VI Sunday Easter:[C]:Acts 14:1-2, 22-29; Rev 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn 14:23-29

VI Sunday Easter:[C]:Acts 14:1-2, 22-29; Rev 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn 14:23-29

Event: In Africa young girls who consecrate themselves to God as nuns dress up as brides for a wedding and sing love songs to Jesus. A few years after such a religious ceremony, a young nun who had been having a rough time in her mission assignment comes back to the convent and asks the Mother Superior: “Mother, is it really true that we are spouses of Christ.” “Yes, it is true, my daughter,” replies the Mother Superior, “Why do you ask?” “Well,” stammered the young nun, “Since I was professed five years ago, I haven’t actually felt anything!”

Our poor nun may not have felt anything, yet she remains on the right track in understanding the relationship between Jesus and his devotees in terms of an intimate love relationship. When Jesus speaks in today’s gospel of “those who love me” he is referring to his followers. For Jesus “those who love me” is another way of saying “my disciples” or “those who believe in me” or simply “Christians.” The relationship between the Christian and Christ is essentially a love relationship. That is why Jesus said in John 15:15 “I do not call you servants any longer ... I call you friends.” Yet many of us feel more comfortable serving Jesus as boss rather than relating to him as a friend. There is a limit to what a boss can demand from you. There is no such limit when it comes to friendship and intimacy.

Sometimes loneliness overwhelms us.  It overwhelms everyone at times.  Sometimes we think about our mistakes, our sins, and we become despondent.  Everyone at some time or other asked himself or herself, “How could a person like me, a person who is inclined to sin do God’s work?”  Everyone suffers from crippling guilt at times in his or her life.  Everyone makes the mistake of letting the past destroy the present and eliminate the future. When we feel we are all alone, when we feel that we are not good enough, we need to remember that Jesus did not ascend and then leave us destitute. He didn’t leave us with His Power, His Presence, His Life.    And he didn’t leave us to spend the rest of our lives contemplating our belly buttons.  He empowers us to bring His Presence to all, beginning with our families and then extending to the entire world. 

“Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).

Joke:   A 2 ½-year-old, Kelli, went with a neighbor girl to church for First Communion practice. The pastor has the children cup their hands, and when he gives them the Host - in this case, a piece of bread - he says, “God be with you.” Apparently this made quite an impression on her. She came home and told her mother to cup her hands and bend down. Kelli took a piece of bread from her sandwich, placed it in her mother’s hands, and whispered, in her most angelic voice, “God will get you.”

Practical Applications:  1)We are not alone.  One of the great social and ethical problems of our time is isolation.   Spouses, parents and children often live as virtual strangers to one another.   This is unfortunate because we never need to be alone.   Jesus can always be present to us.  2)Let us live our daily lives appreciating the abiding presence of God within us.  It is the abiding presence of God within us that enables us to face the future with undying hope and true Christian courage.  

Introduction:  Sixth Sunday of Easter

Message: By listening attentively to the Spirit promised by Jesus, the early Church resolves the question whether Gentile converts need to observe certain Jewish ritual practices.  All are called to dwell in the heavenly Jerusalem, founded on the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Saints and events in this week:   9-Thursday-Ascension of the Lord; 10-Friday-Saint Damien de Veuster, priest from USA;