SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles      10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48

Psalms 98:1-4

1 John 4:7-10

John 15:9-17

This weekend’s gospel continues from where last Sunday’s gospel left off.  It is a continuation of Jesus’ Final Discourse in John’s Gospel, and the subject matter is clearly something that Jesus would want reiterated before the dramatically fatal events of Holy Week.  There is no particular metaphor (the vine and the branches) to focus on, but the themes of this weekend’s readings continue some of the images given to us in last week’s second reading from the first letter of John (love), and in last week’s gospel (the need to bear fruit).  John’s first letter spoke to his listeners about keeping God’s commandments, and then he clearly defines what that commandment is: “His commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as He commanded us.”

The Church can, sometimes, complicate our lives with all sorts of laws and precepts, and if we are practicing Catholics we will feel the pinch of those laws at some of the most memorable moments of our lives: first communions, confirmations, weddings, funerals, Mass attendance, etc.  Then there are all the laws and precepts governing morality.  On an intellectual level it is impossible not to be pinched by the laws and precepts of the Church, unless one has chosen to be fully unengaged in our everyday lives, for it is there that we are confronted by contraception, abortion, and the myriad of issues which surround all that is connected to LGBTQ matters.  Sadly, so many of the newly ordained these days seem to be overly concerned about all those laws and precepts, and they seem to have forgotten that the religion of Jesus Christ asks but one thing of us – to love as He loved.

Some might argue that summing up the faith to the simple concept of ‘loving’ does a great disservice to a church which oftentimes has seemed to be held together by laws and precepts.  But where in the Scriptures do we hear Jesus speaking about the need for “laws” or “precepts”?  We don’t, except when He condemns the Scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy, a hypocrisy which places too much emphasis on laws and precepts, and not enough emphasis on the fundamental concept (even in the Jewish Law) of loving.

Had the apostles focused too much on the laws and precepts of their Jewish faith, and not on the broader concept of loving, what is now the Christian faith might never have been anything more than a sect of Judaism.  Our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles spares us the lengthy tale (nearly all fifty verses of chapter ten) of Peter’s conversion, a conversion experience which brings Peter to the understanding  that “God shows no partiality” and that he should no longer “call any person profane or unclean” (v. 28).  Indeed, the debate over the need for “circumcision” before becoming Christian will rage in the early church, but we are given a glimpse of Peter in our first reading who has already left the confinement of his Jewish faith by welcoming Cornelius, a Roman Centurion, whose very presence would have ordinarily made Peter unclean and unworthy of worship (I recommend the reading of the entire interesting story in chapter ten of Acts).  It was a profound love which motivated Peter to shift his understanding of what true faith means.

Who would argue with the first letter of John: “God is love”?  The love of God, the source and origin of all love, was revealed by His sending “His only Son into the world so that we may have life through Him.”  In this final discourse of Jesus in John’s gospel, Jesus reiterates what He surely said often: “Remain in my love.”  Just as the grape branches of last week’s gospel remain attached to the vine from which they draw their strength, we, too, as His disciples remain loving individuals who find ‘complete joy’ in doing Jesus’ will.  “This is my commandment (singular): love one another as I love you.”  This is the very essence of what Christianity is all about.  Those who do not act in a loving manner, those whose behavior manifests a heart hardened by sin, those who are selfish, unkind, ill tempered, greedy, ruthless, unfeeling, lacking in compassion – they can never consider themselves genuinely Christian.  Our hearts are to remain in Jesus, and there is no room there for anything that is not love.