Second Sunday of Easter Year B 2024

Title

Faith is not for us alone

Outline

One of the dangers in piety is becoming a holy club

That is, of course, the title of John Wesley’s initial group, and it was a group of serious seekers, sort of an Exodus90 group, all forms of piety, whether Benedictine or Carmelite or various types of devotion, even devotion to the blessed sacrament or the mass, have the possibility of turning inward, becoming a holy club in that sense, and thus missing the loving heart of God that is turned outward.

Look at Jesus on the evening of Easter

He appears, awakens faith by his presence, and speaks peace, shalom. That is for them. But then he turns outward, and repeating “Peace be with you” says, “as the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Why? Because God loves the world. Yet they need equipping. Jesus breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” What does this do for them? “Whose sins your forgive are forgiven them, and who sins you retain are retained.” This is for the world. Jesus came so we might enjoy forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. Jesus sends so that those outside the Christian community may enjoy forgiveness of sins (and since all will not submit to God, some receive the retention of sins).

Even the Thomas incident is for others. Thomas is a “show me the evidence” sort of guy. So Jesus repeats his visit and gives Thomas the evidence (we do not know whether Thomas ever actually touched Jesus; perhaps “seeing was believing”), and receives a confession of a deeper level of faith than had heretofore been expressed, “My Lord and my God.” Yet the purpose of this was for others: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” The testimony of a hard headed believer is given to others, as the gospel writer goes on to lay out.

1 John points out that love is the sign of loving God

Again, God is love, so if we do not love we do not know the God who is love.

Love of God leads to obeying his commands, which are love of God and neighbor.

Having been begotten by God we can overcome the world and love. In fact, believing that Jesus is the Son of God enables us to conquer the world or break free from the world and love.

And then we have the reference to baptism and eucharist, not only announcing the kingdom but laying down his life to free us to live his kingdom empowered by the Spirit.

Finally, Acts makes this practical.

The community of believers is filled with love, of one heart and mind, not claiming anything as their own. This transformation was part of the basis of the apostolic witness - people could see the effects of the risen Lord. Then he tells us how it worked: they still had private property for they owned property, but when they heard of a need they used to sell (verb tense = ongoing, not once for all) what they could and give the proceeds to the apostles for distribution, which shows both a sense of modesty and humility and a trust in the apostles, who lived as simply as the others.

Sisters, we have tugged at the outer strings, but we have not unpacked these texts.

Still, there are practical lessons. Your apostolate is essential to growing in the love of God, for to love the God who is love is to take his love into the world. This is what preserves you from becoming a holy club and going stale. This is where we go deeper into God. And this is where we experience the gifts of the Spirit, those of forgiveness of sins, those of 1 Cor chap 12 (which are for mission), and those of Isa ch 11. I would go so far as to say that if a contemplative order does not have an apostolic side, love for and prayer for others, its contemplative depth will be limited.

Jesus is alive and well and he rules, but he is still love for the world. As we enter into this we share, as we enter into this we reach out to the world, and as we enter into this love for the world we find the purpose of the Church’s remaining here, growth in virtue, and a deeper knowledge of God.

You may already know this, and I trust that if you do it will be your experience as well as what you know.