If You Love Me (6th Sunday Easter A)

A Filipino-Chinese businessman was dying. On his deathbed he called for his wife. “I’m here, Honey.” He called for his eldest son. “I’m here, Dad.” He called for his daughter. “Hey, Dad, I’m right here.” He called for his youngest son. “Hi Dad.” The businessman’s face was flushed with anger.  “Why are you all here? You good for nothing! Who is taking care of our business?”

This scenario might force some chuckles out of us. This is not how we expect leave-taking to happen.  We expect tear-jerking farewell messages from someone who is about to leave us behind, or more so, someone who is about to die. A farewell message is expected to be made up of words of love and tenderness.  It is touching as it is essentially a reminder that, after everything had been said and done, life is measured by how much it has been shared in loving. Farewell messages are an appeal to cherish the love that has been shared among family and friends.  Also, a leave-taking message is about words of assurance, a promise that everything is going to be fine, an encouragement to those left behind to move on in life with confidence.

Today’s gospel reading (Jn 14:15-21) is still part of the farewell discourse of Jesus at the last supper. But as it is proclaimed in our liturgy at this point in time within the Easter season, it is preparing us for our commemoration of Jesus’ departure on his ‘Ascension’ and giving us assurance as we anticipate the celebration of Pentecost.  Indeed, Jesus’ farewell message is both words of love and assurance.

As words of love, Jesus’ farewell message reminds his disciples of the love they have experienced and shared among themselves and with Jesus. Jesus desires that they cherish the love they have shared together in his company by keeping his commandments. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” And what is the commandment of Jesus? Just a chapter before this gospel reading, Jesus is portrayed giving his commandment: “This is my commandment: Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34).

In his farewell message, Jesus is very clear about his desire for his disciples: that they may continue to be a community of friends or of brothers bound together by the bond of love they have shared among themselves and with Jesus.  The model of love they ought to have for one another is the love of Jesus. In the second reading (1 Pet 3:15-18), Peter exhorts the disciples of Jesus to remember how Jesus loved them: “Remember how Christ died, once, and for all, for our sins. He, the just one, died for the unjust, in order to lead us to God.” In a word, Jesus’ love is self-sacrificing.  This same self-sacrificing love is to be the kind of love the disciples ought to have for one another.

Do we see this kind of love among our Christian communities of today? To love as Jesus loved means to give our lives for the sake of others, leaving behind our comfort zones in order to help our neighbors in need; to build a better world committing our lives to the pursuit of justice and peace, to stand by the truth even when it feels like we're being crucified.  This is what Christian love means. Pope Francis has been very strong in reminding the whole Church of this essential vocation to love, to reach out to the peripheries and break free from her self-absorption: “I prefer a Church that is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security” (EG, 49).

As words of assurance, the farewell discourse of Jesus is also about boosting the disciples’ confidence.  Obeying the commandments of the Lord may not be that easy and simple for the sinful and easily discouraged followers of Jesus. Hence, Jesus assures them with these words: “I will not leave you orphans…” He promises them that the Father will give them another helper to be with them forever—the Spirit of truth who will dwell in them.

The same assurance is for us too today.  Our liturgy invites us to a humble acceptance of our limitation: If we rely only on our own strength, intelligence, and will, we will never be able to fulfill the commandment of Jesus, not always, not every day. Lest we end up as a frustrated people, we have to realize we are never meant to do it alone.  Jesus knows we need a helper. We need the empowering presence of the Spirit within us. That's why, through the Church, Jesus instituted the sacrament of confirmation, the sacrament of supernatural strengthening.

In the first reading from the Book of Acts 8:5-8, 14-17, Philip, the Deacon, preaches in Samaria and succeeds in baptizing a huge number of converts. In baptism, they have become Christ's followers. But when the news reaches the Apostles in Jerusalem, Peter and John went to Samaria in order to call down the Holy Spirit upon them by laying their hands on them.  This gesture is administering the sacrament of confirmation.

In confirmation, we receive the gift promised by Jesus, the Spirit. The Spirit indwelling in us is our inner source of supernatural light and strength to live out the great commandment of Christian charity. Do we tap

into this inner strength? Do we allow the Spirit within us to embolden us in carrying out our vocation to love in the same manner that Jesus loved?

