Saturday May 8  

FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER

 

REJECTED WITH CHRIST

                                                               

Introduction

The world that has rejected Christ hates Christ and his disciples; it persecutes them because the lifestyle of a good Christian is a silent condemnation of the world. Think, for example, of the films by Luis Bunuel, the Spanish director, who is obsessed by everything Christian and holds it up to bitter sarcasm.

Perhaps, more deadening than persecution is the attitude of a world that has not discovered Christ or has a distorted view of him and of Christianity. To these people, we are ridiculous, old-fashioned, irrelevant, out of touch with reality, and worthy of a pitying smile.

Yet this was the lot of Christ. We share in his love, and also in the treatment he is given by the world. The disciple is no better than the master. In the disciple, the world still rejects Christ, the Master. At least, we are in good company…

 

Opening Prayer

Lord, our God,
it is good to live in the friendship
of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Make us realize that also in this love,
we are committed to him and share with him
for better and for worse,
in misunderstanding and contradiction
as well as in joy and intimacy.
Help us to rejoice, even when treated
with indifference or ridicule on account of him,
for it means that he is still with us,
who is our Lord forever.

 

Reading 1: ACTS 16:1-10

Paul reached also Derbe and Lystra
where there was a disciple named Timothy,
the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer,
but his father was a Greek.
The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him,
and Paul wanted him to come along with him.
On account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised,
for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
As they traveled from city to city,
they handed on to the people for observance the decisions
reached by the Apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem.
Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith
and increased in number.

They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian territory
because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit
from preaching the message in the province of Asia.
When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia,
but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them,
so they crossed through Mysia and came down to Troas.
During the night Paul had a vision.
A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words,
“Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
When he had seen the vision,
we sought passage to Macedonia at once,
concluding that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 100:1B-2, 3, 5

(2a) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.

 

Alleluia: COL 3:1

Alleluia, alleluia.
If then you were raised with Christ,
seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: JN 15:18-21

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.
Remember the word I spoke to you,
‘No slave is greater than his master.’
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me.

 

Intercessions

–   That our missionaries may be guided by the Holy Spirit to bring the joy of Easter to other people and cultures, we pray:

–   That like the early Christians, those who are persecuted on account of the Lord may retain their joy of witnessing to the Lord, we pray:

–   That like Jesus, our Lord, we may be willing and eager to render service to people, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord, our God,
your Son Jesus, pours for us
the cup of joy,
but it can also become at times
a cup of sorrow to be emptied to the dregs.
May his Spirit guide us
to stay with him when the going is rough
as he stays always with us,
who is our Lord forever.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God, we thank you
for the joy of sharing the table of your Son
in this Eucharistic celebration.
Make our faith strong enough
to share all of the life of Jesus,
even when he is rejected or ignored,
and we with him.
Make us understand that his Paschal Mystery
is both death and life
and the way we have to live
with Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

Blessing

The message of Christ is not always a comfortable message; it also has to speak of the cross. But speak we must, even in the face of ridicule and contradiction. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.”
Many of us find it extremely difficult to make sense of tragedies and pains in life and often question God. We hear people asking, “Where is God? Is he real?” Pope Francis was asked these questions by a rescued street-girl in the Philippines while narrating the miseries she and her friends had to undergo on the streets. The Pope simply hugged her and answered the whole crowed: “We have no answers to all our questions.”
Before questioning God, let us be reminded of one thing: We are believing in a God who himself underwent the pains and miseries of humankind; was tortured and killed. In today’s Gospel Jesus predicts and warns his disciples that the world would hate and reject them.
It is one thing to know that there will be trials, that we will have crosses to bear for following him; it’s another to be told that we will be hated because of it. In many parts of the world, faith in Jesus has become an object of ridicule and hatred. But why? Is it because Christians promote violence and division? It is on the contrary … The powers of hatred and violence in the world, hates Jesus and and the mission of the Church for sharing the message of love, hope, and our choice for life.
We are called to be imitating the love of Jesus. Yet, we may experience hatred and rejection from others especially when the love and truth goes against the opinions of the world. And many Christians, when confronted with the fear of being persecuted and being taken out of their comfort zones, prefer to live according to the standards of the world.
But today our faith assures us that, despite the troubles, Jesus is worth the effort. We cannot expect the applause from a world that rejected Jesus; we will also be exposed to the rejection that he himself suffered; but we are also assured of the life that Jesus alone can give – a life of the resurrection. That is why the Word of God reassures us “if we die with Him, we will live with Him; if we suffer with Him, we will reign with Him ”.
The message of Christ is not always a comfortable message; it also has to speak of the cross. And we shall not be shy of speaking about it, even in the face of ridicule and contradiction.