5th
Sunday of Easter
Cycle
C
Acts 14:21-27
Rev 21:1-5a
Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35
“This is how
all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” How
are we doing with that?
I like to read Catholic blogs. There are so many
really good ones out there, and since I am called upon very often to defend and
explain the faith, I am always looking for another insight on how to do so.
Some blogs are very deep and profound. Others are funny and show common sense.
But what I find about most of them is that they are respectful, forthright, and
charitable in the way they explain the truths of the Catholic faith. They show
no hatred or intolerance towards those who hold differing opinions. However,
the same cannot be said of the people who comment on these blogs.
And it’s not just the comments that oppose the
position of the blogger. It’s the people who comment on the comments. That’s
where you see the divisions amongst the people in the pews. That’s where you
see the ignorance and intolerance and name calling and sometimes pure venom.
Usually, when someone cannot articulate a good argument they resort to name calling
and ad hominem attacks.
The issues of the day have polarized us all. If we
disagree with someone, we don’t have civil discourse, we attack them
personally. The advent of social media means we can call people all sorts of
names anonymously with no threat of reprisal. We post statements that make
sweeping condemnations of entire groups of people, not thinking that we may be
calling some of our closest friends bigots or racists or worse by association. So
many friendships have been lost this way.
All the time we are fighting amongst ourselves we fail
to address the tidal wave that is approaching us from outside. We are all
worried about how our religious freedom is being whittled away day by day, and
we see all the attacks on the Church and its members around the world, but do
you blame them? How can the world see the Church as a loving presence in the
world when we cannot even show love for one another?
If we ourselves are attacking one another, how can we
expect the world to treat us any differently than we treat ourselves? If all we
show the world is our own self hatred, how can we expect them to see anything
in the Church to emulate and admire?
Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ. I do not like
your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
In the time of the apostles, the most attractive thing
about Christianity was that its adherents didn’t just believe differently, the
acted differently. They seemed to care about one another. They took care of the
widows and orphans, gave to the poor and healed the sick. Their worship was not
based upon individuals fulfilling a prescribed set of rituals in this temple or
that, with the hope of appeasing this or that god. Instead, they gathered as
one community to worship a different kind of a god. Their god was humble and
gentle and loving, not stern and demanding of obedience and sacrifice. He
actually gave his life for his disciples, to free the entire world of sin.
These Christians were peaceful. They didn’t join the
army, they weren’t vengeful, and they tried to love their neighbors as they
loved themselves. They welcomed the people on the margins of society; slaves,
women, the poor. There were no class distinctions among them. Everyone was
welcome and everyone had the same hope of salvation and eternal life. That was
a very attractive lifestyle, and I think that is one of the main reasons why
the early church grew so quickly. It is also one of the reasons why it
weathered so many periods of severe persecution. Jesus told them to love one
another because he knew that that love would be the thing that held them
together during those persecutions.
It will be the same today. The attacks on our
discipleship from without are getting stronger and louder every day. Our love
for one another will be what gets us through this time of trial.
But I think many of us have forgotten Jesus’
admonition to love one another. We have had it pretty easy as disciples. There
have really not been very many challenges to our faith here in the U.S. in our
lifetime, until now. Catholicism has been the majority religion in this country
for as long as we can remember, and the potshots that have been taken at it
have mostly either bounced off because of our numbers and influence, or worse,
have been absorbed into our beliefs and made us more worldly rather than the
other way around.
When I was growing up back East, Catholics were still
the minority, and Italian-Americans were still looked down on, and so we tended
to gather together as a group for support. Whenever a group is discriminated
against they tend to circle the wagons. Christianity is no longer a radical way
of living and believing, it has been watered down. We haven’t needed to defend
ourselves until the past 50 years or so, and we have become complacent and may
have forgotten where we come from and what we’re really all about.
I think we need to get back to the basics of what made
Christianity such an attractive way of life. It is all based upon love, and
love needs to start at home. Jesus said our mission is to go and make disciples
of the entire world. But first we must be disciples ourselves. Tramping around foreign
countries as missionaries isn’t in the cards for most of us, but why can’t we
simply love? It starts small. First, we must see that we ourselves are loved
beyond measure, just because we are. We are celebrating the great manifestation
of that love these fifty days of Easter.
You notice I didn’t say, “First you must love
yourself”. The danger of self-love is that it has limits and oftentimes our
love just stops there. Self-love is inner directed while true love is directed
outwards. Our love can fail; God’s love cannot, so build your foundation on
that unchanging truth.
You know, Jesus didn’t say, “This is how all will know
you are my disciples, if you love everyone in the world.” Instead, as usual, he
focused on what was right in front of him. He knew that if only his small group
of close friends could learn to love one another, then that would be an
attractive example to the rest of the world. He said, first, love one another.
Then go and make more disciples who love one another, and after a while the
whole world would be disciples who love one another. And that is how he would
renew the face of the earth.
Just strive to love those closest to you. Jesus didn’t
say, “Love one another as I have loved all the crowds I’ve been preaching to
and healing these past three years.” He said, “Love one another as I have loved…you”. He loved his friends.
Jesus didn’t show his love to the crowds, he showed it to those right in front
of him who were hurting. He taught the crowds; he had compassion for and healed
individuals. It is sometimes easier for us to be kind to a stranger in need
than it is for us to be kind to the people in our families. Why not start
there?
And when there is need for correction, do so with
love. St. Paul said we are to admonish one another out of love. Pope Saint John
Paul II used to say that the best way to love someone was to tell them the
truth: To teach the truth with love. Get
it right, know what you’re talking about, and then offer correction with
compassion and charity. But do you know the truth? Do you believe the truth? Do
you live the truth? Do you testify to and defend the truth? This can be hard
when the truth is the exact opposite of the conventional wisdom. The truth can
lose friendships, the truth can alienate your children, the truth can get you
fired or even physically attacked. "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God."
A disciple is more than someone who just learns from
the master; a disciple becomes like the master. A disciple patterns his or her
entire life on the master’s, and then calls others to do the same. What did
Jesus do? He gave his entire life for the people he loved. He laid done his
life for those he loved.
If we truly showed that kind of love for our families,
we wouldn’t have to worry about them eroding. If we showed that kind of love
for our spouses, we wouldn’t have to worry about the institution of marriage.
If we showed that kind of love for our children, there would be no abortion or
abuse of any kind. If our families are truly images of Jesus, society would be
transformed in just a few generations.
So be kind to one another. Pray for one another. Admonish
one another to live moral lives. Give material and spiritual support to those
closest to you in need. Lift each other up. That’s how we show our love for one
another. Start there and maybe, just maybe, other people we see that love and
be attracted to that love and want a part of that love in their lives, too.
And when they ask you about it, tell them. Tell them
why you love and who you follow. Tell them the truth.
