Homily, 5th Sunday of Easter

Acts 14:21-27; Revelation 21:1-5a; John 13:31-33a, 34-35

Most of us can very well remember people who helped us at a time when we needed encouragement in our lives. Probably they encouraged us more by the quality of their presence than by anything they said. They may have helped us to see a value in what we were doing that we were slow to see for ourselves. In that way, their presence communicated support and appreciation. 

When it comes to our relationship with the Lord, and the living out of that relationship, we need encouragement too. St. Paul was fond of calling on the members of his churches to encourage one another in their faith. To the people in Thessalonica, for example, he writes: ‘Encourage one another and build up each other” (1 Thess 5/11)’ Earlier in that same letter he says: ‘We dealt with each of you as a father deals with his children, encouraging you, comforting you and urging you to you live a life worthy of God.’. (1Thes 2/11)

In today’s first reading we find Paul and Barnabas engaged in exactly that same ministry of encouragement. We often think that the primary role of a priest in a faith community is to be a helper, to encourage people in their faith and in their relationship with the Lord. That is correct! I know most priests would happily admit that they also get great encouragement from the faith community where they serve. The struggles of people to persevere in the faith even in the face of personal difficulty is a real morale-booster for us priests. The willingness of many of you offering your time and talent to volunteer in the various ministries and your continued support to the Parish gives me a lot of encouragement. 

At the Last Supper, Jesus tells the Eleven; “As I have loved you, you also should love one another; This is how all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another." Note that Jesus calls it a commandment, not an option but a mandate for every Christian. 

So how can we describe and live this Christ-like love? One key word that the ancient Greeks used was agape – which means selfless, unconditional, and self-giving love. We only have to look upon the cross to see that love poured out for each one of us in the outstretched arms of the crucified Christ. And right through the Gospels, we see this love exemplified in Jesus’ words and actions in the way he encounters sinners, heals, and liberates the sick and faithfully preaches the word. For Jesus, the essential mark of distinction between Christians and non-Christians is not in the way we dress or the way we talk but in the way we live. Love is the Christian identity; love is the Christian uniform. Can we be recognized by the love we have for each other?

Dear friends, from experience, we know that names and titles often trigger certain reactions. Some names even become stereotypes. When we hear that someone is British or an Arab, someone a doctor or a university professor, an actor or a professional player, certain feelings and expectations are evoked about what that individual will be like. What do people today think when they hear the word “Christian” or what should the name “Christian” mean to people anyway? Does it indicate someone on whom we can rely on to tell the truth, whose word we can trust, someone concerned with fairness in our world and who lives not by majority opinion but by God’s law?. 

To recite God’s law of love is not enough, to live it is everything. Let us always strive to love as Jesus loves for the proof that Christ is truly risen is not found in books but in how those who claim to be His followers are living.  Our identity card as disciples is the love, we bear for one another. No number of prayers, pious practices or elaborate liturgies will serve to identify as disciples. It is not a self-satisfying emotion but a self-sacrificing mission, a pure love that acts out of conviction that the right thing must be done for another human being.