[Salvation]

 

6th Sunday of Easter: "What's Love Got to Do with It?

 

 

"He will give you another Advocate to be with you always . . ."

 

Sunday Word: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/052514.cfm

(click on link above)

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
1 Pt 3: 15-18
Jn 14: 15-21

We don’t often, if ever, define the obedience of law as an act of love.  Why do we obey the speed limit? (at least as best possible)  - Because we fear getting a ticket and a higher insurance premium.  Obviously, we should likewise have the safety of others and ourselves as a motivation but at first blush, we fear being stopped by the police. Recall the last time you looked in your rear view mirror and noticed a police car behind you with its lights flashing – how did you feel?  

 

Why do we pay our taxes as the law demands?  Because if we don’t we end up in jail. Why do we follow any laws? The highest motivation is for the common good of all, for order in society, and for the safety of all citizens.  

 

While all of these are worthy reasons, even though some may be fear based, I don’t think we often imagine that by doing so we are acting in love.  “Sorry Officer, I should have loved more” would sound a bit strange to say the least.

 

Yet, in our Gospel this Sunday, the last before our two great Feasts of the Lord’s Ascension and Pentecost, we hear Jesus say: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments . . . whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me.” It sounds that obedience to the laws, or commandments, of Christ is a call to love, not a fear of reprisal.  How are these “commandments” of Jesus different from our moral duty to obey civil law?

 

While we don’t describe our legal system as the rule of commandments, rather the “rule of law,” we may sometimes speak of the “law of the Church” or the Ten Commandments as the “Law of Mt. Sinai” or the “Law given to Moses.” But Jesus implies a particular kind of law that he has given to his disciples and to all who would come to believe in him – the “law” of love.

 

What’s in it for us – this law of love that Jesus speaks of?  Jesus tells us: “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth . . . and whoever loves me” (obeys my commandments) “will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”  We are invited into a profound love bond that Jesus has between himself, the Father, and the Holy Spirit that he desires we all be a part of. Do we need any more reason than that? And what is true love other than a very particular relationship between the lover and the beloved.

 

Perhaps a good comparison would be that found in the sacred bond of Matrimony. The Church, after the mind of Jesus, raises high ideals in its description of this Sacrament. Man and woman freely enter a holy bond in which they pledge their loyalty, respect, and mutual love, out of which is the potential for new life.

 

We speak of the wedding Vows with great seriousness which reminds the couple that they should never be taken lightly.  Throughout the course of their married life, time and time again, by their words and actions, in faithfulness to what they first promised, they show their love for each other and for children born of that union. To obey their wedding vows is to show love for their spouse. A love not motivated by fear but by loyalty, mutual respect and rooted in their love for God.  

 

While all unions experience tension and difficulty, love is expressed by consistent loyalty and faithfulness. The byproduct of this loyalty is joy and peace.

 

This may be one way to understand Jesus’ own desire that we obey his commandments – to love God and our neighbor as ourselves – as loyal, faithful, and respectful disciples.  It’s all about a relationship (s) that we are called into; that with God as Trinity and by association with all who do likewise and even those who don’t. This bond creates a unity, a communion, between believers that is rooted in charity.

 

In our first reading from Acts of the Apostles we hear a vibrant account of God’s grace poured out in Samaria, beyond Jerusalem, through the preaching of the Apostle Philip.  Healing takes place, unclean spirits are released and there was great joy as these new Christians “receive the Holy Spirit.” We can only imagine what the result of all this was for the sake of the new Way.  Great love from God poured out upon all.  

 

So, “what’s love got to do with it?” Maybe the words of consecration spoken by the priest at Mass as the wine is consecrated says it all: “. . . the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.” May we be faithful and loyal Christians, expressed in our love for one another as Christ’s love was “poured out” for all.

 

 

Almighty ever-living God,

who restore us to eternal life in the Resurrection of Christ,

increase in us, we pray, the fruits of this paschal Sacrament

and pour into our hearts the strength of this saving food.

Through Christ our Lord.

 

(Prayer after Communion)

 

[Salvation]

Insight Scoop

The most mysterious and enigmatic Person in the Bible

Depiction of the Holy Spirit as a dove, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), in the apse of Saint Peter's Basilica.

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for May 25, 2014, the Sixth Sunday of Easter

Readings:
• Acts 8:4-8, 14-17
• Psa 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
• 1 Pet 3:15-18
• Jn 14:15-21

How would you answer this question: “Who do you think is the most mysterious and enigmatic person in the Bible”?

There are a lot of great answers. Here is mine: the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is indeed mysterious, even somewhat nebulous, and I sometimes wonder if there isn’t a temptation to sometimes think less of him or less about him than of the Father or the Son. But, of course, the Holy Spirit is as fully and completely God as the Father and the Son. He is identified in the New Testament with titles such as Paraclete, the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of the Lord, and the Spirit of glory (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 692-3). He is represented by or associated with many symbols, including water, oil of anointing, fire, clouds and light, and a dove.

Today’s readings, which turn us even more deliberately toward Pentecost, speak of the Holy Spirit in relation to the sacraments, divine life, and truth.

At first glance, the story of Philip is a perplexing one. Philip, one of the seven men chosen and ordained as a deacon by the apostles (Acts 6:5), was preaching among the Samaritans, to the north of Judea. Having performed signs, including the exorcism of unclean spirits, he apparently baptized many of the people who had “accepted the word of God”. But it wasn’t until Peter and John, who arrived afterward, prayed over and laid hands upon the converts that they “received the Holy Spirit”.

It’s not that Philip’s work was unworthy or faulty; on the contrary, his labors had prepared the way for the apostolic blessing given by Peter and John, who validated and completed—by and through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit—the sacramental work already begun. The Holy Spirit, who is the soul of the Church, unifies and directs the Apostles, their successors, and the members of the Mystical Body of Christ (see Catechism, pars. 797-8).

Peter’s statement about Christ’s death is also difficult and has been the source of much discussion among theologians and exegetes: “Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison…” (1 Pet 3:18-19). The identity of these imprisoned spirits is not completely clear; they may have been those who perished in the Noahic flood or fallen angels whose rebellion against God was associated in Jewish tradition with that same flood. Regardless, we see that the Holy Spirit gives life, and this is why Peter further states, “This prefigured baptism, which saves you now…” (1 Pet 3:21).

The work of the Holy Spirit in the giving of divine life is fundamental, revealed by Jesus when he told Nicodemus, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (Jn 3:5). This new birth is entrance into communion with God, for as the Apostle Paul wrote, “in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor 12:13).

Jesus, in his last great discourse in the Gospel of John, promised his disciples a gift: another Advocate (or Paraclete), “the Spirit of truth”. Just as the Father shows his love by sending the Son, so the Son shows his love by sending the Spirit. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “What is first given is love; that is the first gift. The Holy Ghost comes forth as the substance of love, and Gift is his proper name” (Summa Theologica, I, 38, 2). The Byzantine churches have a great hymn that expresses these truths most beautifully:

“Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, who are everywhere present and fill all things, Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life, come and dwell within us, cleanse us of all stains, and save our souls, O Gracious Lord. Amen.”

(This "Opening the Word" column was originally published in the May 29, 2011, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)