Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B
Citazioni di
Ac 10,25-26. 34-35.44-48: www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9bfhjcj.htm
1Io 4,7-10: www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9ak0lmd.htm
Io 15,9-17: www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9asskgo.htm
“I no longer call you slaves, […] I have called you friends” (John 15:15). These words, spoken to us by the Risen Lord, should be a source of abundant joy and the certain hope for whatever the future holds for us. They are the roots of our life, ever new, always given in a passionate love for Christ, for the Truth and for all humanity.
These words are the bearers of a radical new relationship between God and humanity. They reveal something that humanity, in its human condition and sinfulness, could never have imagined: that the Son of God, the only Son of the Father, calls us His friends.
We should probably think again about what this word ‘friendship’ really means. Like ‘love’, it has been used and abused to such an extent that it seems today to be almost emptied of its real meaning. But Jesus explains to us in today’s Gospel what the authentic friendship of God really means.
The Lord tells us that the status of friends is, as we might put it, qualitatively superior to that of servants. This seems obvious to us today when think of the idea of servitude as against our rights. The condition of a servant seems to us to be clearly unworthy of a human being, who should be able to live freely and able to achieve our great ideals.
Yet we can see that this way of understanding the words of Jesus is incorrect. It’s incorrect in the historical context of the time, and in terms of the unique relationship which is being discussed. The relationship between God and humanity goes deeper than our simple understanding of the words ‘friend’ and ‘servant’. It is not just a relationship between one person and another, but a relationship between man and His Creator and Redeemer.
The situation of servitude before God was, in fact, what made Israel the chosen nation. Israel was called out of slavery in Egypt and put above all the nations of the world to serve the Lord. It was, and is, an honour and privilege for a people to be chosen and called to be servants of God.
Now, through grace, we can say that God has truly descended into our midst in order to raise us up to His Presence.
In Christ, we see the plan of the Father fulfilled. He is the real promised land, that was prepared for us in the womb of the Virgin Mary. We are not like Moses, the servant of the Lord (c.f. Deut 32: 52), destined only to see the promised land from a distance. We are able to enter and dwell there: “as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you […] I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father” (John 15: 9, 15).
This is what is so radically new in this friendship. Humanity, chosen and loved by God, created and called to serve Him, is now destined for a love which is beyond compare. “A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The Son of God, made man, gives His whole Self and lifts us up towards the Father. He opens the door of his dwelling and welcomes the faithful to the wedding feast.
By choosing us, which really means that He called each of us personally, Christ gives us the joy of sharing in His Life and Sonship. We become participants, as St Peter says, in the divine nature (c.f. 2 Peter 1:4).
Animated by this new and profound communion with the Risen Lord, that accompanies us always and everywhere, we implore the Blessed Virgin Mary, Refuge of Sinners and Our Lady of Fatima, to help us to ‘remain’ in the love of Christ, to love one another and bear fruit as befits the children of God. Amen
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FIRST READING: Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48.
When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.”
And Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”
While Peter was still saying this the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can any one forbid water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
Today’s text from the Acts of the Apostles describes the reception of the first Gentiles into the Christian Church. Cornelius, a Roman centurion stationed in Caesarea, had been an admirer of the God of the Jews. He gave alms generously and prayed much. God told him through an angel to send for Simon Peter who was in Jaffa. Peter, already prepared by a vision of clean and unclean animals (10:8-16) in which he was taught that what God had made clean must not be called unclean, came to Caesarea. The vision given him in Jaffa became clear on seeing the religious faith of Cornelius. He had no hesitation in entering a pagan household, something strictly forbidden to a Jew. He preached Christ’s life, death and resurrection to the assembled Gentiles and while he was preaching the Holy Spirit descended on them and they began to praise God in various languages, just as the Apostles and disciples had done on Pentecost day in Jerusalem. What greater proof was needed to convince Peter and his companions that God wanted the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, in his Church? Thus Cornelius and his household were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and became the first Gentiles to enter the Church.
Cornelius…feet: The Roman centurion wanted to honor Peter as a God, but Peter made him stand up telling him that he, Peter, was a mere man and should not be honored thus.
