Our God-given conscience: The Third Sunday of Easter

                                                  Our God-given Conscience

The Third Sunday of Easter

May 1, 2022

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Acts 5:27-41; Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19

 

          The church gives us two very different readings that contain rich nuances and inspirational moments, and it is difficult to choose which part of the story to highlight. In the Acts of the Apostles, the religious leaders instruct the Apostles not to say anything that would embarrass them further. In the Gospel, we have the recognition of Jesus, the appearances, the necessity of eating, the return to one’s livelihood, the triple forgiveness upon which the church is built, and the mandate to love one another as the basis for discipleship. Rich stuff indeed.

 

          The commonality that I see in both sets of readings is that we have an innate sense to perceive the presence of the Lord and to know what is right to do. We are inspired by the boldness of the Apostles when their experience of Jesus cannot be contained, even at the urgings of the high priests’ council. The religious leaders are confused, embarrassed, mocked, and they are trying to control the news narratives and maintain the status quo and their strict levels of authority, and the Apostles are compelled to speak from their truth. This allows the Apostles to speak without fear, to be prudent, and to build up the community of faith that has come to believe that Jesus is the Christ.

 

          From early on, the primacy of Conscience has been part of the part and is essential for our active discipleship in which we follow the Spirit’s guidance. Here is a quote contained in the Second Vatican Council about the function of conscience within our discernment:

 

Deep within their consciences, men and women discover a law that they have not laid upon themselves but which they must obey. Its voice, ever calling them to love and to do what is good and to avoid what is evil, tells them inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun that. For they have in their hearts a law inscribed by God. Their dignity lies in observing this law, and by it they will be judged…. By conscience, that law is made know in a wonderful way that is fulfilled in love for God and for one’s neighbor. Through loyalty to conscience, Christians are joined to others in the search for truth and for the right solution to so many moral problems that arise both in the lives of individuals and in social relationships.

 

          This conscience allowed the Apostles in the Gospel to recognize Jesus and to know he was among them, and he gave each disciple, in humility and honesty, to one another as a gift to be cherished and honored. We have been redeemed and been judged to be ‘good.’ That we can know the Lord gives us dignity and full citizenship in heaven, and no one can take that away from us, no matter what words are spoken or actions are taken. The presence of the Lord within our consciences, within our soul, can speak to other souls, and only good follows from this beholding of the other person. This part of us sees our own abundant goodness, and from it, we see the goodwill in other people. This part of us allows us to respond when asked, “Do you Love me?” “Yes, of course, I do, and I love those who are your friends because you are the one who came back for me at the seashore, you are the one who has loved me when I didn’t think I deserved love, you are the one who comforts me and shares your life with me. Yes, Lord, you know that I love you, and you don’t have to tell me, because I naturally want to feed your sheep because I show my love for you when I do so.”

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

First Reading: 

Monday: (Acts 6) Stephen worked great signs and wonders in the name of Jesus. 

 

Tuesday: (Acts 7) False testimony is lodged against him but he stands angelic before them. Angry opponents stone him, including Saul, who consents to execute him.  

 

Wednesday: (Acts 8) A severe persecution breaks out in Jerusalem and the believers are displaced to Judea and Samaria. Saul, trying to destroy the Church, enters house after house to arrest them. 

 

Thursday: (Acts 8) Philip’s testimony and miracles in Samaria emboldens the believers. Philip heads out to Gaza and meets an Ethiopian eunuch who is reading Isaiah’s texts. Philip interprets the scripture and the eunuch begs to be baptized. 

  

Friday (Acts 9) Meanwhile, Saul is carrying out hateful acts against the believers and is struck blind as he beholds a manifestation of Jesus. The beginning of his call and conversion takes place.  

 

Saturday (1 Peter 6 – Mark the Evangelist) Clothe yourself in humility; be sober and vigilant and resist the devil. The God of grace will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little.  

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (John 6) Jesus feeds the 5000 as a flashback to the Eucharistic memory of the believers with the Bread of Life discourse. 

 

Tuesday: (John 6) Jesus instructs them, “It was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven; my heavenly father gives the true bread.” Jesus proclaims, “I am the bread of life.”

 

Wednesday (John 6) God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but that the world might be saved through him. 

 

Thursday (John 6) Jesus states that all that is required is belief in him. Belief is not given to all. The way to the way is through the Son. 

 

Friday (John 6) The Jews quarreled and opposition to the cannibalistic references of Jesus rises because his sayings are hard to accept. He tells the people, “my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” If you eat of Jesus, you will live forever. 

  

Saturday (Mark 16) Jesus appeared to the Eleven giving them instructions to proclaim the Gospel to every creature. 

 

Saints of the Week

 

May 1: Joseph the Worker was honored by Pope Pius XII in 1955 in an effort to counteract May Day, a union, worker, and socialist holiday. Many Catholics believe him to be the patron of workers because he is known for his patience, persistence, and hard work as admirable qualities that believers should adopt.

 

May 2: Athanasius, bishop and doctor (295-373), was an Egyptian who attended the Nicene Council in 325. He wrote about Christ's divinity but this caused his exile by non-Christian emperors. He wrote a treatise on the Incarnation and brought monasticism to the West.

 

May 3: Philip and James, Apostles (first century), were present to Jesus throughout his entire ministry. Philip was named as being explicitly called. James is called the Lesser to distinguish him from James of Zebedee. Little is known of these founders of our faith.

 

May 4: Joseph Mary Rubio, S.J., priest (1864-1929), is a Jesuit known as the Apostle of Madrid. He worked with the poor bringing them the Spiritual Exercises and spiritual direction and he established local trade schools.  

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• May 1, 1572. At Rome, Pope St. Pius V dies. His decree imposing Choir on the Society was cancelled by his successor, Gregory XIII. 
• May 2, 1706. The death of Jesuit brother G J Kamel. The camellia flower is named after him. 
• May 3, 1945. American troops take over Innsbruck, Austria. Theology studies at the Canisianum resume a few months later. 
• May 4, 1902. The death of Charles Sommervogel, historian of the Society and editor of the bibliography of all publications of the Jesuits from the beginnings of the Society onward. 
• May 5, 1782. At Coimbra, Sebastian Carvahlo, Marquis de Pombal, a cruel persecutor of the Society in Portugal, died in disgrace and exile. His body remained unburied fifty years, till Father Philip Delvaux performed the last rites in 1832. 
• May 6, 1816. Letter of John Adams to Thomas Jefferson mentioning the Jesuits. "If any congregation of men could merit eternal perdition on earth and in hell, it is the company of Loyola." 

May 7, 1547. Letter of St. Ignatius to the scholastics at Coimbra on Religious Perfection.