Readings
Rembrandt’s biblical subjects are always interesting. As a child he used to sit with his mother while she prayed and look at the illustrations in her prayerbook. All his life the painter was attracted to the bible. Even without a commission, he’d sketch a biblical story that caught his eye.
Here’s the Ethiopian eunuch–our reading from Acts for today– kneeling and looking intently at the stream of water, waiting to be baptized by Philip the deacon. He’s been profoundly moved by the story he’s been told.
His servant stands behind him holding his rich outer garments. He’s the queen’s treasurer, don’t forget, but something greater awaits him now. An imposing guard on horseback, armed to the teeth, maybe an Ethiopian security agent, looks on. The rest of his retinue stand back, maybe puzzled by it all and anxious to get on their way on the long trip home from Jerusalem.
Like Zacchaeus — another rich man Luke recalls — the Ethiopian sees something greater than riches in Jesus and the water promising life.
Though visibly absent, the Holy Spirit who orchestrated this scene is here too. .
How does it all turn out, we wonder? When they get home, does the eunuch get sacked because the security agent turns him in for foolish behavior? Does the servant who watched the baptism become a follower of Jesus too? Did the eunuch tell the Queen the story of Jesus? Did he ever get back to Jerusalem again?
Luke is a wonderful story-teller. In his day Ethiopia was the end of the world, and so the gospel reaches there. In this account, he invites us to think about another path taken in the spread of the gospel. Luke is a wonderful story-teller, and Rembrandt is too.
I discovered on Google books an old study of plants and trees by Richard Folkard, an English botanist. (Plant Lore, Legends and Lyrics, London 1884) It’s a treasure of information.
Folkard says that from earliest times people saw religious meaning in plants, flowers and trees. He writes especially about how they were seen in medieval times.
“In the dark ages the Catholic monks , who cultivated with assiduity all sorts of herbs and flowers in their monastic gardens , came in time to associate them with traditions of the Church , and to look upon them as emblems of particular saints . Aware , also , of the innate love of humanity for flowers , they selected the most popular as symbols of the Church festivals , and in time every flower became connected with some saint of the Calendar , either from flowering at the time of the saint’s day , or from being connected with the saint in some old legend…
But it was more especially upon the Virgin Mary that the early Church bestowed their floral symbolism … The poetry no less than the piety of Europe has inscribed to her the whole bloom and colouring of the fields and hedges. The choicest flowers were wrested from the classic Juno , Venus , and Diana , and from the Scandinavian Bertha and Freyja , and bestowed upon the Madonna , whilst floral offerings of every sort were laid upon her shrines .
Her husband , Joseph , has allotted to him a white Campanula , which in Bologna is known as the little Staff of St. Joseph . In Tuscany the name of St. Joseph’s staff is given to the Oleander. A legend recounts that the good Joseph possessed originally only an ordinary staff , but that when the angel announced to him that he was destined to be the husband of the Virgin Mary , he became so radiant with joy , that his very staff flowered in his hand…
A Catholic writer complained that at the Reformation the very names of plants were changed in order to divert men’s minds from the least recollection of ancient Christian piety A Protestant writer of the last century , bewailing the ruthless action of the Puritans in giving to the ” Queen of Beauty ” flowers named after the ” Queen of Heaven , ” says :’Botany , which in ancient times was full of the Blessed Virgin Mary , is now as full of the heathen Venus .’ ”
Folkard reminds us that the monks were good catechists. That work of theirs is largely ignored today. If you consult Wikipedia’s listings of trees and plants, there’s hardly a trace of that Catholic tradition. I wonder if we shouldn’t mine that tradition again as we try to enhance our care of the earth. Clover .spearmint, foxglove, lupine, campanula, marigolds, cowslip, Lady’s mantel, Lady’s bedstraw are more than a genus and species. They once spoke of the mysteries of God.
Today is Earth Day. For Christians this is a day to see the earth through eyes of faith. The earth is God’s creation
God created and cares for more than the human family. You are the “hope of all the earth and of far distant isles”, Psalm 65 says. “You uphold the mountains with your strength, you still the roaring of the seas…The ends of the earth stand in awe at the sight of your wonders. The lands of sunrise and sunset you fill with your joy.
“You care for the earth, give it water, you fill it with riches. Your river in heaven brims over to provide its grain. And thus you provide for the earth; you drench its furrows; you level it, soften it with showers; you bless its growth. You crown the year with your goodness. Abundance flows in your steps, in the pastures of the wilderness it flows. The hills are girded with joy, the meadows covered with flocks, the valleys are decked with wheat. They shout for joy, yes they sing.” (Psalm 65, Tuesday. Morning Prayer, week 2)
Along with the human family, the earth praises God, its creator,. The natural world, as a vital part of God’s creation, shouts for joy and sings. There’s even surprise in the psalms that God, the Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, could have a special care for the human family. “When I see the heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars which you arranged, what is man that you should keep him in mind, mortal man that you care for him?” ( Psalm 8, Saturday Morning, week 2, 4 )
The view of God’s close engagement with the natural world proclaimed by the psalms and the scriptures fell into disfavor when science became the primary way of looking at the natural world with the age of the Enlightenment. Science became our guide and the human world became the center that controls everything. God’s engagement with the natural world and the human world came into question. The scriptural accounts were just poetry.
