20240505 THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES THE POWER TO OBEY GOD’S COMMANDMENTS
05 May 2024, Sunday, 6th Week of Eastertide
First reading |
Acts 10:25-26,34-35,44-48 © |
The pagans have received the Holy Spirit just as much as we have
As Peter reached the house Cornelius went out to meet him, knelt at his feet and prostrated himself. But Peter helped him up. ‘Stand up,’ he said ‘I am only a man after all!’
Then Peter addressed them: ‘The truth I have now come to realise’ he said ‘is that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.’
While Peter was still speaking the Holy Spirit came down on all the listeners. Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were all astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit should be poured out on the pagans too, since they could hear them speaking strange languages and proclaiming the greatness of God. Peter himself then said, ‘Could anyone refuse the water of baptism to these people, now they have received the Holy Spirit just as much as we have?’ He then gave orders for them to be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterwards they begged him to stay on for some days.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 97(98):1-4 © |
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
or
Alleluia!
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
or
Alleluia!
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
or
Alleluia!
Second reading | 1 John 4:7-10 © |
Let us love one another, since love comes from God
My dear people,
let us love one another
since love comes from God
and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Anyone who fails to love can never have known God,
because God is love.
God’s love for us was revealed
when God sent into the world his only Son
so that we could have life through him;
this is the love I mean:
not our love for God,
but God’s love for us when he sent his Son
to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn14:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus said: ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.’
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 15:9-17 © |
You are my friends if you do what I command you
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘As the Father has loved me,
so I have loved you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments
you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.
I have told you this
so that my own joy may be in you
and your joy be complete.
This is my commandment:
love one another, as I have loved you.
A man can have no greater love
than to lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends,
if you do what I command you.
I shall not call you servants any more,
because a servant does not know
his master’s business;
I call you friends,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
You did not choose me:
no, I chose you;
and I commissioned you
to go out and to bear fruit,
fruit that will last;
and then the Father will give you
anything you ask him in my name.
What I command you
is to love one another.’
THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES THE POWER TO OBEY GOD’S COMMANDMENTS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 10:25-26,34-35,44-48; Ps 98:1-4; 1 Jn 4:7-10; Jn 15:9-17]
In the gospel, Jesus told His disciples, “Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” To remain in the love of God, that is, to abide in God’s love, we are called to keep His commandments. And among all the commandments, the Lord said, “love one another, as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you.” Clearly, for our Lord, obedience to God’s commandments is a clear sign of our love for Him and also the way to remain in His love. It is also the surest way to bear fruit for the Father in the world.
But very often, especially in today’s world, laws and commandments are seen as something coercive and even oppressive. The world does not like laws. In a world of individualism, freedom is often exaggerated and abused without consideration of the rights of the larger community. Such is the case of the application of human rights. In the name of human rights, the right to a preferred gender, the right to abortion, to freeze the human egg for future IVF, for wars in the name of self-defence, even it is utterly out of proportion. In fact, not only is the world against having laws, they do not believe in obedience because the only obedience is to their will and fancies. We do not like to obey an external authority because we know best and we want to be free to do what we want. Even then, if human beings perceive the laws to be good and fair, they disobey the laws blatantly because of selfishness and their benefits. They cause their fellowmen to suffer injustices to their names, their family, their work and business through cheating, slandering and oppression. Indeed, none of us can claim that we obey the Word of God always. We might not break the same commandments but we know that we are not perfect in love and in obedience.
So, why does Jesus command us to keep the commandments of God? In the first place, Jesus does not simply teach us to keep God’s commandments, He Himself led the way. “Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” Keeping the commandments is to remain in the love of Jesus and in the Father’s love. This is because the commandments are guidelines as to how we are called to love like His Father. By keeping the commandments, the love of God dwells in us and He abides in us. In so doing, we show that we are in union with Jesus and His Father in love and in truth. It also shows us who we truly are as sons and daughters of God because we reflect His image and likeness. Jesus was obedient to His Father and therefore truly the Son of God because the Son is the image of the invisible God. Jesus manifests to us the heart and face of His Father.
So, obedience to the commandments is not given in a reluctant manner but in a joyful manner because we know that the commandments are for our good and our happiness. We trust that God knows what is best for us even when we disagree with Him. God did not impose the commandments on us to make our lives miserable, or take away our freedom. On the contrary, keeping the commandments keeps us free from evil and help us to live a life of true freedom. Keeping the commandments means that we are master of ourselves because we are in control and not our passions or the pressure of the world. Hence, the Lord said, “I shall not call you servants anymore, because a servant does not know his master’s business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.”
The greatest of all commandments is of course the love of God and the love of our brothers and sisters. “This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you.” St John reiterates this in his letter. “My dear people, let us love one another since love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Anyone who fails to love can never have known God, because God is love.” The sure claim to know God is to love like Him, unconditionally and totally.
But this love is not something that we can do with our own strength and by our own will. We will fail in love. This is why, John reminds us that the capacity to obey the commandment of love must spring from God Himself. He wrote, “God’s love for us was revealed when God sent into the world his only Son so that we could have life through him; this is the love I mean: not our love for God, but God’s love for us when he sent his Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.” The capacity to love originates from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. When we have contemplated on His sacrificial love for us by emptying Himself of His divinity, assumed our humanity to the extent of being a slave and be put to death, we will appreciate the depth of God’s love and mercy for us. In gratitude, we will tend to love others the way we have been loved, unconditionally. When we love, we can do everything.
But knowing the love of God is more than just an intellectual grasping. It must be a real personal experience of His love for us in our hearts and in our lives. God revealed to Peter the love of God for us all, including the Gentiles, when He poured forth His person on them in the Spirit even though they were not baptized and non-Jews. God’s love has no boundary. Peter came to this realization on two counts. Firstly, his vision that all food is clean and there is no separation between Jews and Gentiles. “The truth I have now come to realise, he said, is that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Secondly, “while Peter was still speaking the Holy Spirit came down on all the listeners. The Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were all astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit should be poured out on the pagans too, since they could hear them speaking strange languages and proclaiming the greatness of God. Peter himself then said, “Could anyone refuse the water of baptism to these people, now they have received the Holy Spirit just as much as we have?”
Indeed, as we enter into the preparation for the Feast of Pentecost, the Church is asking us to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit to enter into our lives. St Paul wrote, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5) We must prepare ourselves to receive the Holy Spirit anew so that we can live out the commandment of love to the extent of laying down our lives for our fellowmen. “A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.” If we do that, then truly the Lord’s promise will be realized in us when He said, “I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete.” And indeed, we are ready to be commissioned “to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last” because we love one another in Christ.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment