Homily (Reflection) for the Sixth Sunday of
Easter (B) (06th May, 2018) on the Gospel
Acts 10:25-26.34-35.44-48;
Ps 97:1-4 (R. cf. V. 2);1Jn 4:7-10;
Jn 15:9-17.
“A woman died and found herself
standing outside the Pearly Gates and being greeted by Saint Peter. She asked
him, ‘Oh, is this place what I really think it is? It’s so beautiful! Did I
really make it to heaven?”
“Saint Peter replied, ‘Yes, my
dear, these are the Gates of Heaven. But you must do one more thing before you
can enter.’”
Saint Peter asked the woman to
spell any word of her choice. She chose and spelt love correctly. But after
congratulating her, Saint Peter asked her to take his place for a few minutes while
he went to the bathroom. When the woman asked Saint Peter what she would do
should there be any newcomer, “Saint Peter reassured her and instructed the
woman to simply have any newcomers to the Pearly Gates spell a word as she had
done.”
The woman was “sitting in Saint
Peter’s chair and watching the beautiful angels soaring around her, when lo and
behold, a man approached the gates, and she realized it was her husband. ‘What
happened?’ she cried, ‘Why are you here?”
“Her husband stared at her for a
moment, and then said, ‘I was so upset when I left your funeral, I was in an
accident. And now I am here. Did I really make it to Heaven?
“To which the woman replied, ‘Not
yet. You must spell a word first.’
‘What word?’ he asked.
The woman responded,
‘Czechoslovakia.’”
[Culled from Thomas, T. (2010). Spice up your homilies. Mumbai: St Pauls,
pp. 72-3].
Topic: Abiding in His love.
Today’s gospel is the continuation of
last Sunday’. We emphasized last Sunday on the importance of abiding in Jesus
Christ. We are faced today with the price: “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.... This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have
loved you...” (Jn 15:10, 12; cf. 1Jn 2:5;
3:23).
It is important to look at two things among others: love, and how
Christ loves us. The book of Proverbs reads: “Hatred stirs up strife, but love
covers all offenses” (Prov 10:12).
Again, “Whoever covers an offence promotes love ...” (Prov 17:9). And for Saint Paul, “Love does no wrong to a neighbour;
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom 13:10). God desires steadfast love and not sacrifice (Hos 6:6). Saint Paul also wrote, “Owe
no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbour has
fulfilled the law” (Rom 13:8; Gal 5:14).
Saint Peter has this, “... hold unfailing your love for one another, since love
covers a multitude of sins” (1Pt 4:8).
And for Saint John, “Perfect love casts out fear”, cf. 1Jn 4:18.
Love is both the mark of the children of God as well as the
disciples of Jesus Christ, cf. 1Jn 3:10;
Jn 13:35. We also read, “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of
God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does
not know God; for God is love” (1Jn 4:7-8).
Again, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the
brethren. He who does not love abides in death” (1Jn 3:14).
Jesus loves us the way the Father loves Him and wants us to love each
other as He loves us, cf. Jn 15:9; Jn 13:15, 34; 15:12; 1Pt 2:21. In the
words of Saint John, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us;
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1Jn 3:16). Even while lamenting for Jerusalem, Jeremiah remembered
that “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an
end” (Lam 3:22). However, love often
hurts.
Saint John urges all, “let us not love in word or speech but in
deed and in truth” (1Jn 3:18). Again,
“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good” (Rom 12:9). So the love we ought to have
for others must be concretized in deeds.
Love of neighbour is more serious than we often think. Saint John
rightly cautions, “Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know
that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1Jn 3:15). Saint Paul sums up, “The commandments, ‘You shall not
commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’
and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, ‘You shall love your
neighbour as yourself’” (Rom 13:9). And
since the love of God is made manifest in the love of neighbour, anyone who
does not love his neighbour is cursed, cf. 1Cor
16:22. Anyone who “... says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a
liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God
whom he has not seen” (1Jn 4:20).
Love of the neighbour is “the supreme Law of scripture”, cf. Jas 2:8.
Although there is a popular saying, “Onye kenee Sunny, Sunny ekenee ya”, but the love Christ instructs
us to have towards others does not follow this line of thought. Hence Christ
tells us:
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall
love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you, For if you love those who love you, what
reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (Matt 5:43-44, 46).
We also see the example God left for us in the first letter of Saint
John:
In this the love of God was made manifest
among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live
through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and
sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we
also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one
another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us (1Jn 4:9-12).
And for Saint Paul: “God shows his love for us in that while we
were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom
5:8). And according to the Psalmist, God’s “... steadfast love is better
than life” (Ps 63:3).
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we must love one another just
as God loves us. Let us not make things more difficult for others like the
woman we saw in our introductory story who although chose and spelt love could not extend it even to her
own husband. If we love our brothers and sisters, we have much more to gain than
what we might lose in this life, cf. 1Cor
2:9. I conclude with the words of Saint Paul: “... brethren, farewell. Mend
your ways, heed my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God
of love and peace will be with you” (2Cor
13:11).
Bible Reading: 1Cor 13:1-13; 1Jn 2:29 –3:24; 4:7-21; 1Pt 2:18-25;
Heb 10:19-25; Gal 5:2-26.
Thought for today:
How much do
you love your neighbour?
Let us pray: God, it is only by your grace that we can love as
we should. We plead for your grace to love all just as you love us –
Amen.
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