By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily at St. Matthew Church, Hallandale, May 21, Sixth Sunday of Easter.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” These words of Jesus are taken from his “Farewell Discourse” after the Last Supper so they are something like a “last will and testament.” And so, today’s Gospel prepares us for Jesus’ return to his Father which we will celebrate next Sunday � the feast of the Ascension and the feast of Pentecost the following week.
You’ve heard the expression, “talk is cheap.” I know, I know� we should tell our loved ones that we love them. And we should tell them often. But words are meaningless unless they are also expressed in deeds. Too often � and Hollywood is to blame � love is portrayed as a nice feeling, a warm emotion. (I’m talking about Hollywood, California; not Hollywood, Florida.) Now it certainly is that � sometimes � we do need passion and warmth in our lives. (After all, no one would eat mashed potatoes if they were always served cold.) But love becomes real in the decisions we make. This is why Jesus links loving him with keeping his commandments. For Jesus, love is never only about “feeling good” but it is always about “doing good” � and sometimes doing good is hard, sometimes it hurts. Just look at Jesus on the cross and you know that love can hurt. Jesus tells us: “the one who hears my words and keeps them is the one who loves me.” That’s how we know that we love and have our being in love. All true love is tough love.
But Jesus does not leave us orphans � but sends us his Spirit as our Advocate. Advocate is a fancy word � it means a big lawyer. People need lawyers, I guess, to keep them out of trouble, to help them resolve conflicts, to offer them the wisdom of their advice. And that’s something like what the Spirit does for us and for our Church. The Church is something like a ship � we speak of the Barque of St. Peter � and this ship sails through the stormy seas of history. And if we haven’t sunk the ship, it is thanks to the Holy Spirit. And if we heed Jesus’ words today � to keep his commandments � the Holy Spirit will guide us so we don’t fall overboard during the storms of life. Without the Spirit � which is the source of our hope � we would be left to our own resources, which are clearly inadequate when the going gets tough, as we saw when Jesus was arrested and the disciples scattered.
The Holy Spirit is love personified. As breath is to the body, so the Spirit is to the soul. He makes us alive by making us sharers in God’s life. And as the Advocate, he stands beside us to defend us from the works of the devil. Those works of the Evil One are like anti-sacraments, the opposite of the life-giving Sacraments of the Church. They all begin with the letter “d” � disillusionment, discouragement, depression, defeat, despair and death.
Thanks to the gift of the Spirit � thanks to the gifts of the Spirit � we can keep the commandments, we can love Jesus even as he has loved us. Too often, people think of the commandments as limitations, as things that keep us from enjoying life. But far from limiting us, keeping the commandments give us the freedom to really experience life in its fullness. As Jesus told us, he came so that in him we might have life � abundant life.
St. Peter in today’s second reading tells us, “to always be ready to give anyone an explanation for the reason for your hope.” We are to do this not through haughty assertions but as St. Peter tells us through “gentleness and reverence.”
Hope is what enables us to look to the future with confidence. With that confidence we follow the commandments and seek to live upright lives, and even if we suffer for doing what is right we do not despair, for Christ himself suffered. By imitating him, we are brought to fullness of life in the Spirit. To be a Christian is not a burden; it is a gift. To have known Jesus Christ is the best thing that has ever happened to us � and to share him with others is a joy!
