SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
10 MAY 2015
People often speak of taking a journey to
find God in their lives. People
sometimes do crazy things like biking from Canterbury to Rome to search for
God. While there are many good things to
be said about making efforts to find God in our lives, the First Letter of
Saint John gives us a very different perspective. He says just the opposite. He tells us that God wants to find us. God is love.
Because God IS love, and not just a God who has one of the attributes of
love, God wants to give that love to us.
We do not earn it. We do not
deserve it. It is a gift, and God
invites us to accept the gift and give it to others.
Saint Peter understands that truth
well. The Son of God had found him and
invited him to follow him. Peter had
responded and listened to Jesus teach the essentials of God’s love. Peter would certainly remember the words of
Jesus in today’s Gospel spoken at the Last Supper. He knows that he has become a friend of Jesus
and understands the command to love others as the Lord had loved him. Peter witnessed the ultimate expression of
that love when Jesus had washed his feet, given his life in expiation for
Peter’s sins, and then forgiven him when he was raised from the dead. Peter realizes that love is not some
overpowering emotion that makes him feel good.
Rather, love is seen in action, in making sacrifices out of love for
other people.
As Peter continues to reflect on this incredible love, he comes to
understand that the risen Lord has not chosen to love a select few of his best
friends. Through the Holy Spirit, the
risen Lord was finding pagans, people outside Peter’s comfort zone, and calling
them to be included in the circle of friends. The pagan soldier, Cornelius, is
one of them. As a faithful Jew who had
never have entered the home of a pagan, Peter has the courage to walk into the
home of Cornelius and welcome him to the community of believers. He does not make Cornelius wait in line until
everyone else had been chosen (as I had to wait until everyone else had been
chosen as a kid to be part of a team!).
Instead, Peter listens to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and welcomes
Cornelius and his family into the community of believers.
To use the image of Jesus from last Sunday’s Gospel, Cornelius and his
family are now branches connected to the true vine of Christ through the waters
of Baptism. As disciples, they too are
given a command, a mission: go out and
bear fruit; go out and love others as I have loved you. Those of you who have the vocation of being a
mother understand what Jesus is talking about.
You have responded to the Lord’s call to love your children as the risen
Lord has loved you. So many times, the
many sacrifices you make for your children are taken for granted. Children simply presume that their needs are
taken care of. They presume that they
will have clothes to wear, food to eat, and tender loving care when things go
badly. They can even become resentful
and rebellious when mothers try to teach them lessons that they do not want to
learn. Today, within the context of the
truths we hear about the love of God, we get a chance to thank our mothers for
showing us so many ways in which they make visible the love which our Scripture
readings describe.
At the end of Mass, we are told to go in peace. Our English words, Go, the Mass is ended,
translate the Latin command, Ite, Missa est!
In other words, get out of here and continue the mission of spreading
the sacrificial love made present in the Eucharist. We are sent to bear much fruit, to continue
to show that the way we behave reflects the Mystery of the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our
response is appropriate, Deo gratias, or thanks be to God. We do not imply that we are glad that the
Mass is over. Instead, we are glad to
get another chance to show the world that the risen Lord has chosen us to love
as we have been loved.
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