Hence, this Sunday we are invited to seek the grace to live by the power of this Spirit dwelling in us so that, as we cherish the love of Jesus by showing him our loving obedience, we bravely fulfill his commandment of loving one another as he has loved us.

  

Jesus, the Gate to Life (4th Sunday Easter A)

I had been a rector of a college seminary for six years. In those years I allowed the seminary gate to be left open most of the time until dusk to allow us to come and go freely and to welcome visitors, friends, mailman, and just anyone who had legitimate transaction with us. While the gate was left open, we did not lose anything to thieves. They did not like entering through the gate I guess. One stormy night, however, the flash flood that overflowed from the creek which passed along one side of our wall knocked it off and left an opening. Alas! It was in those days that we lost our bananas; thieves, who loved to sneak in through the wall breach, harvested them.

Still, our gate was left open most of the time. However, during the 2013 “Zamboanga Siege” which degenerated into an urban warfare and brought parts of the city into a standstill for weeks, we needed to close our gate always for security. Gates have two functions: It offers legitimate entrance for people and it ensures the security of the inhabitants.

The gospel reading today, Jn 10: 1-10, uses the image of the gate of the sheepfold in reference to Jesus. In this instance, Jesus identifies himself not as the shepherd but the gate of the sheepfold. A sheepfold is usually a circular wall of stones in an open field that houses several small flocks of sheep at night to protect them from predators and thieves. When Jesus is identified with the gate of the sheepfold, the imagery calls to mind the two functions of a gate—as legitimate entrance and as assurance of security. Let us reflect on these two aspects as applied to Jesus.

First, as legitimate entrance, it is through Jesus that any pastoral leader legitimately assumes responsibility over God’s people. “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep” (v. 1-2).

Jesus is the gate through which the shepherd approaches the sheep; Jesus is the legitimate way to God’s flock.  Leaders who do not accept Jesus and his principles, originally referring to the Pharisees and religious leaders of his time, are thieves and robbers who approach the people of God by sneaking, as it were, through the wall breach or by climbing over elsewhere. They pose a danger to the flock as they can mislead and manipulate people for their selfish interest. They come “only to steal and slaughter and destroy” (v. 10).

It is helpful to recall here that, in the latter portion of John’s gospel, Peter is being entrusted with pastoral responsibility after his encounter with the risen Lord who asked him, “Do you love me?” For each time he replied “yes” he received the instruction, “Feed my sheep.” (Jn. 21:15-17).  Any legitimate pastoral leader has to be like Peter who takes care of the flock of God out of his love for Jesus Christ. Jesus is the gate of the sheepfold through which the authentic shepherds lead their flock.

Second, as assurance of security, it is through Jesus that the flock of God can find safety and are led to abundance of life. “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy. I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn. 10: 9-10). Jesus is the gate leading to salvation. Through him the sheep come in and find protection; through him they go out and are led to green pasture. Jesus as gate offers the people of God the pasture of life. 

Our Christian life is a way of life that offers us the opportunity to live life to its fullness. Jesus is the answer to our search for meaning in life. When we are down and out discouraged by the seeming pointlessness of our journey in life, we turn to Jesus who helps us get on our feet and offers us the inspiration by which we carry on with life with zeal. When this sinful world leads us astray and away from the real fount of happiness, we turn to Jesus who leads us back to the right path where we can stumble upon the real treasure, the “pearl of great price,” the reign of God. When we are overburdened and paralyzed by our worries and useless worldly cares, we turn to Jesus who liberates us with his love which we surprisingly experience as more than sufficient for our true happiness in life.

Jesus is the gate that opens to the fullness of life.

Jesus, the gate of the sheepfold, is always open awaiting his faithful shepherds and his flock to enter through him and into his gift of life. The image of Jesus as gate invites pastoral leaders to approach their ministry through the way of Jesus Christ. They are invited to be conformed to Jesus, to be the heart of Jesus today so that their servant-leadership may be truly liberating. The image of Jesus as gate invites the faithful, the beloved flock of God, to experience the fullness of life by deepening their personal relationship with Jesus and turning to him as their refuge and living life always under his protection and blessing.

