How to Build a Church
Apr. 12: Friday of the Second Week of Easter
Today’s first reading gives me an excuse to use one of my favorite Catholic memes—
Reading 1
Acts 5:34-42
A Pharisee in the Sanhedrin named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up, ordered the Apostles to be put outside for a short time, and said to the Sanhedrin, "Fellow children of Israel, be careful what you are about to do to these men. Some time ago, Theudas appeared, claiming to be someone important, and about four hundred men joined him, but he was killed, and all those who were loyal to him were disbanded and came to nothing. After him came Judas the Galilean at the time of the census. He also drew people after him, but he too perished and all who were loyal to him were scattered. So now I tell you, have nothing to do with these men, and let them go. For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God."
They were persuaded by him. After recalling the Apostles, they had them flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them. So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus.
The failed “messiahs” Gamaliel mentions actually help us figure out when Luke was writing this. He got the order of Theudas and Judas the Galilean mixed up, which probably means he was writing a while after all this. He also was definitely not sitting in on the Sanhedrin meetings.
Luke interviewed people years after the events occurred,1 and they sometimes got the dates wrong. It's kind of what you'd expect from a first century historian.
But extra-biblical sources do tell us that Theudas and Judas did have movements that did disband after their leaders were killed. It’s a way of saying, yes, people didn’t have calendars and keep diaries of appointments at the time, but the gist is still probably correct.
The point that Gamaliel makes is true—a cult centered on a human isn’t likely to outlast its founder. Thankfully, Jesus left us the Holy Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life's refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
One thing I ask of the LORD
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
As we continue through Acts, we see the Apostles building the house of the Lord. But it’s not done! In order to dwell in it, we have to continue building it in our time.
Alleluia
Mt 4:4b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
From John: Jesus is the Word made flesh.2 And unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.3
See how these things tie together, even across different Gospels?
Gospel
Jn 6:1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"
He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little."
One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?"
Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted." So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
The multiplication of the loaves and fish is the only miracle that occurs in all four Gospels (other than the Resurrection, of course). The details vary a little bit (here, Jesus is the one who asks about food, not the Apostles), but it definitely happened at least once.4
The Evangelists use the miracle for different purposes. In John’s case, he wants us to think about the Eucharist. (The line I referred to earlier about eating Jesus’ flesh occurs later in this same chapter.)
Jesus is happy feeding people, but he’s not interested in self-aggrandizement. They want to make him king! And although that’s the plan eventually, He’s not ready for it. They’re not ready for the kind of king he’s going to be.
Including, tradition tells us, the Blessed Mother herself.
Matthew and Mark both record two instances.