Acts 15:1-2, 22-29
Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
Rev 21:10-14, 22-23
Jn 14:23-29 Full Readings
The Gifts of Peace and the Paraclete
Brethren, as we see in the first reading, when the Gentiles were joined to the early Christian community, there rose a division between the circumcised Jews and the uncircumcised Gentiles. The Jews held that to be an authentic Christian, one must be circumcised according to the Mosaic practice. This division had to be solved with the help of the Holy Spirit by the Council of the Apostles who sat in Jerusalem around 50AD (Council of Jerusalem) and decreed that the Gentiles did not have to circumcise in order to become Christians. To them, the Gentiles were not to circumcise, but to avoid all food sacrificed to the idols, from blood because it was a source of life, from meat of strangled animals, and from fornication/adultery. In short, there only way of becoming authentic Christians was only through their way of life.
In their mind, Christ
took away all earlier practices and gathered all people as one through his sacrificial
death on the cross, hence uniting all of us with only one force, LOVE. Remember
the two questions we reflected upon sometime ago: Why was Jesus killed? And, why Jesus died? We can be able to answer the first question faster, but do we take time to reflect on why Jesus had to die,
because he was capable of defending himself. Jesus died to make us one
people, with one Lord, one king, one flock with one shepherd, he himself. This
flock is what we call Christians. This is the mission which was entrusted to
him by his father and that’s is why he declares that all whom his father gave
him, he never lost even one (John 18:9). Jesus gathered all people as the chicken gathers its
chicks, and put us as one. This is what St John saw in his vision in the second
reading. He saw a new Jerusalem, where Christ is the King, with twelve gates symbolizing
the twelve tribes of Israel and twelve Apostles. These gates were facing the four
quarters of the compass which symbolizes all the corners of the world and that
all people of the universe are invited to this new Jerusalem.
Therefore brethren, among
us there should never be any division due to colour, race, nationality,
political stands, social status or any other thing, but instead we should all
be united by that love which Jesus Christ showed us and calls us everyday to
show it to others. As we have seen in John’s vison in the new Jerusalem, there
will not be any physical temple because God and the Lamb will the temple, no sun
and moon because the glory of the Lord will be brightly lighting up the city, no
black person, no white person because we have only glorified bodies, and no one will be admitted to this city in
accordance to whom he or she is or from where ones comes from, or the colour the skin but
only on one criterion: the commandments of God, which are summarized in Love.
That is why Jesus in today’s gospel declares that if anyone loves him, he will
keep his word and commandments and by this, the Trinity will come and dwell
with such a person.
Jesus said these words in
his farewell discourse giving them what was to keep them together without his physical
present. Obedience and love to his commandments would keep him among them, and
make them his followers, Christians. If you love your parents, you will have to
keep their lovely words and commandments, if you love your husband or your wife
you have to keep each other’s words. Disrespect or disobedience, will make
things worse or breakdown the family. We too, what makes us Christians is the
obedience of Jesus’ words and commandments, not circumcision as Jewish
Christians insisted. Jesus however gave them two more gifts as he was ascending
to heaven, that is, his peace and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The first one is peace. Jesus
said to his disciples, “peace I give you my own peace I give, the peace that
the world cannot give, I give you…do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”
We are all aware of this greeting of peace as we pray for peace every time in
mass. But which peace are we praying for here? The peace that Christ gives
denotes more than the absence of war. Popularly we understand peace as absence
of war, absence of suffering, and getting whatever one needs. But the peace of
Christ is far better than this, it is the true peace of generosity and justice,
with a clear conscience, with others in friendship, with hearts untroubled and
unafraid, peace that brings tranquility of heart, the peace that gives us
strength and courage to face our daily challenges and the peace that helps us
to attain the highest good which is God Himself. The peace of Jesus is both
internal (within one's heart) and external peace. This is the true peace; the
external peace of the world deceives us. So why are our hearts still troubled
when we believe that his peace is with us? It could be because we have a
worldly understanding of peace. Worldly peace keeps our hearts troubled. We can
easily be attracted to these things easily and also easily get them. However,
at long last, they just give us short term peace, living in pretense, peace
which is external not internal. Brethren, not all those who are rich, secure,
not in any conflict, having good family and all good things one can think, are
really at peace especially when they are without Christ. They are happy outside
but the peace of heart which Christ gives is lacking. To be peaceful both
internally and externally, we need Christ.
The second is the Holy
Spirit whom John calls advocate or paraclete. Why did Jesus ascend to heaven? Wouldn’t
he have stayed together with his disciples after resurrection? Jesus tells his
disciples to rejoice that he is going back to the Father because if he does not
go, the paraclete will not come. The fact is that Jesus would no longer be
physically confined only in Galilee or Jerusalem, but he had to be everywhere
in all hearts of all people and this could only be done through the Holy Spirit.
Even us who did not see Jesus physically have him through his Holy Spirit and
so it was of our advantage that Jesus ascended into heaven so that He would be closer
to his disciples and to us too through his Spirit than it was before. We are
now to cling to Jesus spiritually than physically, the way he told Mary
Magdalen when he appeared to her near his tomb after resurrection. What are the
roles of the Paraclete that Jesus is going to send? John who only uses the word
Paraclete in his gospel mentions four roles of the paraclete.
Firstly, the Paraclete is
sent by Father in the name and power of Jesus to continually make Christ
present in his church, not physically but in a new way. Secondly, the Paraclete
is to strengthen Jesus’ disciples with Christ own strength especially in the
mission a head of them. Thirdly, the Paraclete the Spirit of Truth, will teach
his disciples everything and lead them in all truths and an understanding of
all what Jesus taught hence witnessing to Him and the Father. Fourthly, the
Paraclete will give power to Jesus’ followers in teaching, actions, and in argument
to withstand any opposition with a lasting confidence that Jesus is never
absent to them and from his Church. Let us continue to pray for this gift.
We pray on this Sunday
that as Jesus is soon ascending to heaven, his promised gifts may all fall on
us, the gift of peace, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of love and that
he may always be present to us both in times of need and in times of surplus
and guide to the new Jerusalem. Let us continue to reflect on our Christian
unity among our churches, in our communities and families and pray that our
diversities may not divide his church but that all strengthened by one force of
love may rejoice always to be called Christians and children of God. May the
Holy Spirit of truth, of peace, of joy and of understanding help us to
understand Jesus’ teaching of today and always.
Let
us Pray
May
the power of your Spirit penetrate my heart and soul so that under his teachings,
I may always understand what you are telling me daily and grow more in faith in
you. May your peace which the world can never give be with me both internally
and externally so that I may always rejoice in you and being a follower now and
always. Amen
Be
blessed.
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