May 5, 2024: Sixth Sunday of Easter
Catholic Social Teaching: Care for God’s Creation
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day on May 11th and help with protection of habitats and flyways: https://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/
Readings
First Reading: Acts10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Psalm: 98:1,2-3, 3-4
Second Reading: 1st John 4:7-10
Gospel Acclamation: John 14:23
Gospel: John 15:9-17
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Charity is the soul of the holiness to which all are called: it “governs, shapes, and perfects all the means of sanctification.”
If the Church was a body composed of different members, it couldn’t lack the noblest of all; it must have a Heart, and a Heart BURNING WITH LOVE. And I realized that this love alone was the true motive force which enabled the other members of the Church to act; if it ceased to function, the Apostles would forget to preach the gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. LOVE, IN FACT, IS THE VOCATION WHICH INCLUDES ALL OTHERS; IT’S A UNIVERSE OF ITS OWN, COMPRISING ALL TIME AND SPACE – IT’S ETERNAL! (826) From the Daily Roman Missal, Introduction to the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Cycle B
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church:
John 14:21, 23-24
The Church has the right to be a teacher for mankind, a teacher of the truth of faith: the truth not only of dogmas but also of the morals whose source lies in human nature itself and in the Gospel[95]. The word of the Gospel, in fact, is not only to be heard but is also to be observed and put into practice (cf. Mt 7:24; Lk 6:46-47; Jn 14:21,23-24; Jas 1:22). Consistency in behaviour shows what one truly believes and is not limited only to things strictly church-related or spiritual but involves men and women in the entirety of their life experience and in the context of all their responsibilities. However worldly these responsibilities may be, their subject remains man, that is, the human being whom God calls, by means of the Church, to participate in his gift of salvation.
Men and women must respond to the gift of salvation not with a partial, abstract or merely verbal acceptance, but with the whole of their lives — in every relationship that defines life — so as not to neglect anything, leaving it in a profane and worldly realm where it is irrelevant or foreign to salvation. For this reason the Church’s social doctrine is not a privilege for her, nor a digression, a convenience or interference: it is her right to proclaim the Gospel in the context of society, to make the liberating word of the Gospel resound in the complex worlds of production, labour, business, finance, trade, politics, law, culture, social communications, where men and women live. (70)
John Chapters 15-17 and 1st John 4:10
The salvation offered by God to his children requires their free response and acceptance. It is in this that faith consists, and it is through this that “man freely commits his entire self to God”, responding to God’s prior and superabundant love (cf. 1 Jn 4:10) with concrete love for his brothers and sisters, and with steadfast hope because “he who promised is faithful” (Heb 10:23). In fact, the divine plan of salvation does not consign human creatures to a state of mere passivity or of lesser status in relation to their Creator, because their relationship to God, whom Jesus Christ reveals to us and in whom he freely makes us sharers by the working of the Holy Spirit, is that of a child to its parent: the very relationship that Jesus lives with the Father (cf. Jn 15-17; Gal 4:6-7). (39)
John 15:12
The immediate purpose of the Church’s social doctrine is to propose the principles and values that can sustain a society worthy of the human person. Among these principles, solidarity includes all the others in a certain way. It represents “one of the fundamental principles of the Christian view of social and political organization”.
Light is shed on this principle by the primacy of love, “the distinguishing mark of Christ’s disciples (cf. Jn 13:35)”. Jesus teaches us that “the fundamental law of human perfection, and consequently of the transformation of the world, is the new commandment of love” (cf. Mt 22:40, Jn 15:12; Col 3:14; Jas 2:8)[1219]. Personal behaviour is fully human when it is born of love, manifests love and is ordered to love. This truth also applies in the social sphere; Christians must be deeply convinced witnesses of this, and they are to show by their lives how love is the only force (cf. 1 Cor 12:31-14:1) that can lead to personal and social perfection, allowing society to make progress towards the good. (580)
John 15:14-15
This document is an act of service on the part of the Church to the women and men of our time, to whom she offers the legacy of her social doctrine, according to that style of dialogue by which God himself, in his only-begotten Son made man, “addresses men as his friends (cf. Ex 33:11; Jn 15:14-15) and moves among them (cf. Bar 3:38)”. Drawing inspiration from the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, this document too places “man considered whole and entire, with body and soul, heart and conscience, mind and will” as the key to its whole exposition. In this perspective, the Church is “inspired by no earthly ambition and seeks but one solitary goal: to carry forward the work of Christ himself under the lead of the befriending Spirit. For Christ entered this world to bear witness to the truth, to save and not to sit in judgment, to serve and not to be served”. (13)
John 15:15
The love that inspires Jesus’ ministry among men is the love that he has experienced in his intimate union with the Father. The New Testament allows us to enter deeply into the experience, that Jesus himself lives and communicates, the love of God his Father — “Abba” — and, therefore, it permits us to enter into the very heart of divine life. Jesus announces the liberating mercy of God to those whom he meets on his way, beginning with the poor, the marginalized, the sinners. He invites all to follow him because he is the first to obey God’s plan of love, and he does so in a most singular way, as God’s envoy in the world.
