Fifth Sunday of Easter

Acts 14: 21-27;
Apocalypse 21: 1-5;   
John 13: 31-35

Intro: God calls us to be witnesses of His love for us in our lives. And love for one another is to be our guiding principle in life. We gather together in response to that call and to give thanks to Him in today's Eucharist.

Readings: Paul and Barnabas begin to visit different com­ munities, urging them to persevere in their new-found faith and put new heart into those new disciples.

John describes his vision of the end time, when God will wipe away all tears and make all things new.

When Paul and Barnabas were making their missionary journeys through Asia, their first priority was to create communities of faith - places where God could live among His people. While they enjoyed a lot of success in their work, they also faced a lot of misunderstanding and even hostility. They were able to app'oint elders to oversee those communities as they moved on. When their missionary journey was complete, they came back to Antioch, the home community from which they had originally set out, and there they were able to recount the story of their travels, the joys and difficulties which they had encountered.

One thing common to each community was the commandment Jesus gave when He broke bread with His disciples - "Love one another as I have loved you" - a commandment given at the very hour when Judas was slipping away into the darkness to betray his friend. That commandment was the essence, the basis, of everything which Jesus did and taught. That guiding principle would give meaning and purpose to their lives, because it meant that through their Christ-like love, they would be bearing witness to the Master in the world and so providing them with an identity for their mission, and a continuing sense of the presence of God in their midst. Through their love, He would continue to live among them, as He Himself reminded them: "By the love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are My disciples."

So that's to be the hallmark of our faith - the love we have for one another! And perhaps the best way in which we love one another is by giving each other encouragement, putting new heart into each other: parents do that for their children who are setting out into the world, coaxing them, supporting them and, perhaps most of all believing in them. Friends can do the same by·not allowing jealousy to cloud their judgement, but simply urging their friends on to greater things. There's nothing greater in life than to be able to instil new heart into people and encourage them. Let that be our guiding principle too!

And remember, that it is only a guiding principle, not a stick to beat ourselves with every time we fail; it's a call meant to encourage us, especially in those dark times when we feel lonely, rejected or even misunderstood, in the times when faith is weak, and life seems so pointless. To understand how we must love, we must look at the Scriptures and use the Sacraments to see and realise Christ's love for us first of all - a complete giving of self. Only then can we translate that into our own situation where we must get rid of negative feelings for those around us so that our love for them becomes just as total and unconditional as that of Christ. Only then can we truly be known - and seen! - as Christ's disciples. The early disciples must have been afraid too, but their faith was so strong that they were able to face their challenges with confidence. Through prayer, reflection and through even conversation with others, we too can face our own challenges with confidence and complete trust in God.

Intercessions

Knowing that God our Father loves us freely and, perhaps more importantly, unconditionally, we can turn to Him in prayer, with complete confidence :-

1.      For the Church. May we be recognised as Your disciples by the love we show to those around us - Lord, hear us.

2.       For world leaders, and all those in positions of authority. May they seek to unite rather than divide the communities given them to govern - Lord, hear us.

3.       For those discouraged or weighed down by the pressures of life. Give them a new heart, and a fresh experience of Your comfort and love - Lord, hear us.

4.      For ourselves. Help us to overcome our fears and anxieties, and accept life's challenges with confidence, knowing that You will always love us, no matter how many mistakes we make - Lord, hear us.

5.   For Shaun McLaughlin, Margaret Gallagher and Mary McGonagle who have died recently; as well as Cathie McGrory, and Margaret Gallagher, whose anniversaries occur about this time. Bring them home to You, so that they may rejoice to live in Your presence forever - Lord, hear us.