{"id":1817,"date":"2016-05-08T12:30:35","date_gmt":"2016-05-08T16:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1817"},"modified":"2016-05-08T12:30:35","modified_gmt":"2016-05-08T16:30:35","slug":"7th-sunday-of-easter-year-c-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/7th-sunday-of-easter-year-c-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"7th Sunday of Easter, Year C – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

7th<\/sup> Sunday of Easter, Year C<\/a>
\nActs 7:55-60
\nPsalm 97:1-2, 6-7, 9
\nRevelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20
\nJohn 17:20-26
\nMay 8, 2016<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t talk often about the Book of Revelation but today\u2019s passage contains words spoken by the Lord to John that have become symbolic of our faith.\u00a0 The Lord says to John, \u201cI am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you take a moment to look at our Paschal Candle behind the baptismal font, you will see the Greek Letters Alpha and Omega.\u00a0 Our prayers at the beginning of the Easter Vigil as we bless the fire and the Paschal Candle refer to the Alpha and Omega but what do these symbols mean to us?\u00a0 Why should we consider them important?<\/p>\n

To understand this we must first know that \u201cAlpha\u201d and \u201cOmega\u201d are part of the Greek alphabet.\u00a0 In fact, Alpha is the first<\/em> letter, the beginning<\/em>, and Omega is the last<\/em> letter, the end.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, in identifying himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the Lord is speaking about his eternal nature.\u00a0 The Lord was present at the beginning of time and will be at the end of time. Nothing else can claim this eternal status.<\/p>\n

This in turn is meant to lead us to think about the Lord\u2019s divine nature as the one who is all-knowing and all-powerful.\u00a0 The Lord is everywhere in every time.\u00a0 Thus we should listen to the Lord.<\/p>\n

Stephen is an example of what it means to turn our lives over to the Lord.\u00a0 Stephen is named among the first deacons and then immediately begins to evangelize the people by sharing his experience of our Lord.<\/p>\n

Of course, not everyone accepts what Stephen tells them about Jesus.\u00a0 They don\u2019t want to hear it so, \u201cthey covered their ears.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time the other people were turning away from the Lord, Stephen was given his life totally to God and is granted a vision of seeing the heavens opened.\u00a0 Ultimately, Stephen is stoned to death but he remains steadfast in his faith, praying, as Jesus did, for those who kill him and hands his spirit over to the Lord.<\/p>\n

Accepting martyrdom is not easy.\u00a0 We don\u2019t want to be stoned but we do want to believe.\u00a0 Stephen believed in our Lord as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and that gave him the courage he needed to trust.<\/p>\n

Can we trust in the Lord?\u00a0 Not just \u201ccan we\u201d, do we?\u00a0 How much do we trust the Lord when challenges come in our own lives or when there is change coming like a new pastor?<\/p>\n

Jesus is all about us.\u00a0 In today\u2019s gospel we hear the completion of Jesus\u2019 farewell discourse.\u00a0 Right after the passage, Jesus is arrested.<\/p>\n

He knew He was about to be arrested.\u00a0 He could have been praying for himself.\u00a0 Yet, even though He knew his Passion was coming, He did not pray to God for himself.\u00a0 The prayer that we hear today from Jesus is for us.<\/p>\n

Why?\u00a0 Because Jesus\u2019 sees us as God\u2019s gift<\/em> to Him.<\/p>\n

Jesus himself is already in perfect unity with the Father.\u00a0 He has everything.\u00a0 Jesus repeatedly speaks of the Father and Him as one<\/em>.\u00a0 Jesus prays that we be one with Him and the Father.<\/p>\n

Jesus knows He is about to be arrested, beaten, scourged, and crucified and his concern is for us<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Everything Jesus does is for us.\u00a0 The Lord creates for us.\u00a0 Jesus is born as a little baby for our sake.\u00a0 Jesus preaches and heals for our sake.\u00a0 Jesus is crucified for our sake.<\/p>\n

Jesus is all about doing the Father\u2019s Will and the Father\u2019s Will is centered on loving us.<\/p>\n

There are billions of different people in the world and that means there can be billions of different \u201cwills\u201d in the world.\u00a0 Each of us might want something a little different.\u00a0 If we all truly seek to do God\u2019s Will, we will be working together.<\/p>\n

When we pray the Lord\u2019s Prayer, may we truly pray from the very depths of our heart and soul, thy will be done<\/em>, so that we all be one just as the Father and Jesus the Son are one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

7th Sunday of Easter, Year C Acts 7:55-60 Psalm 97:1-2, 6-7, 9 Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20 John 17:20-26 May 8, 2016 We don\u2019t talk often about the Book of Revelation but today\u2019s passage contains words spoken by the Lord to John that have become symbolic of our faith.\u00a0 The Lord says to John, \u201cI am …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘7th 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":[174,146],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-tj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817"}],"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=1817"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1819,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817\/revisions\/1819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}