Seventh Sunday of Easter
Theme : Resurrected Christ, Uniting Us To Himself and With One Another
First Reading: Acts 16:16-19
Psalm Reading: Psalm 98
Second Reading: Revelation 22:12-17
Gospel Reading: John 17:20-26
Homily by Fr. Romie Jun Peñalosa
The Gospel readings from the last three Sundays tells us the lasts messages of Jesus Christ to His disciples before He ascended to heaven. He gave His disciples a command to love one another as He loved them, then He gave them the gift of peace – not as the world gives but as He gives.
In today’s gospel, Jesus is not just teaching, but He is praying for His disciples. What a marvelous beauty knowing God himself is praying for them-“that you will be one”. See, unity is always in the heart of God. It is essential; so important that Jesus prayed for it. He did not pray for their success nor their prosperity; but for them to become one.
As people of God, it is so essential to unite and become one, for we are on a mission to bring the Gospel to the world. We need to reflect on this every day because sometimes, we neglect the things that are really important. Our minds oftentimes focus on little and minor things, which make us forget the important ones – and here, Jesus prayed for it!
As a church, we need to understand that unity is essential in our life; we need to fight for it, pray for it, and give emphasis in living out unity. Jesus’ prayer is not only for His disciples, but for all who would believe in Him through their message. He was not only praying for them at that time, but for all the church throughout the history of the world. Unity is important, because our mission will be in vain unless the world can see in us that Jesus is Christ whom God sent to the world.
When we begin to walk together in unity, not only the world will believe that Jesus was sent by God, but the world would even begin to believe that God loves them. Love is the foundation and the bond that brings us together. “Love causes us to crave for unity.” Unity is not our work; it is the work of God in our lives. So, what are we going to do as His people? We need to preserve it by continuing to immerse ourselves in the love of Christ. Our work, is not to bring unity; it is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is a supernatural power only God can accomplish – the bringing of us into one. We can only preserve and move within what the Holy Spirit is doing for us!
And what is the focal point of our unity? We need to look up on Christ. When we begin to see Him in everything in our lives, despite all the differences, then we begin to perceive that indeed, we are one.
The Cathedral Church of St. Michael is a church on a mission. We are to go out into the world, to proclaim the Good News. We need to continually immerse in Christ that the world may perceive Him in us!
Recap by:
MERCY DE LA CRUZ-ESPIRITU
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