Door of God's Mercy (Divine Mercy Sunday)

In 2016, the whole of Catholic Church celebrated the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy officially pronounced by Pope Francis by way of his letter Misericordiae Vultus (The Face of Mercy). That year all the faithful were exhorted to contemplate the mystery of God’s mercy and were all invited to experience the mercy of God and dared to become merciful just as the Father is merciful (Lk 6:36).

One memorable feature of the Year of Mercy was the making of pilgrimages which included entering through the Holy Door of Mercy.  Entering through the door of mercy signified for many their repentant resolve to be right back in the merciful embrace of our Father like the prodigal son who mustered his courage, after wandering away in sin, to go back to his loving father to be lovingly embraced by him. 

The celebration of the Divine Mercy Sunday today reminds us again of God’s invitation for us to enter through the door of his mercy as we heed the message of St. Faustina Kowalska who relayed God’s revelation for us: “He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice.” Between God’s mercy and His justice, let us then choose to receive the unmerited gift of God’s infinite mercy thereby redeeming us from our sins instead of facing God’s justice which we greatly deserved.    

                                                              How do we choose God’s mercy that we may be spared of His justice?

Entrusting our misery to the heart of Jesus. Mercy comes from the Latin word “misericordia.” This is a combination of two words: The Latin “miseriae” meaning misery and the Latin “cor” or “cordis” meaning heart. In this we have a glimpse of the nature of God’s mercy—it is His heart extending into our human misery to redeem it.

When we beg for God’s mercy, we are lifting up to his loving heart all our suffering brought about by our sins. We beg because we do not deserve His attention. Our misery is our own undoing. We deserve to suffer as consequence of our sins. Yet God, a loving Father “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), cannot stand to leave us alone in our misery. So, He sent his Son Jesus Christ who took upon himself all our guilt and offer himself as a sacrifice for us all. Jesus is the face of the Father’s mercy.  When we contemplate the sacred heart of Jesus, we see the loving heart of God drawing unto itself our human misery in order to redeem it. 

Let us, then, lift our misery, as we celebrate today the Divine Mercy Sunday, to the sacred heart of Jesus with total trust in God’s mercy. We have to acknowledge our utter need for God’s mercy.  We cannot save ourselves from our human misery.  We need God’s mercy to set us free.  We are not redeemed by our meritorious efforts but by the unmerited gift of unconditional love expressed by God’s infinite mercy.  To the most merciful heart of Jesus we pray: “Jesus, I trust in you.”

Celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The gospel reading today (Jn 20: 19-31) reveals the mercy of God as the Risen Lord confronted his fearful disciples not with reproach but with the greeting of peace. Their hearts had been troubled by fear or even by guilt for abandoning the Lord. Hence, mercifully He gave them his peace turning their fears into joy. But more significantly, this encounter with the Risen Lord empowered the Apostles to bring God’s mercy into this sinful world as He said to them: “Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”   Then He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (v.21-23). This, then, is the institution of the Sacrament of Reconciliation---the sacrament of God’s mercy.  By this sacrament, the Church fulfils the mission for which she is sent—to proclaim to the world the forgiveness of sins by the grace of the divine mercy. 

We choose to pass through the door of God’s mercy every time we celebrate the sacrament of penance and reconciliation with a humble and contrite heart. Through the sacrament, we experience the joy of being forgiven.  St. Faustina revealed Jesus’ message concerning confession: When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy (Diary, 1602).

Becoming merciful as the Father.  We glimpse mercy in action from the Acts of the Apostles. We see the early Christians so filled with the Holy Spirit that "no one claimed any of his possessions as his own." They instead "distributed to each according to his need" (Acts 2:44-45). Mercy in action involves the selfless effort to provide those who are in need with their share of the world's blessings.  Again, in Misericordiae Vultus, Pope Francis exhorts: “It is my humble desire that, during this Jubilee, the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience… to enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel” (MV, 16). 

This invitation is, again, a reminder of one of the many things Jesus demanded from St. Faustina: "I demand from you deeds of mercy... You are to show deeds of mercy to your neighbours always and everywhere."

Let us become merciful as the Father is merciful. We who have experienced the unmerited gift of God’s mercy have to allow the same grace to be channelled through us. Let us reach out to those who are in misery. By our works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual, we become the heart of Jesus today inviting all within our reach to join us in passing through the door of God’s mercy.

We pray: “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Amen.”