SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER: LOVE BY KEEPING COMMANDMENTS

Sixth Sunday of Easter – A: (Acts 8:5-8,14-17; 1Pet 3:15-18; John 14:15-21)
Theme: LOVING THE LORD IS IN KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS

Reflections:
- In this sixth Sunday of Easter we are reminded, once again, of the joy of resurrection; to reach this joy, today’s readings provide for us, the way of living and leading Christian life; loving the Lord is the first step and that, automatically, leads us to the second step of keeping his commandments.
- Last week in the discourse of the Father’s house we have learnt that Christ has gone ahead of us to prepare rooms for us so that we would be with him where he is; God’s will is, that we are with Him and we are with Him where He is; only the immense love makes us to be with the other; only when we love God we desire to stay with Him. He loves us very much and we know it in the mystery of His Son (Jn 3:16); It is because of this love for the humanity He came down ‘TO BE’ with the humanity and he promised this loving and eternal presence with men (Mt 28).
- That is from the part of God’s immense love for humanity and what has to be from our part is also the same love; Love for God makes us always strive ‘to be’ with Him. We do not hate the presence of the one whom we love, although, this presence demands our attention, observance and at times also demands our ‘renouncing of our desires and our personal necessities’. It is same when we love God.
- And Jesus’ words today affirm this: if you love me, keep my commandments; this means going out of ourselves and out of our way in order to reaching the way of God (love for God) and the way of others (love for the neighbors).

First Reading:
- There was great joy in that city (v.8): Joy is the fruit of eager listening of the Word of God and seeing of His wonderful deeds.
o When deacon Philip was preaching and doing the wonderful miracles in Samaria, the people received him and his message with one accord (v.6) and we will again remember that Samaria is the place which was rejected by the Jews and even the disciples were wonderstruck when Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well (Jn 4) because it was prohibited even to talk with them. Now these people show much interest and desire in listening to the preaching of Philip and seeing the signs he did (v.6). And there was a great joy in that city (v.8).
o There was a joy indeed but this joy is the result of the ‘Word of God’ proclaimed, heard and accepted and the result of the ‘Deed of God’ done, seen and received;
o Not only the proclamation of the ‘Word of God’ is necessary but also its acceptance into one’s life;
o Not only the fulfillment of the ‘wonders of God’ is necessary but also its reception into one’s being;
o Only then there will be joy, not mere joy, but great joy in the life of the receiver;
o If our community has to have this Joy we have to listen to the word of God eagerly and observe the deeds of God keenly.
- Philip as a deacon has preached the word of God and baptized all those who believed in the Gospel; but he did not give the confirmation, or, the gift of the Holy Spirit, because it was reserved only to the Apostles; and so they sent for the Apostles because they wanted to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit after their baptism.
- ‘Laying of hands’ for the reception of the Holy Spirit:
o Apostles have already received the Holy Spirit and therefore, now they have the power to transmit this gift to those who believe.
o Peter and John have come to Samaria to give them the gift of the Holy Spirit;
o They have ‘laid upon them their hands’ and they have received the Holy Spirit;
o This laying of hands and praying for the Holy Spirit and His descent upon the people is the ‘ancient’ practice and even till today it is being continued in the sacrament of Confirmation.
- There was a joy because they have listened to the word of God and seen His wonders and this joy will remain because they have received the Holy Spirit.

