5th Sunday of Easter Year B – Homily
5th Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts 9:26-31
Psalm 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32 (26a)
1 John 3:18-24
John 15:1-8
April 28, 2024
We read in Acts, “The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace. It was being built up and walked in fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers.”
Amazing! The church was at peace and growing!
Why is this amazing? Because the church was being persecuted. How can they be at peace during persecution? How can they grow in numbers when Christians are being martyred?
First and foremost, it was the Holy Spirit at work. The Holy Spirit gave them the gift of courage to face persecution. Their courage during persecution served as witness to others of what the Christian faith meant to them. In faith, they bore forth the fruit of peace. This added to their witness.
Saul had been one of the worst persecutors of Christians. Through his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he became Christian himself. He became a very zealous Christian. Yet, knowing how he had persecuted Christians, Jesus’ disciples were afraid of him until they learned he had been converted and spoke out “boldly in the name of Jesus.” He who had been a great enemy of Christianity became one of its greatest allies.
Paul allowed God to change him because Paul’s greatest desire was to do God’s Will. Paul was a man who walked in “fear of the Lord.”
What does it mean to fear the Lord?
When it speaks of fearing the Lord, Psalm 22 speaks of “bowing down before him.” Should we bow before the Lord in fear?
We need to distinguish “fear” from “fear of the Lord.” God does not want us to be afraid of him. He did not send Jesus to condemn us. He sent Jesus to save us. God is all-powerful so He could destroy us but that is not his desire. He wants to save us. To “fear the Lord” is to stand in awe of his power and his love. He who could destroy us chooses to love us.
Our readings today speak of receiving whatever we ask for. Before we rush to ask for everything we ever wanted, we need to understand the context in which these words are spoken.
John says we will receive what we ask for “because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.” If we do what pleases the Lord, what we ask for will be in accord with his will, not our “wants.”
Jesus says, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.” If we remain in Jesus, it shapes what we ask for. If we remain in Jesus, we will not be greedy or selfish. We will not ask for our own glory. We will ask for what Jesus desires for everyone.
We need to “keep his commandments” if we wish to “remain in him.”
To remain in him is what God created us for.
Jesus is the vine which gives us life. His Father, our Father, is the vine grower who “takes away every branch…that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.”
We bear fruit when we do the good things the Lord asks of us. At times we do bear good fruit but we become busy and some of the things that make us busy keep us from bearing more fruit. The devil likes it when we are too busy to bear good fruit. It is the things that make us too busy that need to be pruned from our lives.
We are but the branches. We cannot bear fruit on our own. How many people separate themselves from the Lord and fail to bear good fruit?
Some separate themselves willingly, thinking God does not exist or that they do not need to follow him. Others separately themselves unknowingly because they do not know the Lord’s ways or are led astray to think that God’s commandments are outdated.
We need to remain in Jesus.
Psalm 22 says, “Let the coming generation be told of the LORD that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born the justice he has shown.” We need to teach our Catholic faith to the generations to come.
To do so, we must first learn it ourselves.
How well do you know our Catholic faith? Or perhaps we should look at it another way. What is there that we don’t know about our faith that we should? Do you put any effort into learning more?
Jesus says to each of us, “By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”
Do you follow Jesus as a disciple? Do you live as He teaches or do you go your own way? Do you bear good fruit as the Lord calls you?