But poetry can also be true.
As we hear the Risen Jesus in the Easter season using the great images of bread from heaven, the shepherd, the vine, we shouldn’t miss their cosmic import. Images point out many things. Certainly “bread from heaven” points to the sacrament of the Eucharist; the shepherd and vine point to the life of the church and the intimacy we enjoy as branches grafted into the vine that is Jesus Christ.
But let’s not forget God’s rule over the whole world. We know so much more about it now. We also know how endangered it has become because of human neglect. More than ever, we need to acknowledge its dignity before God, who still covers the meadows with flocks, “the valleys are decked with wheat.” The natural world shouts for joy and sings during the Easter season. Its Shepherd guides it; it receives daily bread. It shares in the promise of the Risen Christ.
We’re reading the story of St. Stephen these days in our liturgy. He’s the early church’s first martyr and, as I indicated in my previous blog, his death sparked a Christian persecution that led to a remarkable growth in the church.
A couple of years ago, I visited the Church of San Stefano Rotondo in Rome, built in honor of St. Stephen in the 5th century. It has an interesting history.
We began reading from the 6th chapter of Luke’s Acts of Apostles last Saturday, which describes a social problem that never disappears. Some newcomers to Christianity are being treated unfairly. “As the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.”( Acts 6:1)
If we substitute “Immigrants” for “Hellenists” a more familiar situation emerges in this story. New-comers are not treated fairly in this story. Probably the poorer song them especially.
The “Hebrews” were the first followers of Jesus, mostly Jews from Galilee. They’re Jewish Christians at home in the Jewish world; they fit into the religious and political Judaism of the time in spite of the friction that came from following Jesus of Nazareth.
They’re the establishment.
In every age immigrants, once they gain a little footing in their new home tend to speak out for their needs. The Hellenists, led by Stephen, began to speak out. Stephen’s fiery words seem to be only about religious matters, but he’s also criticizing the closed world of Judaism.
Is it also the closed world of early Jewish Christianity as well?
Stephen’s criticism cost him his life and initiated the Jewish reaction that led to the expulsion of many of the Christian Hellenists. They become immigrants again but, as Luke notes, they bring the gospel to new peoples.
How did Christianity spread early on? Certainly not to the apostles and genius of Paul alone. The Acts of the Apostles this week reminds us there were others, like the deacon Philip, who brought the gospel to Samaria. (Wednesday)
Then, there’s the Ethiopian official Philip baptizes. He surely brought the gospel to Africa. (Thursday) There were many others, not just apostles, but immigrants like Stephen, who fulfilled a divine plan they hardly understood.
We are in the midst of an age of massive immigration, due to wars, climate change, religious discrimination and other issues. We tend to see these issues only in social or political terms.
This week’s readings from Luke remind us there’s more. God’s plan is also being fulfilled in many other ways.
The first readings this week at Mass from the Acts of the Apostles tell the story of the Greek-speaking deacon Stephen. His fiery preaching against temple worship and “stiff-necked” Jewish opposition to Jesus led to his death and a persecution that drove Greek-speaking Jewish Christians out of Jerusalem. (Monday and Tuesday) But Stephen’s death, like the death of Jesus, brings new life. The church grows. “The death of Christians is the seed of Christianity.” (Tertullian )
Philip the Deacon preaches to the Samaritans north of Jerusalem. Then, led by the Spirit, he converts the Ethiopian eunuch returning home after his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. (Wednesday and Thursday} Following Philip’s activity, Paul, the persecutor, is converted by Jesus himself. (Friday)
Before Paul’s ministry begins, Peter leaves Jerusalem to bless the new Christian communities near the coast; at Joppa he’s told by God to meet the Roman centurion in Caesarea Maritima. The mission to the gentile world begins with that meeting. (Saturday)
The Holy Spirit is at work. in this section of the Acts of the Apostles we see a changing church. The center of the Christian community moves from Jerusalem to Antioch in Syria. The Galilean apostles like Peter, James and John are joined by Stephen, Philip, Barnabas, and Paul, as God’s mysterious plan unfolds. Christian communities leave the Jewish synagogues to become churches on their own, led by bishops, elders, deacons. Christians are no longer only Jews, gentiles from different parts of the Roman world become followers of Jesus.