Second Reading:
- Peter exhorts the first Christians to be attentive to the sufferings and persecutions which they have to accept:
o With the ‘hope’ (v.15) that our Christ is alive and so we will also be alive; and for the ‘good’ (v.17) because God’s will is that we always do what is good and worthy of living; and for the ‘reaching to God’ and for the ‘life in the Spirit’ (v.18) because it is the destiny of Christian life, the followers of Christ have to face the hardships and persecutors.
o The attitude that the Christians have to display with the persecutors is: with the ‘non-violence’ (gentleness v.15) and with the ‘openness and tolerance’ (reverence v.16) and with the sincerity (clear conscience v.16) and finally with the ‘unlimited generosity’ (even if they abuse the good conduct v.16 and even to suffer for good v.18).
- This is the exact attitude that Peter asks us today to cultivate in our daily testimony of Christian life:
o Not an eye for eye or tooth for tooth but loving enemies, praying for them (Lk 6:27): this should be our behavior with those who laugh at us for our faith.
o Leaving what we have to others than quarrelling with them for the goods that pass away because a man can achieve everything and finally loses his soul and what would be his end: this should be our consideration towards what blocks us from being witness for God’s Word.

Gospel Reading:
- The mystery of the Trinity and their intimacy of love:
o John’s theology is known as theology of love; He, both in his Gospel and in his three letters, speaks mostly and primarily only of ‘love’ of God. Love of God made manifested in the Incarnated Word Jesus Christ; Christ is the fullness of revelation of God’s loving face to humanity; John pens down all the ‘mystery of the Trinity and their love for humanity’ in this chapter 14; we remember that this discourse of Jesus falls in the context of final and precious words of Jesus (from chapters 13-17) during the Last Supper and before his arrest. Once he has revealed his love for his friends by washing of their feet and admonishing them to do the same (chapter 13), now He leads them slowly into the mystery of God, who is Triune and one in three in the bond of love; this chapter serves as the introduction also for the coming chapters in which he will speak of intimacy that has to exist between God and his disciple (united as the branches to the vine and therefore the commandment of love – chapter 15), of the gift of the Holy Spirit who will reveal the Truth and keep all who believe stay firm in the truth revealed and the how the Spirit turns all the sorrow into joy (chapter 16) and finally ‘interpersonal love between the Three Persons of God’ and the prayer of Jesus that all those who believe in him are united and ‘be firm’ in Him (chapter 17).
o Just before today’s passage of Gospel, Jesus already spoke (as we have meditated last week) the way that leads us to this intimacy of love of the Trinity and the way is, ‘He Himself’. We need to just follow the way that Jesus has prepared and walked himself; the way, not of roses as we would like but, of the cross, that is, the insults, sufferings and even the death; Only through this way we reach to the House of God and to see Him face to face and to remain with Him and in Him (intimacy of love). Thus, we partake in the life of the Trinity for which we embraced this faith and sustaining our faith with our daily endurances. That’s what, as we have heard, Peter exhorts us to do in the second reading.
- Love game between God and Man:
o Jesus’ words are very clear but all rotate around the point of love: “I am in the Father, you in me and I am in you” (v.20): Love game started between God and Man and it is Jesus who has started and in the movement of the Holy Spirit.
o The words of assurance: “if you love me” (v.15), “I will pray to the Father” (v.16), “Holy Spirit stays with you forever” (v.16), “My Father loves him and I also will love him” (v.21); they reveal the fruit of reciprocal love between God and his faithful. The words are different and expressions are various but the effect is the same: Remaining in the Love (God in Man and Man in God).
- Love and observance of commandments:
o Love has to lead to the keeping of commandments and observance of the commandments will result in the love of God;
 ‘If you love me’: we have to note the words of Jesus; Jesus do not say if you love (this could be love in general) but he says ‘if you love ME’ and this signifies the personal will to love Jesus and it is comes from the free choice, not of obligation/or out of force and therefore there is no curtailing of freedom of the person. ‘If you love Me’ can also have the opposite ‘if you don’t love me’; So it is purely ‘personal and free will’ on the part of the one who wants to have this love; love never forces anybody;
