Letters From Home

Readings:
Acts 2:1–11
Psalm 104:1, 24, 29–31, 34
1 Corinthians 12:3–7, 12–13
John 20:19–23

The giving of the Spirit to the new people of God crowns the mighty acts of the Father in salvation history.

The Jewish feast of Pentecost called all devout Jews to Jerusalem to celebrate their birth as God’s chosen people in the covenant Law given to Moses at Sinai (see Leviticus 23:15–21; Deuteronomy 16:9–11).

In today’s First Reading the mysteries prefigured in that feast are fulfilled in the pouring out of the Spirit on Mary and the Apostles (see Acts 1:14).

The Spirit seals the new law and new covenant brought by Jesus, written not on stone tablets but on the hearts of believers, as the prophets promised (see 2 Corinthians 3:2–8; Romans 8:2).

The Spirit is revealed as the life-giving breath of the Father, the Wisdom by which He made all things, as we sing in today’s Psalm. In the beginning, the Spirit came as a “mighty wind” sweeping over the face of the earth (see Genesis 1:2). And in the new creation of Pentecost, the Spirit again comes as “a strong, driving wind” to renew the face of the earth.

As God fashioned the first man out of dust and filled him with His Spirit (see Genesis 2:7), in today’s Gospel we see the New Adam become a life-giving Spirit, breathing new life into the Apostles (see 1 Corinthians 15:45, 47).

Like a river of living water, for all ages He will pour out His Spirit on His body, the Church, as we hear in today’s Epistle (see also John 7:37–39).

We receive that Spirit in the sacraments, being made a “new creation” in Baptism (see 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). Drinking of the one Spirit in the Eucharist (see 1 Corinthians 10:4), we are the first fruits of a new humanity—fashioned from out of every nation under heaven, with no distinctions of wealth or language or race, a people born of the Spirit.

The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter by Mr. Clement Harrold.

Col 1:24–2:3, Psalm 62:6-7, 9, Lk 6:6-11

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for the Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga by Dr. John Bergsma. Charles Lwanga & Companions, Martyrs Obligatory Memorial First Reading: Acts 25: 13b-21
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 103: 1-2, 11-12, 19-20ab
Alleluia: John 14: 26
Gospel: John 21: 15-19

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter by Dr. Scott Hahn.

Easter Weekday / Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs First Reading: Acts 22: 30; 23: 6-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 16: 1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
Alleluia: John 17: 21
Gospel: John 17: 20-26

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for the Memorial of St. Justin by Dr. John Bergsma.

Justin, Martyr Obligatory Memorial First Reading: Acts 20: 28-38
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 68: 29-30, 33-35a, 35bc-36ab
Alleluia: John 17: 17b, 17a
Gospel: John 17: 11b-19

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter by Dr. Scott Hahn.

Easter Weekday First Reading: Acts 19: 1-8
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 68: 2-3ab, 4-5acd, 6-7ab
Alleluia: Colossians 3: 1
Gospel: John 16: 29-33

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Readings:
Acts 7:55–60
Psalm 97:1–2, 6–7, 9
Revelation 22:12–14, 16–17, 20
John 17:20–26

(In dioceses where Ascension is celebrated on Sunday, see also the reflection for the Ascension of the Lord.)

Jesus is praying for us in today’s Gospel. We are those who have come to believe in Him through the Word of the Apostles, handed on in His Church.

Jesus showed the Apostles His glory, made known the Father’s name and the love He has had for us from “before the foundation of the world.”

He revealed that He and the Father are one (see John 14:9).

Jesus is the “first and the last” (see Isaiah 44:6), the root of David (see Isaiah 11:10; 2 Samuel 7:12), as today’s Second Reading declares.

Wrapped in clouds and darkness as God was at Sinai (see Exodus 19:16), He is “the king . . . the Most High over all the earth,” as we sing in today’s Psalm.

Exalted at God’s right hand, as Stephen sees in the First Reading, the Lord calls to us through the Church, His Bride.

He calls us to “the tree of life,” to communion with God. This is the goal of His love, His saving purpose from all eternity—that each of us enter into the life of the Blessed Trinity and be “brought to perfection as one” with the Father and Son in the Spirit.

The story of Stephen, the first martyr, shows us how we are to answer His call.

Listen for the echoes of the Crucifixion: Stephen, like Jesus, sees the Son of Man in glory and dies with words of forgiveness and self-offering on his lips (compare Acts 7:56–60; Matthew 26:64–65; Luke 23:24,46).

We, too, are to commend our spirits to the Father, to pray and offer our lives in love for our brethren, awaiting His coming in judgment. We renew our vows in every Mass, coming forward to receive the gift of His life.

We answer His call by crying out a call of our own: “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!”

And in our communion we answer our Lord’s prayer: “That they may all be one, as You, Father are in Me and I in You.”

The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter by Mr. Clement Harrold.

Easter Weekday First Reading: Acts 18: 23-28
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 47: 2-3, 8-9, 10
Alleluia: John 16: 28
Gospel: John 16: 23b-28

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter by Dr. John Bergsma.

Easter Weekday / Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop, Religious, Missionary First Reading: Acts 18: 9-18
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 47: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Alleluia: Luke 24: 46, 26
Gospel: John 16: 20-23

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Readings:

Acts 1:1–11
Psalm 47:2–3, 6–7, 8–9
Ephesians 1:17–23
Matthew 28:16–20

(In dioceses where Ascension is celebrated on Thursday, see also the reflection for the Seventh Sunday of Easter.)

In today’s First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke gives the surprising news that there is more of the story to be told. The story did not end with the empty tomb, or with Jesus’ appearances to the Apostles over the course of forty days. Jesus’ saving work will have a liturgical consummation. He is the great high priest, and He has still to ascend to the heavenly Jerusalem, there to celebrate the feast in the true Holy of Holies.

The truth of this feast shines forth from the Letter to the Hebrews, where we read of the great high priest’s passing through the heavens, the sinless intercessor’s sacrifice on our behalf (see Hebrews 4:14–15).

Indeed, His intercession will lead to the Holy Spirit’s descent in fire upon the Church. Luke spells out that promise in the First Reading for the feast of the Ascension: “in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5). The Ascension is the preliminary feast that directs the Church’s attention forward to Pentecost. On that day, salvation will be complete; for salvation is not simply expiation for sins (that would be wonder enough), but it is something even greater than that. Expiation is itself a necessary precondition of our adoption as God’s children. To live that divine life we must receive the Holy Spirit. To receive the Holy Spirit we must be purified through Baptism.

The Responsorial Psalm presents the Ascension in terms familiar from the worship of the Jerusalem Temple in the days of King Solomon: “God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord” (Psalm 47). The priest-king takes his place at the head of the people, ruling over the nations, establishing peace.

The Epistle strikes a distinctively Paschal note. In the early Church, as today, Easter was the normal time for the baptism of adult converts. The sacrament was often called “illumination” or “enlightenment” because of the light that came with God’s saving grace (see, for example, Hebrews 10:32). Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Ephesians, speaks in terms of glory that leads to greater glories still, as Ascension leads to Pentecost: “May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,” he writes, as he looks to the divinization of the believers. Their “hope” is “his inheritance among the holy ones,” the saints who have been adopted into God’s family and now rule with Him at the Father’s right hand.

This is the “good news” the Apostles are commissioned to spread—to the whole world, to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem—at the Ascension. It’s the good news we must spread today.