Homily Sixth Sunday of Easter May 9, 2021 Mother’s Day
Maybe you get
told frequently by a spouse or parent or child or friend, “I love you.” But for most of us that is not common, and
for all of us we can always use more affirmations that we are loved. And today, in this Gospel, Jesus says to you,
“I love you.” //
How does that
make you feel? Do you kind of shrug it
off as no big deal? You say to yourself,
“Yehhh, big deal, that doesn’t help with my bills or my aches and pains.” And so, you kind of blow it off?
Or does it
embarrass you somewhat? It is so
personal, so tender, so touching. It is
outside our usual expectations, it gets so close, it just is uncomfortable.
Or does it
threaten you a bit? Anyone else scarred
of intimacy? Of such closeness? Of the mutual obligations and expectations it
places on us? Do I really want to go
there? What am I getting into?
Or are you overjoyed
at this revelation of Jesus’ love for you?
Does it make you happy, excited, feeling more alive, overwhelmed? The Lord loves me! Hurray!!!
The sky is bluer, colors more vivid, I feel more alive, Alleluia! I’m loved!
//
I have all of
these reactions in varying degrees. And
most likely you feel at least some of these, as well as other reactions, on
hearing Jesus solemnly say to you in today’s Gospel, “I love you.”
It is really
important, first of all, to hear that. “As
the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.”
Notice
that there is a dynamism to this love.
It moves. It begins with God the
Father, the source of all, and the love moves from the Father to the Son, or as
Jesus says, “As the Father loves me,…”
Then the love moves from Jesus to us.
“so I also love you.”
But it
doesn’t, or shouldn’t, stop there. Jesus
goes on to tell us: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love
you.” From the Father to the Son,
from the Son to us, from us to everyone we meet. It is a dynamic, living
love. It is all love. //
How can Jesus
“command” love? Love must be freely
given. It cannot be forced. You cannot legislate love. How can Jesus command love?
This is not at
all like the commandments that God gave to Moses on Mt Sinai, the Ten
Commandments, the “Thou shall nots…”
Rather this is the “command” from one lover to another. It is not a law, but something much more
powerful, a request made in love. And
the desire to please the beloved is greater than the force of any law or threat
of punishment. //
On this day
when we remember and honor the other-serving love of Mothers, and all mother
figures, we are presented in the Gospel with the ultimate example of
other-serving love, Jesus Christ. Jesus
loves me, and Jesus loves you. His
example, His love, His giving of Himself to us blesses us, challenges us,
motivates us to love one another.
Jesus assures
us today: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed
you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father
in my name he may give you This I
command you: love one another.”
God bless!
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