The Acts of the Apostles reveal a developing, changing church. Change, of course, is not limited to the early church: the church changes and develops in every age. It’s changing and developing now.
The gospel readings this week, from St.John’s gospel– segments of Jesus’ long discourse on the Bread of Life to the crowd at Capernaum after the miracle of the loaves. (John 6) tell us that the Risen Christ remains with us Teacher and Lord in the Eucharist. He is with us in the times we live in.
This Sunday’s gospel is another great Easter story. Jesus appears, not at the tomb where he rose from the dead, or in Jerusalem or Galilee where he meets Peter and others, but on the road where he walks with two confused, discouraged disciples leaving the city. He speaks to them on the road. Were not our hearts burning as he talked to us on the road? They say.
Pope Leo is on the road these days. I go back to a time when popes never left Rome; people came to them. Beginning with Pope Paul VI in the 1960s the popes began to travel to all parts of the world. They went “on the road.”
The reason the popes began to travel extensively was because the Second Vatican Council in 1963 said that the church should be more actively involved in the problems of the world. They should try to bring together all the resources for good that they can. Remember in 1962 we had the Cuban Missile Crisis. The world was threatened with nuclear war.
Pope Leo is in Africa these days visiting a number of countries. He began his visit in Algeria, a largely Moslem state. Then, he visited Cameroon, in Central Africa, over 30 million people, one third Catholic, the rest Moslem or followers of a traditional religion.
Cameroon is suffering from civil war for the last ten years. The two sides agreed to a cease fire during the pope’s visit.
The pope began his visit in the cathedral in Cameroon where he listened to representatives from the country who came for “ A Meeting of Peace.” He heard from leaders of the traditional religion, two Moslem religious leaders, a leader of the Presbyterian church, and a number of Catholic sisters who are taking care of orphans and others injured by the war. They all spoke oof the sufferings war had caused and their hopes and efforts together to bring peace to their country.
The pope encouraged them all to keep working together for peace.
At the same time he spoke against the “masters of war” who don’t acknowledge that in war “it only takes a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild.”
The Pope lamented how those in power turn a blind eye to the billions of dollars spent on killing and devastation, “yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found.”
He condemned outsiders for exploiting war to take away the rich resources of Africa. Africa has long been exploited for its people and its minerals. They’re “perpetuating an endless cycle of destabilization and death… We’re living in an upside-down world,” the pope said.
The president in Cameroon is 93 year and has been an authoritarian ruler over the country for almost 40 years. The pope didn’t hesitate to remind him that “Public authorities are called to serve as bridges, never as sources of division” and that “authentic peace arises when everyone feels protected, heard and respected, when the law serves as a secure safeguard against the whims of the rich and powerful.”
The pope is visiting Angola now, another country like Cameroon, torn apart by wars and corruption. I expect his message will be the same there too. Too political?
Sounds like the same things Jesus would say in a world as upside-down as our world is today.
It’s interesting that the pope told reporters on the plane yesterday to recognize he’s not involved these days in a dispute with the American president but he talking to some hard hit countries of Africa. Don’t take him out of context.
I’m happy that the pope is on the road, where so many are confused and discouraged. We need to pray for him. But I also think he should not be on the road alone. We need to support him. We need to work for peace in our world.
Since the atom bombings of Japan in 1945, the Catholic Church has urged all nations to abandon nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destrucion.
In the encyclical “Pacem in Terris”, immediately after the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Pope St. John XXIII wrote: “People are living in the grip of constant fear. They are afraid that at any moment the impending storm may break upon them with horrific violence. And they have good reasons for their fear, for there is certainly no lack of such weapons. While it is difficult to believe that anyone would dare to assume responsibility for initiating the appalling slaughter and destruction that war would bring in its wake, there is no denying that the conflagration could be started by some chance and unforeseen circumstance.”
In 1968, Pope Paul VI urged in the name of all humanity, the “total ban on nuclear weapons” and “general and complete disarmament.”
In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI stated: “I encourage the initiatives that seek progressive disarmament and the creation of zones free of nuclear weapons, with a view to their complete elimination from the planet.”
In 2019, Pope Francis wrote “the use of atomic energy for purposes of war is today, more than ever, a crime not only against the dignity of human beings but against any possible future for our common home…The use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral, just as the possessing of nuclear weapons is immoral… We will be judged on this. Future generations will rise to condemn our failure if we spoke of peace but did not act to bring it about among the peoples of the earth. How can we speak of peace even as we build terrifying new weapons of war?”
Pope Leo continues this message. In 2025 he said “The situation in Iran and Israel has deteriorated gravely, and in such a delicate moment, I would like to renew strongly an appeal to responsibility and reason. The commitment to creating a safer world, free from the nuclear threat, should be pursued through respectful encounter and sincere dialogue, to build a lasting peace, based on justice, fraternity and the common good. No-one should ever threaten the existence of another.”
