St. Peter Chanel, priest & martyr

St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, priest 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

Acts 5: 27-33

So they brought them in

And made them stand before the Council and the High Priest questioned them,   “We gave you strict orders not to preach such a Savior; but you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend charging us with the killing of this man.”   To this Peter and the apostles replied, “Better for us to obey God rather than any human authority!

 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a wooden post.   God set him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.  We are witnesses to all these things, as well as the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

When the Council heard this, they became very angry and wanted to kill them.

   

Ps 34:2 & 9, 17-18, 19-20

The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

 

John 3:31-36

 He who comes from above is above all; he who comes from the earth belongs to the earth, and his words belong to the earth. He who comes from heaven speaks of the things he has seen and heard; he bears witness to these things, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does receive his testimony acknowledges the truthfulness of God.

 The one sent by God speaks God's words, and gives the Spirit unstintingly. The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything into his hands. Whoever believes in the Son lives with eternal life; but he who will not believe in the Son will never know life, and always faces the justice of God."

 

Gospel Reflection：

Reclaiming the Norm

The kind of courage and uncompromising obedience that Peter and team display today is a cardinal trait that should define the Church and her every member. However, it hasn't always been the case with us Christians in many places, unfortunately. Often, we find an unfortunate collusion between human authorities and Church personnel such that the Gospel falls through the gap.

Adopting the famous words of Carl von Clausewitz who said "war is continuation of politics by other means," Valson Thampu, an academic, has observed that "Church administration is doing politics by other means." Of course, we have honorable exceptions in individuals and several local churches. However, what has become an exception today was the norm for Peter and his early Church.

And that is the norm we need to re-discover and live up to. It calls for an absolute fidelity to the one coming from above.

 

"It does not matter or not I am killed, the religion has taken root on the Island, it will not be destroyed by my death, since it comes not from men but from God."

                                                                                                                〜〜〜〜〜  ST. PETER CHANEL   〜〜〜〜〜