SUNDAY MAY 12, 2024
SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER B
Act 1:15-17, 20-26
1 John 4:11-16
John 17:11-19
FATHER, KEEP US ONE AND IN YOUR LOVE.
The prayer of Jesus at his departure from the world was very timely, important and highly instructive. Jesus offered prayers for the flock committed to him by the Father. Jesus understands the vicissitudes of life, the problems, difficulties, and tensions in the world. He knows the antics of the evil one and looks with love and pity over his flock. His desire is that none be lost, none be found wanting and none be excluded or stray from the way or the path of salvation.
Our first reading narrates how the abandoned position of Judas was replaced by Matthias. We must never loose God’s calls and positions God places us in life. Judas lost his because he became selfish and pursued shadow. He lost it all and was replaced thereafter. “His office, let another take.” We must therefore struggle to maintain the office, position and our call that God has allotted to us.
So Jesus’ concern is for his flock to hold firm to the faith, to be united and to live in love. Our utmost concern should also be to keep holding on to Jesus and never getting tired or weary but always growing in faith with straying.
In our resolves to keep faith and be at peace with God, Jesus admonishes us on the precise things to do. He has given us the word and consecrated us in the truth and prays for us to be one. These are the precise ways to hold on to Jesus in our live.
First, the word of God is life, we need it everyday, to guide our ways, to correct our mistakes, to instruct us in the way and to make us maintain our lives in him. We celebrate God’s words each day, reading it personally, and joining in the community of the faithful in our liturgical celebration to break the word as the disciples did and to be energized by this word. We must never abandon this way of listening, meditating and feeding on the word of God.
The word is always the light to our steps, the guide to our lives and the way to our salvation. Sincere acknowledgment of the place and position of the word of God in our lives is necessary for our salvation. It builds up our spiritual and moral lives and helps us adjust to the tides of life.
The apostles and disciples of Jesus listens to this words daily and that was the main thing that emboldens them in the work of spreading the gospels.
Then the second way of holding unto Christ is to be consecrated in the truth. To be wholly consecrated in the truth is to realize that we are set apart from the world. Every Christian is set apart and must be different from the world. Our values must be different, our lifestyles and motive of living must be different, our appetite must be different. Recognizing our consecration and living it out helps us to appreciate the value and place of the Holy Spirit. For we cannot do it alone or by ourselves. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to live the ideal Christian life. Jesus did not abandon us or leave us orphans. He desires our well-being and he prays for us.
Another greater way to maintain and uphold our Christian faith which Jesus offered in prayer is to maintain the unity of the brotherhood. This, Jesus prayed too. That they may be one. “Ut unum sint”. That Christian may be one. In oneness, we conquer the world, in oneness we triumph and win and in oneness we gather always.
The proliferation of different sects of Christianity arises from the evil one, from man’s greed, from high-handedness of man and from self gratification of man. It can never be the will of God.
United Christianity is what Jesus prayed for and worked for. We must strive to achieve this by being tolerant to other bodies of Christ, cooperating with them and being sympathetic with them. Condemnation and castigation of one another does not build up the body of Christ, but diminishes it.
As the second reading of today says, because we are consecrated or rather set apart for God in Christ, we must emulate the love of God. “For if God loves us, we also ought to love one another.” That is the only way to show that we are of God and we are consecrated in the truth- our love for each other.
Jesus is the truth, the life and our resurrection. We may never comprehend completely the truths of our faith. That is why we must thread with caution and learn from the leaders and elders of the Church, by listening and reading the Church’s documents especially the magisterial documents of the church and try to abide by them.
The truth of our celebrations in the liturgy cannot be jettisoned or forgotten. As the rule of our faith, is also the rules of our believe as well as the rules of our lives.
God our Father, you called us and consecrated us for yourself and for eternal life. Keep us steadfast in your love. Guide our lives, uphold us in our weakness, strengthen us in our struggles and temptations to maintain our brotherhood and our union with you. May we never fall away but at last may we win this battle of life through Christ our Lord
Fr Norbert Uchuno
