Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B – May 5, 2024.
Readings: Acts 10:25-26,34-35,44-48; Ps 98:1-2-3ab.3cd-4(R.2); 1 John 4:7-10; Gospel – John 15:9-17.
The first reading recalls the conversion of Cornelius and his household and how Peter revealed that God has no favourites. In the second reading St. John charges us to love one another since God loved us first. He maintains that everyone who fails to love cannot claim to know God. The gospel often referred to as “the gospel of love” emphasises that Jesus charged his disciples to love unconditionally. Amid sin, wars and violence across the world, we are challenged to jettison vile and eros by embracing philial love and agape while fulfilling love of God and neighbour.
Introduction
Beloved in Christ, our reflection this Sunday shall dwell on love and its universal dimension. The story is told of a wee boy in catechism class who was asked to define love. In response he said, “love is that thing I feel in my heart and my body that is like electric but when I want to say it, I lack words to describe it.” I suppose many of us feel the same way when it comes to expressing or defining love. This leads to the theme of our reflection: “Love: A Universal Language.”
Background and Summary of the Readings
The first reading (Acts 10:25-26,34-35,44-48) recalls the conversion of Cornelius and his household and how Peter revealed that God has no favourites as “anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.” The reading further disclosed how the Jews were astonished at the way the pagans received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. It also recounts how Peter gave orders for the pagans to receive baptism stressing that they begged him to stay with them for some days after their conversion and acceptance into the family of the early Christian community.
In the second reading (1 John 4:7-10), St. John charges us to love one another since God loved us first. He maintains that everyone who fails to love cannot claim to know God. The text discloses that God’s love for us was made manifest in his Son, Jesus who came to the world so that we might have life through him.
The gospel (John 15:9-17) often referred to as “the gospel of love” emphasises that Jesus charged his disciples to love unconditionally. He also maintains: “No greater love can a man have than to lay down his life for his friends.” He stresses that we did not choose him – rather, he chose us and mandated us to go forth and bear fruits, fruits that will last. He assures that whatever we ask, we will receive and ends by saying: “What I command you is, love one another.”
Types of Love
a). Philia: This is the love that exists between parents and their children, children with their parents and kids with their siblings. It stems from the natural bond that exists in a family which unites us with one another in a unique way (Rom 12:10).
b). Eros: This stems from concupiscence of the flesh which St. Thomas Aquinas identifies in his Summa Theologica as one of the causes of sin. Aquinas makes the point that we are induced into sin through inordinate desires – The lust of the flesh includes sexual permissiveness and vain desires. The devil excites within us the concupiscence of the flesh so as to commit sin. The “lust of the flesh,” appears in two more significant passages of Scripture – the temptation of Eve in the Garden (Gen 3:1-6) and the temptation of Christ in the wilderness (Matthew 4:8-10). St. Paul warns us to “cast off the works of darkness” (Rom 13:12) and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.
c). Agape: This is the love of God – It is often sacrificial. As the purest love, agape is the kind of love that Christ demonstrated by the manner of his life, death on the cross and his resurrection. All that Christ asks of us is: “Love one another, just as I have loved you.” (Jn.15:12). Little wonder on several occasions, Jesus would “took pity on his people” and satisfy their hunger (Cf. Matthew 14:13-21).
Pastoral Lessons
- Listen to the Spirit: Just as Cornelius and members of his household listened to the rhythm of love and embraced conversion, we are challenged to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit whose fire is capable of encapsulating us into a divine encounter that can change our lives permanently for good.
- Respect diversity: St. Peter’s remark that God has no favourites because he loves people of everyone nationality who do what is right and acceptable to him urges us to reject dividers – race, gender, status and culture by seeking connectors like compassion, kindness and forgiveness which unite humanity bearing in mind that saliva, tears and blood have the same colour in different culture.
- Love your neighbour: Our liturgy reveals that Jesus gives us the mandate to love because if we fail to love him, we cannot claim to know God – our love must be practical in terms of embracing the vertical dimension of love.
- Love God: We are challenged to embrace agape – love God from our hearts and have time for him in our private space and in the Church.
- Avoid sin: In a world that resembles Sodom and Gomorrah where eros, infatuation and impulsive desires drive people into committing masturbation, incest, adultery and fornication, we are challenged to repent.
Summary Lines
- The first reading recalls the conversion of Cornelius and his household and how Peter revealed that God has no favourites.
- In the second reading St. John charges us to love one another since God loved us first.
- He maintains that everyone who fails to love cannot claim to know God.
- The gospel often referred to as “the gospel of love” emphasises that Jesus charged his disciples to love unconditionally.
- He also maintains: “No greater love can a man have than to lay down his life for his friends.”
Conclusion
The language of love is universal – We must make efforts to make the world a better place. The family is the basic cell of society. If children are brought up in love, the change we desire in society would happen naturally. Traditional and Religious institutions should reorder society on the path of love and mutual respect. As we struggle daily to love our friends and pray for our enemies, may God grant us the grace to always put aside what divides humanity even as we embrace what connects us – only then can we be said to speak the universal language of love. Have a blessed week ahead!