He continually urges nuclear disarmament. In 2026 in his Message for World Day of Peace he lamented the confrontational logic now dominating global politics:
“In the relations between citizens and rulers, it could even be considered a fault not to be sufficiently prepared for war, not to react to attacks, and not to return violence for violence. Far beyond the principle of legitimate defense, such confrontational logic now dominates global politics, deepening instability and unpredictability day by day. It is no coincidence that repeated calls to increase military spending, and the choices that follow, are presented by many government leaders as a justified response to external threats. The idea of the deterrent power of military might, especially nuclear deterrence, is based on the irrationality of relations between nations, built not on law, justice and trust, but on fear and domination by force.”
In a recent talk Pope Leo said: “ The current situation requires that everything possible be done to avert a new arms race that would further threaten peace among nations. It is more urgent than ever to substitute the logic of fear and distrust with a shared ethos capable of guiding choices towards the common good and to make peace a treasure to be cherished by all.”
All four gospels say that Jesus fed a great crowd near the Sea of Galilee by multiplying a few loaves of bread and some fish. It’s an important miracle.
John’s account (John 6), read at Mass on weekdays from the Friday of the 2nd week of Easter until Saturday of the 3rd week of Easter, indicates the miracle takes place during the feast of Passover. Like the Passover feast, the miracle and the teaching that follows occur over a number of days.
The Passover feast commemorated the Manna God sent from heaven to sustain the Jews on their journey to the promised land. Jesus claims to be the “true bread,” the “living bread” that comes down from heaven.
Jesus is a commanding presence during the miracle and the days that follow in John’s account. “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” he asks Philip as crowds come to him. He then directs the crowd to sit down, feeds them with the bread and fish, and says what should be done with the fragments left over. Unlike the other gospel accounts that give the disciples a active role in the miracle John’s account gives them a small role. Philip and the other disciples are tested during the miracle and the teaching that follows it.
As they embark on the Sea of Galilee to return to Capernaum after the miracle, a sudden storm occurs and Jesus’ rebukes the wind and the sea, the forces of nature, so that the disciples reach the other shore. All four gospels have some version of Jesus’s power over the sea and therefore the natural world. He has divine power.
The crowds to whom Jesus speaks at Capernaum after the miracle are also tested as well as his disciples. They want to make him king after a plentiful meal and only look for a steady hand out instead of “the true bread come down from heaven.” Their faith is limited and imperfect after the miracle. They miss the meaning of the sign.
The disciples also are tested; some walk with him no more.
The miracle of the loaves and the fish remind us that Jesus is Lord and we are people of limited faith. We only see so far. The Risen Lord leads us to the other shore. He is the Bread of Life. “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life,” Peter says to Jesus at the end of John’s account. And so do we.
The Passionists celebrate the Feast of the Glorious Wounds of Jesus on Friday of the second week of Easter. The four gospels tell the great story of the passion of Jesus, each in its own way. More than the others, John’s gospel focuses on his wounds, unlikely signs revealing the mystery of the Word made flesh.
On Calvary a small symbolic group stands beneath the cross of “the King of the Jews”– Mary, the mother of Jesus, the disciple whom he loved, and a few others. A gentile soldier joins them.
This group represents the “new Jerusalem,” “the inhabitants of Jerusalem who look on the one whom they have pierced…and mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child.” (Zechariah 11, 10 )
They receive a precious gift. “It is finished!” Jesus declares, and bowing his head, he pours out his spirit on them. A Roman soldier thrusts a spear into Jesus’ side. “Immediately blood and water flowed out.” (John 19, 34)
Blood, a sign of his life, flows on those standing beneath his cross. Water, signifying the Spirit within him, is poured out on the world they represent. Far from ending his life, his death is the moment Jesus shares his life.“This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ.” (I John 5,6)
Artists afterwards picture the wounds of Christ as cosmic signs. They place the grave of Adam beneath the cross — generations wait for the new life Jesus brings. Creation, symbolized by the sun and moon, looks on expectantly, for Calvary is where creation too is redeemed. Angels collect the blood and water from Jesus’ wounds in cups representing the mystery of the Eucharist. All days are found in this one day. On Calvary, the glory of the Lord is revealed in his wounds.
St. Paul of the Cross in his letters often wished the one to whom he’s writing to be placed in the “wounds of Christ” or the “holy Side of Jesus” or his “Sacred Heart.” “I am in a hurry and leave you in the holy Side of Jesus, where I ask rich blessings for you.”
These expressions may seem pious phrases until we read the story of Thomas from John’s gospel. Jesus shows the doubting disciple the wounds in his hands and side, and Thomas believes.
Belief is not something we come to by ourselves. God gives this gift through Jesus Christ. We all stand beneath the life-giving Cross of Jesus. May his life give new hope to us and our world.
The Victor's Place 