Love One Another

                   6th Sunday of Easter

                  A cycle

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, as we celebrate the Sixth Sunday of Easter, we are turning a corner. Instead of looking back to the Resurrection, the readings are looking ahead to the departure of Jesus that we will celebrate this coming week on Ascension Thursday; and the coming of the Holy Spirit in just two weeks on Pentecost Sunday.

 

The first reading relates the success of Philip in the conversion of many in the land of Samaria. Remember that Jesus had claimed that his disciples would be able to perform the same signs and miracles that he had done if they would preach in his Name. The crowds in Samaria listened and believed Philip because they “heard and saw the signs that he was doing.”

 

Philip was one of the new deacons who were appointed to assist the Apostles in their work. Philip’s success seemed to confirm the words of Jesus that his word would spread from Judea to Samaria and then to the ends of the world. On hearing the good news the apostles in Jerusalem send Peter and John to investigate, pray, and confirm the new converts in their faith. In the account we witness one of the early instances of the sacrament of Confirmation. Peter and John “laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”

 

At this time of the year successors of the first Apostles continue to administer the sacrament of Confirmation to young men and women all over the world. Most of the newly confirmed will be in their early teens, that often difficult period of transition between childhood and adulthood. It may be difficult for them to think that anything real has happened at Confirmation. After all, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and not a creature of flesh and blood. The Spirit is not accessible by our senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell.

 

How can they and we discover the Spirit in our lives? Maybe the answer can be found in today’s gospel reading. At the Last Supper Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” In the next sentence he says that He will ask the Father to give them an Advocate, the Spirit of truth. In other words, the coming of the Spirit is linked with keeping the commandments.

 

Most of us are familiar with the Ten Commandments that were given to the Hebrew people at the time of Moses. They included commands like honor thy father and mother; do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; and do not bear false witness. Jesus was certainly aware of these commandments but he insisted that one commandment was above them all. His command was simply to love one another. In another part of John’s gospel Jesus also commanded us to love one another in the same way that He loved us. In other words, He was urging us to seek a selfless and self-giving love.

 

I don’t think teenagers or anyone else today would object to this command. We all want to love and to be loved. We all need love, and someone to love. However, we all know that it is easy to turn our backs on love. It has always been easy to just think of ourselves, talk about ourselves, and do for ourselves. 

 

Love or charity puts the other commandments in a new light. It has often been said that charity begins at home but it might be better to say that it should begin at home. How often do we fail to honor our father and mother?  How often do we show anger and bitterness toward our brothers and sisters? How often do we take from them what is theirs? How often do we deceive the ones we should love the most?

 

We like to think that it is natural for us to love but we all need help. Where can we find it? 

 

In today’s gospel Jesus promised that he would not leave us alone.

 

“And I will ask the Father,

and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,

the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,

because it neither sees nor knows him.”

 

In today’s second reading St. Peter advises us to be prepared to defend our faith.

 

Always be ready to give an explanation

To anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope…

 

Our reason for hope is that God is Love and that He has commanded us to love one another as He loved us. If some say there is no God, we say that God is love. If some say, we cannot believe in a God who allows such pain and suffering in the world, we say that during his time on earth Jesus worked to heal pain and suffering wherever he found it, and commanded us to follow his example out of love. At his Ascension He told us that the work of love was up to us but that His Spirit would always be there to assist us on the journey of love.

It is true that the Spirit will often come to us in ways we do not see or understand. It will most often come to us from those we love the most and who love us the most. Today is Mother's Day and there is no greater love than the love of a mother for her child. Even children eventually come to realize that the commands or rules imposed on them by their mothers come from love. 

 

###

Reading 1.Acts 8: 5-8, 14-17

Reading II. 1 Peter 3: 15-18

Gospel. John 14: 15-21 (keep my commandments). 

Decision at Jerusalem

                       6th Sunday of Easter

                      C cycle

 

 

Last Sunday we saw that Paul and Barnabas had achieved some success in their mission to the Gentiles. We were told that they "had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles." However, we see in today's reading from the Acts of the Apostles that an important obstacle has arisen. Jewish converts to Christianity were insisting that Gentile converts undergo the rite of circumcision in order to be saved. In other words, the Gentiles would have to become Jewish before becoming Christian.

