{"id":2513,"date":"2018-05-13T12:24:13","date_gmt":"2018-05-13T16:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2513"},"modified":"2018-05-13T12:24:13","modified_gmt":"2018-05-13T16:24:13","slug":"7th-sunday-of-easter-year-b-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/7th-sunday-of-easter-year-b-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"7th Sunday of Easter, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

7th<\/sup> Sunday of Easter, Year B<\/a>
\nActs 1:15-17a, 20a, 20c-26
\nPsalm 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20 (19a)
\n1 John 4:11-16
\nJohn 17:11-19
\nMay 13, 2018<\/p>\n

Today we hear Jesus\u2019 final prayer before he is arrested and crucified.\u00a0 He knew what was coming.\u00a0 He knew he was about to suffer his Passion but he accepted it as God\u2019s will.<\/p>\n

One might think Jesus\u2019 prayer would be entirely about himself at this point.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t.\u00a0 The portion of Jesus\u2019 prayer that we hear today is for us.\u00a0 Here we might learn a lesson for ourselves.\u00a0 When we face death, do we think of others?\u00a0 It is possible.\u00a0 I have seen people say on their deathbed that their concern is not for themselves but for those they leave behind.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get back to Jesus\u2019 prayer.\u00a0 What is it that Jesus prays for us?\u00a0 He prays that our Father keeps us in his name.\u00a0 He prays that we may be one<\/em> just as he and the Father are one.\u00a0 He prays that the Father keeps us from the evil one<\/em>.\u00a0 Lastly, he prays for us to be consecrated in truth<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Jesus has protected and guarded his disciples.\u00a0 Now he asks the Father to keep us in his name.\u00a0 What does this mean?\u00a0 Jesus came as the way and the truth and the life<\/em>.\u00a0 He came to lead us in our Father\u2019s way.\u00a0 To live as God teaches is to remain in his name.<\/p>\n

Jesus prays that we may be one<\/em> just as he and the Father are one.\u00a0 It is not God\u2019s will for us to be centered on ourselves.\u00a0 The greatest commandment is love God.\u00a0 The second is to love our neighbor.\u00a0 This means setting aside our selfish desires to focus on the good of all to work as one.<\/p>\n

Here I bring in Jesus\u2019 words of how the world hates his disciples.\u00a0 I see this today in people who put themselves at the center of their own universe.\u00a0 They hate us in the sense that they can\u2019t understand why don\u2019t think like them.<\/p>\n

We know there are people who don\u2019t like what Jesus offers, Truth<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 They want to have their own truth but we don\u2019t get to determine what \u201cTruth.\u201d\u00a0 It is something that transcends us.\u00a0 \u201cTruth\u201d comes from God.<\/p>\n

Do you share the \u201ctruth\u201d that Jesus brings?<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t easy.\u00a0 Telling the truth can come with a price.\u00a0 For instance, we know that as children, if we have done something wrong, we might get in trouble if we tell the truth.\u00a0 So, we try to hide the truth.<\/p>\n

As adults, we might be afraid to speak Jesus\u2019 truth because we might offend someone.\u00a0 I know that.\u00a0 I feel it myself sometimes when I preach.\u00a0 Even now, I feel that I could offer a list of things that the world thinks are okay but our faith tells us is bad.\u00a0 The list includes how we treat life in the womb, sexual behaviors, and how we care for the world that God has created for us.\u00a0 Sometimes I fear someone might not hear me correctly or misunderstand what I say or someone might be offended by what I say.<\/p>\n

So, it can seem best to keep quiet.\u00a0 However, is Jesus offended when we keep quiet?<\/p>\n

Jesus died for us on the Cross.\u00a0 Are we willing to suffer rejection in his name?<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t easy.\u00a0 Jesus does not want us to \u201churt\u201d anyone.\u00a0 We are not to judge but we are to offer the truth.\u00a0 It is for each person to decide what to do in their own lives but, if they are to be truly free in their choice, they must know about Jesus and what he offers.\u00a0 It is their choice but it is only truly a choice when they know about Jesus.<\/p>\n

We need to listen to Jesus and the Holy Spirit to know if and when to speak up.\u00a0 When we are called to speak up, we rely on the Holy Spirit to give us the words and the courage.\u00a0 We pray that as we work to make God\u2019s truth known, we make sure God\u2019s love is also known and the center of what we say and do.<\/p>\n

Again, it is not for us to judge.\u00a0 Jesus says so in Matthew 7:1.\u00a0 To use a common phrase, we are to hate the sin but love the sinner.<\/p>\n

Some may reject what we say.\u00a0 Others may embrace it. It is their choice.\u00a0 Ezekiel 3:17-21 tells us we are only responsible for whether we speak the truth or not.<\/p>\n

Again, I feel like I could start offering a list of behaviors that the world embraces that are contrary to what God has taught.\u00a0 Yet, it seems more in keeping with the Spirit at this moment in time<\/em><\/strong>, to focus today on the importance of \u201cTruth\u201d as it comes from God.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not about what I think is \u201ctruth\u201d or what you think.\u00a0 God is the origin of the \u201cTruth\u201d that we truly seek.\u00a0 God kindles a flame within us to know the \u201cTruth\u201d ourselves.\u00a0 When we know it, then we can live it and share it with others.<\/p>\n

Jesus prayed for his disciples before he departed.\u00a0 He did what he was called to do and it was time to move to the next level.<\/p>\n

Here I think of parents who have children whose time has come to graduate and move onto the next stage of their lives.\u00a0 Sometimes it is hard for the parent to let go as the child wants to go running out the door.\u00a0 The child might think they are ready for anything but they will discover the world is not an easy place.\u00a0 Parents can always pray for their children, that they have prepared them well with the \u201cTruth\u201d of Jesus.<\/p>\n

It is my prayer that as a spiritual father that I help you embrace the full \u201cTruth\u201d of Jesus Christ and that you live in all you do.<\/p>\n

May the Spirit always guide us to know if and when to speak and what to say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

7th Sunday of Easter, Year B Acts 1:15-17a, 20a, 20c-26 Psalm 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20 (19a) 1 John 4:11-16 John 17:11-19 May 13, 2018 Today we hear Jesus\u2019 final prayer before he is arrested and crucified.\u00a0 He knew what was coming.\u00a0 He knew he was about to suffer his Passion but he accepted it as God\u2019s …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘7th Sunday of Easter, Year B – 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":[29,82],"tags":[445,446,447],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-Ex","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2513"}],"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=2513"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2514,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2513\/revisions\/2514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}