By Deacon Richard Hay
“The love of God in our lives…”
I don’t know about you, but this last month, the first four weeks of the Easter season has been quite an experience – quite the journey – with all the events happening within our universal church.
This coming Monday will mark just one month since our Holy Father Francis died early on that Easter Monday.
I recently had a conversation with one of our parishioners at a parish event, and they mentioned that this journey which the universal church has been on very much parallels what we had been through during Holy Week when we celebrated the Easter Triduum including Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and of course Easter.
While not anywhere near the sacrifice that Jesus offers for our sins on the cross, Pope Francis did dedicate his life to the church – especially when he accepted his election as our Pope back in 2013. So, his death, as the Vicar of Christ, the leader of Jesus’s church on earth and the successor to St. Peter did result in our mourning for him – just like the apostles mourned Jesus’s death.
We then watched the church go through the period of “Sede Vacante” or the empty chair, like the three days without Jesus while he was in the tomb. Pope Francis was also laid to rest in a tomb, with his body prepared for that burial just like Jesus’s body was prepared before being laid in the tomb after his death.
Of course, we know that on the third day, Jesus was raised from death to life – resurrected – as it was promised and there was great rejoicing in the early church among the apostles and believers of Jesus as he appeared among them as we have heard over these Sundays of the Easter season.
We have also had the opportunity to experience great joy when our new Holy Father, Pope Leo the XIV, was elected by the College of Cardinals on May 8th. While not a resurrection, it is a new life in the Church – a continuation of the line of successors that goes back to St. Peter.
As you can see, there are many parallels in what has happened with the death of our Holy Father Francis and the election of Pope Leo and our journey through the Easter mysteries.
That brings us to today – this Fifth Sunday of Easter. The first reading, psalm, and second reading contain a lot of imagery about the Kingdom of God.
The gospel also follows with verses about this same kingdom, but this is now the Kingdom of God’s love. Our church in this world is all about establishing the Kingdom of God here on earth and we do that through the love of God and His Son which brings us the Holy Spirit. Haven’t we seen the Holy Spirit in action over these last few weeks in our universal church? As Father said recently – no such thing as coincidences when it comes to faith.
In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear about how the structure of the church was established during Paul and Barnabas’s mission to the Gentiles. They appoint elders who are prayed over and installed to oversee these local churches – just like our bishops and priests who are put in place to shepherd the local church and parishes in various dioceses. Their authority is given by Christ in an unbroken line of succession from the first apostles. It is given to them to exercise ministry and authority in the absence of those who preceded them.
This has happened throughout history, for over 2,000 years, and it continues to happen in our church as we have witnessed with the papacy over this past month.
The first reading concludes with the verse “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” Those hardships we are going to experience in this life and many if not most of us have done so but it is through the love of God that we are given the graces to live through those moments in life. Jesus never said it would be easy, but His love will be there to sustain us. The Universal Church also goes through these hardships and challenges but through the love of God it is also sustained.
Our Psalm today is also known as the “Psalm of the Kingdom of God”. In case you were not counting, the Kingdom of God is mentioned four times in this psalm – more than any other psalm.
In it we are reminded that we are called to proclaim this kingdom just like the Apostles, Paul, Barnabas, and their successors over all of history. We receive this call at our baptisms – you have heard these words said over the last three weeks as Father Marek and I baptized eight babies at the Sunday masses – that through our baptism we are to join Him as “Priest, Prophet, and King.”
The psalm also affirms that God’s grace, which is sustained in us through the sacraments, is characterized as gracious, merciful, kind, good, and compassionate. What beautiful reminders to consider when we look at God’s grace and His love for us. Nothing in there about a vengeful God – just a pointer to the gospel’s new commandment of love and that his kingdom is for all ages – and that it – along with His love – endures forever.
The verse that should catch our attention in the second reading from St. John in the book of Revelation is that “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Consider how intimate that interaction is for us. Would you let a stranger walk up and touch your eyes? Maybe a father, mother, or spouse could do that because we already have a close and intimate relationship with them. But a stranger – not very likely.
Through the love of God, who is no stranger to us if we are his disciples, we can receive the depths of this intimacy with God and having Him wipe away those tears will be comforting. This is the level of intimacy in the life to come – this is the level of intimacy we can have through the love of God.
Our dear departed Pope Francis put it this way in his apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” (The Joy of Love) – he wrote:
“The family is an image of the Holy Trinity – the tenderness of love that should be expressed between spouses and family members is a foretaste of the divine.”
How beautiful and encouraging is that!?! I don’t think it would be strange at all to have God wipe away my tears.
Finally, in our gospel we hear this new commandment to love one another as Christ loves us. To love others like he loved us is to evangelize and demonstrate our love for Him through loving each other. How do we do this as individuals or a community?
Is our parish a community of love or do we just say hello in passing as we race into church to grab a seat or rush out to get in our cars and beat the traffic? Through those types of actions and others in life, can we be called the disciples of Jesus?
Remember he said we are recognized as His disciples because we show and are the love of Christ to others.
Can we truly say that we are the love of Christ through our actions? It is a tough question and requires a tough truth at times.
If changes are needed in our lives, then we should pray on it, then we can ask God to help us change so that our actions truly reflect the love of Christ to all we encounter and not just some of those we cross paths with in our daily lives.
Let me close with the blessing that Pope Leo shared from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica when he was introduced to the world for the first time as our Holy Father. He said:
” God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! All of us are in God’s hands. So, let us move forward, without fear, together, hand in hand with God and with one another! We are followers of Christ. Christ goes before us. The world needs his light. Humanity needs him as the bridge that can lead us to God and his love. Help us, one and all, to build bridges through dialogue and encounter, joining together as one people, always at peace.”
Amen
