Sixth Sunday of Easter

First Reading

Acts 15,1-2.22-29

Then some men came down from Judaea and taught the brothers, 'Unless you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved.' This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had had a long argument with these men it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the question with the apostles and elders. Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose delegates from among themselves to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas, known as Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them: 'The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of gentile birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We hear that some people coming from here, but acting without any authority from ourselves, have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds; and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with our well-beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have committed their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to impose on you any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from illicit marriages. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.'

Psalmody

Psalm 67

Antiphon

Blessed is the Lord who frees his people.

Let God arise, let his foes be scattered.
Let those who hate him flee before him.

As smoke is blown away so will they be blown away;
like wax that melts before the fire,
so the wicked shall perish at the presence of God.

But the just shall rejoice at the presence of God,
they shall exult and dance for joy.

O sing to the Lord, make music to his name;
make a highway for him who rides on the clouds.
Rejoice in the Lord, exult at his presence.

Father of the orphan, defender of the widow,
such is God in his holy place.

God gives the lonely a home to live in;
he leads the prisoners forth into freedom :
but rebels must dwell in a parched land.

When you went forth, O God, at the head of your people
when you marched across the desert, the earth trembled :

the heavens melted at the presence of God,
at the presence of God, Israel's God.

You poured down, O God, a generous rain :
when your people were starved you gave them new life.

It was there that your people found a home,
prepared in your goodness, O God for the poor.

The Lord gives the word to the bearers of good tidings :
'The Almighty has defeated a numberless army

and kings and armies are in flight, in flight
while you were at rest among the sheepfolds.'

At home the women already share the spoil.
They are covered with silver as the wings of a dove,

its feathers brilliant with shining gold
and jewels flashing like snow on Mount Zalmon.

The mountains of Bashan are mighty mountains;
high-ridged mountains are the mountains of Bashan.

Why look with envy, you high-ridged mountains,
at the mountain where God has chosen to dwell?
It is there that the Lord shall dwell for ever.

The chariots of God are thousands upon thousands.
The Lord has come from Sinai to the holy place.

You are gone up on high; you have taken captives,
receiving men in tribute, O God,
even those who rebel, into your dwelling, O Lord.

May the Lord be blessed day after day.
He bears our burdens, God our saviour.

This God of ours is a God who saves.
The Lord our God holds the keys of death.

And God will smite the head of his foes,
the crown of those who persist in their sins.

The Lord said : 'I will bring them back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depth of the sea.

Then your feet will tread in their blood
and the tongues of your dogs take their share of the foe.'

They see your solemn procession, O God,
the procession of my God, of my king, to the sanctuary;

the singers in the forefront, the musicians coming last,
between them, maidens sounding their timbrels.

'In festive gatherings, bless the Lord;
bless God, O you who are Israel's sons.'

There is Benjamin, least of the tribes, at the head,
Judah's princes, a mighty throng,
Zebulun's princes, Naphtali's princes.

Show forth, O God, show forth your might,
your might O God, which you have shown for us

for the sake of your temple high in Jerusalem
may kings come to you bringing their tribute.

Threaten the wild beast that dwells in the reeds,
the bands of the mighty and lords of the peoples.

Let them bow down offering silver.
Scatter the peoples who delight in war.

Princes will make their way from Egypt:
Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God.

Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, praise the Lord
who rides on the heavens, the ancient heavens.

He thunders his voice, his mighty voice.
Come, acknowledge the power of God.

His glory is on Israel; his might is in the skies.
God is to be feared in his holy place.

He is the Lord, Israel's God.
He gives strength and power to his people.
Blessed be God!

Second Reading

Revelation 21,10-14.22-23

In the spirit, he carried me to the top of a very high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God. It had all the glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. Its wall was of a great height and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. I could not see any temple in the city since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple, and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God, and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it.

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 14,23-29

Jesus replied: Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him. Anyone who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not my own: it is the word of the Father who sent me. I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you. Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me say: I am going away and shall return. If you loved me you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

The Gospel passages of the Sundays of the time after Easter makes us listen again Jesus' speech to the Twelve during the Last Supper. It is addressed directly also to us. Jesus switches form the "you", addressed to those who were present but there was no Judas anymore, to "those:" "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." Jesus links love to the observance of the Gospel whose consequence is to become home for the Father and the Son. The Word of God - which is of the Father and the Son - is the dwelling place of believers: "where two or three gather together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Listening to the Gospel makes us God's dwelling place, God's holy Church. To the Church Jesus entrusts the Gospel to be communicated to the world as Jesus did until that evening.
Sure, he had just told those disciples that he was leaving them. But he would not leave them alone, at the mercy of the world, orphaned of his presence. The void left behind would be filled by the Holy Spirit: "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you." The Spirit of the Father and the Son is the inner teacher who also 'teaches' us, the disciples of the last hour, everything, and 'reminds' us of the Gospel, the whole Gospel. 'Remembering' the Gospel with the help of the Spirit means listening to it together with our brothers and sisters, loving it as the dearest word that accompanies us, putting it into practice and communicating it, always and everywhere, in time and out of time, as the Apostle would add. The Gospel is the word that changes, that transforms, that warms hearts, that makes cities and the world human.
And the first word of the Easter Gospel is 'peace.' It is a delivery: "I leave you peace, I give you my peace. Not as the world gives it, I give it to you." "I leave you" here means I give you, I hand over, I entrust you with my peace. Immediately he adds: "Let not your heart be troubled." Jesus warns against fear, which is the child of unbelief and self-centredness, as well as against a resigned, weakened spirit, certainly not the fruit of the Gospel and the word that the Lord entrusts to us. The peace that Jesus gives us is not that of the world, it is not the tranquillity of one's own little world. Peace will be linked to the Holy Spirit, to those tongues like tongues of fire that will descend upon the apostles - while they will still be in that upper plane but out of fear - on the day of Pentecost, which we will celebrate in a few weeks. It is of the vision of the Pentecost dream, that is, in the communication of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, that Jesus asks the disciples to rejoice: "If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I am."
There is an urgency that Jesus wants to communicate to the disciples of all times: if we remain united to the Father, to him and to the Holy Spirit, we will undoubtedly be greater and stronger than evil and war.