 

Our reading today tells us that this news caused such dissension and debate that Paul and Barnabas were chosen to go to Jerusalem and get the opinion of the Apostles. Today's reading jumps over the meeting in Jerusalem, which some have called the first Council of the Church. It just gives us the end result. If we read chapter 15 of the Acts of the Apostles, we will see that there was quite a discussion on the matter of circumcision. Apparently it took the intervention of the two most respected Apostles, Peter and James, to decide the issue.

 

It seems clear that even after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter did not fully understand that Jesus had come to save all, whether Jew or Gentile. Only afterwards did Peter's encounter with the Roman centurion, Cornelius, lead him to see the light.

 

       Now I really understand that God is not a respecter of persons, but in every nation he who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

 

Peter's conversion to this point of view makes him side with Paul in the great debate at the council. James, the Bishop of Jerusalem, comes up with a workable compromise by suggesting that the Gentiles only observe some basic principles that Gentile converts to Judaism had always observed. Of course they could not eat food tainted with idol worship. Of course, they could not eat meat tainted with blood since blood, the source of life, belonged only to God.  Of course, they could not practice incest or marry a close relative. But on the subject of circumcision, the message was clear. This is what the council meant when it said to the "brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia,"

 

       It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us

       not to place any burden on you beyond these necessities...

 

It is hard to overestimate the importance of this decision. Not only does it open the way for the Gentiles, it also brings Christianity to a new level, the level which our Lord intended all along. Circumcision was the mark of a Jew. However, not every Jew who was circumcised turned out to be in our Lord's words, "a true son of Abraham." If you did not obey the will of God or if your life made a mockery of his commandments, were you really a Jew? Remember the parable where a father asked his two sons to go work in his vineyard. The first son said yes, but failed to show up. The second refused but eventually thought better of it and went to the vineyard. Our Lord asked, "which one did the will of the father?"

 

Today's gospel shows that the same principle holds true for Christians. In His discourse to the Apostles at the Last Supper Jesus said,

 

       Whoever loves me will keep my word,

       and my Father will love him,

       and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.

 

Just being born a Christian does not make one a true son of the Father. Even Baptism only opens the door of faith. Even today there are some who echo the words of those Jewish converts in Antioch when they argue that "outside the Church, there is no salvation." The saying is true but the real question is, "Who is in the Church?" For example, what about the billions of Chinese who had never heard the name of Jesus but who honored their father and mother and who were steadfastly devoted to their children? Using Peter's definition are they inside or outside the Church?

 

We know that like the Angel, Clarence, in Frank Capra's film, "It's a Wonderful Life," we all have to earn our wings. Charles Borromeo was the son of a wealthy and powerful Roman family who became a Cardinal of the Church at the age of 24 because of his influential relatives. He was one of the great intellects of his day and played a leading role in reforming the Church during the Protestant Reformation. But it was only when as Bishop of Milan, he personally risked his life by ministering to the sick and dying during a great plague that he became St. Charles Borromeo.

 

Sometimes I think that people have the wrong idea of ecumenicism. Some think that if people would only give up or water down some of their beliefs, they could reach a common ground. Unfortunately, we've seen believers in every faith try this approach only to wind up believing in nothing. The more a Jew is a true son of Abraham, the more a Moslem is a true follower of Allah, and the more a Christian keeps the word of the Lord, the more chance they will have to meet together in that beautiful heavenly city that St. John describes in today's second reading.

 

If we all practiced our faith, we might even see benefits here and now.

 

       Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.

###

Reading 1. Acts 15:1-2, 22-29

Reading II. Revelation 21: 10-14, 22-23

Gospel. John 14:23-29 (going to the Father).

Love One Another

                  6th Sunday of Easter

                  B cycle

 

 

 

Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles contains one of the most important passages in all of Holy Scripture. The Roman centurion Cornelius, a Gentile but a god-fearing man, had sent messengers to summon Peter to his house. Before the messengers arrived Peter had a vision in which God had shown him that no one, whatever their race or nation, could be called unclean or unworthy. When Peter arrived at the home of Cornelius, he realized that the vision had meant that he could share a meal with a non-Jewish person. He says,

 

In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.

Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly

Is acceptable to him.

