Cycle A - Year I:  

14 May 2023: Sixth Sunday of Easter 

(Liturgical Color: White)

Readings:

First Reading:        Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

Second Reading:   1 Peter 3:15-18

Gospel:  Please Read  John 14:15-21 

To love me is to keep my commandments!

"Habilin" is a Tagalog or Filipino word with a number of translation in the English language. I like to use this one for this reflection: "Habilin" is a person's wishes about what shall be done when the person is no longer physically around with his friends or loved ones.

Another Filipino word "pangako" is also translated in English as a vow, promise or pledge.

Today's Gospel proclamation is about Jesus' last discourse with His disciples before His passion and suffering at Calvary. Our Lord speaks about His "habilin" and "pangako" to deal with the inevitable situation the disciples would face when the human Jesus would no longer be among them.

Jesus orients His disciples about how they were to live when He is no longer with them physically. Jesus says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (Jn 14:15)

On the sixth Sunday of Easter we hear Jesus speak about love, and the power of unconditional love for those who believe in Him and choose to follow in our Lord's footsteps. So to all of us who profess to truly love our Lord Jesus Christ, we must obey His commandments and teachings because they enable us to make the love of God real in our lives.

In our human experience, the real test and testimony of our love for a person lies in our acceptance of what that person we love holds dear.  In other words, authentic love means cherishing and honoring what the person we love cherishes and honors. Jesus Himself showed us that His victory over death was through the way of the Cross for the love of us. So then there is no other way for us, too, if we want to follow our Lord. That is why following our Lord Jesus is a real challenge indeed. If we truly love Jesus nothing can stand in our way to follow His commandments.

The second point in our reflection is our Lord's promise (or "pangako") that He will not leave us orphans but will ask the Father to give us "another Advocate to be with you always." (Jn 14:16)  As we approach Pentecost Sunday, Jesus prepares His disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit through Whom the Church will be built and nations converted.

We begin to turn our eyes toward the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus speaks of asking the Father to send another Advocate to be with us always. This Advocate is the Holy Spirit.

The Person of the Holy Spirit is with us to empower us to love and fulfill God's laws and commandments.  The Holy Spirit comes and remains with us in order to engender within us a filial trust in the Lord and so the certainty of being loved by Him in return.

So now with the Holy Spirit within us, we are then filled with the light of truth so that we can embrace and live the Gospel freedom that comes to us through the blessing of the Lord's commandments: the freedom to love, the freedom to choose what is good in every situation, even when doing so is difficult and challenging.

Let us listen to the final words of our Lord Jesus Christ in today's Gospel: "Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him." (Jn 14:21)

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!