Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Rejected With Christ
Liturgical Cycle: A, B, C | Lectionary Cycle: I, II
Introduction
The world that has rejected Christ hates Christ and his disciples; it persecutes them because the lifestyle of a good Christian is a silent condemnation of the world. Think, for example, of the films by Luis Buñuel, the Spanish director, who is obsessed with everything Christian and holds it up to bitter sarcasm.
Perhaps, more deadening than persecution is the attitude of a world that has not discovered Christ or has a distorted view of him and of Christianity. To these people, we are ridiculous, old-fashioned, irrelevant, out of touch with reality, and worthy of a pitying smile.
Yet this was the lot of Christ. We share in his love and in the treatment he receives from the world. The disciple is no better than the master. In the disciple, the world still rejects Christ, the Master. At least, we are in good company…
Opening Prayer
Lord, our God,
it is good to live in the friendship
of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Make us realise that also in this love,
we are committed to him and share with him
for better and for worse,
in misunderstanding and contradiction
as well as in joy and intimacy.
Help us to rejoice, even when treated
with indifference or ridicule on account of him,
for it means that he is still with us,
who is our Lord forever.
First Reading
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
Paul traveled on to Derbe and then to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy lived there, whose mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was Greek.
As the believers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him, Paul wanted Timothy to join him.
So he took him, and because all the Jews in that area knew his father was Greek, he circumcised him.
As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.
Meanwhile, the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number every day.
They traveled through Phrygia and Galatia because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching in the province of Asia.
When they reached Mysia, they tried to go on to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to do so.
So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.
Paul’s Vision
One night, Paul had a vision there. A Macedonian appeared before him and pleaded, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us!’
When he woke up, he told us about this vision, and we understood that the Lord was calling us to share the Good News with the Macedonian people.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (2a) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If then you were raised with Christ,
seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The Hostile World
If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.
This wouldn’t happen if you belonged to the world, because the world loves its own. But you are not of the world, since I have chosen you out of it; because of this, the world hates you.
Remember what I told you: the servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they would also persecute you. If they kept my word, they would also keep yours.
All this they will do to you because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.
Prayers of the Faithful
– That our missionaries may be guided by the Holy Spirit to bring the joy of Easter to other peoples and cultures, we pray:
– That like the early Christians those who are persecuted on account of the Lord may retain their joy of witnessing to the Lord, we pray:
– That like Jesus our Lord we may be willing and eager to render service to people, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
Your Son Jesus pours for us
the cup of joy,
But it can also become, at times
a cup of sorrow to be emptied to the dregs.
May His Spirit guide us
to stay with him when the going is rough
as he stays always with us
who is our Lord for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God, we thank you
for the joy of sharing the table of your Son
in this eucharistic celebration.
Make our faith strong enough
to share all of the life of Jesus,
even when he is rejected or ignored,
and we with him.
Make us understand that his paschal mystery
is both death and life
and the way we have to live
With Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
REFLECTIONS
John 15:18-21
“If the world hates you, realise that it hated me first.”
The Church celebrates the 104th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to three children in Fatima. The Message of Fatima is still relevant for today’s world and the Church – to pray for the conversion of the world and for world peace.
Many of us find it extremely difficult to make sense of tragedies and pains in life and often question God. We hear people asking, “Where is God? Is he real?” Pope Francis was asked these questions by a rescued street girl in the Philippines while the pope visited that country in 2015. She was narrating the miseries she and her friends had to endure on the streets. The Pope simply hugged her and answered the whole crowd: “We have no answers to all our questions, but it is ok to ask God, "Why?"
Let us remember one thing: We believe in a God who himself underwent the pains and miseries of humankind; was tortured and killed. In today’s Gospel, Jesus predicts and warns his disciples that the world will hate and reject them.
It is one thing to know that there will be trials and that we may have to suffer betrayal, rejection and pain for following him; it’s another to go through them in real life. In many parts of the world, faith in Jesus has become an object of ridicule and hatred. It is not because Christians promote violence and division, but because the powers of hatred and violence in the world hate Jesus and the mission of his Church for sharing the message of love, hope, and its choice for life.
We are called to imitate the love of Jesus. Despite our love, we may experience hatred and rejection from others,especially when we stand for truth and love that stand against the world’s opinions. The trick of the devil in his attempt to tempt Jesus in the desert was to challenge him to think like how the people of the world think. The devil continues to play the age-old game to lure us to conform to the standards of the world.
A world that rejected Jesus would reject those who believed in him. That is why Christ’s disciples will be exposed to rejection, but Christ assures them of the life that only he can give – a life of the resurrection. That is why St. Paul reassures us, “If we die with Him, we will live with Him; if we suffer with Him, we will reign with Him” (2 Timothy 2:12).
Christ's message is not always comfortable; it always speaks of the cross. Let us not be shy of talking about it, even in the face of ridicule and contradiction. Jesus is meek and humble of heart. Let us remain lambs forever because then we will have a shepherd to defend us.