Fifth Sunday of Easter
Lectionary: 54

Reading 1 Acts 14:21-27

After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news
to that city
and made a considerable number of disciples,
they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.
They strengthened the spirits of the disciples
and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,
"It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the kingdom of God."
They appointed elders for them in each church and,
with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord
in whom they had put their faith.
Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.
After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.
From there they sailed to Antioch,
where they had been commended to the grace of God
for the work they had now accomplished.
And when they arrived, they called the church together
and reported what God had done with them
and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13

R. (cf. 1) I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
 and speak of your might.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let them make known your might to the children of Adam,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is a kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading 2 Rev 21:1-5a

Then I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth.
The former heaven and the former earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more.
I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race.
He will dwell with them and they will be his people
and God himself will always be with them as their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain,
for the old order has passed away."

The One who sat on the throne said,
"Behold, I make all things new."

Alleluia Jn 13:34

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment, says the Lord:
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35

When Judas had left them, Jesus said,
"Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him,
God will also glorify him in himself,
and God will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another."

 

My Brothers and Sisters,

We as Christians glorify God by loving everyone just as He loves us. It is through our love for one another that Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. When Jesus was asked what is the greatest Commandment, part of His answer was to love God with all of you heart, soul, mind, and body while loving your neighbor as yourself. This is twofold. By loving God we are then able to love everyone else by reacting to His presence in our lives. Many times this will come naturally while at other times it may present a challenge, yet it is something that we are told to do continuously. This is not limited only to the Christian Community but needs to be taken beyond that and into all of God’s Creation. Experiencing life without the realization of God’s Love and what He wants us to do with it and like experiencing life without the influence of God. God’s Love and God’s influence cannot be separated. It is what propels us forward into action. Accepting God’s Love and recognizing that it is the foundation of all things enables us to do the most profound and amazing things as long as it is always done in His name and for reasons that include Him. This then makes it part of His Divine Plan.

 

The Second Reading today can be viewed through the lenses of a relationship with God.  A new Heaven and a New Earth are revealed when we are participating in a relationship with God. Old habits and old ways of doing things slowly fade away and a higher awareness of reality is experienced. We become blind to the past and witnesses to a new life through Divine Revelation. Each day becomes an opportunity to do God’s work instead of our work and to walk in His ways instead of our ways. His kingdom is both revealed and built by us in relationship with Him.

We are creatures of habit. We are comfortable to routine and naturally develop patterns of living that become hard to break. When these habits do not include God is when we can find ourselves unsatisfied and experiencing challenges which prevent us from experiencing a fulfilling and joyous life. Including God and walking with God brings about good experiences and produces results in our lives that are all positive. We are able to reach our highest potential because we are functioning as we were created to function. When we ignore God we are like an engine with the Check Engine Light on: something is not working right even if do don’t know exactly what it is at the moment. Doing anything without God is dysfunctional. It cannot be viewed any other way and will always lead to the same result which is failure.

Over the past few weeks some of the readings in Sacred Scripture have been taken from the Acts of the Apostles. We have been reading about the successes and failures of the Apostles as they started to build up the Early Church. There were many successes and failures as they evangelized the faith. When confronted with adversity and failure they approached it with the same joy as when they encountered success because God was with them in all of their experiences good and bad. It is no difference in our lives. God is with us regardless of our condition and in what circumstances we find ourselves in. He is our advocate and our protector. He is also our biggest supporter.

As the Apostle John professed:

"Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race.
He will dwell with them and they will be his people
and God himself will always be with them as their God.”

This is now. This is how it always was and how it always will be. Where there is God there is love. Where there is love there is us for we were created out of love to love. All for God so that we might live with God and experience god.

 

Deacon Tom

 

Fourth Sunday of Easter

 

Lectionary: 51

Reading 1

Acts 13:14, 43-52

 

Paul and Barnabas continued on from Perga

and reached Antioch in Pisidia.

On the sabbath they entered the synagogue and took their seats.

Many Jews and worshipers who were converts to Judaism

followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them

and urged them to remain faithful to the grace of God.

 

On the following sabbath almost the whole city gathered

to hear the word of the Lord.

When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy

and with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said.

Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said,

“It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first,

but since you reject it

and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life,

we now turn to the Gentiles.

