Tuesday, 6th week of Easter
DAILY GOSPEL COMMENTARY:
“IF I DO NOT GO, THE ADVOCATE WILL NOT COME TO YOU” (Jn 16:5-11).
Tuesday in the Sixth Week of Easter
READING I
Acts 16:22–34
The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas, and the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison and instructed the jailer to guard them securely. When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and secured their feet to a stake.
About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened, there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.” He asked for a light and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once. He brought them up into his house and provided a meal and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
Or: Alleluia.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
Or: Alleluia.
Because of your kindness and your truth,
you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
Or: Alleluia.
Your right hand saves me.
The Lord will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O Lord, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
Or: Alleluia.
ALLELUIA
I will send you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord; he will lead you to the whole truth.
Gospel of Tuesday, 6th week of Easter.
Jn 16:5-11
Jesus said to his disciples: “Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ (6) But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. (7) But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. (8) And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:(9) sin, because they do not believe in me; (10) righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”
GOSPEL COMMENTARY
from the Navarre Bible, Commentary to the Gospel of St. John (with permission)
6-7 (6) But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. (7) But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
- The thought that he is going to leave them saddens the Apostles, and our Lord consoles them with the promise of the Paraclete, the Consoler. Later (vv. 20ff), he assures them that their sadness will turn into a joy which no one can take away from them.
- Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit three times during the discourse of the Last Supper.
- The first time (14:1 5ff), he says that another Paraclete (advocate, consoler) will come, sent by the Father, to be with them forever;
- secondly, he says (14:26) that he himself will send them, on behalf of the Father, the Spirit of truth who will teach them everything;
- and now he unfolds for them the complete plan of salvation and announces that the Holy Spirit will be sent once he ascends into heaven.
8-11 he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:(9) sin, because they do not believe in me; (10) righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”
- The word “world” here means all those who have not believed in Christ and have rejected him.
- These the Holy Spirit will accuse of sin because of their unbelief. He will accuse them of unrighteousness because he will show that Jesus was the Just One who was never guilty of sin (cf. Jn 8:46; Heb 4:15) and therefore is in glory beside his Father.
- And, finally, he will indict them by demonstrating that the devil, the prince of this world, has been overthrown through the Death of Christ, which rescues man from the power of the Evil One and gives him grace to avoid the snares he lays.
VIDEO REFLECTION TOPIC: DO YOU PRAISE GOD IN YOUR TROUBLES?
In today’s first reading, Paul and his companion Silas were imprisoned. They had just cast an evil spirit from a slave girl who was being used by her masters to make money on through her fortune-telling. For the lost earnings, these men incited the people to beat them with rods and had them put to jail, chained and all. We see them praying and praising God with their songs through the night. The series of events thereafter resulted in their jailer and his family being converted to the faith.
In our renewal community and in church, we are accustomed to praising God during our praise and worship sessions. And while listening to talks, we utter the words, “Praise God!” and “Amen!” in agreement and consent with the preacher.
Yet, can we still praise God when we are faced with problems and difficulties?
VIDEO REFLECTION ON TODAY’S FIRST READING (Acts 16:22–34)
TOPIC: Are you able to praise God even during your times of trouble and difficulty?
The disciples were all on fire with the power coming from the Holy Spirit to evangelize Asia and Europe. Paul himself, the disciple who was the most fired up, traveled a total of 16,000 kilometers from 45AD to 64AD on foot and by boat, a total distance equivalent of travel from Manila to New York and then back to Las Vegas. Paul was beaten with rods, pelted by stone once, shipwrecked three times, bitten by a viper. Yet, he never lost focus and fervor for the faith. And he remained grateful and joyful despite his ordeals. In today’s reading, Paul and Silas were stripped, severely whipped, and thrown into prison. In the dungeon, they kept on praising God, singing hymns as the other prisoners listened. Paul was practicing what he preached. In Ephesians, he said, “give thanks in everything.” He wrote again to the Philippi converts some 12 years later these words, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again: rejoice”. (Philippians 4:4)
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