Lectionary 272, April 7, Sat. of Second week of Easter

Scripture: Lectionary 272. Acts 6:1-7. Psalm 33:1-2.4-5.18-19. John
6:16-21:

The apostles decided upon the following priority: dedcation to prayer and
to the ministry of the word. They learned how to delegate the other
ministries they had--feeding the poor, taking care of the widows and
orphans, and serving at the tables of both Hebrew and Greek speaking
widows. Perhaps, this may have been the first time that "deacons" appeared
in the emerging Church that the apostles would leave behind for us to
continue. They saw their own proclamation of Jesus as the Risen Savior and
in his desire for them to pray as part of their own service to others, but
the seven men who were chosen exemplified a special servant leadership with
the poor and the widows. We have their names: Stephen, Philip, Prochorus,
Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholaus. These men were called to the
service of "diakonia" because they were filled with faith and with the Holy
Spirit. We can learn much from these early beginnings of the Church where
things were held in common (equality) yet a difference in ministries had to
be made (diversity) and the letting go of those things that could be
delegated. Moses had listened to his father-in-law and done the same after
realizing he was getting "burned out" in listening to everyone's problems.
He appointed seventy others to help him in working through these problems
of the people of God.

We participate in being called to many of the ministries that we learn
about in the Acts of the Apostles. But we all can learn to pray more often
and to assist those who are good at proclaiming the word of God with
boldness. Each of us can animate the family or community that we are a part
of and thus help it to work well under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
and what we learn from the early Christians. As a result, the early Church
increased in numbers. Perhaps, this is the way to increase religious
vocations.

Throughout Acts the Holy Spirit is at work in everyone who embraces the
faith of the apostles. The Spirit is very much alive today; we need only to
recognize the Spirit's work within us and among us. We are to be like
Jesus who was driven by the Spirit first to pray in the desert and then to
go out and bring God's Good News of salvation to the people. We cannot do
the latter without being very dedicated to the former call to be apostles
of prayer. Or as the adage has it, "You cannot give to others what you do
not have." We are not to be dry wells or cisterns but living water for
others. Blessed Chaminade called his family to realize the essential is
our interior life.

In the Gospel we learn that Jesus does not leave the apostles alone on the
troubled waters. He is more than a bridge over those waters, he is the
helmsman who can bring the boat ashore even though his name is not Michael.
Jesus walks on the waters and there are no stones hidden underneath those
waters. He needs to be in the center of the boat to calm them and bring
them home. We learn later that the boat often is used as a symbol for the
Church or the bark of St. Peter--not the bark of the dog who may have
followed him once he was ashore.

In the Johannine school of thought (John's Gospel, the three Epistles of
John, and the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse) we have this thought
about his presence in our lives that makes us think of the Eucharist. This
citation comes after the Visionary has scolded the church at Laodicia that
was one of the churches the original apostles left behind for others to
continue to minister to. This is from Rev. 3:20: "Listen, I stand at the
door knocking, if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come to you
and eat with you, and you with me." Amen. Alleluiah!