A Little Help
- Sue Delvaux
- 4 hours ago
- 2 min read
As we continue with the Easter season with readings only from the New Testament, I find today’s first reading from Acts very important as a former Protestant. The Twelve are so overwhelmed with work that they select seven reputable men and with prayer and a laying on of hands they assist so that they may all better devote themselves to prayer and better serve the community. And so begins the apostolic continuity. The more immediate problem, the equitable distribution of food and taking care of widows was being well managed thanks to the Seven, sometimes called the first Deacons of the church.
We also get the analogy of Saint Peter calling Christ the cornerstone – the stone the builders had rejected has become the cornerstone! – a glorious, poetic reading. But we also continue to hear a Gospel Reading this Sunday from John. The reading from John is wonderfully reassuring in our complex and stressful times. Jesus is consoling his disciples and the message in John 14 can be just as powerful for all of us today. A place has been prepared for us in heaven and unequivocally Jesus declares himself to be the Son of the Father. Such words! . . . “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
I sense the disciples struggled with such a profound message as they faced their collective anxiety about their future and the future of their ministry. However, this message must have brought them peace as it should us as well. Peace with the knowledge that a place has been prepared for us in the Father’s House as we continue to live in the faith.