Homily, 6th Sunday of Easter

Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Apoc. 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29

“Crisis” is a word often in the news. In today’s gospel reading from the last supper, Jesus is preparing his disciples for the crisis of His Passion and then His return to the Father. It is called his “Farewell discourse” in which the Lord prepares and equips His disciples for the crisis of His departure. Jesus knew that His Church would face crises in every generation. We already see one of those crises in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles as the early Church confronts a decision on how to deal with the Gentile (non-Jewish) converts into the Church, and what to require of them in order to keep peace and unity. There would be and will be more problems that the Church would face until that moment pictured in the Book of Revelation when final peace will come and there will be no more darkness, and God’s victory will be complete. Until then, every generation will have its own crisis.

In the Gospel, Jesus offers three pieces of equipment to help His disciples handle any crisis; His word, His Spirit, and His peace. First, He gives us His word. For us Catholics, we find that word in Scripture and in Tradition. By keeping that word and following it, we are secure in Christ. So often people spend time arguing about Scripture and its translations, and never take its truth into their hearts. Scripture contains the unchanging rock of God’s truth. God’s word lifts our vision beyond the immediate present to the larger drama of our life. Cultural styles may change but nobody can ever destroy the truth. People may deny it but cannot destroy it. People may ignore it but they cannot eliminate it. The word of Christ is the abiding rock of truth for any crisis, and it is there for every one of us.

The second piece of equipment Christ gave us as we face any crisis is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Lord promises that the Holy Spirit will dwell within us and make His home in us. He dwells inside us through the power and promise of our Baptism and Confirmation. In any crisis, we can know that the Holy Spirit is with us. The Holy Spirit is at work in every believer and points us to what is morally right. The Holy Spirit is our compass, our moral and spiritual radar.

The third piece of equipment the Lord gives us is His peace. The world usually defines peace as the absence of conflict. But that kind of peace can be destroyed by a single bullet or by one random act. It does not last. Popular culture says that to find peace we must go somewhere place, buy something or something. These are all good things, but they usually lead to temporary distraction from our problems other than total resolution. The peace that Jesus gives is the tranquility of order within, no matter what is happening outside. That is the peace the world cannot give us. It is the peace that comes from knowing without any doubt that we are loved by him. It is the peace that comes from knowing that whenever we offend him, he is ready to forgive us. 

If our peace were based on anything else such as popularity, comfort, or power, it would be unstable because all those things are vulnerable to change. But Christ's peace isn't vulnerable, it is based on his love, mercy, and mission -- these are everlasting. Much as we do not know with certainty what lies ahead of us, we do know the provisions Jesus gave us to face any future--- His word for our mind, His Holy Spirit for our heart and will, and His peace for our soul. These are Christ’s Easter gifts to every one of us.

May Mary, whom in this month of May we venerate and to whom we pray with special devotion as our heavenly mother, always protect the Church and the whole of humanity. May she who, with humble and courageous faith, fully cooperated with the Holy Spirit for the incarnation of the Son of God, help us too to allow ourselves to be taught and guided by the Paraclete, so that we may welcome the Word of God and witness to it with our lives.