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Homilies - Bishop Brendan Leahy

Year B: Sixth Sunday of Easter. St. John's Cathedral

Sixth Sunday of Easter. Year B

St. John’s Cathedral

Today gives us one of those “bumper” set of readings. There is just so much that could be said. The readings hit on key central themes of our Christian faith.

But let’s not complicate things. It is said that when he got very old, St. John the apostle who lived to a great age, simply went around repeating one thing “love one another”. For him this clinched everything. This was the heart of Jesus’ message. In today’s Gospel alone the word “love” is mentioned 9 times. And it is a message suitable for everyone, for all times, for every situation. That’s what St. Peter discovered as the First Reading tells us.

Notice in today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I have told you everything I have learned from my Father”. In other words, he’s saying, “I’m not just giving you a message I worked out as a good idea”. No, Jesus who is the Son of God came on earth from heaven and brought with him the culture of his homeland, the life of love he had lived with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. God is not just loving. God is Love. While living on earth, he learned day by day how to translate that life of God into everyday life. And that is what Jesus taught us when he told his parables, when he performed miracles, when he gave wise teachings. All the time he was getting across to us the plan God the Father has for our world – that we be a family, that we love, that we have joy.

It’s a beautiful vision but it requires commitment on our part. And it isn’t just a matter of feelings, a bit of compassion, a little show of empathy. It requires people who “dare to care” as an initiative going on this week puts it. Love comes from God, communicated by Jesus, poured into our heart by the Holy Spirit and then, it is to be lived out day by day concretely in this world.

One concrete example, and this might be a surprise to think of it like this, is the creation of the European Union.

Today, May 9th, is Europe Day. It was on this day in 1950 that the Schuman Declaration was presented by French foreign minister Robert Schuman. Don’t forget in 1950 nations of Europe were still coming to terms with the devastation of the World War II, which had ended just 5 years earlier. The Schuman Declaration proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community. The idea was that members would pool coal and steel production so that nations – Germany and France – who previously were enemies would work more together, help one another, and so build up a more united Europe. And all of this was directed towards the development of the African continent.

Schumann was a Catholic. Indeed, his cause for beatification has been opened. He was deeply influenced by the Gospel. He knew today’s Gospel well. It is by loving one another in the way of solidarity with one another that we build heaven on earth. In the Schumann declaration we read: “Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity.” It is, in other words, day by day acts of love, care, solidarity that build unity.

So the Gospel today presents us with a big project that starts day by day with you and me. Yesterday I heard someone comment, the most important words we can say are “I care”. We’ve seen so many examples of that during Covid when we learned also to care in new ways, wearing our masks, keeping social distancing, sanitising, looking after the elderly and vulnerable. As we begin to emerge from the Covid crisis let’s remember to extend this culture of care, this culture of love for one another in all areas of our lives.

Sometimes, we might find ourselves in a situation where there are tensions or problems that are not easily overcome. There might be reasons, legal or otherwise, why we can’t make contact with someone. But that can’t stop us loving others from our heart, perhaps praying for them, entrusting them to the heart of God. We can live the Commandment of love one another in all kinds of ways.

One final point. We don’t have to manage all this on our own. Notice Jesus says, “I call you friends”. We have a great friend who is able to do in us so much more than we could ever do on our own resources. He is at our side always and comes with the Holy Spirit to strengthen us, free us and build us up.

So this Sunday as well as deciding again to make our own God the Father’s great project for our world that Jesus has communicated to us with the New Commandment and let’s take up Jesus invitation again, “remain in me”, in other words, keep in contact, talk things over with me, count on me.