FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
SUNDAY, 18 MAY 2014

First Reading: Acts 6:1-7
Psalm 32
Second Reading: 1 Peter 2:4-9
Gospel: John 14:1-12

To be Believers in the Power of Christ’s Resurrection

Today’s readings tell us how the early Church accepted the challenge of keeping Jesus’ memory alive in the Christian community by fashioning it into a serving and worshipping community, making of it a spiritual edifice built of the “living stones” of believers upon the “living cornerstone of Christ” and as the Father’s house.

Today’s Gospel gives the image of the Church as a Church in glory in the Father’s house. It also reminds us of the great truth that Jesus is the Way to God, that he is the Truth of God, and that in him and through him we receive God’s own life. Today’s readings demand from us real faith not only in God the Father but also in Jesus precisely because he is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”. “You have faith in God; have faith also in me”.

Pope Francis, in his recent letter on the Joy of the Gospel, has given us a powerful reminder that we are a missionary people. As we continue our celebration of Easter, let us acknowledge that mission was the first fruit of the Resurrection. The Risen Lord touched the hearts of his disciples. They were filled with a joy that could not be contained, that reached out to the whole world.

Peter’s address on Pentecost demonstrates the missionary power of the Resurrection. The timidity of frightened Apostles was transformed. They were no longer dominated by the fear that had hidden them behind closed doors. The Spirit of the Risen Lord had done more than give them courage: it had fundamentally changed the way in which they related to the world. Their master’s charge to preach the Gospel to the whole world was no longer a matter of words. It had become, deep within them, Christ’s living presence reaching out to the world.

What occurred on that day was something beyond the eloquence of any human voice. The power of the Risen Lord, at work in the Apostles, made ready the hearts of those who listened. This was indeed the fulfilment of the Lord’s promise that he would be with them always, with them and with those who heard their words.

We share in the Spirit of the same living Lord, and are called to proclaim his presence in our own world. If we are to become heralds of the Gospel we must return again and again to the words of the Apostles and continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the Word.

The missionary work of the Church is not a human strategy. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in the power of Christ’s Resurrection. If repentance is truly a change of heart and attitude, then our constant repentance will continue to conquer our fears, enabling us with a joy that reaches out to “those who are far away, those whom the Lord will call to himself”.