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…

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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)

The Vine and the Branches

                                    5th Sunday of Easter

                                    

In the three Sundays following Easter the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles has mainly followed the activity of Peter. However, the first reading this week introduces the Apostle Paul. In today’s reading we hear that after his conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul returned to Jerusalem to join the disciples of the Lord but did not receive a warm reception.

Because of his past activity as a persecutor of the Church, the disciples “were all afraid of him” and did not believe that he was a true disciple. Only after Barnabas introduced Paul to the apostles and told them of all that Paul had done, did the apostles welcome him into their midst. Paul had seen the Risen Lord, spoken to Him, and “spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.” The fruits or results of Paul’s conversion were obvious.

Today’s gospel is also about bearing good fruit or getting good results. Jesus compares Himself to a vine.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.

He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,

And every one that does he prunes so that it may bear more fruit.

So, just as in the case of St. Paul it is not just a matter of saying we believe in Jesus, we must show the results. Jesus says that He and His Spirit will be in His followers and that we will bear fruit even if sometimes we don’t seem to realize it. What are the fruits of the spirit of God? It is clear that Jesus is not talking about grapes, or apples or oranges. In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul gave a partial list.

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Our tradition has expanded the list a little. Charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity.

To get a better idea, let’s just consider the opposites. Are we uncharitable? Do we lack joy, or fail to find joy in our lives or the lives of others? Do we possess inner peace, or are we full of anxiety? Are we impatient or easily fly off the handle? Do we fail to exhibit kindness or goodness to others? Are we generous not just with our money but with our time and compassion? Do we sometimes fail to be gentle with even those we love the most? Are we unfaithful? Can others rely on us to keep our word? Has popular culture made us insensitive to immodesty? Rather than self-control do we put the gratification of our selves and our desires ahead of everything else? Finally, do we lack chastity in thought, word and deed?

It is not easy to bear such good fruit and we all need help, even if it involves a constant pruning or cutting back on the things that can easily consume our lives. But if we can exhibit the fruit of the Holy Spirit even to a small degree, we can be sure that Jesus is working in us. It might be hard to remember Paul’s whole list but in today’s second reading, Saint John sums it up in one word: Love.

And his commandment is this;

We should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,

And love one another just as he commanded us.

Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,

And the way we know that he remains in us

Is from the Spirit he gave us.

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Reading 1. Acts 9: 26-31

Reading II. 1 John 3: 18-24

Gospel. John 15: 1-8 (the Vine and the Branches)

Good Shepherd

                                     4th Sunday of Easter

                         

The Good Shepherd
Stained Glass Window
St. Joseph's Basilica
Alameda, CA*

In the Sundays after Easter the readings usually give us testimony or witness to the Resurrection of the Lord. Two Sundays ago we had the touching account of doubting Thomas. Last week Jesus appeared to the Apostles in the upper room and ate with them. The readings today also deal with the Resurrection of Jesus and its significance.

As usual after Easter, the first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles and records the aftermath of the healing of a paralyzed man by Peter. It is really striking that shortly after the Resurrection, Peter was able to perform deeds very similar to those of Jesus. In this case the miraculous cure prompts the authorities to bring Peter in for questioning. They want to know by what means the man was healed. Peter explains,

All of you and all the people of Israel should know That it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean Whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; In his name this man stands before you healed.

                                                                                                

Peter claims no special or divine-like power for himself. He was only acting in the name of Jesus, or to put it another way, he was just doing what the Lord had instructed him to do.

In today’s gospel Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd. St. John records these words of Jesus even before his crucifixion and Resurrection.

I am the good shepherd, And I know mine and mine know me, Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, And I will lay down my life for the sheep.

These words of Jesus bring to mind a meeting between Jesus and Peter after the Resurrection. You may recall that on one occasion Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” When Peter replied, “Lord, you know I love you,” Jesus told him to “feed my sheep.” The gospel tells us that Jesus asked the question three times, and each time Peter was told to take care of his flock just like a good shepherd. In my own parish of Our Lady of the Assumption in Fairfield, CT, a small stained glass window actually depicts Jesus handing a shepherd’s staff or crook to Peter.

I know that many of us can identify with the sheep but Jesus is asking us to act like good shepherds for our own little flock. He was certainly aware that there would be many bad shepherds that would desert the flock in time of need. He spoke of hirelings who work only for pay and have no concern for the sheep. They only have their own interests at heart.

We can see these bad shepherds all around us today. Can anyone believe that a politician puts us ahead of their own self-interest and career? When entertainers and athletes get paid millions to endorse products, can we really believe they care for us. When TV celebrities and commentators put spin on practically everything they say, can we really believe that they would give up their lives for us? Sadly, many religious leaders, both high and low, seem to put themselves before the flocks they are supposed to serve.

Years ago, I read a self-help book that had sold over a million copies. The popular author argued that people should use anger to cure themselves. When things went wrong, he urged his readers to look back into their past and find others to blame, especially their parents. If you could understand that your predicament was caused by your parents, either through neglect or abuse, then your anger against them would heal you. The author probably became a millionaire as a result of his book but I doubt if his advice actually helped anyone.

Today is often called Good Shepherd Sunday. For most of us the best shepherds have been our parents. They were the first gave up their lives for us, and their love was the first sign of God’s love for us. In today’s second reading from the first letter of John, we hear,

See what love the Father has bestowed on us  That we may be called the children of God.

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*Image by Richard DeMarco.

Reading 1. Acts 4: 8-12

Reading II. 1 John 3: 1-2

Gospel. John 10: 11-18 (good shepherd)