Sixth Sunday of Easter
Lectionary: 56
Reading I
When Peter entered, Cornelius met him
and, falling at his feet, paid him homage.
Peter, however, raised him up, saying,
“Get up. I myself am also a human being.”
Then Peter proceeded to speak and said,
“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.”
While Peter was still speaking these things,
the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word.
The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter
were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit
should have been poured out on the Gentiles also,
for they could hear them speaking in tongues and glorifying God.
Then Peter responded,
“Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people,
who have received the Holy Spirit even as we have?”
He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (cf. 2b) The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading II
Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord,
and my Father will love him and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
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.
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you
and your joy might be complete.
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.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
The intimacy that Jesus Christ wants to have with us is on full display in The Gospel Reading today. The love of the Father is passed on to the Son which is then passed on to all of us. This defines the relationship that we are asked to have with Jesus Christ. It is all about love. We were created out of love to love God and one another just as powerfully as God loves us. Jesus presents this concept in the form of a commandment and it is through that understanding that we should follow it: we have no choice but to do so because our relationship with God is based upon love so, as God’s children, our relationships must be the same. Even though it is a commandment it is expressed as instruction instead of a command. Jesus makes it a point to guide us gently in the right direction. We are referred to as His friends; not to be known as slaves.
There are some who believe that religion can be cold and unfulfilling on a spiritual level. Many times this is blamed on the Church and how worship is performed. Some individuals describe times in their lives where they have felt threatened by fellow Christians describing a punishing God or one that will judge each of us by the things we have done wrong. The God perceived is a vengeful, angry God. This is incorrect and all of us are to blame at one point or another. Those who are promoting a negative description of God are ignorant of their own relationship with Him while those who describe God as cold and distant are actually those who have closed themselves off from the possibility of a relationship with Him. It is hard to argue against this when Jesus Himself is describing how the relationship He has with God and the one wants with us is completely immersed in love. Just as in all relationships errors and misunderstanding can develop when the effort to completely understand facts or what the other person is feeling is not properly examined. Relationships take time, commitment, and hard work to grow. A relationship with God is no different.
If we examine the lives we have lived it can be argued that there has been a large amount of time spent ignoring God. Imagine if our relationship with God was like a marriage or a relationship with our parents. When a husband and wife spend a lot of time together and make tremendous efforts to understand and please each other then the marriage is most likely going to be a successful one with much joy. When children listen to their parents, obey them, listen to them, and pay attention to them when they are older then the relationship is strong and beautiful. It is the same with a relationship with God. There is no difference. Our relationship with God should be the most important relationship in our lives.
Recognizing who Jesus Christ is and letting Him guide us into a loving relationship with the Father guarantees us a joyful life for eternity. That which baffled us before, caused confusion, and brought upon us many calamities will be viewed differently in a more favorable light. We will no longer be alone and do not have to feel that way. Whatever we face, good or bad, will yield good fruit. This goes back to The Gospel Reading last week where Jesus said He was the vine and we are the branches. The vine nourishes the branches. The vine is eternal thus making us eternal. The vine feeds the branches and through that process the branches bear much fruit. It is when the branches break away from the vine or refuse to be nourished is when they die.
The Apostle John extends an invitation for everyone to love one another because the source of love is God. He is reminding us of a core foundation of our faith. Our origin is from love and to love is what we are supposed to do. Hatred does not come from God. It is of lower state because its origin is from us. Who are we to ignore that which comes directly from God? It is quite obvious that any negative interaction that occurs throughout Creation only happens when there is a lack of love. In other words, negative interactions only happen when there is a lack of God. To avoid conflict, hatred, animosity, and every other negative emotion we need to invite God in and live our lives with His love. This will naturally force out all of the bad and only the good things will remain. Whatever gaping hole is left from the expelling of the bad will immediately be filled up by The Love of God. What more could be wanted or desired?
Deacon Tom
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