Fifth Sunday of Easter

Acts 9:26-31

Saul, the great persecutor of the Christians, goes to Jerusalem and tries to join the disciples after his conversion.  The disciples are afraid of him.  They would be crazy not to be afraid of him.  Saul was vicious in his attempt to stomp out the name of Jesus from Jerusalem.  God’s grace, however, was too much for Saul.  What changes the minds of the disciples?  The testimony of Barnabas and Saul’s preaching to the Greeks.  How will people know our allegiance to the Lord?  We have to follow Saul’s example.  Tell everyone we encounter the reason for our joy and hope – the power of God in us.  Then we reach outside of ourselves and preach about Jesus’ blessings.  Saul talked to those inside the church (the disciples) and those outside the church (the Greeks) about the new motivation of his life.  We’re called to do the same.

1 John 3:18-24

This reading builds upon the first one from Acts.  In the previous reading, Saul is speaking, using words to convince the disciples of the sincerity of his conversion.  The first line of this reading says, “Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.”  To love “in deed” is self-explanatory.  It means to show our love by our actions.  Easy enough.  What does love “in truth” mean?  My take on it is that we should do what we do for the correct reason or motivation.  We should do God because we desire to see God’s kingdom established among us and not because of guilt, mere obligation, or for the sake of appearance.

John 15:4a-5b

In this very short Gospel, the word “remain” appears eight times.  That is a lot for such a short reading.  “Remain in me as I remain in you.”  Jesus remains in us by the indwelling of his Holy Spirit.  When he left this earth, he gave the spirit – his spirit - to his disciples.  We share in that spirit because of our baptism and confirmation.  In that way, Jesus remains in us for always.  How then do we remain in him?  We are called to acknowledge that Jesus is in us every day.  Keeping him in mind means that there is a spiritual connection formed between Jesus and us.  Frequent prayer – no matter how long the prayer may be – keeps us in him.  Coming to Mass and Communion, doing good works, giving alms, etc. to the poor keep us in contact with Jesus.  Doing the spiritual and Corporal works of Mercy also connect us with Jesus’ life and ministry.  There are countless ways to remain in him.

I invite your comments.