“MY FATHER GOES ON WORKING AND SO DO I” (John 5:17)
⏰SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (YEAR A)
📖Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6 and 8 (R.v.4); Rev 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29
🎤”MY FATHER GOES ON WORKING AND SO DO I” (John 5:17)
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you both now and forever. Amen.
As Jesus was preparing to take leave of his disciples and go back to the Father, an event that we shall be celebrating on Thursday this week as the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, he knew that they would need help in order to carry on effectively his mission on earth. So, he promised to be with them till the end of time. Not only that, the Father would also send the Holy Spirit to continue enlightening them to the complete truth as we heard in the Gospel.
With just one Sunday away from the celebration of the Pentecost Sunday, a testimony of the working of the Holy Spirit among the disciples of Jesus is given to us today to ginger us into desiring him.
We necessarily need the Holy Spirit to guide us in our journey of faith. In the First Reading, in an attempt to curb the the threat to the unity of the Church, the disciples, guided by the Holy Spirit, made just pronouncements that brought peace and bred unity in the Church. The Spirit opened their eyes to the truth and they embraced it with courage.
Truth! The Scripture says that the knowledge of the truth will set us free (cf. John 8:32). See how the acknowledgement and appreciation of the truth (Acts 15:24-29) brought so much joy to the gentile-converts in Antioch (Acts 15:31).
The apostles and elders did not mind that their judgement would not go down well with their fellow Jews who were at helm of the oppression of the gentiles.
Imagine that you are a member of a panel that ought to uphold the truth and this truth might not be in favour of your brother or sister, would you shun favoritism and speak the truth?
This truth was so important to the apostles and the elders that, apart from writing a letter to the gentile-converts, they still sent two witnesses (Acts 15:22) since the evidence of two or more is needed for the validity of any case in the Law (cf. Deut 17:6; John 8:17; 2Cor 13:1).
How well do we value and fight for the truth? Remember that if we work against the truth, we work against Christ, who is the Truth (cf. John 14:6).
May Christ, the Truth par excellence, grant us the courage to always stand for the truth without counting the cost. May we enabled with the grace of remaining faithful to God and loving him in purity of heart as we anticipate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. And may the Holy Spirit always guide us to the complete truth through Christ our Lord. Amen
Have a grace-filled and happy Sunday. Amen. Peace be with you.
