In the gospel today Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.”
If you keep these words in mind and then re-read the first reading for mass from the Acts of the Apostles, the truth of Jesus’s words becomes obvious, even during Christianity’s earliest beginnings: “Those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose because of Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but Jews.”
The early Christians were persecuted and put to death, and those who were not arrested fled for their lives. Saint Stephen was the first martyr that died for his faith in Christ, and Saul was determined to root out all the new Christians and arrest them, in order to purge them out of their community.
This must have been a very discouraging situation for many of the new Christians. If modern people experienced this kind of mistreatment and suffering, many of us would probably become discouraged and want to vent our frustrations to one another on how bad things had gotten. Bad news travels fast and what people say about it can often make things even worse. That’s what makes today’s account of how the new Christians proclaimed the good news about Jesus Christ to all the places they had fled to, so remarkable. They caught the fire of the Holy Spirit in their hearts and it never burned out, even when they fled for their lives. No one could take them out of Christ’s hand. He knew his sheep and his sheep continued to hear his voice, alive in their hearts, in spite of everything. What a beautiful thing!
The first reading says that when Barnabas arrived in Antioch and saw the grace of God at work in the new Christians’ lives, he “rejoiced” and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord. Perhaps Barnabas rejoiced at seeing them, because their love for Jesus Christ had not burned out, but had instead flourished. He may have also rejoiced because their public witness had drawn large numbers of people to the Lord. Antioch was the first place that people who believed in Jesus Christ were called Christians and for good reason.
The early Christians in Antioch also had good reason to be afraid to speak openly about their faith. The second bishop of Antioch, Saint Ignatius of Antioch (who was ordained by Saint Peter in 69 A.D.) was thrown to the lions. But, he faced his horrific death with courage. Here are a few of the words he wrote to his fellow Christians before his death:
“I am God’s wheat and shall be ground by the teeth of wild animals. Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God. Pray to Christ for me that the animals will be the means of making me a sacrificial victim for God. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire. Give me the privilege of imitating the passion of my God. If you have him in your heart, you will understand what I wish. You will sympathize with me because you will know what urges me on.”
The lions may have eaten this good bishop’s body, but his heart and soul lives forever with Jesus Christ. This is what Jesus meant in today’s gospel when he said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”
Speaking of bishops, actually the bishop of Rome, Pope Francis, asked us to remember these intentions in our prayers during the month of May. These words are exactly what the new Christians in today’s first reading for mass today did:
Weep not for what you have lost,
– fight for what you have.
Weep not for what is dead,
-fight for what was born in you.
Weep not for the one who abandoned you,
– fight for who is with you.
Weep not for those who hate you,
– fight for those who want you.
Weep not for your past,
– fight for your present struggle.
Weep not for your suffering,
– fight for your happiness.
With things that are happening to us,
we begin to learn that nothing is impossible to solve,
just move forward.
~ His Holiness Pope Francis
Daily Mass Readings:
Acts 11: 19-26 / Psalm 87: 1b-7 / John 10: 22-30
