Worthy to suffer in His name By Beth DeCristofaro

Worthy to suffer in His name  By Beth DeCristofaro

Friday of the Second Week of Easter

 

(Gamaliel) said to the Sanhedrin, “Fellow children of Israel, be careful what you are about to do to these men. … So now I tell you, have nothing to do with these men, and let them go. For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5:35, 38-39)

 

Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. (John 6:10-13)

 

 

Piety

Generous and challenging Jesus, help me reach beyond my own wants to put those of others before me.  May I rejoice that I have been found worthy to suffer in your name.

 

Study

Gamaliel wisely realized and warned his fellows that they could find yourselves fighting against God if Jesus’ followers were acting by God's instruction. The leaders responded as humans fearful of losing their worldview and their place in it.  They were not ready to accept the mystery of God become human nor that God could work in the world counter to their expectations.   But that warning must have spoken to some deep awareness because it stalled them fighting against God. Instead they acted very much like threatened humans: they had (the Apostles) flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus (v40)

 

Jesus goes beyond words; he revealed God’s overflowing mercy and love when he fed the crowds.  He is incarnation, and in him, God becomes present in nourishment.  God was with them in the barley loaves, food of the poor, and in the fish, livelihood of his followers who evangelized the world.  God becomes present in the commonplace and ordinary.  How can we miss the Eucharistic overtones?  In the hands of Jesus, this homely yet unearthly breaking of the bread was a sacred communal act.

 

But the crowds were still not ready for the mystery.  John tells us that Jesus left after sharing the meal because he knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king (v. 15). They saw the sign but responded to it from their future want, empty stomachs and poverty.  They missed the mystery of God's intimate presence over and above their physical needs.  Jesus fed their bodies out of care.  He wanted then and he wants now to feed our souls to be in a relationship with us.

 

Action

In both stories we see the apostles’ reacting in a different way. They were touched with wonder without understanding but chose to follow Jesus on his terms after the feeding of the multitude.  Then in Acts they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus. (v. 41-42) They leapt beyond the needs of the body and what they had always known.  They recognized that Christ, their friend who ate with them, who elected to follow his mission for them even through death, chose to give them new life with God.

 

Jesus knew the needs of bodies and responded to them, healing and sustaining, especially those most hungry, isolated, cast off.  Do we find ourselves defining our walk with Jesus in terms of our own needs?  Jesus models service determined by the needs of others.  Ask for the grace to hear wisdom’s voice.  God works through even our fragments of caring and our moments of suffering.  God does not waste our undertakings or our hardships.

 

 

 

Illustration:  Icons of the Christ and miracle of Christ multiplying bread to feed 5,000.  St Chora Church (Church of the Holy Saviour in the Country), Istanbul, Turkey,  https://krikor-tersakian.blogspot.com/2010/05/st-chora-amazing-high-definition-mosaics.html)