Should we obey God or men? Should we obey God or men? Third Sunday of Easter, May 5, 2019 Dear brothers and sisters, the passage from the first reading of the liturgy of the Holy Mass of Sunday, May …More
Should we obey God or men?
Should we obey God or men? Third Sunday of Easter, May 5, 2019 Dear brothers and sisters, the passage from the first reading of the liturgy of the Holy Mass of Sunday, May 5, the third of Easter, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, presents us the Apostle Peter who, before the mandate of the high priests not to preach in The name of Jesus will respond with that expression that will become the golden rule of the life of Christians of all times: we must obey God before men! To Peter, the lesson that Jesus gave him, when he "tried" to dissuade Him from going to Jerusalem to give his life for the salvation of humanity, was very useful! In fact, Jesus had answered him in a very harsh way: Get thee behind me, Satan, because you do not think according to God, but according to men! In the light of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Peter understood those mysterious words of Jesus: Did not the Christ have to suffer to enter into his glory? Even if the dazzling "style" of God's love is based on a "logic" too high for a simple human intelligence, Peter had understood that only in obedience to the will of God, even to the foolishness of the cross, we reach the Light of his Kingdom. The story of the appearance of the Risen Christ on the shore of the lake, in the passage of the Gospel of John that we will listen, with the triple question of Jesus to Peter: "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?", And the triple humble response of the fisherman of Galilee: "Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you." It concludes with the confirmation on the part of Jesus of the Primacy of Peter: "Feed my sheep." Submerged in the light and fire of the mercy of Jesus' love that purifies him from all pride and presumption, Peter is ready to follow and imitate his Master until “to the end”.
Should we obey God or men? Third Sunday of Easter, May 5, 2019 Dear brothers and sisters, the passage from the first reading of the liturgy of the Holy Mass of Sunday, May 5, the third of Easter, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, presents us the Apostle Peter who, before the mandate of the high priests not to preach in The name of Jesus will respond with that expression that will become the golden rule of the life of Christians of all times: we must obey God before men! To Peter, the lesson that Jesus gave him, when he "tried" to dissuade Him from going to Jerusalem to give his life for the salvation of humanity, was very useful! In fact, Jesus had answered him in a very harsh way: Get thee behind me, Satan, because you do not think according to God, but according to men! In the light of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Peter understood those mysterious words of Jesus: Did not the Christ have to suffer to enter into his glory? Even if the dazzling "style" of God's love is based on a "logic" too high for a simple human intelligence, Peter had understood that only in obedience to the will of God, even to the foolishness of the cross, we reach the Light of his Kingdom. The story of the appearance of the Risen Christ on the shore of the lake, in the passage of the Gospel of John that we will listen, with the triple question of Jesus to Peter: "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?", And the triple humble response of the fisherman of Galilee: "Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you." It concludes with the confirmation on the part of Jesus of the Primacy of Peter: "Feed my sheep." Submerged in the light and fire of the mercy of Jesus' love that purifies him from all pride and presumption, Peter is ready to follow and imitate his Master until “to the end”.