Sixth Sunday of Easter

Readings:

• Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
• 1 John 4:7-10
• John 15:9-17

 

Thoughts for your consideration:

This week’s readings tell us that God is very active, and the source of his action is Love. In all three readings we are made aware that God is the active agent that creates the moments of possibilities for us to love him and in return all of humanity. Our active option is to respond to these moments. This image of God is one that is very different from the traditional metaphysics of God as a watchmaker who creates the Universe, winds it up and sits back to see how things go. These reading tell us that God does not sit back at all but rather he is front and center shaping the world like a potter. According to the readings we are being actively shaped by God to be a reflection of that divine Love to ourselves and each other.

 

In the first reading the Holy Spirit is intervening in bring Peter and Cornelius together and to begin the Gentile integration of the early Christian community. This is a stretch for Peter who has only understood his experience with Jesus within the parameters of the Jewish community. Yet he allows himself to be moved by the Spirit and to accept (perhaps with some trepidation) this development. With powerful visions the Holy Spirit guides Peter to an awareness that he “should not call anyone profane or unclean.” Amazed at the reception of the Holy Spirit by the gentile household of Cornelius Peter exclaims, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” With this event that was clearly guided by the Holy Spirit the Christian community begins its mission to spread the Gospel to all members of humanity because “What God has made clean [we] must not call profane.”

 

John declares that true love comes from God. It is too simple these days to say that we are called to love one another. Overall we take this for granted under the rubric that we tolerate each other and show random acts of kindness from time to time. The love that John invites us to express is a mystical love that transcends our own desires and interest. To love with the capacity that God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit has for all of creation is to love God and all creation with such intensity that we lose ourselves completely in becoming love for others. In our own limited mortality it is difficult to truly comprehend such an existence where we, like Jesus, can “lay down one’s own life for one’s friend.” This is the love of self sacrifice.

 

Jesus puts it all together when he offers the Great Commandment, “that you love one another as I have loved you.” Through the self sacrifice of Jesus in the Passion narratives God again acts with love towards creation. We however are not merely passive recipients in this mystical dance. Scripture constantly reminds us that we are expected to follow the way that Christ has opened for us by following his example. We are to engage in a mystical self sacrificing love for all members of humanity and creation. Within our own society this calls us to look at policies from the perspective of those who are being affected by them. There are no artificial borders or walls that the Spirit will respect with regards to the great love that God has for all creation, Peter became aware of this truth. We are called to love with the same openness where no artificial border such as nationality, culture, language or creed can keep us from honoring the dignity of others. God made all things; nothing God has created should ever be called profane or unclean.

 

Questions for Reflection with your faith sharing group:

• How have you witnessed God as an active agent in your own life or in society? How have you responded to these moments?
• Consider your own experience of Love. How does it mirror the love that Christ showed his disciples in life and in death? How do you consider the challenge to love all members of humanity with the same openness that Peter showed Cornelius?
• Identify artificial borders that exist in our society. Have you ever witnessed these borders limiting the creative work of God’s love? How do you respond to these borders?