Participants of the February 2023 Lazarus Retreat at Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center in Bowling Green pray during Eucharistic Adoration. RILEY GREIF | WKC
Source & Summit: Fifth Sunday of Easter
(The faithful) taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice, which is the source and summit of the whole Christian life, offer the Divine Victim to God, and themselves along with it.
-The Second Vatican Council fathers in Lumen Gentium, #11
Source & Summit is a feature of The Western Kentucky Catholic online, celebrating the National Eucharistic Revival: Year of Parish Revival. Intended to help Catholics of our parishes to probe the riches of our liturgical year and celebrate the liturgy well, the column will always start with the Bible readings for the Mass of the Day to help us reflect on, and help to “unpack” and expand our experiences at liturgy into the domestic church (the home) and the workplace.
Sunday reflections will be based on the Lord’s Day, the Liturgy, the Eucharist, and, occasionally, community.
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Fifth Sunday of Easter
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042824.cfm
Acts 9:26—31
Psalm 22:26—28, 30—32
1 John 3:18—24
John 15:1—8
In today’s First Reading we see Saul, later known as Paul, having an encounter with the disciples. At first, the disciples were wary. Saul was well known around the Holy Land as a persecutor of Christians. However, Barnabas intervenes and connects Saul to the disciples by testifying to Saul’s transformation and his newfound faith in Jesus Christ. This passage illustrates the power of forgiveness and redemption, showing how Saul’s past actions were not held against him once he embraced his new identity as a follower of Christ.
The first thing that came to my mind after reading this passage was acceptance, and how we are called to accept everyone as quickly as Jesus did. Although skeptical at first, all it took for the disciples to accept Saul’s reformation was Barnabas vouching for him. The unity and support demonstrated within the early Christian community are also evident in this passage.
This passage speaks to me specifically as a high school senior as I am only a few days away from graduation. In college, people won’t always be accepting of me at first. As shown in this reading, sometimes, all it takes is one act of kindness or one show of loyalty to create friendships that will last a lifetime.
-Luke Frey
Luke Frey is a senior at Owensboro Catholic High School.
To learn more about the Diocese of Owensboro’s celebration of the National Eucharistic Revival, visit https://owensborodiocese.org/eucharistic-revival/.