 

Is that all there is to it? Do we just have to fear God and act uprightly? What does it mean to fear God? Maybe, respect is a better word. But how do we respect God and act uprightly?  Today’s gospel provides the answer. This passage is taken from the last words of Jesus to his disciples before his Passion and Death. Last week, he referred to Himself as the vine and told us to remain attached to Him like the branches of the vine. This week he tells us that the way to remain attached to Him is to keep his commandments. 

 

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,

Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments

And remain in his love.

 

Ordinarily, we don’t like commandments. We get our backs up at a long list of do’s and don’ts. But the commandment of Jesus seems remarkably simple.

 

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

No one has greater love than this,

To lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

 

It is true that Jesus is predicting his own suffering and death in this passage but I don’t think he is saying that we all have to suffer a cruel persecution like so many Christian martyrs suffer even in our own time. He is saying that his disciples will have to lead a life of selflessness, not selfishness. If we want to love Him, we will have to love one another. Throughout the gospels Jesus deflects our love away from himself to our neighbor. All four of our gospels can be traced back to those who had a direct contact with Jesus, and they all understood that the message of the risen Lord was Love.

 

 

In today’s second reading St. John says,

 

Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.

 

He doesn’t say that God loves us or that we ought to love God, but that God is Love. I think that so many people today reject even the idea of God because they  can only imagine an angry old man hurling thunderbolts at poor humans below. Also, in our scientific age they can’t see God, they can’t feel, or hear, or measure or count Him. He is beyond the experience of our senses.

 

But what if we could wrap ourselves around the idea of Love being God? We can’t see, or hear, or measure love but who doubts its existence? Who, but some very unhappy people, would ever admit that they don’t believe in Love?

 

Atheists say that they do not believe in God but I believe that most atheists believe in Love as much as anyone. Everyone wants to love and be loved. Most of our songs are about love. Songwriters and poets attribute to Love all the characteristics that theologians attribute to God. For example, Love is in the air, Love rules the world, or Love is here to stay. They even speak of everlasting and eternal Love. * 

 

In today’s second reading from the first letter of John we are again told that to fear God and live uprightly means simply to love one another, especially those entrusted to our care.

 

Beloved, let us love one another,

Because love is of God…

 

###

*Note: Listen to the lyrics of the great Gershwin song, Love Walked In.

Reading 1. Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48

Reading II. I John 4: 7-10

Gospel. John 15: 9-17 (love one another) 

Love One Another

                   6th Sunday of Easter

                  A cycle

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, as we celebrate the Sixth Sunday of Easter, we are turning a corner. Instead of looking back to the Resurrection, the readings are looking ahead to the departure of Jesus that we will celebrate this coming week on Ascension Thursday; and the coming of the Holy Spirit in just two weeks on Pentecost Sunday.

 

The first reading relates the success of Philip in the conversion of many in the land of Samaria. Remember that Jesus had claimed that his disciples would be able to perform the same signs and miracles that he had done if they would preach in his Name. The crowds in Samaria listened and believed Philip because they “heard and saw the signs that he was doing.”

 

Philip was one of the new deacons who were appointed to assist the Apostles in their work. Philip’s success seemed to confirm the words of Jesus that his word would spread from Judea to Samaria and then to the ends of the world. On hearing the good news the apostles in Jerusalem send Peter and John to investigate, pray, and confirm the new converts in their faith. In the account we witness one of the early instances of the sacrament of Confirmation. Peter and John “laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”

 

At this time of the year successors of the first Apostles continue to administer the sacrament of Confirmation to young men and women all over the world. Most of the newly confirmed will be in their early teens, that often difficult period of transition between childhood and adulthood. It may be difficult for them to think that anything real has happened at Confirmation. After all, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and not a creature of flesh and blood. The Spirit is not accessible by our senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell.

 

How can they and we discover the Spirit in our lives? Maybe the answer can be found in today’s gospel reading. At the Last Supper Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” In the next sentence he says that He will ask the Father to give them an Advocate, the Spirit of truth. In other words, the coming of the Spirit is linked with keeping the commandments.

