17 May 2025 (Saturday)
Saturday of the 4th week of Eastertide.
Easter Weekday.
Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:
First Reading : Acts 13:44‐52
The next sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God. When they saw the crowds, the Jews, prompted by jealousy, used blasphemies and contradicted everything Paul said. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly. ‘We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, we must turn to the pagans. For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said: I have made you a light for the nations, so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.’ It made the pagans very happy to hear this and they thanked the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside. But the Jews worked upon some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city and persuaded them to turn against Paul and Barnabas and expel them from their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet in defiance and went off to Iconium; but the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
Responsive Psalm : Psalm 97(98):1‐4
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders. His right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation; has shown his justice to the nations. He has remembered his truth and love for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout to the Lord, all the earth, ring out your joy.
Gospel : John 14:7‐14
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘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. Whatever you ask for in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask for anything in my name, I will do it.’
For our reflection today:
The disciples' last conversation with their Master is dense with profound content; in it the most profound elements of the Good News converge, and are somehow encapsulated. During his earthly mission Jesus had continually spoken of the Father, He had always lived united with Him, in everything He had referred to Him. He, who is totally from Him and for Him, had commanded the disciples to pray to Him by calling Him: ‘Our Father’. At the Last Supper, answering Philip's question, he says: ‘Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not say of myself; but the Father who is with me does his works... believe it for the works themselves' (John 14: 10-11). [...] In his only-begotten Son, the infinite and mysterious God approached man in an ineffable manner: in Him, the Word made flesh, God became man. That is why man can now see God: ‘He who has seen me has seen the Father’ (Jn 14:9). But God has done even more: Christ, the Son of God, has come among men as the Way to the Father. (John Paul II, Homily, Agrigento 9 May 1993)
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