April 5, 2008
Saturday of the Second Week of Easter
So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:2-4
When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading. John 6:19-21
PietyKeep me close to you, Jesus. My boat is small and the ocean is wide. I am so weak, so helpless, and so forgetful of your loving kindness and abundant graces. Protect me from being tossed to and fro at the mercy of the world. Without your help, I will surely perish.
(From the collected prayers quoted by Adolphus Frederick in Selected Notes on the International Sunday School Lessons)
Studyhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/040508.shtml
God is always coming toward us. He does so first in the miraculous birth when he was first incarnated as a baby. No wonder Isaiah said he would be named “Emmanuel,” God-with-us.” In his public ministry, he was always seeking out people who were hurting or troubled. After his death, he came back to us again. After his ascension into heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to be with us. Every day he comes back to us in Eucharist.
When we recognize Jesus’ role in our lives, helping to calm the storms we face, we will find the boat of our life tied up to a safe harbor, not tossed among the waves any longer.
No matter what storm may toss our lives, Jesus is there saying, “Do not be afraid.” He will never neglect us. He only asks that we never neglect him.
In today’s reading from Acts, we see the lengths that the Apostles go to in order to expand the services to the community of believers so that neither the prayer nor the action needed to serve those in need would be neglected.
As I write this on the anniversary of the night when Dr. Martin Luther King, Kr. was assassinated, allow me to share with you a speech I read today which resounds like a biblical call for action:
We have to recognize that while we each have a different past, we all share the same hopes for the future – that we'll be able to find a job that pays a decent wage, that there will be affordable health care when we get sick, that we'll be able to send our kids to college, and that after a lifetime of hard work, we'll be able to retire with security. They're common hopes, modest dreams. And they're at the heart of the struggle for freedom, dignity, and humanity that Dr. King began, and that it is our task to complete.
You know, Dr. King once said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but that it bends toward justice. But what he also knew was that it doesn't bend on its own. It bends because each of us puts our hands on that arc and bends it in the direction of justice.
So on this day – of all days – let's each do our part to bend that arc.
Let's bend that arc toward justice.
Let's bend that arc toward opportunity.
Let's bend that arc toward prosperity for all.
And if we can do that and march together – as one nation, and one people – then we won't just be keeping faith with what Dr. King lived and died for, we'll be making real the words of Amos that he invoked so often, and "let justice roll down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream."
This speech was delivered in
This is not intended as an endorsement for or against any political candidate. After reading this I was personally moved by it as a biblical call for economic justice for all – much in the same way the Apostles acted in the first reading today to make sure that they did not neglect the Word of God nor the needs of their sisters and brothers.
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