Don Bosco Philippines South Province

Homily on the Sixth Sunday of Easter, 25 May 2025, FSpIF Chapel, Talamban

Have you ever been involved in a conflict or a controversy for which you were summoned by the authorities to give an account of what you have done? I’m sure most of us have had that terrible experience maybe inside the Principal’s office, or a Superior’s desk, or a Police station; a horrifying experience that triggered mixed feelings of fear, agitation, anxiety and distress beyond words.

These past weeks, we have been reading about the first missionary journey of St. Paul in Asia Minor as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. It is interesting to note how this zealous apostle along with Barnabas, after having received the laying on of the hands as well as the mandate from the legitimate authority, went about from one city to another proclaiming the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He visited places like Perga, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe – cities not very familiar to us who are not used to reading the Bible, particularly the Acts of the Apostles. In those big cities Paul courageously and tirelessly preached the Good News of our salvation in Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. He first tried to address himself to fellow Jews but after being rejected he decided to turn to the gentiles. Each time he spoke about his new found faith, certain narrow-minded Jews would try to contradict him. He was even apprehended by the Jewish authorities and stoned almost to death. But after miraculously surviving the brutal condemnation he just stood up and went to another city to continue preaching. By God’s grace he was able to establish Christian communities among the gentiles and appointed Presbyters to minister to them.

Very soon Paul found himself in a big controversy because he did not require those converts to undergo circumcision. And so certain Jewish converts to Christianity made it into a big issue that it reached to Church in Jerusalem. Unfortunately this divided the early Church into two camps one group debating against the other. The question is should the gentiles converts really be required just like all Jews to undergo circumcision first so that they could experience the salvation won by Christ on the cross.

The Good News is that this controversial issue was resolved in the very first council that ever took place in the Catholic Church, namely, the Council of Jerusalem. Through the intervention of St Peter, the first Pope and Vicar of Christ, and the testimonies of St Paul and St. Barnabas, the Church was able to arrive at a definitive resolution that circumcision was no longer to be required of gentile converts. And because of that St Peter, St Paul and th rest of the apostles continued even more zealously their missionary task of making disciples of all nations.

We are now on the sixth week of our celebration of Easter. For several weeks now we have been reading also from the gospel written by St John, the beloved disciple the Lord. Through him we have come to know the person of Jesus more deeply as the Good Shepherd, who leads us to ever green pastures, keeps us safe from wolves and thieves, and searches out those among us who get lost. Through him we have also learned about the new command that was given by Jesus to his disciples, that we should love one another as he had loved us.

In today’s gospel reading we continue to hear Jesus speaking about love, about peace, about the Holy Spirit, and about the Father.

About love: he said “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him.”

About peace he said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” “Peace, I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”

About the Holy Spirit, he said: “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”

About the Father, he said: “The word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.” “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.”

Wow… these statements seem to be fully loaded with Jesus’ love and solicitude for his disciples who would be left behind soon after his arrest and execution on the cross. I guess, human as he was, he already knew how his disciples would feel upon seeing their Lord terribly crushed on the cross, in spite of all the good their Lord has done to both Jews and non-Jews alike esp. to the poor, the sick and the suffering. And that is why his farewell message to them was about PEACE… they should not let their hearts be troubled even if bad things would happen. God’s PEACE is given not in the way the world gives it. Above all if they strive to remain in his love by keeping his word, they would experience not just peace but the indwelling of God.

Today the Lord’s message to us is still about PEACE… We are not to let our hearts be troubled even when bad things happen to us, for God’s PEACE is bestowed not in the way the world gives. We experience true PEACE only when deep in our hearts we do LOVE HIM and are keeping his WORD. True and lasting PEACE comes when we let ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit and allow our Lord Jesus and his heavenly Father to come and dwell in us. This is precisely what gave St Paul and St Barnabas true and lasting peace despite all the trials and tribulations they had to face in preaching the gospel.

As we worship the God of Peace and Unity, let us pray that we in turn may experience this peace that Jesus bestows on those who love him. And as we strive to follow St Paul in his missionary journeys of preaching the Good News, may the Triune God continue to dwell in us and bring peace to our hearts and to our homes, to our communities, our churches and our country. GiGsss!

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