Peter said: Having learned from Cornelius about the vision of the angel and the command to send for Peter, the Apostle declares that he now understands that all men, Gentiles as well as Jews, are acceptable to God, if they turn to him. His own vision in Jaffa had prepared him for this.
still…this: While Peter was explaining Christ and his teaching (10:36-43), the Holy Spirit came upon all the Gentiles present.
believers…circumcised: The converted Jews, “brothers from Jaffa” (10:23) who had accompanied Peter, “were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,” for they still had the idea that Christ was the Messiah of the Jews only. Although Peter had no hesitation in accepting Cornelius and his household into the Church, the Council of Jerusalem had to be called to correct this wrong Jewish idea (Acts 15:1-29).
Can…baptizing: With the incontrovertible evidence that the Holy Spirit had descended on these Gentiles, Peter rightly declared that no manmade opinion could or should prevent them from full membership of the Church. They were then baptized with Christian baptism.
“God shows no partiality but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” These inspired and inspiring words of Peter, the head of the Apostles, removed any doubts which his fellow Jewish-Christians from Jaffa had as to the right of Cornelius and his household to be baptized and become Christians like themselves. They should also have opened the minds of all Jewish converts to the mission of Christ as a mission of salvation for all nations and not for Jews only. Unfortunately, there were some who exaggerated their own claims on God and who still looked down on the Gentiles. There were among the Jewish-Christians those who grudgingly admitted that Gentiles could be received into the Christian Church, but only if they became Jews first by accepting circumcision.
These people were a serious embarrassment to St. Paul in his missionary activity among the Gentiles. They followed him through Asia Minor telling the converted Gentiles that they were not really members of the Christian Church for they had not first become Jews. These “Judaizers,” as they were called, were causing such upsets among the Gentile converts that Paul and Barnabas were forced to ask the Apostles, assembled in the first Council of the Church in Jerusalem, to give a definitive answer to this question (Acts 15:1-2). They did, and the false teaching of the Judaizers was condemned. Gentiles could and should be received directly into the Church, without passing through any form of Judaism or without accepting any of the Jewish ritualistic practices.
God, through the Holy Spirit, has been with his Church right down through the ages and from its very beginning. The case of the conversion of Cornelius, narrated in today’s reading, happened in order that Peter, the head of the Apostles and the principal speaker at the Council of Jerusalem, should have visible proof from God that he wished Gentiles to be taken directly into his Church without any of the Jewish ritual observances. Peter’s address to the Council, describing what happened at Caesarea, silenced all opposition and settled this question for all time. But before the vision of the clean and unclean animals shown him in Jaffa, and the proofs of the presence of the Holy Spirit which he witnessed in Caesarea, Peter too had his narrow Judaizing tendencies.
The lesson for all Christians is that God has been, and will be, always with his Church. Christ has committed it to the care of mortal and fallible men but he has given them (and us) the assurance that he will be with them always even unto the end of time (Mt. 28:20). Today, many devout and sincere Christians are worried because of evident dissension between theologians on moral and dogmatic questions. Since the Second Vatican Council there has been a flood of writings from the pens of reputable theologians and sometimes from men with less depth of knowledge and less balanced judgement. This is but a natural consequence of the winds of change to which the saintly Pope John opened the windows of the Church.
Ever since Trent (1546), when the cold war with the Reformers began, the Catholic Church had remained rather static in its exposition of faith and morals. While the world around us had made giant strides in the study of man and the world in which he lived, and also in the study of ancient literature and culture, our seminary textbooks were faithfully copying the sixteenth century expositions of the theologians of that day. This in itself was right as far as it went, since the defined dogmas of the Church remain fixed for all time. However, it did not go far enough; it paid little or no heed to the immense growth in secular knowledge, or to the change in terminology and linguistics which the new philosophies had introduced. Scripture, especially which, with Tradition, is the basis of all theology, was very much neglected, to the detriment of our people’s knowledge of the revealed word of God.
Thanks to the Holy Spirit, who worked through Pope John and Vatican II, that has all been changed, or rather is being gradually changed. As in all change, there must be upsets and a disturbance of the status quo ante. There will be naturally men who oppose change, and on the other hand there are likely to be men who want to change too much. We are going through this period of change at present, and some people are surprised, if not shocked, at some of the moral and dogmatic pronouncements of present-day writers. Knowing, as we do, that the Holy Spirit is with the Church, we need have no fear. She has had similar experiences in the past—nearly all her great General Councils were preceded by disputes between theologians and would-be theologizers. The Councils, guided by the Holy Spirit, defined and expounded the true faith.
Truth will prevail; we can look forward confidently to the day when present disputes will end. Our Christian faith and morals will continue to be expounded authoritatively with the backing of the Holy Spirit, by the successors of the Apostles whom he sent to teach all nations.
