HOMILY FOR THE 5TH SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR A
1. Summary of ideas of the 5th Sunday of Easter Year A readings
Today’s Sunday first two readings are but a consequence and application of what Our Lord pronounced in the Gospel where He said among other things that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one goes to the Father except through Him
- The first reading recounts how the Apostles imposed the hands on the 1st deacons so that they could carry out the preaching of the Word of God. It shows how right from the start that the Church is rooted and grounded on the Apostles chosen by Christ and appointed as witnesses of His Resurrection, and the proclamation of the Gospel.
- The second reading reveals to us the mystery of the Church, the temple of the Holy Spirit, whose cornerstone is Christ, and we as living stones, with an inherent dignity, forming a sacred priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices to God through our union with Jesus Christ (2nd reading.).
From its beginning the Church’s mission is that of service (“ministrare”, latin = to serve), where each acts according to one’s charisms at the service of the proclamation of the Word in the practice of charity and mercy. The Church’s main task is the proclamation of the salvation in Christ who is the Way the Truth and the Life. And we believe so. But we, as living stones of the Church, do we proclaim Him with our life?
Faith in Jesus entails following him daily in the simple actions that make up our day. Do we manifest with our actions, with our life, the life of Christ?
“Just as children by listening to their mothers, and prattling with them, learn to speak their language, so we, by keeping close to the Saviour in meditation, and observing his words, his actions, and his affections, shall learn, with the help of his grace, to speak, to act, and to will like him.
We must pause here…; we can reach God the Father by no other route…; the Divinity could not well be contemplated by us in this world below if it were not united to the sacred humanity of the Saviour, …” (St Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, part II, chap. 1, 2).
2. But what do the words of Our Lord mean? Way, Truth and Life
- WAY: by becoming man, Jesus taught us how to live as men and women in order to reach the Father, in order to be God.
- Humility, dependence and obedience in his infancy. He taught us how to live in a family, how to work and serve converting the daily activities into paths that lead us to God. He taught us how to be merciful, to be compassionate, solidary, apostolic. He taught us how to sacrifice ourselves and abandon ourselves into the hands of the Father.
- As such, Jesus’ life contains all the virtues men and women should imitate and live to arrive at the fullness of life with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Lord, how would you do this in my place, in this situation? Do we strive daily to imitate his virtues?
- TRUTH: because by coming to this world he shows that God is faithful to his promises, and because he teaches the truth about who God is. He who has seen him has seen the Father. He is the truth that leads to real freedom, which is freedom from the slavery of sin and moral misery.
- LIFE: with the Father and the Holy Spirit, Jesus is the never-ending life of happiness which we long for. “This is eternal life, that they know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent” (Jn 17:3).
3. If you remain in me, you will be my disciples and will know the truth. Vigilance to preserve the Life of Grace and God’s presence in our soul.
Our Lord said in Jn 8:31: If you stay in my word, if you remain in me, you will indeed be my disciples, and you will know the truth. Only then could we proclaim him with our life. We must put our part so that Christ’s life in us would grow through knowledge, love and imitation, so that his life will be our life, and also avoid anything which separate us from Him.
During the pandemic, we learned among other things, one important lesson: VIGILANCE.
- If frequent hand washing is important, more so is frequent washing of the soul: Love the sacrament of Confession.
- If nourishment for the body is essential: Vitamins C, D, zinc, magnesium, so to is the nourishment for the soul through prayer, Gospel meditation and the frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist in the state of grace.
- If precautionary measures to avoid being infected by the virus are necessary, so too are precautionary measures to avoid infect and cause the death of the soul: mortal sin. Daily ascetical struggle in the imitation and living the virtues Christ lived and taught.
- As living stones, we must cherish and protect this God-given dignity, His presence and life in our soul, so that we may remain in the Way, possess the truth, and have the Life with us always, which is Christ and at the same time, proclaim with our lives that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, as the Apostles did.
As Pope Benedict XVI said: Christ is the way that leads to the Father, the truth which gives meaning to human existence, and the source of that life which is eternal joy with all the saints in his heavenly Kingdom. Let us take the Lord at his word! Let us renew our faith in him and put all our hope in his promises! […]
As we celebrate Mother’s day: we thank all the mothers for their love and sacrifice, through which God shows us his love. We would not have become who we are today if not for you. When my mom was pregnant, she prayed for a boy and if it were so, she promised to offer him to God’s service. And now you have me here as a priest.
- Honor and love them always no matter what, even when they get older, lose their faculties and become dependent for that is what they have done for us throughout our life. Let us thank God as well for giving us 2 mothers. Our mother and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
And let us ask the help of our Mother Mary, while we greet and thank her for Mother’s day so that she would lead us to grow in our love for Jesus, for the Father and the Holy Spirit. The shortcut to Jesus! He alone is the way that leads to eternal happiness, the truth who satisfies the deepest longings of every heart, and the life who brings ever new joy and hope, to us and to our world. Amen. (Pope Benedict XVI).
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