, that Truth, that Life.
Such trust can transform our lives!
Music: O Via, Vita, Veritas – (perhaps outdated in tone, but lovely in melody and sentiment ) by Blessed Giacomo Alberione
O VIA, VITA, VERITAS!
O Via, Vita, Veritas, o Jesu! Lucens per omnes semitas, o Jesu! Te sequemur, trahe nos / Credulos ac servulos. Te collaudamus / In Te speramus / Amamus Te / Dulcissime, o Jesu!
In verbo tuo stabimus, o Jesu! Crucis pugnam pugnabimus, o Jesu! Dediti Ecclesiæ / Veritatis regiæ. Te collaudamus / In Te speramus / Amamus Te / Dulcissime, o Jesu!
Our Way, our Truth, our Life divine – O Jesus, our Lord! On ev’ry path as Light you shine – O Master adored! Lead us so we shall fulfill, Through our faith and works, your will. We praise and bless you, / Our hope confess you! In love we sing, / Eternal King, / O Master adored!
Your word we’ll keep with all our might – O Jesus, our Lord! The battle of the cross we’ll fight – O master adored! Docile to your Church we’ll be, By your truths led joyously. We praise and bless you, / Our hope confess you! In love we sing, / Eternal King, O Master adored!
Today, in Mercy,in our reading from Acts, the disciples continue to show immense courage in preaching the Word.They are bursting with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, soon to be confirmed in them on Pentecost.
We, too, have these gifts confirmed in us, not only when we receive the sacrament of Confirmation, but each time we open our hearts without reserve to the Holy Spirit and her ensuing abundance:
Wisdom
Understanding
Counsel, or Right Judgment Fortitude, or Courage
Knowledge Piety, or Reverence
Fear of the Lord, or Awesome Wonder
Sometimes, we unfortunately forget to call on these infinite gifts as we navigate life’s challenges. It is a blessing to remember that we are not doing this thing called “Life” alone, just as the early disciples were charged by the power of God.
Our Gospel confirms the availability of God’s unbounded Grace to all who believe:
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.
Let’s consciously claim that unrationed grace today! Oh, what a difference it might make in our lives!
Music: Mozart: Veni Sancte Spiritus (Latin and English Lyrics below)
Veni sancte Spiritus: Reple tuorum corda fidelium: et tui amoris in eis ignem accende. qui per diversitatem linguarum cunctarum gentes in unitate fidei congregasti. Alleluia.
Come Holy Spirit: fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle your love in them. You have gathered the nations together in the unity of faith. Alleluia.
Today, in Mercy, we encounter a scriptural passage that is often designated as the Golden Text of the Bible.
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.John 3: 16-17
Exegetical volumes have been written about this single verse.
But for our prayer this morning, it may be enough to simply bask in God’s love for us. Within that grateful delight, remember that God loves every creature with the same divine intensity – enough to breathe God’s own Life into us each one, enough to give Jesus for our redemption.
Just those astounding thoughts may lead us to where God wants to meet us in prayer today.
Music: God So Loved the World – John Stainer (1840-1901] – sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whoso believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world
to condemn the world;
but that the world through him might be saved.
Today, in Mercy, Jesus clearly tells us who he is for us:
Lavish Mercy 