His Assurance

Fifth Sunday of Easter
22 May 2011


The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.


First reading Acts 6:1-73
About this time, when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenists made a complaint against the Hebrews: in the daily distribution their own widows were being overlooked. So the Twelve called a full meeting of the disciples and addressed them, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the word of God so as to give out food; you, brothers, must select from among yourselves seven men of good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom; we will hand over this duty to them, and continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.’ The whole assembly approved of this proposal and elected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
The word of the Lord continued to spread: the number of disciples in Jerusalem was greatly increased, and a large group of priests made their submission to the faith.

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 32:1-2,4-5,18-19

Second reading 1 Peter 2:4-9
The Lord is the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him; set yourselves close to him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house. As scripture says: See how I lay in Zion a precious cornerstone that I have chosen and the man who rests his trust on it will not be disappointed. That means that for you who are believers, it is precious; but for unbelievers, the stone rejected by the builders has proved to be the keystone, a stone to stumble over, a rock to bring men down. They stumble over it because they do not believe in the word; it was the fate in store for them.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

Gospel John 14:1-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God still, and trust in me.
There are many rooms in my Father’s house;
if there were not, I should have told you.
I am going now to prepare a place for you,
and after I have gone and prepared you a place,
I shall return to take you with me;
so that where I am
you may be too.
You know the way to the place where I am going.’
Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus said:
‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one can come to the Father except through me.
If you know me, you know my Father too.
From this moment you know him and have seen him.’
Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’ ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him ‘and you still do not know me?
‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father,
so how can you say, “Let us see the Father”?
Do you not believe
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself:
it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work.
You must believe me when I say
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;
believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason.
I tell you most solemnly,
whoever believes in me
will perform the same works as I do myself,
he will perform even greater works,
because I am going to the Father.

Reflection
By Pietro S. Albano

May 22 has normally been observed by a number of devotees as the Feast Day of St Rita of Cascia, the Patroness of Impossible Cases. It has been said that her life was full of impossibilities. Take for example how bees swarmed around her and entered and exited her mouth when she was a baby. By their nature, bees would sting her, but she remained unscathed. Or how about that reconciliation she instigated between the warring families in their town – her husband’s family and those responsible for his murder – as a condition for her acceptance in the monastery? Or the flourishing of the withered branch the mother superior asked her to plant? Or the healing of the wound on her forehead so she could go to Rome for the Jubilee Year? Or the blossoming of roses in her garden in the dead of winter? Or her incorrupt corpse when this was exhumed and moved to its present location?

In God’s wisdom, these were signs of His favour on Rita, a favour that seems to remind her especially when the going got tough: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me.’

In Jesus, St Rita trod THE Way to what her heart really yearned for. In Him, she witnessed THE Truth which set her free from evil and sin. In Him, she received THE Life which invigorated her “…to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

We may not be as privileged like St Rita to experience such impossible events in our life. But in the often ‘ordinariness’ of our life, we are given the same assurance by God not to lose heart especially when we are thrown into the deep end, when we feel that our problems appear to be impossible to solve.

Jesus, Master, the only Way, Truth, and Life, You have called St Rita to a life dedicated to Your service; first to her family and then to the Church. Through her example and intercession, transform Your people into a more trusting community of believers, always eager to build up Your kingdom here on earth. Amen.