 

Most of us are familiar with the Ten Commandments that were given to the Hebrew people at the time of Moses. They included commands like honor thy father and mother; do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; and do not bear false witness. Jesus was certainly aware of these commandments but he insisted that one commandment was above them all. His command was simply to love one another. In another part of John’s gospel Jesus also commanded us to love one another in the same way that He loved us. In other words, He was urging us to seek a selfless and self-giving love.

 

I don’t think teenagers or anyone else today would object to this command. We all want to love and to be loved. We all need love, and someone to love. However, we all know that it is easy to turn our backs on love. It has always been easy to just think of ourselves, talk about ourselves, and do for ourselves. 

 

Love or charity puts the other commandments in a new light. It has often been said that charity begins at home but it might be better to say that it should begin at home. How often do we fail to honor our father and mother?  How often do we show anger and bitterness toward our brothers and sisters? How often do we take from them what is theirs? How often do we deceive the ones we should love the most?

 

We like to think that it is natural for us to love but we all need help. Where can we find it? 

 

In today’s gospel Jesus promised that he would not leave us alone.

 

“And I will ask the Father,

and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,

the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,

because it neither sees nor knows him.”

 

It is true that the Spirit will often come to us in ways we do not see or understand. It will most often come to us from those we love the most and who often love us the most. Even children eventually come to realize that the commands or rules imposed on them by parents come from love.

 

In today’s second reading St. Peter advises us to be prepared to defend our faith.

 

Always be ready to give an explanation

To anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope…

 

Our reason for hope is that God is Love and that He has commanded us to love one another as He loved us. If some say there is no God, we say that God is love. If some say, we cannot believe in a God who allows such pain and suffering in the world, we say that during his time on earth Jesus worked to heal pain and suffering wherever he found it, and commanded us to follow his example out of love. At his Ascension He told us that the work of love was up to us but that His Spirit would always be there to assist us on the journey of love.

Today is Mothers Day. Is there any greater example of the spirit of Love than in a Mother's love?

 

###

Reading 1.Acts 8: 5-8, 14-17

Reading II. 1 Peter 3: 15-18

Gospel. John 14: 15-21 (keep my commandments). 

God is Love

                                    6th Sunday of Easter

                                   

Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles contains one of the most important passages in all of Holy Scripture. The Roman centurion Cornelius, a Gentile but a god-fearing man, had sent messengers to summon Peter to his house. Before the messengers arrived Peter had a vision in which God had shown him that no one, whatever their race or nation, could be called unclean or unworthy. When Peter arrived at the home of Cornelius, he realized that the vision had meant that he could share a meal with a non-Jewish person. He says,

In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.

Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly

Is acceptable to him.

Is that all there is to it? Do we just have to fear God and act uprightly? What does it mean to fear God? Maybe, respect is a better word. But how do we respect God and act uprightly?  Today’s gospel provides the answer. This passage is taken from the last words of Jesus to his disciples before his Passion and Death. Last week, he referred to Himself as the vine and told us to remain attached to Him like the branches of the vine. This week he tells us that the way to remain attached to Him is to keep his commandments.

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,

Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments

And remain in his love.

Ordinarily, we don’t like commandments. We get our backs up at a long list of do’s and don’ts. But the commandment of Jesus seems remarkably simple.

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

No one has greater love than this,

To lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

It is true that Jesus is predicting his own suffering and death in this passage but I don’t think he is saying that we all have to suffer a cruel persecution like so many Christian martyrs suffer even in our own time. He is saying that his disciples will have to lead a life of selflessness, not selfishness. If we want to love Him, we will have to love one another. Throughout the gospels Jesus deflects our love away from himself to our neighbor. All four of our gospels can be traced back to those who had a direct contact with Jesus, and they all understood that the message of the risen Lord was Love.

In today’s second reading St. John says, "Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love."

He doesn’t say that God loves us or that we ought to love God, but that God is Love. I think that so many people today reject even the idea of God because they still can only imagine an angry old man hurling thunderbolts at poor humans below. Also, in our scientific age they can’t see God, they can’t feel, or hear, or measure or count Him. He is beyond the experience of our senses.

But what if we could wrap ourselves around the idea of Love being God? We can’t see, or hear, or measure Love but who doubts its existence? Who, but some very unhappy people, would ever admit that they don’t believe in Love?