SECOND READING: 1 John 4:7-10.
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.
On this Epistle see the Second Sunday of Easter. In today’s four verses, St. John is urging us to love one another, for we are sons of God whose very essence is love. He proved this when out of the infinity of his love he sent his own divine Son to give us eternal life and make expiation for the sins of the world.
let…another: The love St. John urges us to have for our fellow man is not the natural attraction which has its basis in family bonds, or sex, or some qualities we hold in common. It is that supernatural respect, interest and esteem which we have for all men. It is based on our knowledge of God as our common Father.
love is of God: This supernatural love of neighbor derives from God, whose very nature is love, and it is a free gift which he has instilled into us together with faith and hope in our baptism.
born…God: The man who has this supernatural love is a son of God by adoption, it was in his adoption ceremony that he was given this gift. He therefore knows God, not in the sense of the Gnostics but in the true sense; he is intimately associated with God through participation in the very nature of God which has been given him in baptism, in the divine gift of love.
God…Son: This is the manifestation of God’s love for us: he sent his only Son to live and die among us.
might…him: Through the Incarnation, the coming of God the Son as man among us, we have been made sons of God and heirs of eternal life.
not that we loved God: John is stressing the gratuitousness of God’s love for us. He loved us when we were incapable of loving him; even before we existed. His Son died for us while we were still sinners. As St. Paul says: “for someone really worthy a man might be prepared to die—but what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5:7-8).
It is told that when St. John was too old and feeble to say Mass, he insisted on being carried to the Church on Sundays to preach to the congregation. Sunday after Sunday his sermon consisted of one short sentence: “Little children, love one another.” After some weeks of this repetition, the presiding priest had the courage to say to the Apostle: “Father, could you not say something more?” The answer that he got was: “No, for if they do this they are doing everything.” Undoubtedly the Beloved Disciple was the Apostle of love. His Gospel and Epistles are dominated by the thought of “the Word made flesh,” the mystery of God’s love for us which brought about the Incarnation. Having been made children of God, we must, of course, love God for this gratuitous gift; but the real proof of our love of God is our love for our neighbor.
“He who does not love (his neighbor) does not know God.” This hardly needs proof. If we do know God we know the marvelous thing he has done for us in making us his children and heirs to heaven through the Incarnation, and the natural and supernatural reaction to such knowledge should be the desire to do something for God in return. And God himself through Christ has told us what we can do for him—we can be charitable toward his little ones, our fellow children of God on earth. Everything kind and good we do for them, we are doing it for himself, he tells us (Mt. 25:40).
Therefore, we are expected, and what is more, we are commanded, to love all God’s children. This is the way in which the good God allows us to make some little return for all he has done for us. Generous souls would not need a commandment, they would rejoice at the opportunity of doing something for God, but most of us are not too given to generosity, and so God has given us a commandment to do our duty. On the fulfilling of that commandment our own eternal welfare will depend. “I was hungry and you fed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick, I was in prison, and you visited me; well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.”
These are words we all would like to hear when called to judgement. We shall hear them if we keep our part of the contract. If we carry out the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, whenever and wherever we can, we need have no fear about God doing his part. We may not have much of this world’s goods, and we may not be able therefore to help our neighbor much in his bodily needs, but we can help him with our prayers, with words of consolation and encouragement. There is a little poem on kindness written by Father Faber which brings out what a help even the poorest of us can be to his neighbor, if only true charity inspires us. It runs like this:
“It was but a sunny smile and little it cost in the giving, But it scattered the night like the morning light, And made the day worth living.
It was only a kindly word, a word that was easily spoken, But it was not in vain for it chilled the pain, Of a heart that was nearly broken.
It was but a helping hand and it seemed of little availing, But its clasp was warm and it saved from harm, A brother whose strength was failing.”
Which of us is so poor in spirit, so weak in charity, that he cannot give a sunny smile to his neighbor whenever he meets him, or speak a kind word to someone in need of consoling, or give a helping hand, be it ever so little, to one in greater need than himself?
GOSPEL: John 15:9-17.
Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. This I command you, to love one another.”
