Commentary on the Gospel of
Peace of Christ
Read:
The Jerusalem Council decides to liberate the gentile converts from the yoke of external obligations. John speaks of God Himself as the temple and the light of the new world order. Jesus promises the gift of the Spirit and an abiding peace.
Reflect:
It is important to note that Jesus promises “his” peace to the disciples, because the peace he gives is essentially different from the kind of peace the world gives. For, the worldly peace almost always is soaked in violence and bloodshed; it is a nuclear peace forced on others out of fear and threat. It is a peace brought about by war and destruction; a peace amidst the tombs. However, the peace that Christ offers is a liberating one, a non-violent peace; peace that is offered and received in freedom and love; peace that does not alienate anyone but includes everyone; peace that leaves the tombs open raising even the dead. It is a share of such liberating peace that the apostles, through the Jerusalem Council, offered the gentile converts.
Pray:
Pray for the grace of being agents of the peace of Christ.
Act:
Make peace (of Christ) with someone whom you have kept at a distance until now for the sake of having (worldly) peace.
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Sixth Sunday of Easter (Cycle C ) - "We will come to him and make our home in him" (Pope Francis).
(Pope Francis): Jesus promises the Apostles the gift of the Holy Spirit, whose task will be to teach and remind the community of disciples of his words, to teach and to remind; this is what the Holy Spirit does in our hearts.
Today's gospel shows us the inner life of Jesus: We live today waiting for the Lord, filled with his Spirit. It is no time to complain about our absence, when we can make the Spirit of Jesus our guest, waiting for the one who loves us to return and dwell in us. But the person of Jesus is not only a consolation: it means to bear his absence without despairing of his coming.
The Lord knew the human being perfectly well, because our memory is fragile, and with the passing of time the message is obscured. That is why he left us his Spirit, to remind us of all that he taught us, so that his followers do not walk as orphans on the roads, as if lost in the world. We need the Holy Spirit, because he enables us to understand, deepen and assimilate the message of Jesus, because without his help, neither the believer nor the ecclesial community could ever understand the Gospel proclamation. The true teacher of the Church is the Holy Spirit.
Let us ask the Lord to send us his Spirit to teach us to believe and to pray, to come into the depths of our souls, because our emptiness is very great if it is lacking, for the Holy Spirit is the breath of God who animates and makes the Church fruitful at all times.
Prayer: You cannot look up to heaven without having your feet on the ground. Lord, hear our prayers today, and help us to build on earth a little piece of heaven.
(Psalm 66) O God, may all peoples praise you, may all peoples praise you.
HAPPY SUNDAY TO ALL".
