Sunday May 22, 2022

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

 

The Spirit Will Teach You

There are at times new problems we have to face in our personal life and in the life of the Church. How do we solve them? Jesus reminds us today that the Father will send the Holy Spirit to remind us of Jesus’ teachings and to make us understand them. The Spirit will help us and the Church to see what is to be done in the light of our faith. We ask Jesus to give us this Spirit.

                                             

First Reading: Acts 15:1-2,22-29

It wasn’t long before some Jews showed up from Judea insisting that everyone be circumcised: “If you’re not circumcised in the Mosaic fashion, you can’t be saved.” Paul and Barnabas were up on their feet at once in fierce protest. The church decided to resolve the matter by sending Paul, Barnabas, and a few others to put it before the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem.

Everyone agreed: apostles, leaders, all the people. They picked Judas (nicknamed Barsabbas) and Silas—they both carried considerable weight in the church—and sent them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas with this letter:

From the apostles and leaders, your friends, to our friends in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:

Hello!

We heard that some men from our church went to you and said things that confused and upset you. Mind you, they had no authority from us; we didn’t send them. We have agreed unanimously to pick representatives and send them to you with our good friends Barnabas and Paul. We picked men we knew you could trust, Judas and Silas—they’ve looked death in the face time and again for the sake of our Master Jesus Christ. We’ve sent them to confirm in a face-to-face meeting with you what we’ve written.

It seemed to the Holy Spirit and to us that you should not be saddled with any crushing burden, but be responsible only for these bare necessities: Be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians (blood, for instance); and guard the morality of sex and marriage.

These guidelines are sufficient to keep relations congenial between us. And God be with you!

 

Second Reading: Revelation 21:10-14,22-23

One of the Seven Angels spoke to me: “Come here. I’ll show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb.” He took me away in the Spirit to an enormous, high mountain and showed me Holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God, resplendent in the bright glory of God.

The City shimmered like a precious gem, light-filled, pulsing light. She had a wall majestic and high with twelve gates. At each gate stood an Angel, and on the gates were inscribed the names of the Twelve Tribes of the sons of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west. The wall was set on twelve foundations, the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb inscribed on them.

he main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple. The City doesn’t need sun or moon for light. God’s Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp!

 

Gospel: John 14:23-29

“Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we’ll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn’t mine. It’s the message of the Father who sent me.

 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.

 “You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, and I’m coming back.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life.

 “I’ve told you this ahead of time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, the confirmation will deepen your belief in me.

 

Prayer
Loving Father,
keep us faithful to the word of your Son.
Give us the Holy Spirit
to remind us of all Jesus has said to us
and done for us.
Let this Holy Spirit protect us
from all fear and cowardice
and give us the courage to build up the Church
in peace and with patient love.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Reflection:

22 May 2022
John 14:23-29

Peace is for those who love and serve

Today’s Gospel is part of the farewell discourse of Jesus during the Last Supper. To understand his words, we must try to situate ourselves in the scene of the Upper Room.

Judas had just left them, and is on his way to the darkness of the betrayal of the Master. The eleven who remained with Jesus were frightened and troubled. Jesus prepares them for when he will no longer be physically present with them. The farewell address presents four disciples raising their concerns and uncertainties to Jesus. The number four indicates a multitude, the whole of humanity. The questions they ask Jesus are those we ask ourselves today because we are like those confused disciples when Jesus is not physically present with us.

Peter wanted to know ‘why could he not follow the Lord now’ while Thomas sounded confused: “We do not know where you are going, and how shall we know the way?” Philip’s concern was, “Show us the Father, and that is enough.” Judas wanted the Lord to ‘manifest himself to the whole world and not just to few of them.’

The moment of discouragement that these eleven live is the same that we often experience when tragedies strike and our dreams and hopes are shattered. We are easily tempted to resign ourselves to evil. This is the context of the Gospel of this Sunday.

When our evangelisation efforts seem fruitless and very few people show interest in knowing God, we ask like Judas: Why is the Lord not revealing himself to the world so that the whole world would believe in him? Today’s Gospel is the answer to such questions. Jesus reveals himself through love. His manifestation to the world is not through some miraculous signs of power, dominion, glory and riches but through love, mercy and forgiveness.

When we receive the word of the Gospel, we welcome the life of God, and we welcome the Holy Spirit. Jesus promises that he and the Father will come to us and dwell in us. Thus it becomes our turn to be liberators of people. Therefore, it is easy to recognise if and when Jesus and the Father are present and working in us.

John also encourages his Community with the promise of the Holy Spirit. “The Comforter who will teach and remind” all that Jesus had said (v. 26). Today, the Church is confronted with complex questions that await a light from the Gospel – for example, issues on bioethics, interreligious dialogue, and difficult moral choices.

The peace promised by Jesus is realised when the desire to compete, dominate, and be the first gives way to service and selfless love for the last.

 

Video available on Youtube: Peace is for those who love and serve