Sixth Sunday of Easter Yr A
Sixth Sunday of Easter Yr A
21 May 2017
In today’s first reading we heard that there “was great joy” in the city of Samaria as they heard the Good News of the Gospel. Is that an emotion you associate with the Church? Or coming together for Mass? Joy is something we should have when we gather, joy in our faith.
Bishop Hurley once said that Christians should tell their faces that it was the “Good News” as he rarely saw it at Mass. Solemnity of course, but also joy.
If we are not joyful when we gather in God’s presence, what sort of image do we have of God? How do we practise our faith if not with joy?
Our faith is not meant to be one of rules and restrictions. It is often stereotyped that way; and I have certainly over the years seen it practised that way! One of my most vivid memories of Mass growing was of an African priest who celebrated once. Sheer joy shone from him all through. It was great contrast to our usual celebrants who were… shall we say, quite serious. I do not doubt their piety and prayerfulness, but it did not inspire or embody the idea of joy!
The disciples in the Gospel passage we heard were certainly not joyful. They had just shared a meal with Jesus. Then he gets up, washes their feet, informs them that one of them will betray him, slaps down Peter’s protestations of undying loyalty, and to cap it off, informs that he is leaving them! Joy is certainly not what they are feeling! So he is reassuring them.
The Greek word translated as “advocate” means more than simply a lawyer. Greco-Roman society worked on a patronage network. It was very much a “not what you know, but who you know” society. So the word John uses means not simply a spokesperson but one who actively supports you. God does not micro-manage us, but does actively support us, if we respond to God’s invitation, God’s commandment. In John’s Gospel the word “commandment” has a fairly specific meaning. It is the commandment to love one another as God loves us. That love is a matter of not simply not doing wrong but actively caring for one another.
Today that means things like not exploiting others. Our Catholic social teaching tells us that this commandment means things like paying a just wage or price, not the lowest we can get away with. To deliberately underpay someone is theft and a grave sin! It extends to how we care for the environment as well.
Where do we find joy in our faith and our daily practise? And, if we do not, what does that mean?