14 April 2027 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.” John 6:40
The day Stephen died, “a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.” It looks like the end of the young Church. Devout men bury Stephen “and made loud lamentation over him”; Christian mourning is real mourning, even when it is full of hope. Saul goes from house to house, dragging off men and women to prison. And then St Luke writes one of the most hopeful sentences in the Acts of the Apostles: “Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word.” The persecution that was meant to stamp out the Church scatters it like seed. Before his Ascension the risen Lord had said: “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The disciples had stayed in Jerusalem; now, through suffering, the word moves into Judea and Samaria exactly as he said. Tertullian would later write, in substance, that the blood of Christians is seed. Philip, one of the Seven like Stephen, goes down to a city of Samaria. Jews and Samaritans had kept apart for centuries (John 4:9), yet here “the crowds with one accord listened eagerly” to Philip; unclean spirits come out, the paralyzed and the lame are healed, “so there was great joy in that city.” The Psalm becomes the song of Samaria: “Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth… Come and see what God has done.” Kerala knows this story well. Malayali Catholics scattered by work and need across the Gulf, Europe, America and every corner of India have often carried the faith with them and planted it where they went: a rosary group in a labour camp, a Malayalam Mass in a borrowed chapel, a family that keeps praying in a foreign city.
In the Gospel Jesus repeats the great word of yesterday, “I am the bread of life,” and then opens his heart about the will of his Father. “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away.” No one who comes to him is turned away: not the sinner, not the doubter, not the one who comes late. Then he speaks of his own obedience: “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.” Here we glimpse the mystery St Martin I defended: the Son made man has a true human will, and he freely and lovingly makes it one with the Father's will (Catechism 475). And what is that will? “That I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” Four times in this chapter Jesus says “I will raise them up on the last day.” The Easter faith is not a vague survival of the soul; it is the resurrection of the body, our own bodies raised and glorified like his. And the Bread of Life is bound to that promise: those who receive the Eucharist receive, as the Catechism says, a pledge of future glory (Catechism 1402–1405). This is the hope with which the devout men buried Stephen, and the hope with which the Church buries her children still: the Lord who feeds us will not lose us.
Theme: “I will raise them up on the last day.”
The scattering that became a sowing, the joy of Samaria, and the Lord who drives no one away.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10–11
“Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word.” Acts 8:4
Apply: Offer to God one painful change in your life this week and ask him to make it fruitful for the Gospel.
“Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise.” Psalm 66:1–2
“So there was great joy in that city.” Acts 8:8
Apply: Bring the joy of Easter to one place this week where there is little joy: a hospital, a lonely home, a tense office.
“I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak” Ezekiel 34:16
“This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.” John 6:40
Apply: Invite back, gently and personally, one person who has drifted away from the Church.
God turns the scattering of his people into the spreading of his word and the joy of new cities.
Jesus receives all who come to him and will raise them up on the last day.
Take-home resolution: Pray this week for one person far from home and one person far from the Church, and reach out to each.
Dear friends, after Stephen's death it seemed that everything was falling apart. A great persecution began, and believers fled from Jerusalem in every direction. But St Luke says: those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word (Acts 8:4). The wind that was meant to blow out the fire only carried its sparks further.
Philip went to Samaria, a people the Jews had kept apart from for centuries. He proclaimed Christ, the sick were healed, and so there was great joy in that city (Acts 8:8). God's word does not stay within our walls. Many of you know what it is to be scattered: for work, for study, for family. Wherever you go, you take the word with you.
In the Gospel Jesus says something every one of us needs to hear: anyone who comes to me I will never drive away (John 6:37). Not the one who has failed, not the one who has been away for years. And he tells us the Father's will: that he should lose nothing of what the Father has given him, but raise it up on the last day.
That is our Easter hope. Not only that our souls live on, but that our bodies will be raised. Every time we receive the Bread of Life, we receive the pledge of that resurrection. So let us come to him without fear, and carry his joy wherever life scatters us. Alleluia. Amen.
Children, Jesus said: I will never send away anyone who comes to me. That means you can always come to Jesus: when you are happy, when you are sad, even when you have been naughty! He always opens his arms. Let us run to him today and say: Jesus, here I am!
Lord Jesus, bread of life, you turned the scattering of your Church into the spreading of your word, and you fill whole cities with joy. Receive all who come to you, lose none of those the Father has given you, and raise us up on the last day to see your face. Amen. Alleluia.