Word to the Wise
Saturday, May 19, 2018 - 7th Week of Easter - Sat morning
[Acts 28:16-20, 30-31 and John 21:20-25]"There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written." [John]
The long post-Easter journey in the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel According to John comes to an end today with St. Paul's last days in Rome and the last words of the Johannine Appendix, quoted above. Tomorrow the Church will celebrate the feast of Pentecost. On Monday, the daily scriptures will return to Ordinary Time and the Gospel According to Mark, which was interrupted by the beginning of Lent!
Although the Gospel portraits of Jesus and all the other scriptures each have a literary beginning and end, their meaning and challenge for us remains alive because the Holy Spirit, who inspired the scriptures also inspires us to read, understand and apply them in daily life. The whole purpose of the four gospels is neatly summed up in the first "ending" of the Gospel According to John (the one before the "Appendix" (Chap. 21): Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name. [John 20:30-31] AMEN