Jesus’ self-awareness of being the Son is an expression of this primordial experience. The Son has been given everything, and freely so, by the Father: “All that the Father has is mine” (Jn 16:15). His in turn is the mission of making all men sharers in this gift and in this filial relationship: “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (Jn 15:15).
For Jesus, recognizing the Father’s love means modeling his actions on God’s gratuitousness and mercy; it is these that generate new life. It means becoming — by his very existence — the example and pattern of this for his disciples. Jesus’ followers are called to live like him and, after his Passover of death and resurrection, to live also in him and by him, thanks to the superabundant gift of the Holy Spirit, the Consoler, who internalizes Christ’s own style of life in human hearts. (29)
Acts 10:34
“God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34; cf. Rom 2:11; Gal 2:6; Eph 6:9), since all people have the same dignity as creatures made in his image and likeness. The Incarnation of the Son of God shows the equality of all people with regard to dignity: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28; cf. Rom 10:12; 1 Cor 12:13, Col 3:11).
Since something of the glory of God shines on the face of every person, the dignity of every person before God is the basis of the dignity of man before other men. Moreover, this is the ultimate foundation of the radical equality and brotherhood among all people, regardless of their race, nation, sex, origin, culture, or class. (144)
Acts 10:36
Working for peace can never be separated from announcing the Gospel, which is in fact the “good news of peace” (Acts 10:36; cf. Eph 6:15) addressed to all men and women. At the centre of “the gospel of peace” (Eph 6:15) remains the mystery of the cross, because peace is born of Christ’s sacrifice (cf. Is 53:5) — “Upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we were healed”. The crucified Jesus has overcome divisions, re-establishing peace and reconciliation, precisely through the cross, “thereby bringing the hostility to an end” (Eph 2:16) and bringing the salvation of the Resurrection to mankind. (493)
1st John 4:8
Jesus Christ reveals to us that “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8) and he teaches us that “the fundamental law of human perfection, and consequently of the transformation of the world, is the new commandment of love. He assures those who trust in the love of God that the way of love is open to all people and that the effort to establish a universal brotherhood will not be in vain”[66]. This law is called to become the ultimate measure and rule of every dynamic related to human relations. In short, it is the very mystery of God, Trinitarian Love, that is the basis of the meaning and value of the person, of social relations, of human activity in the world, insofar as humanity has received the revelation of this and a share in it through Christ in his Spirit. (54)
1st John 4:10
With the unceasing amazement of those who have experienced the inexpressible love of God (cf. Rom 8:26), the New Testament grasps, in the light of the full revelation of Trinitarian love offered by the Passover of Jesus Christ, the ultimate meaning of the Incarnation of the Son and his mission among men and women. Saint Paul writes: “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him?” (Rom 8:31-32). Similar language is used also by Saint John: “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:10).(30)
For complete text visit: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html
Reflection
Love distinguishes people who know God from those who take the clout of moral authority to question the faith, render the spiritual integrity of others an abomination. Using words of speech to pounce with chastisement on perceived imperfections without knowing who lives in those other shoes or creating immense stereotypes with a threatening caricature breading fear. When will we put on the brakes to such atrocities of faith? How can we stand in silence to give affirmation with hands in our pockets instead of reaching out for change? Or sit in the pew as such reality drifts from the ambo and produces a paradoxical meaning from the love on the altar? Or messages purported by religious media seeking to strengthen their platform and donor base, with ideology of generating enemies? A need to constantly access if the golden thread of love binds our actions to keep the Lord’s word and be in communion with the Father. Love not as a sentiment, but a verb defining our actions. A love we are called to remain, abide in by keeping the Lord’s commandments. To not fixate on “thou shall