FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Today, Sunday, May 10, 2009 – two very occasions!
Mother’s Day and the anniversary of my Dad’s birthday.

As for my Dad, he passed away in 2000, but he is alive in my heart and mind each and every day. He was an example of love and commitment to his family and his faith – a complete package!
When I visited him in his later years, I was struck by the fact that he would go to bed so early in the evening. I felt sad thinking that he was aging and his time was growing short. I eventually learned he wasn’t going to sleep at all, but he was sitting at his bedside reading his bible and saying his prayers! The image of him doing that sticks with me until today – and it makes me realize that it was an important part of who he was – no matter how prosperous or how happy he was, his life began and ended with his faith in God. He always exemplified goodness, love and truth.

Today’s second reading is from the first Letter of St. John 3:18-24
speaks very clearly about these virtues ~

Children, let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.
Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts before him
in whatever our hearts condemn,
for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,
we have confidence in God
and receive from him whatever we ask,
because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
And his commandment is this:
we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.
Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,
and the way we know that he remains in us
is from the Spirit he gave us.

This passage gives two important teachings. The first is a reminder that loving our neighbors includes actually doing something for them. It means getting our hands dirty. It means giving up time for them. It means making sacrifices. The kind of love that John is talking about is not a way of feeling but a practical way of life and action. Love involves giving ourselves away for the good of someone else. It is a matter of decision and will rather than emotion. That is why we can sacrifice ourselves for the love of somebody we don’t even like!

The reassurance and security that Saint John offers us are not intended to encourage arrogance or self-satisfaction. The issue is not what we accomplish, but our response to what God has accomplished in us. Our ability to relate to God and our capacity to give ourselves generously to the service of our neighbor are not our achievements but God’s gifts.

May you use those gifts wisely.

Millie Martin