A Homily - The Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C)

First Reading - Acts 14:21-27 ©

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 144(145):8-13a ©

Second Reading - Apocalypse 21:1-5 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 13:34

The Gospel According to John 13:31-35 ©

(NJB)

When you are reading about the acts of the apostles remember this: everything they accomplished they accomplished by their own design. We know that this is true because God does not intervene in the lives of the people. God has made each of us and the entire creation free.

Praise God for creating the universe, and filling it with all of its potentialities, with its myriad of possibilities that included us.

Now be mindful of this:

We will all experience hardship in life, such is the nature of being, but hardship is not a requirement for living in the way. We are not required to endure hardship before we see the face, of God, even though it is likely that we will.

Listen!

God is not a king.

God is the creator of the universe, God is present in all times and places; even in the deepest places of the human heart, but God does not intervene directly in human events.

God only issues an indirect influences over God’s children. God’s power will never circumscribe human freedom.

Contemplate the vast power of God, and contemplate the ways of God’s love and mercy, and know that the psalmist is mistaken when he calls God a king.

Listen to the prophet John:

At the end of all things there is God, the creator of the universe, and God is the temple we shall worship in; God is, God who dwells in the heart of every human being.

God’s temple is in the heart of everyone, enter into the other’s heart and allow the other to enter yours; there you will worship God together as one.

Do not forget this.

Everyone of God’s children has their name written in the book of life.

God promises to make the whole of creation new.

The world of the past will be gone, and death will be no more.

There will be no more mourning and no sadness, God’s own hand shall bring relief to everyone.

Listen!

Forget the apocryphal imagery and mythological symbolism of the “Son of Man,” forget the cryptic words about the glory of God; in whom and how it appears. Forget those things because they are irrelevant.

Know this, love one another. This is the purpose for which we were made.

To follow Jesus is to lead with love.

Love as Jesus loved. Be caring, be merciful, be just.

Be prepared to risk everything for the sake of love, even your life.

In this way you will be true to Jesus, and everyone will see that truth.

This is the way, there is no other.

Faith (which is the trust we place in God); faith is not about words, it is about actions, faith is an exercise of love.

Faith is not ideology, it is not partisan, it is not dogmatic, it is not doctrinaire. Faith is not a legally binding agreement. Faith is not concerned with creeds, or secrets, or magic words.

Faith is love.

First Reading - Acts 14:21-27 ©

They Gave an Account to the Church of all that God Had Done with Them

Paul and Barnabas went back through Lystra and Iconium to Antioch. They put fresh heart into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith. ‘We all have to experience many hardships’ they said ‘before we enter the kingdom of God.’ In each of these churches they appointed elders, and with prayer and fasting they commended them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.

They passed through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. Then after proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia and from there sailed for Antioch, where they had originally been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

On their arrival they assembled the church and gave an account of all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the pagans.

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 144(145):8-13a ©

Alleluia!

The Lord is kind and full of compassion,

  slow to anger, abounding in love.

How good is the Lord to all,

  compassionate to all his creatures.

Alleluia!

All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,

  and your friends shall repeat their blessing.

They shall speak of the glory of your reign

  and declare your might, O God,

to make known to men your mighty deeds

  and the glorious splendour of your reign.

Alleluia!

Yours is an everlasting kingdom;

  your rule lasts from age to age.

Alleluia!

Second Reading - Apocalypse 21:1-5 ©

A Vision of the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb

I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, ‘You see this city? Here God lives among men. He will make his home among them; they shall be his people, and he will be their God; his name is God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.’

Then the One sitting on the throne spoke: ‘Now I am making the whole of creation new.’

Gospel Acclamation – John 13:34

Alleluia, alleluia!

I give you a new commandment:

Love one another just as I have loved you,

says the Lord.

Alleluia!

The Gospel According to John 13:31-35 ©

In the Son of Man, God Has Been Glorified

When Judas had gone Jesus said:

‘Now has the Son of Man been glorified, and in him God has been glorified.

If God has been glorified in him, God will in turn glorify him in himself, and will glorify him very soon.

‘My little children, I shall not be with you much longer.

I give you a new commandment:

Love one another; just as I have loved you, you also must love one another.

By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.’

5^th Sunday of Easter