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Second Sunday of Easter, Year A, March 30, 2008

First reading, Acts 2:42-47

The Literary Situation: The book of Acts, chapter 1, begins with Jesus' final post-resurrection appearance and ascension. The latter half of the chapter tells of the selection of Judas' replacement within the Twelve. Acts, chapter 2, begins with the Pentecost event, followed by a long speech by Peter, at the conclusion of which "some three thousand were added [to the body of believers] that day." Then comes the passage that is our first reading today, a summary portrait of the life the community.

The picture is very positive, as if the writer wants us to imagine a community free of persecution and without internal strife. Indeed, such may have been the case for a while. But Acts lingers in this idyllic mode only briefly, and a more gritty, more realistic portrait of community life begins within a few sentences.

Proclaiming It: Go with the flow here. Be positive. It's Easter, after all. Read this with joy in your heart. But don't rush it. Let your hearers savor every nuance of these happy believers' life together. The breaking of the bread gets two mentions. That they gathered together gets dual emphasis, too. The scholar might see in this duplication the incomplete merger of two literary sources. But the lector might just decide that these were the important things about the life of the early church, and they're just as important for the modern church. So let them be emphasized.

Second Reading, 1 Peter 1:3-9

The Historical Situation: The writer of this letter wants to give his audience a sense of God's providential plan working out in the course of their lives and in the history of which they have become a part. Keep that in mind as you pick apart the complicated sentences that you must proclaim. There are only three sentences here, in length 71 words, 51 words, and 42 words. No kidding.

Let's analyze it. 

The first sentence says:
  Blessed be God who has give us new birth to:
    to a living hope
      through the resurrection
    to an inheritance
      imperishable
      undefiled
      unfading
      kept in heaven
        for you
          who are safeguarded by faith
    to a salvation
      ready to be revealed.

The second sentence says:
  This makes you rejoice, 
  although you suffer now.
    Suffering will prove your faith genuine
      (and your faith is more precious than fire-tried gold)
      which will result in honor when Jesus is revealed.

The third sentence says:
  You have not seen Jesus but you love him.
  You do not see him but you believe in him.
  So you rejoice because
    you are obtaining the goal of your faith,
      which is the salvation of your souls.

Note that I've been forced to break up the overlong sentences. In Proclaiming It, you can do this only with careful phrasing and varied tones of voice. To prepare, print out the text (or use your missallette) and mark up the copy with pauses, emphases, changes of tone, brackets enclosing units of thought, whatever it takes. Practice this aloud and often. Practice in front of a friendly critic who will forgo the comfort of a missallette, so he or she can tell you what you seem to be saying.

Remember the writer's goals:

Ask your critic if that comes across in your proclamation.
Several other commentaries on these passages. All are thoughtful, all quite readable, from the scholarly to the popular.
Links may be incomplete more than a few weeks before the "due date."
Lutheran pastor and college teacher Dan Nelson's notes for a study group (covers a different first reading) Father Roger Karban's 2002 reflections on these readings

and his 1999 column on the same readings
Father Frank Cleary's 2002 column from the Saint Louis Review The Text This Week; links to homilies, art works, movies and other resources on the week's scripture themes Saint Louis University's excellent site for Sunday liturgy
The Lectionary selections in the frame at the left, if any, are there for your convenience. The publishers of the page in that frame have no connection, except for membership in the one Body of Christ, with the publisher of this page. Likewise the publishers of the pages on the links above. Return to Lector's notes home page

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Last modified: Sat Mar 12 13:58:24 CST 2005