Weekly readings May/June 2019
Second week of Eastertide
Wednesday 1 May
St Joseph the Worker
Acts 5.17-26
Psalm 33
John 3.16-21
Luke continues to paint a picture of the tension that develops between the Jewish authorities on the one hand and the Apostles on the other. He uses the word ‘jealousy’ (Greek: zelos meaning: negative zeal) which helps to give an idea of a major cause of tension. The disciples are clearly highly successful in gathering followers and frightening the Jewish authorities. Jealousy, or negative zeal, always causes division and can lead to anger in any community. This has happened between Christians and Jews and within each religion throughout the centuries (First Reading: Acts 5.17-26). At the heart of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, we find words that are common in John’s Gospel: belief, eternal life, the world, light, darkness, truth and love. Frequently, as here, we are thrust towards the second part of the Gospel.
