Homily- 6th Sunday of Easter- Rev. Dr. Fr. Patrick Mathias SDB
Sunday - 5 May 2024 – VI Sunday of Easter (Year B)
Mass
Readings: Acts 10,25-27.34-35.44-48 Ps 97
1Jn 4,7-10 Jn 15,9-17:
Key Verse
to Meditate: "This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. (Jn 15:12).
Dear
Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
The Word of God
on this sixth Sunday of Easter brings back to the center of our reflection the
theme of love: what God nurtures toward humanity and what should circulate
among all human beings, particularly among those who believe in Christ, the
Savior of the world. Today’s Gospel reading is a continuation of the previous
Sunday's reading, which presented to us the imagery of the vine and its
branches in the first part of the fifteenth chapter of John. In this Sunday's
Gospel passage, taken from Saint John, Jesus continues to present himself to
the apostles as what he truly is: the manifestation of God's immense love for
us poor mortals.
One
Commandment of Love: In today's
Gospel, Jesus concentrates on one commandment to be the only commandment for
the disciples, namely, to love one another in the manner of how the Father has
loved the Son: "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in
my love" (Jn 15:9). The source of love is God the Father. That’s why
Jesus, based on the experience of the Father’s love, teaches and commands the
apostles to love one another. This aspect of love is also concretely stressed
by the evangelist John in the second letter of today: "Beloved, let us
love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God
and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love"
(1 Jn 4:7-8).
For
Love, God sent his only Son into the world: St. John proceeds further to give proofs for his teaching on love:
God's love was revealed among us only through his Son Jesus Christ: God sent
his only Son into the world so that we might live through him (1 Jn 4:9). John
the evangelist, at the beginning of his Gospel, would repeat this idea that we
find in his first letter, saying that God loved the world and that’s why he
sent him into the world to give eternal life and to save everyone in the world:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. "Indeed, God did
not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the
world might be saved through him (Jn 3:16-17).
Abide
in My Love: Jesus invites us to abide in his
love and not to run away from his love. The one concrete proof of remaining in
his love comes from our love for Jesus’ commandments: If you keep my
commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's
commandments and abide in his love (Jn 15:10).
Jesus
calls his followers into Joy: Jesus, who
speaks of the command to love, suddenly changes his attention to joy: My joy
may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. (Jn 15:11). The word ‘joy’
(cf. Jn 16:20, 21, 22) opposed to hedonism or pleasure, appears twice in this
verse. Other than this reference, once more, this phrase is used in Jn 3:29,
making a reference to the joy of the friend of the bridegroom: And so this joy
of mine has been made full (Jn 3:29; see also Jn 16:24 and 17:13). The joy of
Jesus is the joy of victory (15:11) that arises from the sense of a finished
work. Jesus now wishes his followers too to have a fruitful life. It is an
inspiring thought that Jesus calls his followers into joy.
Love
One Another as I have Loved You: Jesus directs
our attention to the great commandment of Love: "This is my commandment,
that you love one another as I have loved you" (Jn 15:12). John once again
stresses, after a few verses, the love command of Jesus: "This I command
you, that you love one another" (Jn 15:17). We could become friends of
Jesus only if we fulfill this commandment of love: "You are my friends if
you do what I command you" (Jn 15:14).
You
are My Friends: We are friends of Jesus if we do
what he commands us. He has no other commandments than the command to love each
other as brothers and sisters in the Lord. Jesus has already made known to his
disciples that they were all his friends because he revealed every secret that
he heard from the Father. If we are friends, then we are not slaves. The
secrets are made known to one’s own friends but not to the slaves or the
servants of the household. What was the secret that Jesus revealed to his
disciples? The secret is that God loves them.
Before we could
ever come to know God and love him, God took the initiative to love and give us
all eternal life by saving us from our sins. This is what St. John presents in
the second reading of today: "In this is love, not that we loved God but that
he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1
Jn 4:10). St. Paul would tell us that God loved us even as we were sinners
without grace: "But God proves his love for us in that while we still were
sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8).
As
the Father has loved me: In today's
gospel, we hear Jesus telling us that "as the Father has loved me, I also
love you." Before expressing his love for us, Jesus once again emphasizes
his own experience of the Father. His origin of loving us and sacrificing his
life for us ultimately comes from the experience of the Father. It is a
revelation. The closeness of the Father to him and the ultimate experience of
his love become the model for the disciples of Jesus. Jesus does not preach
here but commands us to follow him. To taste this singularity of God's love, it
is necessary to remain in his love for him. This means that as the disciples of
Christ, we must observe his commandments, which give us the guarantee to remain
in God's love. Walking in love and committing oneself to love according to the
model of Christ is not as easy and simple as one might think. It is very
problematic because one is easier and more inclined to love oneself rather than
others.
Greater
Love calls for Sacrifice: Jesus is our
lasting joy if we follow his commandments and remain in his love. To remain in
Christ is to love oneself sincerely, truly, and deeply, to the point that Jesus
says precisely that "no one has greater love than this except to give his
life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). No one can dare to give his life except
those who remain in God. The life of sacrifice is impossible if one has not
loved God in the real sense of the term. It is the experience of God’s love
that opens us to loving service, giving ourselves totally. The real-life story
of the sacrifice of Fr.
God
Chose Us: A full and lasting joy that
concerns everyone and not just some. Thus, after revealing the secrets to his
disciples, Jesus tells them the secret of his choice of them for God’s
ministry: "You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to
go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you
whatever you ask him in my name" (Jn 15:16). The call always comes from
God and not from man. Man may or may not correspond to this call so that
through the example of a life that is holy and consistent with faith they can
truly bear spiritual fruits, not occasional, but lasting.
Points
for Personal Reflection: In God, love
becomes eternal and true. How do I understand and remain in God’s love? Jesus
invites us to abide in his love after assuring his permanent love for us:
"Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My
love" (Jn 15:9). It is possible for us to live without being mindful of
Christ’s love. Jesus also invites us to keep his commandments, for it is when
we keep Christ’s commandments that we abide in his love. Jesus kept the
Father’s commandments and thus abides continually in the Father’s love. Do I
follow Christ’s example of simple obedience to the Father in keeping his
commandments? Christ’s own example.
Comments
Post a Comment