SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
5 MAY 2024
The
first Letter of Saint John tells us that God loves us. God revealed his love by sending his only Son
into the world so that we might have life through him. Not only did Jesus take on human flesh, but
he loved us so much that he gave himself completely by dying on the cross for
us. Because God loved us first and
showed what that love looks like, God invites us to imitate his self-giving
love by loving one another in this same way.
We come to know God in the way we behave toward God and each other.
This is the
message Jesus gives to his disciples at the Last Supper today. Jesus call them friends, because they have
remained with him for three years and have freely accepted his love. He shows them how to love one another by
washing their feet like a humble slave.
He promises that he will be present whenever they do what he does at the
Last Supper – taking bread, blessing it, breaking it, and giving it to
them. He will demonstrate his most
incredible love by allowing himself to be sacrificed as the Lamb of God on the
next day on the cross. He commands them
to love as he has loved them.
He gives this
same message to us at this Mass. We
became his friends when we passed through the waters of Baptism. Boys and girls, you will go back to the
Baptismal Font walking on your own legs.
When your parents brought you to the waters of Baptism, they carried
you, with many of you crying. Your
parents and your godparents made the promises for you. Now, you will renew those promises and bless
yourselves with the water from the font.
As you were clothed with a white garment to demonstrate that you had put
on Christ, you wear these white garments to connect you with your baptism. Then, you will bring up the gifts of bread
and wine and the sacrificial tithe and receive Jesus for the first time in the
Holy Eucharist.
The
sacrificial gift of Jesus in the Paschal Mystery happened only one time. Only once did he share the final meal with
his disciples. Only once did he give
himself out of sacrificial love on the cross.
Only once was he raised from the dead.
Only once did he ascend to the right hand of the Father. But those saving acts are made present at
every Mass when we do what he told his disciples to do at the Last Supper. After renewing your baptismal promises, we will
take gifts of bread and wine. In the
Eucharistic Prayer, we will bless the Father for the sacrifice of Jesus made
present here. As we sing the Lamb of
God, we will break the consecrated host.
Then we will give it to you.
Because we are doing what Jesus told us to do, those saving actions are
made present as we remember. You will
eat the bread transformed into the Lord’s Body.
You will drink the wine changed into his blood.
As friends
of Jesus, we need to receive this Eucharist often so that we can love one
another as Jesus has loved us. Saint
Peter understood the importance of the Eucharist in his life. As a faithful Jew, he had never entered into
the house of a pagan. And yet, he
followed the promptings of the Holy Spirit and dared to enter the house of
Cornelius. Not only was Cornelius a
non-Jew, but he is also a Centurion who was part of the oppressive Roman
occupation of his people. In taking this
risk, Peter baptized Cornelius and began to understand that the message of
Jesus Christ must go to all people.
Peter realized that he was the instrument of God’s initiative to
proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the Earth.
As we
receive the Lord’s body and blood, we need to trust that we will be
strengthened to make difficult choices and embrace sacrifices to love as Jesus
has loved us. And boys and girls, you
lead the way for us today!
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