Today’s verses are a continuation of last Sunday’s quotation from Our Lord’s Last Supper discourse to his disciples on Holy Thursday night. In last Sunday’s Gospel, Our Lord used the image of the vine and the branches to describe the intimate association between himself and his followers that was necessary if his disciples were to produce fruit for eternal life. Today, Our Lord urges his followers to abide in his love and to love one another. This love for neighbor must have as its model and exemplar Christ’s love for his disciples, which made him lay down his life for them. The disciples are not Christ’s servants but his intimate associates: they will bear lasting fruit in their life work if they trust in God and are motivated by true love of God and neighbor.
As the Father has loved me: The Father loves the Son with an infinite love. As God, Christ’s love for his followers (represented by the disciples) is infinite; as man, it is as complete as human love can be.
if…commandments: God’s commandments were Christ’s also. Keeping the commandment’s is man’s way of proving his love for Christ.
I have…commandments: As man, he obeyed every wish and command of the Father in every detail, “not my will but thine be done.”
greater…friends: There is nothing greater that a man can do for those he loves than to give his life for them. Christ did this.
servant…know: His relationship with his disciples was not that of master and servant, for he had brought them into the intimacy of the divine family. He had revealed the Father to them during his years with them; he had made them adopted sons of the Father.
I chose you: Their vocation was Christ’s free gift to them. He chose them, not they him.
bear fruit: That fruit for heaven was the number of their brothers who would be brought to eternal life. This fruit will last forever.
ask…name: He is their (and our) mediator with God. All our petitions to the Father, made through him, will be answered because by his life, death and resurrection he has earned for us all spiritual and, where necessary for the spiritual, temporal rewards.
This I command you: Christ ends by repeating the second of the greatest commandments: love of neighbor.
It is only a few weeks since Good Friday when we commemorated the agonizing death of Christ on Mount Calvary. This was an excruciating, shameful death even for hardened criminals who deserved it. But for our loving Savior, the innocent lamb of God, one who had never offended God or neighbor, it was something of which the whole human race should be ashamed forever. What caused Christ that torment and death on the cross was our sins, the sins of all mankind and not the spite and hatred of his Jewish opponents, who were only instruments in the tragedy. Atonement had to be made to God for the sins of the world, so that men could reach the eternal inheritance which the Incarnation made available to them. However, not all the acts of the entire human race could make a sufficient atonement to God. A sacrifice, an expiation of infinite value was needed. The death of the Son of God in his human nature was alone capable of making such an expiation.
That Christ willingly accepted crucifixion for our sakes, that he gave the greatest proof of love which the world has ever known, by laying down his life for his friends, did not make his sufferings any less, did not ease any of the pains of Calvary. His agony in the Garden before his arrest shows this: he foresaw all the tortures and pains which he was to undergo and sweated blood at the thought of what awaited him. But he was to keep his Father’s commandment: “not my will but thine be done.” We Christians must have hearts of stone, hearts devoid of all sense of gratitude, when we forget what Christ has done for us and deliberately offend him! Alas, this is what all of us do sometimes, and many of us do all the time. Christ died to bring us to heaven but we tell him, by our sins, that he was wasting his time. We do not want to go to heaven, we are making our happiness here!
How far can human ingratitude and thanklessness go? Christ told us, through the disciples on Holy Thursday night, that he had made us his friends, his intimates. We are no longer servants in the household, who merely earn their daily wage and have no intimacy with the family and no hope of ever sharing in the family possessions. Instead, we have been adopted into the family by Christ becoming man, we have been guaranteed all the rights of children: intimacy with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and the future sharing in the eternal happiness of that divine household. Christ’s Incarnation made us God’s children; Christ’s death on the cross removed sin. Sin is the one obstacle that could prevent us reaching our eternal inheritance.
Because God gave us a free will we can in a moment of folly, a moment of madness really, deprive ourselves of the privileges and possessions which Christ has made available to us. We can choose to exchange an eternity of happiness for a few fleeting years of self-indulgence on earth. We can fling Christ’s gift of love back in his face and tell him we don’t want it. God forbid that we should ever act like this, that we should ever forget God’s purpose in creating us. It is a marvelous thing to be alive, if we have hope in a future life. If nothing awaited us but the grave, then to live on this earth, which is a valley of sorrow and tears for the vast majority, would be the cruelest of jests. But of this we need have no fear. Life on earth is but a short prelude to our real existence. If we use this brief period as Christ has told us how to use it, death for us will be the passage into the eternal mansions. Be grateful to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, love the Blessed Trinity; prove your love by loving your fellow man. By doing this you are fulfilling the whole law and the prophets; and you are assuring yourself of the place in heaven which Christ has won for you.
