SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER

Friday

Readings

First Reading
Acts 25:13b–21

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 103:1–2, 11–12, 19–20ab

Gospel
Jn 21:15–19

Meditation on Today’s Readings

Today’s readings foreshadow the deaths of Paul and Peter respectively. In the account from Acts, the Roman procurator Festus refers Paul’s case to King Agrippa II and his sister, Bernice—for their entertainment as much as anything else. Jesus had told his disciples that they would be paraded “before kings and governors because of my name” (Lk 21:12) and so it is with Paul, in Jerusalem now and later in Rome before the emperor.

The appendix of John’s Gospel describes Jesus asking a chastened Peter three times to profess his love for him. To each assurance of Peter’s love, Jesus responds with the command, “Feed my lambs…. Tend my sheep…. Feed my sheep.” Peter will be shepherd of the flock, the followers of Jesus. Since, as Jesus taught, “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn 10:11), there follows a prophecy indicating to Peter “by what kind of death he would glorify God.

The copyright for the Sunday Missal Introductions is:
Copyright (c) 2001, Daughters of St. Paul
The copyright for the Weekday Missal Introduction is:
Copyright (c) 2002, Daughters of St. Paul