{"id":1366,"date":"2014-05-25T07:29:01","date_gmt":"2014-05-25T11:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1366"},"modified":"2014-05-25T07:31:09","modified_gmt":"2014-05-25T11:31:09","slug":"6th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/6th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

6th<\/sup> Sunday in Easter, Year A<\/a>
\nActs 5-8, 14-17
\n1 Peter 1 Peter 3:15-18
\nJohn 14:15-21
\nMay 25, 2014<\/p>\n

Jesus gives us a mission to proclaim the gospel.\u00a0 St. Francis tells us \u2018proclaim the gospel always, to use words only when necessary.\u2019<\/p>\n

When is it necessary to use words?\u00a0 What words do we use?\u00a0 Here we might think of words to teach<\/em> others about what we believe.\u00a0 Our Catholic faith has a lot to say.\u00a0 Where do we begin?<\/p>\n

Peter offers us a starting point when he writes, \u201cAlways be ready to give an explanation<\/strong> to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter does not tell us to start with words from the catechism or certain bible verses.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t give a list of doctrines to present.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t even tell us to start with Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that all these things aren\u2019t important, they are.<\/p>\n

The place to begin talking about our faith is simple.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t start from what we know in our minds.\u00a0 The first words we speak about our faith to others must begin in our hearts, what is the reason for our hope?\u00a0 Why do we believe?<\/em><\/p>\n

For instance, one could start by telling a person that one must attend church each week.\u00a0 To do so is just to cite a rule.\u00a0 Rules can be important but I think a better place to start with is to tell others why we come to church each week.<\/p>\n

Theologically speaking we come to church to praise God.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t get something out of it.\u00a0 After all we hear God\u2019s word proclaimed from the Bible and broken open for us in the scriptures.\u00a0 Hopefully this helps us to live a better life.<\/p>\n

We also receive the body and blood of Jesus<\/em><\/strong> in the Eucharist.\u00a0 This gives us strength to live as Jesus teaches.<\/p>\n

Maybe another way to think of it is how we look at the commandments.\u00a0 Some people might look at the commandments and, more broadly, church teaching and say why would you want to do that.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a bunch of rules.<\/p>\n

Remember Jesus\u2019 words, \u201cIf you love me, you will keep my commandments.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

There are people we can care enough about to do things for simply because we love them, a spouse or a child for instance.\u00a0 To think of it from the child\u2019s perspective, when we are little, just because mom and dad say so, can be enough for us to do as they say.\u00a0 We know we can count on them when we don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Why does a parent care for a child?\u00a0 Love.<\/p>\n

God gives us commandments.\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n

Because God loves us.\u00a0 God has nothing to gain for himself by us following his commandments.\u00a0 As such, God doesn\u2019t give us commandments for his benefit.\u00a0 God gives us commandments that are good for us.<\/p>\n

Since God is motivating by love, we can trust in God\u2019s commandments.<\/p>\n

How do we tell this to others?\u00a0 Remember I said before that in his letter Peter doesn\u2019t tell us to start with quotes from the catechism or scripture.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t say we couldn\u2019t, just that we don\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

We can use scripture to talk about why we trust in God.\u00a0 The stories of the Old Testament tell us how God has been there for the people throughout the ages, that even when the people turned away from God, if they repented and called out to God for forgiveness and help, God would always come to their help.<\/p>\n

For us, it\u2019s still Easter and this should reminder us of the ultimate reason for our hope, the paschal mystery.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus died for us on the Cross.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because he loved us.\u00a0 The fact that Jesus died for us on the Cross shows us there is no limit on God\u2019s love for us.\u00a0 One has no greater love than to lay down one\u2019s love for his friends.\u00a0 <\/em>We can count on Jesus.<\/p>\n

This is the reason for our hope.\u00a0 It is the reason we need to come to church each week.\u00a0 I come to church not just because it is my job.\u00a0 I come because in my heart I know that when we celebrate Mass we are making present Jesus\u2019 sacrifice on the Cross for us.\u00a0 I know that when I receive Communion I am strengthened by it.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know this because of what\u2019s in my brain.\u00a0 Knowledge helps but it doesn\u2019t provide all the answers.\u00a0 I know this because of what is in my heart.\u00a0 I know this because when I come to Mass having a bad time, I feel better.\u00a0 I remember there is a God who loves me enough to give his Son on the Cross.<\/p>\n

This is the reason for my hope.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

6th Sunday in Easter, Year A Acts 5-8, 14-17 1 Peter 1 Peter 3:15-18 John 14:15-21 May 25, 2014 Jesus gives us a mission to proclaim the gospel.\u00a0 St. Francis tells us \u2018proclaim the gospel always, to use words only when necessary.\u2019 When is it necessary to use words?\u00a0 What words do we use?\u00a0 Here …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-m2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1366"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1369,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366\/revisions\/1369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}