Reflection
The first reading for today from Acts, attributed to Luke, comes from the early days of the post-Ascension Church. The Apostles, selected by Jesus Himself, are now on their own, guided by the Holy Spirit. We hear about two groups within the Church: the Hebrews and the Hellenists. The group called the Hebrews would have been born in Palestine, spoken Aramaic, and read the Bible in Hebrew. The Hellenists were probably Jews born outside Palestine who had emigrated there, who spoke Greek and read the Greek, Septuagint version of the Bible.
These groups did not represent a division within the Church, but rather the diversity which would be a hallmark of the growth of the new Church.
From the Apostle’s assumption of the authority to solve the situation would come the development of the doctrine of Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium.
The seven individuals selected for the service, in Greek, diakonia, from which we have ‘deacon’, all had Greek names, indicating they came from the Hellenist community to serve it. This group included a particularly faithful individual named Stephen, of whom we will hear more shortly. The Apostles laid hands on them, a gesture of consecration and commission, which would become associated with ordination.
We also have a brief mention of priests converting. Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, and Nicodemus, secret follower of Jesus, might have been early converts to the new faith and drawn with them, others, probably from lower orders of the Jewish priesthood.
The Gospel reading takes place immediately following the Miracle of Feeding the Five Thousand. Jesus has withdrawn and left the disciples on their own. They are crossing the Sea of Galilee by boat when a storm blows up. They are frightened, but Jesus comes to them and reassures them. We are meant to note that while God empowered Moses to part the water of the Red Sea, Jesus, having complete mastery over nature, walks on the water. He also uses words asserting His divinity: “It is I,” a variation on “I AM”, the name God revealed to Moses at Horeb, and the reassurance: “do not be afraid” used by God and His messenger angels when approaching humans.
For us, the boat also symbolizes the Church, the Barque of Peter, which will have to cope with many difficulties and which Our Lord promised to aid at all times.