{"id":1814,"date":"2016-05-01T13:52:32","date_gmt":"2016-05-01T17:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1814"},"modified":"2016-05-01T13:52:32","modified_gmt":"2016-05-01T17:52:32","slug":"6th-sunday-of-easter-year-c-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/6th-sunday-of-easter-year-c-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"6th Sunday of Easter, Year C – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

6th<\/sup> Sunday of Easter, Year C<\/a>
\nActs 15:1-2, 22-29
\nPsalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
\nRevelation 21:10-14, 22-23
\nJohn 14:23-29
\nMay 1, 2016<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever loves me will keep my word<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are among the words Jesus gives to his disciples as He prepares them for his Passion.\u00a0 From our human experience, these might be difficult words to accept.\u00a0 When another human being begins a sentence with \u201cif you love me,\u201d we might immediately wonder what do they really want.\u00a0 We anticipate they are going to ask us for something they want <\/strong>and that it will probably be something we don\u2019t want to do.<\/p>\n

With Jesus, it\u2019s a little different.\u00a0 Jesus does not tell us to keep His Word out of his own self-interest.\u00a0 Jesus is motivated in the words He gives us by what is good for us.<\/p>\n

Jesus wants us to love him and to love him means to trust him.\u00a0 That means trusting in His Word.<\/p>\n

Where do we go to find Jesus\u2019 words today?\u00a0 Of course, the Bible is the place where we find Jesus\u2019 words.\u00a0 Most explicitly we find Jesus\u2019 own words in the gospels but that does not mean it is the only part of the Bible that is important.\u00a0 As Catholics we believe that while the Bible is written down by human authors, the Bible in its entirety is the inspired Word of God.<\/p>\n

That means we should not read just the gospels.\u00a0 We need to read the whole New Testament.\u00a0 We also need to read the Old Testament.\u00a0 Jesus does not supersede the Old Testament.\u00a0 In fact, if we look at our reading from Revelation today, we hear how in Heaven both the Twelve Tribes of Israel as well as the Twelve Apostles hold a special place in Heaven.\u00a0 We need to read both the Old and New Testaments.<\/p>\n

How we do know how to interpret God\u2019s Word today?\u00a0 It can be a challenge.\u00a0 In the early Church, shortly after Jesus\u2019 Resurrection, they faced challenges sorting this out.\u00a0 The question of what was necessary to be saved brought \u201cno little dissension and debate<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were some who argued that the Gentiles first need to be circumcised before they could become Christians and they had to follow all the food laws.\u00a0 Others said no.\u00a0 Realizing how this would be a fundamental shift in their practice, they did not simply leave it for each individual or group to decide for themselves.\u00a0 They came together as the Apostles to discern what God wanted.\u00a0 It was not a political debate settled by a majority vote.\u00a0 Each person offered their own perspective but the goal was to discern God\u2019s Will.\u00a0 They took into consideration what we can read in the Bible like the story (Acts 10 & 11) of the vision Peter had to go to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, to baptize his family.\u00a0 Regarding the food laws, they reflected on Jesus\u2019 own words that we are not made unclean by what goes into our bodies but by what we say and do.<\/p>\n

In addition to God\u2019s Word, they counted on the Holy Spirit to guide them just as we must.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit, as we profess in the Creed, is sent by the Father and Jesus.\u00a0 They work together in perfect unity.\u00a0 This unity should be our goal.<\/p>\n

Being in a loving relationship with Jesus does not mean we always get our way.\u00a0 Our way is not always the best way.\u00a0 It means trusting in Jesus as the way and the truth and the life<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If only trusting Jesus would be as simple as it might sound.\u00a0 Today there are many voices in the world who think that they know what is right and wrong.\u00a0 They often use psychology and\/or popular opinion to determine what is right and wrong.\u00a0 Others say there is no universal right and wrong.\u00a0 They think it is fine for everyone to do whatever they want as long as no one is hurt by it.\u00a0 (Unfortunately, their concept of \u201churt by it\u201d is narrow and does not include moral, emotion, or spiritual harm).<\/p>\n

None of these determine what is right and wrong.\u00a0 Right and wrong is determined by God.\u00a0 The best path for us to follow is determined not by our own wants but by God\u2019s Wisdom.<\/p>\n

None of what I have said should be interpreted to mean all psychology and modern thought is completely bad.\u00a0 For instance, psychology can be a valuable tool<\/em><\/strong> to help people understand their behavior and help us to respond in a way to help the people with their struggles but it is Jesus who determines the right and the wrong.\u00a0 We need to embrace Jesus\u2019 truth.\u00a0 We should not judge others but we are called to trust in Jesus and share His Word.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t always easy.\u00a0 Jesus knew his disciples would struggle to accept the Crucifixion but He knew it must be as the Father had planned.<\/p>\n

Jesus knew He would be leaving and the disciples would be sad by this.\u00a0 He worked to prepare them for this.\u00a0 He wanted them to understand how his departure was a good thing when He said, \u201cIf you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus loved the Father and had complete trust in the Father.\u00a0 May we have the grace we need to always trust in the Father\u2019s Will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

6th Sunday of Easter, Year C Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23 John 14:23-29 May 1, 2016 \u201cWhoever loves me will keep my word.\u201d These are among the words Jesus gives to his disciples as He prepares them for his Passion.\u00a0 From our human experience, these might be difficult words …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘6th Sunday of Easter, Year C – 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-tg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814"}],"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=1814"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1815,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814\/revisions\/1815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}