April 29, 2018

5th Sunday of Easter B Acts 9: 26-31 John 3: 18-24; John 15: 1-8 After Easter Sunday we hear different faith stories from the Acts of the Apostles. We see how many of them realized that God was present in their lives at every moment. They didn’t have to bear the burden of being Jesus’ disciples alone. They had received the gift of the Holy Spirit. They were graced with God’s love, enthusiasm, and constant help in spreading the love story of Jesus. They knew that they were loved and had this mission to share. Do I do the same? There is an interesting series on Netflix on the life and times of Queen Elizabeth II of England. It tells how her father King George VI died after a long battle with cancer, and Elizabeth succeeded him. She tells her grandmother how inadequate and unprepared she was and totally terrified that the people would not accept her. This dignified, elderly queen told her granddaughter that to be a king or queen is about service, service that is centered in God. She said that her role was “To give ordinary people an ideal to strive towards, an example of nobility and duty to raise them from their wretched lives. Monarchy is a calling from God. That is why you are crowned in an abbey, not a government building; why you are anointed, not appointed. It’s an archbishop that puts the crown on your head, not a minister or public servant. Which means that you are answerable to God in your duty, not the public.” Isn’t this what Jesus is telling us in His address to the apostles at the Last Supper, the scene of today’s gospel? It doesn’t matter what our position is: whether we are a queen or a poor farmer, or work in a factory; whether we are a teacher, a priest, retired or incapacitated, our lives are meant to display the love and goodness of God. Do they? Today’s readings help us with living as Jesus needs us to live the true Christian life. The first reading centers on Saul arriving in Jerusalem right after his stunning conversion. The apostles and disciples obviously were afraid. Here was a person who was a learned scholar and yet was the ‘take charge’ person at the stoning death of Stephen, the first person that the community had chosen to be a deacon. How else would they react. Paul had been on the ‘payroll’ of the chief priests and was commissioned to bring back to Jerusalem anyone who belonged to the ‘Way’, the early name of Christians. Now we have a lesser known person step in and help, Barnabas. Now Barnabas’ name means ‘son of encouragement’ . I wonder how much encouragement I am to people who come to me? Do I treat each person as being sent by God and as one who has a need? Do I realize it doesn’t matter who or what that person is? God has confidence in me and gives me the necessary grace to help that person. This is what ‘the grace of the Holy Spirit’ means. Well, Barnabas gave great encouragement to Saul/Paul and made it his responsibility to turn Paul into a great preacher and defender of the faith. It was the Holy Spirit that was the continual driving force within the Church. It is the Holy Spirit who is the driving force within me and each Christian to be ‘Jesus’ daily as we live our lives. It is so interesting in the Gospel of John that the only explicitly named commandment is we are all called to “love one another.” We see that in John 13:34-35, “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.” Also is John 15:12-14, “This is My commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” In the second reading John states, “Children let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.” (1 John 3: 18), If I continue to respond to the Spirit’s grace and keep God’s commandments, I can be confident that I will receive whatever I ask from God. This is so true in my life. Countless people in sharing their faith stories and in how they have witnessed to Jesus, have confirmed this over and over again. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does He prunes so that it bears more fruit.” I am not a gardener. I tell people that I have received three cactus plants in my life; the first two died because I ‘occasionally’ watered them. The last one I have never watered, just put it by the window and it thrives. But I appreciate this example of Jesus. All I have to do is to “remain in Me," remain in Jesus. This Greek verb,’meme’, is frequently translated ‘remain’ or dwell, and we will see in Sacred Space 2018 they translate it as ‘abide’. Living the Word summarizes this passage so beautifully saying that it “…has significant theological import in the Gospel. In John 1:32-33, the Spirit descends on Jesus and remains with Him. The disciples are to remain with Jesus (8:31). Jesus’ ministry and even incarnation can be summarized as His remaining with us. And as today’s Gospel states clearly, the disciple who remains in Jesus can bear much fruit (15:5). The Johannine community understood that remaining in Jesus characterized an intimate, enduring, reciprocal relationship between Jesus and the Spirit, Jesus and the disciples, and Jesus and the Father.” Now this is not automatic. I have responsibilities myself to continue growing in the Spirit. I have to take time to read Scriptures, especially the Gospels. I should not just read them, but take time and reflect on what I am reading and STOP frequently just to mull over the words and see what the Spirit is telling me. So I am to read and reflect on them. These help me to prune away the baggage in my life. This includes the dead branches of negative habits, relationships, compulsions, addictions and so much more. This takes courage but I’m never alone; the Spirit’s presence and graces are always there just waiting for my invitation. It is important for me to learn to not only be compassionate to others but to learn to be compassionate to myself. I must learn to forgive myself and to acknowledge my mistakes, work on them and let them go. LET GO AND LET GOD is so important. Am I giving God a chance? So I reflect on: • How do I invite Jesus’ words to ‘remain’ in me and make a difference? • Do I take time each evening to look back at the day and to ‘re-observe’ my actions and interactions with others? Did I see God present? Was I God’s presence to others? • The Easter season is about Jesus’ Resurrection and the transformation of my life in Jesus; how am I doing with this? • What are some of the bad habits I have to prune out of my life so that I can be a more productive Christian? • Do I have a lot of ‘unproductive branches’, that do not bear fruit? Are their many areas I am just living for myself and not others? Sacred Space 2018 states: “Dear Jesus, You seem to love that little word abide. You use it eight times here! Let me love it too. Your abiding is steady; You are constantly at home with me. You don’t drift off or grow bored, as I do. Teach me this art of abiding. I need to learn that I don’t have to be always on the go. Grapes mature simply by being on the vine; they don’t have to work to blossom and ripen. The same is true for me. Simply being with You is enough.”