Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C)

The readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C) May be found at: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051919.cfm

Homily

A couple of weeks ago, a parishioner, who shall remain nameless and who clearly wanted me to keep my homilies short, said to me, there’s a fine line between a long homily and a hostage situation - and I think the writer of this gospel, St. John the Evangelist, may have felt the same way. Legend has it, that every Sunday, as he presided over the Eucharist, he would get up to preach. And every time he would deliver the same homily saying these words: “Little children, love one another”, and then, he would stop talking and sit down.  That’s it? Really? That’s literally a ten second homily. When people would ask him why all he ever preached was “Little children, love one another” - he would respond, “What else is there?” Now, you’re probably thinking that my homily is already much longer than Saint John’s...and you would be right! But I hope you’re also wondering what Saint John was getting at when he said “Little children, love one another”.  Let’s see if we can figure it out together. Now love itself, is not a new concept. All of our theology and preaching, in one way or another comes back to the same basic message of God’s love for us - in fact, love is why we were created in the first place. Love of neighbor was already commanded in the Old Testament. Jesus then took this to another level when he told us to love our enemies as well - which is not easy for any of us to do. Jesus also reinforced the first and most important commandment when he reminded us to “Love God with all your heart and soul and mind”.  But when Jesus says in this gospel, “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” He raises the bar for us - big time. Throughout his ministry, Jesus showed his love through his teaching, his compassionate healing and ultimately, given that He died for us on the cross - he set a pretty high bar. Now, does that mean Jesus expects us to literally die for each other? No - of course not. For one thing, that wouldn’t a very attractive selling point to the faith. But, in one way, Jesus does expect us to die ... to our own selfishness and to focus a little bit of what we’ve been given on the needs of those around us, especially those who are in the most need.  The self giving love that Jesus lives is how we’re supposed to pattern our love. He expects us to sacrifice for each other. Now, this is the ultimate form of love, to sacrifice for another person. Now, we see people sacrifice for others, don’t we? We know what it looks like. The parent who works the second or third job or the late shift or all three to take care of their family. The person who looks out for their elderly neighbor and checks in on them from time to time to make sure they are ok. The person who brings their leftovers or cooks whole meals for their less fortunate neighbor who may not have enough to eat. The person who volunteers at the homeless shelter, or visits the nursing home or the hospital even though none of their family or friends is one of the residents there.  I’m sure you can think of examples of this kind of love in your day to day life. But sacrificing for others, out of love is not easy. So, why should we do it? The Blessed Mother Theresa might have said it best. When asked why she spent so much effort helping people who were going to die anyway, especially when most of them were not even Christian...the answer she gave was simple. She answered that she had no choice. She was a Christian, committed to serving Jesus, and Christ, himself, identified with the poorest of the poor. She patterned her love on that of Christ - and in the process showed that she was a disciple of Jesus. We are called to do the same. How will the world know we are disciples of Christ? By the way we love. He calls us to love unselfishly and to sacrifice for others. Now this kind of love has to extend beyond the the four walls of this church.  It has to extend beyond this Holy Mass. Jesus calls us to love in a way that shows the world - through our actions - that we are disciples of Christ. In the week ahead, If you have a quiet moment, and I know those are not easy to come by, I want you to reflect on how you show God’s love to others. Can you be more sensitive to the needs of others? Can you be more willing to patiently listen to those in distress? Can you be brave enough to speak out against injustice when it occurs? And can you do these things in a spirit of love? Loving in this way, as Jesus did, gives glory to God. It is how Jesus loves. It’s like our gospel writer was known to say, “Little children, love one another.” Because as he said so well - what else is there?