The Third Appearance of Christ, Dieric Bouts, 1415-1475, private collection.

I love this first reading we have today from Acts, chapter 5.  The high priest says, “We gave you a formal warning not to preach in this name and what have you done?  You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching!”  How it reminds me of today, when so many people want to silence the Word of God.  As Greg Sheridan says in The Australian, there is a real danger that in the near future “our often counter-­productive human rights bureaucracies will deem it an offence for people to propound traditional Christian teaching.”  Similarly, articles by Angela Shanahan and Caroline Overington have shown how universities are now discriminating against faith-based groups on the basis of inclusivity.  Ironic, isn’t it?

Where Uni Inclusivity means, ‘Get your beliefs out of here.’

Sydney Uni Catholic Society Faces Ban for Catholic-only Board

And in reply, Peter and the apostles say, “Obedience to God comes before obedience to men.”  In a nutshell, that’s what Jesus wants when he is asked, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  And he answers, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself” (Luke: 10:25-27).

In the tradition of filling the world with Christ’s teaching, Pope Francis, the Shepherd of the Church, has released his new exhortation, Amoris Laetitia – “The Joy of Love”, which is about the joy to be found in authentic families joined by love.  Do yourself a favour and ignore the newspaper headlines which want to put their own spin on this document, and read the original here.

For more on today’s readings, watch Brant Pitre’s commentary:

Today’s readings

Word format:Year C Easter 3rd Sunday 2016

Pdf format: Year C Easter 3rd Sunday 2016