 ‘keep my commandments’: we again observe carefully the words of Jesus; he does not speak of any commandments which include the ‘law of Moses’ and ‘the commandments of the Old Covenant’; but he speaks of ‘MY’ commandments and some time back he spoke of his commandment: “love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34-35); It implies that Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Law, Prophets and Psalms as he himself told: “I have not come to abolish what was said but to fulfill it and make it perfect” (Mt 5:17). He has become the ‘ONLY LAW/ONLY COMMANDMENT’ that has to be followed/or observed. Once we follow Him we do everything that is in him and for him (In Him: we love God the Father and strive to be at his House; and For Him: we love our neighbor as He has loved us and gave us himself for us).
o Be in love or be out of love and there is no way of pretension;
 The words ‘ME’ and ‘MY’ of Jesus are to be meditated carefully to become mature in the love of God. There exists only one way: either we love him we keep his commandments or we don’t love and do not observe his commandments; either BE IN LOVE or BE OUT OF LOVE. There is no other way;
 We cannot pretend to love him without listening to him (the content of the first reading) and without enduring and taking risk of hardships (the content of the second reading) and without keeping the commandment of loving (the Gospel).
 It all depends on the free choice we make and personal decision we take; afterwards, no use of blaming God for the consequences; Jesus did not promise a soft life for those who follow him in this world; he promised a life in God in the future and in another world; If we remain in this world and still want to love him, there is no other way than the way of the cross that will lead us to the glory of resurrection;
- Holy Spirit – the Advocate:
o He reveals the truth and the truth will set us free from all these bondages of fear of the world and attractions of the world;
o The world (that is immersed in its own pride and power) cannot love God and keep his commandments because it does not know the Holy Spirit and thus does not know the Truth and the only Truth is: God and His love for Humanity;
o He is with us always; He is sent to us not as a temporary advocate (who defends us against the worldly and fleshy desires) but a permanent advocate who remains and guards us if only we heed to him.
o The Holy Spirit is ‘another Advocate’: The first advocate is Jesus Himself who intercedes for us with the Father; now once the first advocate Jesus has accomplished his mission of bringing the people into the love of God (the house of the Father), in the history and in time, now comes the Holy Spirit, another advocate, to be with us and to be for us who love and keep the commandments of Jesus.
o We are not orphans: we are not left alone; once we are called into the communion and fellowship of love with God the Father through the merits of Christ’s mystery, we are no more in the power of the world but in the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Love for keeping the commandments and keep the commandments for loving:
o Today’s Gospel passage starts and ends (v.15 and v.21) with this commandment of love and in the centre (v.18) there is the ‘presence and power of the Holy Spirit’.
o Therefore, loving and keeping the commandments is the action of the Holy Spirit in the believer; we have to just give in ourselves to the presence of the Spirit that is already in us and which has come to us with the Baptism and Confirmation and in the particular and perfect manner in the Holy Eucharist;
o We just offer ourselves for the prompting and power of the Spirit with docility and dedication and the rest will be done him because he is our Advocate.
- Love gives love and love receives love (v.21):
o If we love God, God also loves us; in the better words, it is with the love that God has for us that we love God; He loved us first and thus even our love takes its root and base from the same love that God has for us.
o In this way, there are no two loves: God’s love for us and our love for God; but there is only ONE LOVE, that is, GOD HIMSELF. In him we live, move and have our being.
o Everything is evolving around the ‘BOND OF LOVE’.

Conclusion:
- We are nearing the Ascension of Jesus and thus Jesus brings his promises of Resurrection to the perfect end: Everything is Love and In Love ‘united both God and humanity’.
- In the season of Easter we are blessed with the joy of hope and eternal happiness which will be brought into completion by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
- In fact, Holy Spirit is the gift of Risen Jesus to the Christian Community that is ‘in the way of becoming one with the Father’ (Father is in me and I am in you and you are in me, v.20).
- To reach this we have to accept the way of love: if we love him, let us, with sincerity and honest and commitment, keep his commandments.
- Let us remain in His Love by keeping his commandments of loving God and our neighbors as He has loved us.
- Therefore, let us come out of our pretension and ‘BE in His Love’ because we are called to participate in the love play.