Shout to God with Joy to our Loving God

Shout with joy to God
A reflection for the Third Sunday after Easter
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus
www.missionstsergius.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EverlastingLoveOfChristMinistry

There undeniable message that is proclaimed over and over again in scripture is that God’s love is everlasting, unconditional, and for all people.
This Sunday’s readings bring this teaching out with crystal clarity beginning with the Introit of the mass.
“Shout with joy to God, all the earth, alleluia: sing a psalm to His Name, alleluia: give glory to His praise, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. -- (Ps. 65. 3) , What a wonderful reminder these words are to us of how we, as followers of Jesus Christ, should be acting, not only this day but every day of our lives, giving praise and glory to God for all He gives us if we but seek him out.

The Collect of the mass also has an important message to us, for it reminds us that Christ came not for the pious and holy but for those who may have gone astray, felt rejected or were told that they were not acceptable to God.
“O God, who to those that go astray did show the light of Your truth, that they may return to the path of justice: grant that all who are enrolled in the Christian faith, may both spurn all that is hostile to that name, and follow after what is fitting to it. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit as one God, now and forever AMEN".
Today’s Epistle, which some attribute to St. Peter, gives us further advice on how to conduct ourselves and live out the message of Jesus Christ.
"Be you subject therefore to every human creature for God's sake: whether it be a king or the governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of the good: for so is the will of God, that by doing well you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free persons, and not by making liberty a cloak for malice, but as the servants of God. Honor all men: love the brotherhood: fear God."
The last words from the Epistle reading might need an explanation as to the meaning of the phrase “Fear God”. To Fear God does not mean the kind of fear one might have of a major disaster or event in their life or the fear some have of heights or flying or the fear a child has of the boogey man but it means to hold God in esteem, awe and respect. Christ proclaimed clearly that His Father, Almighty God, was not a person to be feared but a person to love, respect and to trust.
The part about honoring all men simple means to have respect for all people, men and women, regardless of their race or creed or sexual orientation. By honoring some one does not mean giving them rewards or undeserved praise for their existence but it means not to defame them or ridicule them or cause them suffering or pain.
“Love the brotherhood” is repeating what we find in the Gospel of John 15 which is the preceding chapter to today’s Gospel; “Love one another as I have loved you, there is no greater love than this”
The part that particularly struck me in the epistle for this Sunday was the words; “not as making liberty a cloak for malice but as the servants of God”. “Making Liberty a cloak for malice” stuck a note in light of how today we use the phrase liberty so loosely to justify many actions that are totally opposite the teachings of Christ.
Why is it that we, humans who profess to be believers in the message of Jesus Christ, seem to find ways of not loving each other? We decide that because a person speaks a different language has a different ethnic background, possesses a same sex orientation that they do not deserve the same kind of love that Jesus gave to all that he encountered. How do we justify this kind of action? Where in scripture do we find validation for our actions?
The kind of love the Christ preached and that the Scriptures proclaim is unselfish, kind, merciful, forgiving and not judgmental. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” (John 14:27) It is clear in this quote, that Jesus wants us know that the perceptions of the world are not the perceptions of God. He implores us in John 15:7 “If you live in me and my words remain in you, you may ask what you want and it will be done for you”
When you love someone, you do not, under any circumstances, want to be the cause of pain and suffering. When you love someone, you try to shield them from harm. You gently advise them of their mistakes and guide them. If necessary you try to obtain healing for them. That is Love.
If today, we had more love for all God’s creatures and children the world would not be in the mess it is.
We who call ourselves Christians are being called to actively live God’s love. We are being called to do all within our power to bring about a change in the attitudes that are causing so much pain and suffering in this world. Every tiny thing we do that makes progress in this call from God will bring us a deeper love for God and God will love us more and live within us giving us the strength we need to continue His work here on earth.
Today’s Gospel is from John 16 verses 16 to 22 and it also sends a confirmation of the above readings concerning how we are to live our lives as Christians but it also lets us know that Christ foresaw the confusion the we today might have because even those who had been with him during His life journey to the cross did not understand the meaning of everything He said.
"At that time Jesus said to His disciples: A little while, and now you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me: because I go to the Father.
Then some of His disciples said one to another: What is this that He is saying to us: A little while, and you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me, and, because I go to the Father? They said “What is this that He says, a little while?” We do not know what He is speaking about. Jesus knowing that they had a mind to ask Him, He said to them: Why do you inquire among yourselves, because I said: a little while, and you shall not see Me: and again a little while, and you shall see Me? Amen, amen, I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice: and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she has brought forth the child, she remembers nothing of the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world. So also you will indeed have sorrow: but I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice: and your joy no man shall take from you." John 16:16-22

Here Christ was clearly predicting the sorrow that they all would have at his passion and death on the cross, but that they would rejoice when he appeared to them after his conquering death and sin and rising from the tomb three days after His death. This passage from John’s Gospel is from a chapter telling of the events of Christ’s life that preceded Christ Passion and Resurrection on Easter.

A deeper message from this Gospel reading is how, if we truly believe in Jesus Christ and are truly Christians in every sense of the teachings of Christ, the joy and peace we will find cannot and will not be able to be taken away from us by any proclamations of mere human individuals. Just because a person is a minister, rabbi, priest, Bishop, Cardinal or the Pope they are first and foremost human and therefore imperfect.

You and I are being called to actively live God’s love. We are being called to do all within our power to bring about a change in the attitudes that are causing so much pain and suffering in this world. Every tiny thing we do that makes even the slightest progress in this call from God will bring us a deeper love for God and in return God will love us more and live within us giving us the strength we need to continue His work here on earth.

We live in troubled times. We hear many versions of how life is going to change for us by doing one thing or another. Politicians will be promoting their agendas over the next months all claiming to improve our lives. Television networks are all vying for our eyes claiming to be the #1 network that gives us the best news and entertainment. Advertisers tell us our lives will improve by using their product. The truth is the only way our lives will ever change is if we change them within our selves. Our lives and the world condition will only change when we begin to make a serious examination of our behavior and how closely it and our lives are being lived in relationship to Christ’s teachings. The challenge is ours alone. We should not be seeking to be the top gun but must be willing to be the humble servant just as Jesus was when he washed the feet of His apostles.
We need to become a servant of God, serving our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and working to harvest peace among all God’s children.

We have Christ’s challenge to us to Love one another as He loved us. Let us answer it by changing our faults into virtues and live in accordance with the will of God and pleasing to Him by the way we are living.

Do not let the whims of mere men with their natural human weaknesses cause you to stray away from the love of God or from the worship and praise of God or receiving the Sacraments and Gifts of God because they have told you that you are not worthy but truly believe the promises of God as proclaimed by our savior and redeemer Jesus Christ. "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

May Almighty God give us the Wisdom to know and live according to the truth of Christ’s teachings and not the proclamations and ignorance of foolish mere mortals.
May The Almighty and merciful God grant us patience, compassion, forgiveness, and courage to live according to his way so that we will be welcomed into His Kingdom with open and loving arms as depicted in the image of Christ toward the children, which we are in the eyes of God, His Children. AMEN.