Cycle C - Year II:  

22 May 2022: Sixth Sunday of Easter 

(Liturgical Color: White)

Readings:

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

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

Gospel:  Please Read  John 14:23-29

Love keeps us together!

We travel in time while in this world. So life is in motion, and at some points certain things will end and new beginnings happen.

Yet when it is time to say goodbye it is tough and really sad. But also it is consoling when you know that those you'd be leaving behind are in good hands, so to speak.

In the Gospel narrative for this Sunday, we will hear about Jesus' Last Supper Discourses to His disciples as He faces His passion and death. Jesus gently tries to prepare the disciples for the day when He will no longer be present to them in bodily form. Also, in the Church liturgical calendar, a week from now we will celebrate the Lord's Ascension.

Jesus is inviting His disciples no to cling to His physical presence, but to be open to a deeper way of being in relationship with Him. So Jesus challenges His followers to commit themselves deeper in a life of love. He said to the disciples: "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him." (Jn 14:23)

Now, the phrase "keep my word" means that we remain faithful to the totality of the message of our Lord Jesus, as handed down to us through traditions and the teaching of His Church.  This is a timely message today when people call themselves His followers and yet question the validity of His teaching, or interpret them according to what pleases them.

Jesus gives the disciples a new commandment: "Love one another, as I have loved you."  (Jn 13:34) Because by loving each other the world will know that they are Jesus' disciples. 

Then Jesus gives a hint about the "Advocate": "The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you." (Jn 14:26)

So that the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church is our assurance that her missionary work is not simply a human endeavor but in reality the continuation of Jesus' saving work, and so therefore the work of God Himself.

The Holy Spirit never leaves the Church and the community of believers.  That is why, when we feel overwhelmed by personal trials sometimes, or when we struggle to pray due to many distractions, and when we want to pray but seem not to have the words to express ourselves, it is the Holy Spirit that links us to God and interprets our desire for Him.  In the words of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, "It is the Holy Spirit who helps our inability, who enlightens our minds and warms our hearts, guiding us as we turn to God."

In the Eucharist at Mass, let us commit our love for Jesus by keeping His word and witnessing His teaching through our authentic Christian living. So that as our Lord Jesus Himself promises, the Father and the Son will abide within us, and the Holy Spirit will make us understand and be faithful to the teaching of Jesus through His Church.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!