Readings:
Acts 14:21-27
Revelation 21:1-5a
John 13:31-33a, 34-35
The season of Easter this year has been particularly poignant for us as Church. On the first Sunday, we rejoiced to see and hear Pope Francis offer his blessing to the church and the world, only to grieve his passing from this world the next morning. Our leader, the one in whom we had hoped (Luke 24:21), departed from us. The turmoil and tears turned to television spectacle and media speculation as the eyes of the world focused on a sea gull by the chimney, waiting for the sign of a new pope to lead us forward.
Now, this Sunday we celebrate the installation of Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native with dual citizenship in Peru, a member of the Order of St Augustine, a CTU graduate, a missionary become bishop who shared the life of his flock before becoming one who would help his compadre Francis as head of the Dicastery for Bishops in the task of finding new shepherds for global church. As we heard last week, Jesus the Good Shepherd, does not abandon his flock. Affirming that abiding presence, Leo’s first greeting to the Church and world echoed the words spoken by the Risen Lord: Peace!
On these last Sundays of Easter season, the lectionary offers a vision of how to channel the energy that flows from the testimony of the women disciples, “He is risen!” and the peaceful presence of the Risen One in the upper room. We who have been baptized into the death of the Lord are called and sent to live that paschal faith ever more deeply amidst the challenges we face each day. The readings of the season help us to grapple with what it means to grasped by and witness to the risen and glorified Christ. They help us to break open this mystery and reorient our relationships through it. They speak to the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community. How fitting that Pope Leo lifted up this challenge from his predecessor’s first encyclical, Evangelii Gaudium, as Leo began his own ministry.
Like many who experience conversion, the initial energy and joy can give way to discouragement when we find that our fire for the good news fades as we face the stark reality of world where sin and death still sting so many. The Word this week encourages us to persevere in faith, joy, hope, and love as we press on to Pentecost in a few weeks. We can find our bearings so that we are ready to take up that charge to go out from our upper rooms to the world.
This week’s first reading returns us to the story of the labors of Paul and Barnabas to proclaim the Gospel and to build up communities called by the grace of God. Like those early followers from the peripheries to the centers, we, too, might need to have our spirits strengthened as we reel from the strife and conflict in our world and in our streets. The apostles recognized the hardships of proclaiming the Gospel and putting faith into practice. By pressing on in a spirit of unity and support for one another, they persevered in faith.
To sustain that spirit of unity, the psalmist tells us to persevere in song, praising God’s name forever. The psalmist gives us words to sing of the mercy and compassion of God, to proclaim God’s might to the mighty of this world and the glory of God’s reign to the brokenhearted. We praise the name of God with joy and conviction to those who need to know that God’s reign endures, not the political posturing of the present.
We who are disciples of the Risen Lord persevere in hope. The pain and loss, the despair and death that surround us do not have the final word. John shares the vision and relays the loud voice of promise: In our hardship, in our struggle, God comes to us once more and dwells with us. God is with us, wiping our tears and comforting us. We are shaped as missionary disciples as we tell and show the world how hope and compassion transform us into a new creation in Christ.
For yes, all things are being made new in love! From John’s gospel, we hear Jesus telling us to persevere in love for one another. The impetus to bring all to know of the wonderous deeds God has wrought and the joy of a recreated cosmos flows from a new command. The gospel passage today takes us back to the opening night of the Paschal Triduum, the upper room where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. We hear the new command in an atmosphere of confusion, anxiety, and betrayal. Jesus tells them that none of these things has the final word. With the basin and wet towel off to the side, his farewell discourse flows from his actions. The measure of their love is how Jesus loves them. It is not just our love for Jesus but our Christlike love for one another that embodies his presence. He loved us to the end, to the utmost (John 13:1)—shown in the cross, the gift of himself. God’s glory is the glory of a boundless love, of God’s self-gift in Christ.
As we continue in the second half of the Easter season looking toward Pentecost, our eyes are no longer fixed on a sea gull or on signs of white smoke. We need not fear or be discouraged. The Risen Christ with his promise of the transforming gift of the Spirit is with us. By abiding in love, we are in communion with him who sends us in peace in the face of adversity. We can live our mission as disciples, glorifying the Lord by our lives of perseverance in faith, song, hope and love.
Richard E. McCarron, PhD