Walking with Jesus: Sixth Sunday of Easter

For Sunday, May 14, 2023

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21

A great Jesuit exercise is the Particular Examen, which suggests taking time for peaceful reflection on the day past. It invites us to identify the movement of God in the people and events of our day. Where did I see God? Where did I expect to see God and didn't? Where did God surprise me today? The Examen has a five-step routine:

1. Give God thanks for all the thing I'm grateful for today.
2. Ask for the Spirit's help in discerning the day.
3. Review and recognize my failures.
4. Ask for forgiveness and God's healing.
5. Pray about the day ahead.

The overall theme is knowing that God is present to me every moment, and God is giving me His strength and grace that may bring peace ... turmoil ... confusion ... weakness ... hurt ... happiness ... as I live each day for and with Him. I am Christ alive in my world today because the Holy Spirit is within me. Am I living this? Am I believing this? Do I continually — or seldom — ask for God's help? Why or why not? Above all else, where did I see Jesus today: In the Eucharist? In my home? In family, relatives, friends, neighbors? In my interactions with people in my daily life, both directly and indirectly, I witness so much hurt, suffering and violence, and ask, Why? Do I see the hand of God's goodness and love present? Do I take time to reflect on the message that God could be giving me through them? Today's readings help with this "message from God."

Living the Word expresses today's theme this way: "The first act of God's saving power was creation; resurrection was its culmination, and the Spirit continues to be with us as stewards of creation and witnesses to resurrection." Today's readings emphasize the presence of Jesus in the world through the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us. The Holy Spirit was sent by Christ so that His followers continue to shape and change the face of the earth and bring all people to the knowledge of God's constant love and help for all in His creation. This Holy Spirit encourages and urges us to bring the Good News of God's love to those we meet wherever we go. If not from us, from whom? Why does God place people and situations in my life? Love has to be the fundamental message that we convey.

In the reading from Acts, Philip has been chosen along with seven others to manage the distribution of food for the poor and needy. Like Stephen before him, he has been given further responsibilities. We have heard how Stephen constantly instructed the people of Jerusalem about Jesus. This led to his martyrdom, while Saul — later known as Paul — supervised this horror. Now Philip is preaching about the risen Lord as people of unclean spirits are being delivered and those paralyzed or crippled are walking freely. The Gospel of God's love and healing is visibly apparent, and this brings a dramatic change in their lives. Samaritans in those days believe in a form of Judaism but are totally rejected by the Jews. So Peter and John come and lay hands on these previously baptized Christians who receive the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Peter is reminding the people — and us — that an approach of gentle love and reverence goes a long way toward transforming others. What they see in and hear from us may be the only positive witness of love that they encounter that day. Who was it who said, "preach, and once in a while use words?" We need to learn this and live it by loving.

The gospel is a continuation of Jesus' preaching at the Holy Thursday Last Supper. He insists that the most important part of following Him and believing in Him is: "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15) No doubt His disciples are trying to put together what He is saying: Do not let your hearts be troubled ... have faith in God ... have faith in Me ... I'm not going to leave you orphans ... I'm going to prepare a place for you ... He is going to send another Advocate. In Greek, Paraclete/Advocate refers to the Spirit of truth — not inactive but active, as a force or power: one who aids and comforts. We know that the Spirit is always in us and with us. Jesus connects all this to the commandments. Our love for God should not be in private and does not require physical presence but involves keeping God's commandments, all of which make God's love present in each of our worlds today.

So I reflect on:

• God created me — I'm not junk; I'm loved. Why? The only possible response is to be love!
• I look around and see horror, violence and more. Is everything that bad? Am I not an Easter person? I reflect on three or four practices, even small ones, that can show my Easter Joy and what God has done for me.

Sacred Space 2023 states:

"In our changing and increasingly secularized society, one can easily feel a sense of loss and abandonment, but the Holy Spirit continues to guide and inspire us into new and creative forms of communicating the Good News in ways that are relevant in today's world.

"I do not need to rely on my own resources but turn to God who promised to help me, ready to send the Holy Spirit. To be open to the Spirit, I must quiet first my body, then my heart. In this time of quiet God teaches me to see my world differently; I don't act in it alone but am accompanied by God's ever-present Spirit."