Sixth Sunday of Easter Homily Year C

Acts 15:1f., 22-29 Rev 21:10-14, 22f. Jn 14:23-29

Peace

The New Jerusalem; The Continuing Presence of God; Peacemaking; The Dwelling Place of God

1st Reading – Acts 15:1-2, 22-29

¹ Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.”

² Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.

²² The apostles and elders, in agreement with the whole church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers.

²³ This is the letter delivered by them: “The apostles and the elders, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings.

²⁴ Since we have heard that some of our number who went out without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind,

²⁵ we have with one accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

²⁶ who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁷ So we are sending Judas and Silas who will also convey this same message by word of mouth:

²⁸ ‘It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities,

²⁹ namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. If you keep free of these,
you will be doing what is right. Farewell.’”

Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8

R. (4) O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R. Alleluia.

² May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
³ So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R. Alleluia.

⁵ May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R. Alleluia.

⁶ May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
⁸ May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R. Alleluia.

2nd Reading – Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23

¹⁰ The angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

¹¹ It gleamed with the splendour of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

¹² It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed and on which names were inscribed, the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites.

¹³ There were three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west.

¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

²² I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb.

²³ The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb.

Alleluia – John 14:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
²³ Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord,
and my Father will love him and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel – John 14:23-29

²³ Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.

²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.

²⁵ “I have told you this while I am with you.

²⁶ The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.

²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

²⁸ You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.

²⁹ And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.”

Homily

Business seminars used to deal with what they called conflict resolution. Today, realizing that – human nature being what it is – we don’t really resolve many conflicts, they are more and more emphasizing the concept o f conflict management. The major tactic is to try to give a full hearing to each side in a conflict and then try to mediate, seeing if each side can get what it wants without making the other side feel as though it has lost, and – most important – keeping peace.

Indeed, peace – external peace and internal peace – vital for all of us. We continue to consider external peace in special ways at times. Problems of internal peace such as undue anxiety and scrupulosity we consider all the time. Jesus made peace an important part of his last lessons the night before he died. He said that he was giving us his gift of peace “not as the world gives”, and repeat that idea in a prayer before the kiss of peace at Mass.

What the world means by “peace” is often simply the absence of war. It is a state of being left alone, like the harassed mother wants from her active young children or the worker from the public he has had to deal with for too long. Or it is a deep sleep, which is what the world understands when it writes “Rest in Peace” on its tombstones.

What Jesus means by peace is quite different. It is not simply a cocoon wrapping us in self-centeredness, isolating us from the pressures of daily life, and eradicating trouble. It is a positive, active thing – a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence. St Augustine was in the tradition of Jesus when he defined peace as “the tranquility of order”. It contains certain prerequisites. It is all-involving. If you want peace, you must have a still and quiet conscience, because there is no peace for the wicked (Is 48:22). If you want peace, you must work for justice. If you want peace, you must seek God’s will. As Dante put over the doors of paradise,” In His will is our peace”; T.S. Eliot added that if we do God’s will can find peace “even among these rocks” of our life.

And Jesus said that one of the essential requirements of peace is love. One problem with that is that love can turn inward and become a very private thing. By the Tiber River in Rome there is in a glass-enclosed building the ara pacis, a beautifully-carved marble “alter of peace”. It was erected by Augustus Ceasar after he and his armies had conquered practically all of Europe and the known parts of Asia. But when one bends others to one’s will, that is not peace, but tyranny.

Another version distorted love and peace is one that is syrupy sweet and sentimental. Those versions can be exclude almost anybody we