Seventh Sunday of Easter---Liturgical Cycle C

Reading I
Acts 7:55-60

Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them;” and when he said this, he fell asleep.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 97:1-2,6-7,9
R/. The Lord is king, the most high over all the earth.

The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many islands be glad.
Justice and judgment are the foundations of his throne. R/.

The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory,
All gods are prostrate before him. R/.

You, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth,
exalted far above all gods. R/.

Reading II
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20
I, John, heard a voice saying to me: “Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Blessed are they who wash their robes so as to have the right to the tree of life and enter the city through its gates.

“I, Jesus, sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star.”

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let the hearer say, “Come.” Let the one who thirsts come forward, and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water.

The one who gives this testimony says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

Gospel
John 17:20-26
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “Holy Father, I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”

Homily
From its earliest moments the church came to realize it was to live in a hostile world. Our first reading from Acts comes from the account of the death of Stephen, one of the seven men chosen to swell the ranks of the Apostles to carry out the work of outreach to the needy—the first Deacons. This is Stephen, who, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people, whose good work threatened the established society, and who was stoned, becoming the first Christian martyr. Stephen’s death signaled that the message of Jesus (peace, love, justice, reconciliation, civility, moral integrity) was not always going to be received kindly but was going to be opposed violently in a world dominated by the weakness of sin.

The second reading gives the same sense in symbolic terms. In the language of Revelation the Bride of the Lamb, the holy city coming down from God (the reign of God), was not going to be allowed to exist alongside the Harlot of Babylon – the personification of all that is evil in the societies of those whose god is self-gratification. The Bride of the Lamb must by nature be contra culture, must speak out in defense of the little ones, the poor and powerless of this earth.

Happy are they who wash their robes so as to have free access to the tree of life and enter the city through its gates.

The quote continues with a verse left out of our reading today:

Outside are the dogs and tempters, snakes, the fornicators and murderers, the self worshipers and all who love falsehood (doublespeak).

As we conclude the liturgical reading of the Book of Apocalypse today, we recall that the writings are resistance literature for a church under siege, a call of encouragement to remain faithful and not to accommodate the gospel or water it down to satisfy the lifestyles of greed and self satisfaction. Under the thumb of the Roman emperor Domitian the little insignificant Christian communities of antiquity were literally being swallowed up by the lion of Rome. Like Stephen, they needed to see the heavens open and the Lord of Hosts coming on the clouds of Glory, needed to see themselves as the Bride of the Lamb, a holy city of God coming down from God’s throne of glory.


The Holy Spirit and the Bride of the Lamb say, “Come.” Let all who hear answer, “Come!” Let all who are thirsty come forward; Let all who desire it accept the gift of life-giving water.

We need to see Steven’s vision too. As our Sisters of Charity of Nazareth can attest, experience in India and other parts of the world shows we are a church under siege. The Body of Christ is not being treated well, never will be. Our witness for justice, for human rights, for the aged, the poor, the powerless, for civility and moral integrity will be violently opposed by those who get drunk on the blood of the martyrs, who fill their chalices with the lewdness of their life-styles. The Beast of the deep waits at the foot of the Woman clothed with Light to eat the newborn children of God, who are snatched up to the Lamb—risen to life of the one who stands by God’s throne.

What an apocalyptic vision for our times!

We see the vision of Stephen. We pray the prayer of our heritage: MARANA THA! (Come, Lord God!)

O Just Holy One,
The world has not known you.
But I know you.

Those know that you sent me.
To them I reveal Your Name
(who you are).

I will always reveal it,
So that your love may live in them.
And I may live in them.

AMEN.

--Fr. Pat

Excerpt from "A Catholic's Companion: Liturgical Cycle C" (c)2000 C. Patrick Creed
Published by Watchmaker Press. Maggie Hettinger, editor