May 25 - Sixth Sunday of Easter: An invitation to love

First
Reading         :  Acts 8:5-8, 14-17First Reading         :  Psalm 66:1-7, 16,
20Second
Reading     : 1 Peter 3:15-18Gospel                    : John 14:15-21 In today's Gospel Jesus
says: "If you love me you will obey my commandments". There are three
ways we can look upon the commandments of Jesus: (1) As a restriction to our
freedom, something we hate to do, (2) as a guide to our growth, health and well
being, something we should do, (3) As an invitation to love, something we want
to do. Jesus presents his commandments as opportunities to express our love for
him. Thus today's gospel invites us to check our motives. Why do we obey Jesus'
commandments? Do we obey them out of fear of punishment? Do we do it more out
of hope for reward? or do we do it more out of love for Jesus? Love seeks only
to be of service. This is the challenge today's gospel sets before each one of
us.

May 18 - Fifth Sunday in Easter : Jesus is the Way

 First
Reading         :  Acts 6:1-7First Reading         :  Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5,
18-19Second
Reading     : 1 Peter 2:4-9Gospel                    : John 14:1-12 Last Sunday we celebrated Christ the Good Shepherd. Today, the Fifth Sunday
of Easter, we celebrate Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The Gospel Reading
of today from St. John, is taken from the Farewell Discourse at the Last
Supper, and addresses concerns of the disciples that would arise because of the
departure (i.e. death) of Jesus soon to occur. Jesus said to Thomas: "I am the way
and the truth and life". Jesus does not merely teach us the way but He is
the way (No one comes to the Father, except through me- Jn 14,6). Jesus does
not merely declare what is true but He is the truth (...we have seen his
glory...full of grace and truth- Jn 1,14). Jesus does not merely reveal the
life to come but instead he is the life (I came that they may have life and
have it more abundantly- Jn 10:10). Therefore Jesus is the way which we must
follow. he is the truth which we must believe and he is the life which we must
live. So what do we make of this saying of Jesus? What do they mean to us?
*'I am the Way' – Jesus is a road. A
road is a journey. And we go to God the Father through Jesus and we call Jesus
the Way, because he is the visible manifestation in human form of all
that his Father is.
*'I am the Truth' – the Truth that meets
us on the road. We Christians have not got the Truth. The Truth has got us.
Jesus is God's gift of his true self to us. As God revealed His true self to
Jesus, we look up to Jesus to reveal God to us.
*'I am the Life' – this journey of Truth
gives us life. When we believe in Jesus, we find life. More, He becomes our
life.
In short, what living the Christian life
is really all about is living with Jesus in faith. It is to make the Truth and
the Life - the Father Himself - really ours by following Jesus who is the Way.
 

May 11 - Fourth Sunday in Easter : I am the Gate

 First Reading         : Acts
2:14, 36-41Psalm                     : Psalm
23:1-6Second Reading    : 1 Peter 2:20-25Gospel                   : John
10:1-10 Today is the 4th Sunday of Easter and it is commonly
known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” a day in which the Church recalls the
relationship between God and His people as described in the image of Shepherd
and Sheep. Today we hear Jesus saying “I am the gate for the sheep”. Shepherds
would become the gate to the sheep fold. They would lie in front of the opening
to the fold so that nothing could enter without them knowing. Human gates
provided entrance to the fold and protection from threats outside. What Jesus is trying to
tell us is this: that his relationship and dedication to us is as close as the
shepherd’s to his sheep. Like the shepherd Jesus is always with us and knows
each one of us in a deeply personal way. But the problem is whether we are able
to recognize his voice from the many voices we hear every day?

May 4 - Third Sunday in Easter : God who walks with us

 First
Reading         :  *Acts 2:14a, 36-41Psalm                     :  Psalm 116:1-4,
12-19
Second Reading     :  1 Peter 1:17-23
Gospel                    :  Luke 24:13-35   Today we here the Gospel story of
Emmaus, and the two disciples who left Jerusalem after the Crucifixion, only to
encounter Jesus on their way. They are
scandalized by the failure of the Messiah in whom they had hoped and who now
appeared utterly vanquished, humiliated, even after the third day. Pope Francis
used the story of Emmaus while in Brazil to address those many lapsed Catholics
who have given up on the power of the Church to bring us Jesus. He spoke to the
Bishops of Brazil on 28 July 2013: “Here we have to face the difficult
mystery of those people who leave the Church, who, under the illusion of
alternative ideas, now think that the Church – their Jerusalem – can no longer
offer them anything meaningful and important. So they set off on the road
alone, with their disappointment. Faced with this situation, what are we to
do? We need a Church, unafraid of going forth into their night. We need a
Church capable of meeting them on their way. We need a Church capable of
entering into their conversation. Today, we need a Church capable of walking at
people’s side, of doing more than simply listening to them; a Church which
accompanies them on their journey; a Church able to make sense of the
“night” contained in the flight of so many of our brothers and sisters from
Jerusalem; a Church which realizes that the reasons why people leave also contain
reasons why they can eventually return. I would like all of us to ask
ourselves today: are we still a Church capable of warming hearts? We
need a Church capable of accompanying them on the road back to Jerusalem! A
Church capable of helping them to rediscover the glorious and joyful things
that are spoken of Jerusalem, and to understand that she is my Mother, our
Mother, and that we are not orphans! We were born in her. Where is our
Jerusalem, where were we born? In Baptism, in the first encounter of love, in
our calling, in vocation". Are you ready to take up this challenge
because you/we are the Church. Are you, as a member of the Church, capable of
warming hearts?