For so the Lord has commanded us,

I have made you a light to the Gentiles,

that you may be an instrument of salvation

to the ends of the earth.”

 

The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this

and glorified the word of the Lord.

All who were destined for eternal life came to believe,

and the word of the Lord continued to spread

through the whole region.

The Jews, however, incited the women of prominence who were worshipers

and the leading men of the city,

stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas,

and expelled them from their territory.

So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them,

and went to Iconium.

The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 100:1-2, 3, 5

 

R.(3c) We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

or:

R. Alleluia.

Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;

serve the LORD with gladness;

come before him with joyful song.

R. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

or:

R. Alleluia.

Know that the LORD is God;

he made us, his we are;

his people, the flock he tends.

R.We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

or:

R. Alleluia.

The LORD is good:

his kindness endures forever,

and his faithfulness, to all generations.

R.We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

or:

R. Alleluia.

Reading 2

Revelation 7:9, 14b-17

 

I, John, had a vision of a great multitude,

which no one could count,

from every nation, race, people, and tongue.

They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,

wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

 

Then one of the elders said to me,

“These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;

they have washed their robes

and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

 

“For this reason they stand before God’s throne

and worship him day and night in his temple.

The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.

They will not hunger or thirst anymore,

nor will the sun or any heat strike them.

For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne

will shepherd them

and lead them to springs of life-giving water,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Alleluia

John 10:14

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;

I know my sheep, and mine know me.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

John 10:27-30

 

Jesus said:

“My sheep hear my voice;

I know them, and they follow me.

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

No one can take them out of my hand.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,

and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.

The Father and I are one.”

 

 

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 

The Word of the Lord and the Christian message are spread through persecution and suffering. The more the Church is repressed by earthly powers, the stronger it becomes. That is why we rejoice when we suffer. We don’t avoid it, we embrace it. We are encouraged to welcome calamity in our lives with joy, seeing it as an opportunity to demonstrate to others that it is not us who is triumphing over these seemingly hopeless situations, but evidence of God at work within our lives. In other circumstances, those that don’t include God, things may appear hopeless and beyond one’s control. When God is included, victory becomes guaranteed. That is why, regardless of what the Apostles faced, it was done with joy and an unearthly confidence. The Apostle John reminds us of this in his vision,

 

“These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;

they have washed their robes

and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

 

This may have been referring to the martyrs of the Church but can easily be applied to all of us who have Christ in our lives. Our victory is assured in all things through Jesus Christ. Understand this: What that victory looks like is influenced by the will of God and does not mean we will get what we want, but we will definitely be in a better place as a result. Many times, we may find ourselves in a difficult situation brought about by our own actions or the actions of other people. This indicates an exercise of self-will above that of God’s. Rarely do we find a negative situation developed by the will of God, except when it is for the strengthening or development of the persons involved to bring about the betterment of the individual or group as a whole. The negative situations are easily reversed and made better when acceptance occurs and God becomes the mitigating factor in the situation.

 

This entire message is driven home through the Gospel Reading today. Today is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. To follow Jesus Christ, we must surrender our will completely to Him. That is when we can hear His voice and are capable of listening to what He has to say. We need to be ready and willing to do this. At times, there might be a struggle regarding this, especially because of the driving force of our own wills that are susceptible to so many outside influences and are corrupted by evil. If we are willing to listen to Jesus Christ and are willing to respond to what He is saying with action, then we will be victorious in everything that we do. He already knows us and wants to help us. It is us who need to get to know Him and recognize who he is.

 

A good friend of mine told me about a particular routine he has every morning. He wakes up, gets out of bed, and immediately drops to his knees. He then says a short prayer, asking God to take away his will. He further asks God to help him to be an instrument of His will to help other people, removing all selfishness in his actions. The entire prayer takes about 30 seconds. It is a moment that emphasizes that God is in control, and he is not. It further puts him in a position of subservience, ready and willing to listen to God’s voice. Simple, yet effective, it orients him towards God and away from all other things. He becomes open to hear God’s voice. He wants to hear God’s voice and he wants to do what God says. He becomes ready and willing.

 

Jesus Christ is our shepherd. In order for Him to do His job, which is to guide us with loving care, we as His sheep need to listen to what is being said. In the end, His yolk is not heavy, and His burden is light. Through Him, our lives will become more manageable and easier as a result.

 

Deacon Tom