not” and freeze in a time warp, unable to integrate faith and life navigating contemporary nuances, but hunker down in what has been by placing labels of disdain and damnation. But living with love propels lives with freedom, instead of living as slaves to perfection. A paradigm unattainable in human terms, leading to guilt smothering potential friendship with oneself, others and the Divine. For a slave is not cognizant of the Lord’s desires because their primary focus gravitates to their perceived lack of perfection making them to believe they are unworthy in God’s sight. Time wasted in retrospection instead of answering the call of being appointed to go and bear fruit that will remain. All rooted in the command to love one another not prioritizing oneself or just the Divine Trinity, but a collective love for humanity that in so doing recognizes the God given dignity in all. To live lives void of that expression of love, lives without knowing God. A love revealed by God sending His Son into the world so we might have life through Him, expiation of our sins and emanating freedom characterized by joy and praise that the Lord reveals in His saving power. An awakening Peter experienced in the house of Cornelius to shed doctrines of exclusion laden with labels of unclean, to accept the dignity of all, for God shows no partiality. A faith infused by the Holy Spirit being poured out that we should not stifle by our short sightedness to limit sacramental grace on conditions of worthiness instead of welcoming the peace of God intended for all. A vivid mindset in the early Church cognizant of mores defining acceptable in the context of temple sacrifice, but open to movement of the Spirit to traverse the freedom in a new definition of relationship to the Divine. A constant reminder to our need for attentiveness to Divine promptings to not change for the sake of change, but to forage a deeper communion with God and humanity. To not be weighted down by what was, but lifted up by what God is asking us to become. A place where freedom is not to do what ever we want, but the freedom to acknowledge God seeks to welcome all, while asking our collaboration in crafting unity without wondering who we should distance ourselves from, mock or exclude. Something unattainable if not predicated on love inherent in God’s covenantal linage. A place of going beyond accepting our salvation to living with belief by the fruits we bear in keeping the commandments, where loving one another allows the indwelling of God to flourish in our lives. So the Lord’s joy infuses us and our joy is complete.
Individual Reflection:1st John 4:7-10
May 12th is Mother’s Day in the US. How will you honor the mother figures in your life by upholding the observance’s roots of peace and solidarity? https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mothers-day
Family Reflection: John 15:9-17
May 10th is the feast day of St Damien, known for his work with leprosy patients on the island of Molokai. https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-damien-de-veuster-of-molokai/ Part of the colony still remains today and is part of the National Park system: https://www.cnn.com/travel/kalaupapa-national-historical-park-hawaii/index.html An example of bearing fruit that will last.
Prayer: May 10th is the feast day of St John of Avila, a doctor of the the Church. He was known for his questioning of improprieties in places of leadership. Ask for his intercession on addressing reform in the Church, as we continue our synodal journey.
Blogs to Visit:
As we reflect upon Mary’s presence in the mysteries of the Rosary, we are blessed to know her. For her journey, a timeless trek, calls us to surrender, continuing conversion, humbleness and justice now.
https://peaceonjustice.wordpress.com/
Weekly lectionary reflections, for faith sharing groups, parish bulletins, newsletters or personal prayer, from the synergy of the Word we hear and the rich tradition of Catholic Social Teaching.
https://cst74life.wordpress.com/
Catholic Social Teaching offers seven principles for upholding life in our thoughts, decisions and actions.
How we do Catholic Social Teaching.
https://csmresources.wordpress.com/
Creation sustainability ministry resources in the spirit of the St Francis Pledge.
Social Ministry Resources Engaging Parishes: Monthly and liturgical seasons resources for use with parish websites, bulletins and newsletters
Involvement Opportunities
List one or two upcoming events, legislative action alerts or social justice websites
By Barb Born May 3, 2024 Sts. Philip and James Pray for us ! The reflection maybe used in parish bulletins, newsletters or for faith sharing groups without copyright concern.