5-10-26 Sixth Sunday of Easter
Our readings this weekend give us hints of the coming feast of Pentecost. We see apostle Philip going down to Samaria and through his work and the miracles that he performs the people begin to believe in this Christ that he has come to preach about. They want to be more in union with Christ and so, they ask for the sacrament of baptism. Their desire for this is contagious and spreads to all the areas around Samaria. When the church in Jerusalem hears of their enthusiasm and acceptance of Christ, they send Peter and John to them to lay hands upon them so that the Holy Spirit of God, the gift of the Father through the prophecy of Christ, could come down upon them. Once they received this Spirit, they were empowered then to live out their lives as followers of Christ. Reflecting on this reading we might ponder, is this the same enthusiasm we experience in sharing our faith with others? In the responsorial Psalm, the closing lines which read: “Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare what he has done for me. Blessed be God who refused me not my prayer or his kindness!” These lines tell us our responsibility as Christians to live lives that are joyous and confident and to give witness to the world of what God has done in our lives by our attitude and actions toward others. This enthusiastic response to the gift of the Spirit does not mean that we stand on soapboxes and preach out to the crowds. No! Following the guidance of St. Peter in the second reading this weekend while we should “be always ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason to our hope but do it with gentleness and reverence….” In other words, we live out our lives quietly but faithfully in the way Jesus has taught us to live. Faithfully following his commandments to love others because we love him. In this second reading this weekend, Peter, through his letter, speaks to the new Christian converts and to us as he writes that we are to be people of faithfulness and truth. We must be ready and willing to give witness to others of why our faith is so important to us. We do not hit them over the head with it, as if their reluctance is resistance to our witness. Rather we are to give this witness in a patient and compassionate manner. We do this knowing always, that we are but only the instruments, through which the Spirit works. “In 1 Corinthians 12:11, Paul teaches that all spiritual gifts — such as wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, and interpretation — are empowered by the same Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the source of all these gifts, and it is the Spirit alone who apportions them to each person individually, as He wills.”1 The Spirit is the one who is in charge. Trusting and relying on that awareness should allow us to be freer and more confident in sharing our faith with others and not be too concerned if at first, nothing is changing in others. Doing it in this way allows the Spirit to empower others to seek Christ through a better understanding of the message we bring, based on ow we live out our lives and how we show the importance of belief in Christ in our lives. We may wonder if we are so free in showing our faith, will people mock us and make fun of us because of our faith and hope in Christ? Possibly! This was the experience of the early Christians, and it has been the experience of Christian downs through the ages. That is why Peter also writes in his letter, “For it is better to suffer for doing good, (i.e., witnessing to our faith in Christ) if that be the will of God, than for doing evil. ” Finally in the gospel we see that Christ has deep compassion for his apostles. The gospel this weekend, as has happened in weeks past, takes us back to the evening of the Last Supper. Jesus knows that his followers will be in chaos in the hours following his death. They will find themselves in a place of deep sorrow and confusion. But Jessus knows that the Father will be faithful in bringing about the good work He has begun in Jesus Christ. And that faithfulness will be borne out in the message of the Spirit which will come following Jesus’ ascension to the Father. And that is why he tells the apostles at the Last Supper, even though they do not understand what he is talking about in terms of the Advocate, that he will not abandon them. It will be through this coming of the Spirit, that the apostles, and those that follow them, will understand he has not deserted them rather, he is with them always through the power of the Spirit. “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my father and you are in me and I in you.” (John14:18-20) For it will be the Spirit that empowers them to live out the mission Jesus has given them and us. That mission was not solely for those early Christians but rather was for the entire people of God down through the centuries of time. That mission must be carried out by his followers faithfully down through the centuries of time until he comes again. The gospel for this 6th Sunday of Easter opens with Jesus’ statement, “If you love me, you will follow my commandments.” (John14:15) True love is a choice, it cannot be forced, it cannot be demanded. True love must be chosen on the part of the lover for the beloved. That is the choice Jesus made for us. What is the choice we will make to witness to that love in our lives through the way we speak, live, and care for others? “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John13:34-35) Therefore, it is especially important that we too care for the “another,” the person next to us, as much as Jesus has cared for us.
