|
Sts. Joseph & Paul Catholic Church |
Homily Archives | |
 |
6th Sunday of Easter - Cycle C Sometimes, you will drive by churches that have signs with message boards. You often read catchy phrases on these message boards, phrases like, “Stop by God’s house this Sunday before the game – God.” Or “Wal-Mart is not the only saving place in town.” A recent one that I saw said, “We are not here to judge our brothers and sisters, only to witness.” Sometimes, these signs will reveal the title of the pastor’s upcoming Sunday sermon. If we had a message board sign here at Sts. Joseph and Paul, I would put on it the title for this Sunday’s sermon, “The Last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ; I Give You Peace.”
The reading of the
will can be a tense moment for a family. Who will get what? Will they get
more then I will get? There are all sorts of stories about the reading of
Wills -- some good and some not so good. There’s a story of a man who loved the great outdoors and left $20 million to a wildlife sanctuary for the care of its birds, fish and animals. There’s a sad story of a woman in Philadelphia, who instructed her lawyer to take $1 dollar from her estate, invest it, and pay her unfaithful husband the dividends. Once, an English dentist left his nurse, who had worked for him for 30 years, $439,000. But there was a catch; she would only get the money if she did not wear makeup or date for 5 years. The revolutionary, Patrick Henry, known for his line, “Give me liberty or give me death,” could have left his family many things, but he left them these words: “There are many things that I could leave you, and I hope that I have already left you with your faith in Jesus Christ. If you have that, and I had not given you one shilling, you would be rich.” For three years, the disciples have been following Jesus. Now he must leave them and say good-by. As he says goodbye, Jesus makes it clear to them that the essential thing they need to do in order to be his followers is to love him. If they love him, then they will receive everything that they will ever need. He says, “it is not enough just to hear the word and pray on it. The word must be put into practice. The word must affect your behavior. People must be able to see me by the way you live your lives.” Jesus does not leave the disciples and expect that they can live this way of life on their own. He gives them help. This help he calls “the Advocate,” known more commonly to us as the Holy Spirit, who will assist them in living as Jesus for one another. With this gift of the Holy Spirit, they will receive the courage to move through the fear that they will experience in life. The Holy Spirit will also give them the strength they will need to preach his word and live according to that word. The final gift that Jesus leaves the disciples is his gift of peace. He says, “My peace is my gift to you.” The world looks at peace as the absence of war and disagreements, as the security of possessing plenty of money, and as harmonious relationships. Wouldn’t that be peaceful? But in reality, all of these can be taken away and destroyed. The peace that Jesus gives cannot ever be destroyed by any human event or taken away by any person.
Jesus had to go so
that he could come again. We proclaim in the Eucharistic Liturgy, “Christ
has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” We live in the
between- times. But while he is away, we have the Holy Spirit and his
gift of peace, and, with these, we can love him, and we can be love.
Congratulations! The Last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ has been
read. All of us have been named in it! Let us take the gifts he has given
us and use them to the fullest; let us go out and love him. |
