Sunday Homily 5-6-12, 5th Easter
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Readings:
Acts 9, 26-31, The Church was at peace;
Psalm 22, I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people;
1 John 3, 18-24, Let us love not in word or speech, but in deed and truth;
John 15,1-8, I am the true vine and my Father is the vine grower.
Introductions by Mike Carrell:
Recall from last Sunday’s reading from Chapter 4 in the Acts, that Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit defended his actions before the Jewish leaders: priests, scribes and elders among them. What had Peter done? Recall how the John gospel ended? Christ’s words to the twelve, “As the Father has sent me, so now I send you. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven.” In the name of Jesus Christ, Peter has forgiven a man of his sins. The mission entrusted to the apostles has begun!
Today’s reading is five chapters later in Acts. One of the Jewish leaders, Saul, who we later know as the Apostle Paul, has experienced a conversion of heart. Here’s what he encounters in Jerusalem:
First reading: Acts 9:26-31
Our second reading continues the teaching that we received in 1 John: When we follow Christ’s commands He is alive within us through the power of the Spirit.
Second reading: 1 John 3: 18-24
Homily
The relational skills that we learn within our families as we grew or are growing up are very important to who we are, and who we will be toward others.
Stephen Glenn, author of Developing Capable People and Developing Capable Young People, wrote about principles that are universal in building human relationships. He shared actual stories that contained these principles. One such story was about a famous, creative, research scientist who answered a reporter during an interview on why he thought that he was more creative than the average person.
The scientist answered that it began from an experience that he had as a very young child. He was trying to remove a bottle of milk from a refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery container and it fell dumping most of its contents onto the kitchen floor.
When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture or punishing him, she said to me, ‘Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made. I have rarely, if ever, seen such a puddle of milk. Since the damage has already been done, would you like to get down and play in it before we clean it up?’ And, he did just that.
After a few minutes his mother said, ‘Robert, whenever you make a mess like this eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its original order. We could use a sponge, a towel or a mop. Which would you prefer to use?’ He chose the sponge, and together they cleaned it up.
Then his mother said, ‘You know, what we have here is a failed experiment on how to carry a big container of milk with two amall hands. Let’s take the empty container out in the back yard and fill it with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it.’ The scientist said that at that moment he began not to be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes from then on were just opportunities for learning something new.
You might recall Trever in the Movie, Pay it Forward. His Social Studies teacher in middle school has given them an assignment to show how they might address the problems in society and then write a paper on it. Trever decides that change must begin in him first. He does goods deeds to those in need around him, and when they want to do something for him, he replies, ‘Pay it Forward.’ The change proposed by Trever that must begin within the one who desires change in others has of course been proposed by many of the great philosophers.
In the context of our theological teaching in today’s gospel, Christ’s words, ‘Love one another as I have loved you,’ is how we put into practice being God-like: ‘for as the Father has loved his Son, so his Son has loved us.’
This gives specific meaning to the sign within the context of today’s teaching where the Father is the vinegrower, Christ in the vine, and we are the branches, for we are joined together by the same Spirit! Christ is alive to us as we plant the seed of his words. This means that each of us becomes part of the Father’s plan of salvation…and that the fruit that comes forth from every seed around has become a sign that all of creation reflects God’s plan of salvation in Christ, Jesus.