Atheists say that they do not believe in God but I believe that most atheists believe in Love as much as anyone. Everyone wants to love and be loved. Most of our songs are about love. Songwriters and poets attribute to Love all the characteristics that theologians attribute to God. For example, Love is in the air, Love rules the world, or Love is here to stay. They even speak of everlasting and eternal Love.

To fear God and live uprightly means simply to love one another, especially those entrusted to our care. The early Christians who St. John addressed in his letter would have understood the message.

Beloved, let us love one another,

Because love is of God…

###

Reading 1. Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48

Reading II. I John 4: 7-10

Gospel. John 15: 9-17 (love one another)

Love One Another

                                    6th Sunday of Easter

                                  

Today, as we celebrate the Sixth Sunday of Easter, we are turning a corner. Instead of looking back to the Resurrection, the readings are looking ahead to the departure of Jesus that we will celebrate this coming week on Ascension Thursday; and the coming of the Holy Spirit in just two weeks on Pentecost Sunday.

The first reading relates the success of Philip in the conversion of many in the land of Samaria. Remember that Jesus had claimed that his disciples would be able to perform the same signs and miracles that he had done if they would preach in his Name. The crowds in Samaria listened and believed Philip because they “heard and saw the signs that he was doing.”

Philip was one of the new deacons who were appointed to assist the Apostles in their work. Philip’s success seemed to confirm the words of Jesus that his word would spread from Judea to Samaria and then to the ends of the world. On hearing the good news the apostles in Jerusalem send Peter and John to investigate, pray, and confirm the new converts in their faith. In the account we witness one of the early instances of the sacrament of Confirmation. Peter and John “laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”

At this time of the year successors of the first Apostles continue to administer the sacrament of Confirmation to young men and women all over the world. Most of the newly confirmed will be in their early teens, that often difficult period of transition between childhood and adulthood. It may be difficult for them to think that anything real has happened at Confirmation. After all, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and not a creature of flesh and blood. The Spirit is not accessible by our senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell.

How can they and we discover the Spirit in our lives? Maybe the answer can be found in today’s gospel reading. At the Last Supper Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” In the next sentence he says that He will ask the Father to give them an Advocate, the Spirit of truth. In other words, the coming of the Spirit is linked with keeping the commandments.

Most of us are familiar with the Ten Commandments that were given to the Hebrew people at the time of Moses. They included commands like honor thy father and mother; do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; and do not bear false witness. Jesus was certainly aware of these commandments but he insisted that one commandment was above them all. His command was simply to love one another. In another part of John’s gospel Jesus also commanded us to love one another in the same way that He loved us. In other words, He was urging us to seek a selfless and self-giving love.

I don’t think teenagers or anyone else today would object to this command. We all want to love and to be loved. We all need love, and someone to love. However, we all know that it is easy to turn our backs on love. It has always been easy to just think of ourselves, talk about ourselves, and do for ourselves.

Love or charity puts the other commandments in a new light. It has often been said that charity begins at home but it might be better to say that it should begin at home. How often do we fail to honor our father and mother?  How often do we show anger and bitterness toward our brothers and sisters? How often do we take from them what is theirs? How often do we deceive the ones we should love the most?

We like to think that it is natural for us to love but we all need help. Where can we find it?

In today’s gospel Jesus promised that he would not leave us alone.

And I will ask the Father,and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,because it neither sees nor knows him.

It is true that the Spirit will often come to us in ways we do not see or understand. It will most often come to us from those we love the most and who often love us the most. Even children eventually come to realize that the commands or rules imposed on them by parents come from love.

In today’s second reading St. Peter advises us to be prepared to defend our faith.

Always be ready to give an explanationTo anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope…

Our reason for hope is that God is Love and that He has commanded us to love one another as He loved us. If some say there is no God, we say that God is love. If some say, we cannot believe in a God who allows such pain and suffering in the world, we say that during his time on earth Jesus worked to heal pain and suffering wherever he found it, and commanded us to follow his example out of love. At his Ascension He told us that the work of love was up to us but that His Spirit would always be there to assist us on the journey of love.

###

Reading 1.Acts 8: 5-8, 14-17

Reading II. 1 Peter 3: 15-18

Gospel. John 14: 15-21 (keep my commandments).