Irondequoit Catholic Communities
7th Sunday Of Easter

Celebrating 100 years

Return to Cycle Index

Cycle A

"Don't suffer for being a malefactor."

There is glory, says St. Peter, in suffering for Christ (today's second reading). There is only shame if we suffer because of our own misdeeds: "See to it, that none of you suffer for being a murderer, a thief, a malefactor, or a destroyer of another's rights."

Back in 1951, newspaper columnist Victor Reisel was noted for his courageous exposure of racketeers in labor organizations. He so infuriated the racketeers that they finally called in a young hoodlum named Abraham Telvi and offered him $1,000 to throw acid in Reisel's face so as to blind him and scare him off.

Telvi accepted the commission, studied the columnist's habits, and finally found a way of coming into his presence. He threw the acid and made a successful escape.

The acid had indeed been on target. Reisel lost his sight, though not completely. But the attack only encouraged him to step up his battle against the mobsters; and the nation, appalled by what had happened to him, paid even closer attention to the cause he was fighting for.

And what of Telvi? Unfortunately for him, in throwing the acid that had harmed his victim's eyes, he had splashed some of it on his own face. It caused a permanent scar, not only harming his looks, but branding him with a mark that the police, who were still in search of him, might well use to identify him. If he was caught, the mobsters realized, he would probably finger his employers. There was, then, only one remedy. They engaged another assassin to shoot Telvi in the head and kill him.

The hoodlum had thus suffered the loss of his own life - always a tragedy. But there was irony in the fact that he lost far more by his crime than he gained by it. He died as "a destroyer of another's rights."

A reminder, isn't it, that whenever we do willing injury to others, we inflict still greater injury upon ourselves? 

     - Father Robert F. McNamara

Q318: Today’s gospel (Jn 17:1-11) shows Jesus praying to his Father, saying that he had “passed on” to them the message the Father had entrusted to Jesus. What does that mean to us today?

In verse 6 Jesus prays, “They have kept your word.” This means that even though the apostles had very limited understanding before Pentecost and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they remained obediently faithful to the teachings of Jesus. Because of their obedience to Jesus and faithfulness to His word, they now have been delegated the responsibility to continue the mission of Jesus.

Just prior to that, in verse 4, Jesus tells his Father that he has “glorified” Him by carrying out his mission, obeying the will of the Father. “Glory” is the manifestation of the divine presence; so wherever the will of God is carried out, He receives Glory (= His presence is made visible).

Now we, as baptized Christians, have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. So now we, too, have the same responsibility to carry out the will of the Father, as Jesus taught us. This is not a responsibility to be taken lightly, because although “glory” seems to indicate awesome power and majesty, it does not exclude the possibility of suffering. The Second Reading makes that very clear, when Peter says (1 Pet 4:16) that Christians give glory to God when they suffer for just being Christians (i.e., living lives in accordance with God’s will). So give glory to God (= make God’s presence visible through you) at all times!

Know Your Catechism! When we pray daily The Lord’s Prayer that the Father’s will be done, are we looking “within” or just “out there” (CCC#2750)? We have been given the Spirit of Glory to empower us to reveal Jesus through the way we live our lives (CCC#693). This is the “time of the Spirit” which may entail suffering for following Jesus (CCC#672). Are you faithfully obedient to the teachings of the Bishops, successors of the Apostles?

Q474: The time immediately after the Ascension must have been a fearful time for the disciples, knowing that Jesus was no longer going to be with them.

The answer is undoubtedly “yes and no.” Being a true disciple requires at least three things. The first two are transparent: courage and using one’s gifts. However, the third and most important ingredient is the power and action of the Holy Spirit. So far the Spirit had not yet fallen on the disciples gathered in the Upper Room. The crucial day of Pentecost was just around the corner. Initially, then, the disciples must have been fearful, because they were behind locked doors when Jesus first appeared to them (John 20:19). Without the Holy Spirit, and in the absence of Jesus (his ascension), it is quite probable that this fear of the Jewish leaders continued.

Nevertheless, there must also have been a sense of peace, because they were in the midst of a novena of prayer, with the Blessed Virgin Mary at the center. They would have recalled Jesus’ words at the Last Supper just a few nights earlier, when he spoke of the glory he desired and the glory he gave to his Father (John 17:1-11a). When the evangelist John speaks of “glory,” he is talking about revelation. Jesus had given his Father glory – that is, he had revealed to his disciples the Father’s love and plan of salvation. On the night before he died, he had also revealed his desire to be glorified – that is, for his true identity to be revealed to the world, his identity as the Son of God!

But without the Holy Spirit, that is a lot for the disciples to absorb and understand! So we also hear the consolation that comes from Jesus’ prayer in today’s gospel – somehow, Jesus has been “glorified” in them! Yes, very soon the Holy Spirit will make it clear that when you see the disciples acting in the power of the Holy Spirit, you are seeing Jesus at work in them. Jesus has indeed been revealed or “glorified”!

KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! The event of the Cross and Resurrection transcends time and constantly draws everything toward life (CCC #1085). Jesus prays for us. Our High Priest who prays for us is both the one who prays in us and the one who hears our prayer (CCC #2749).


Page last modified on April 28, 2008, at 07:47 AM