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Click here for information on the Knights of Columbus Charity Golf Tournament held on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
If you were here where Bishop Taylor confirmed six members of our parish you will remember how much fun he had at the beginning of Mass with the sprinkling rite. He started by dousing Fr. Bill and me and then he proceeded to give everyone in church a good sprinkling. He was grinning from ear to ear and his comment when he came back to the altar was, “Easter is supposed to be a time of joy, we are supposed to be happy!” As is always true with a Bishop, he was right. This is a season of joy.
Now with that in mind, our Gospel reading today is from the 14th chapter of John which is Jesus’ final talk to his disciples at the Last Supper. He is preparing them for his crucifixion, death and departure back to his Father. Doesn’t seem like an appropriate theme for a season of joy does it? Actually, joy, in the face of what seems like a loss is exactly the point. Although He will be leaving, his return to the Father will initiate the sending of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the disciples, and us, will never be without a link to Jesus because of the Holy Spirit. That is the story of Christianity. Because of Christ’s death, resurrection, return to the Father and sending of the Holy Spirit, we have a new link, a new relationship, to God. That is what salvation is all about - we have a permanent relationship to God, a relationship that God will never break. That is the New Testament, the New Covenant that God entered into with us. In the Old Testament God told the Israelites that He would be their God and they would be His people. He promised that He would dwell among them, be with them. But that turned out not to be enough. So God Himself, in the human form of Jesus, came and initiated a New Covenant. Now that special relationship that Jesus and the Father share, that relationship of love, of total self giving to the other, will be shared with the disciples because the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love, will dwell in them. No longer would God simply be with His people. Now He would be in His people, intimately linked to them forever. And to us.
And that is a reason for joy. When we realize that we have a special relationship with God, we are at peace. That is why He says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” The world’s peace comes and goes. A cease-fire brings a temporary lull to the killing. A neighbor smiles and waves hello today and tomorrow frowns and turns away. The world’s peace is fickle.
What is the opposite of peace? Fear. When we are not at peace we are afraid, frightened. We fear we don’t have enough power, wealth, land. And we will do anything to quiet that fear. That leads to war: war between nations, between neighbors, within families, within ourselves. Peace begins to rise in us and replace fear when we realize we are linked to God. When we know we are saved because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we are at peace. Then we can reach out and repair earthly relationships.
So the question for us today is: Are we people of peace or of fear? Peace, by its very nature, does not divide people but rather brings us together. Links us to each other, just as we are linked to God. So if we want to know if we are people of peace we need to ask ourselves: What wars have we ended in our back yard or within our own house? What mines of envy or hate, of discord or dislike have we defused? Who hurts less because we love more? Who hurts more because we love less? Who was depressed but has come alive at our touch? Who thirsts for justice and feels more human because we are there?
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
Now with that in mind, our Gospel reading today is from the 14th chapter of John which is Jesus’ final talk to his disciples at the Last Supper. He is preparing them for his crucifixion, death and departure back to his Father. Doesn’t seem like an appropriate theme for a season of joy does it? Actually, joy, in the face of what seems like a loss is exactly the point. Although He will be leaving, his return to the Father will initiate the sending of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the disciples, and us, will never be without a link to Jesus because of the Holy Spirit. That is the story of Christianity. Because of Christ’s death, resurrection, return to the Father and sending of the Holy Spirit, we have a new link, a new relationship, to God. That is what salvation is all about - we have a permanent relationship to God, a relationship that God will never break. That is the New Testament, the New Covenant that God entered into with us. In the Old Testament God told the Israelites that He would be their God and they would be His people. He promised that He would dwell among them, be with them. But that turned out not to be enough. So God Himself, in the human form of Jesus, came and initiated a New Covenant. Now that special relationship that Jesus and the Father share, that relationship of love, of total self giving to the other, will be shared with the disciples because the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love, will dwell in them. No longer would God simply be with His people. Now He would be in His people, intimately linked to them forever. And to us.
And that is a reason for joy. When we realize that we have a special relationship with God, we are at peace. That is why He says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” The world’s peace comes and goes. A cease-fire brings a temporary lull to the killing. A neighbor smiles and waves hello today and tomorrow frowns and turns away. The world’s peace is fickle.
What is the opposite of peace? Fear. When we are not at peace we are afraid, frightened. We fear we don’t have enough power, wealth, land. And we will do anything to quiet that fear. That leads to war: war between nations, between neighbors, within families, within ourselves. Peace begins to rise in us and replace fear when we realize we are linked to God. When we know we are saved because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we are at peace. Then we can reach out and repair earthly relationships.
So the question for us today is: Are we people of peace or of fear? Peace, by its very nature, does not divide people but rather brings us together. Links us to each other, just as we are linked to God. So if we want to know if we are people of peace we need to ask ourselves: What wars have we ended in our back yard or within our own house? What mines of envy or hate, of discord or dislike have we defused? Who hurts less because we love more? Who hurts more because we love less? Who was depressed but has come alive at our touch? Who thirsts for justice and feels more human because we are there?
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”