Sixth Sunday of Easter
Jn 14:23-29
May 22, 2022

Our First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles offers us today an extremely valuable lesson on how to resolve the social/spiritual crisis that is so prevalent in every aspect of our lives.

Who can dispute that we live in a time of enormous change brought about by rapid advances in science, technology, and communications? While there are great advantages to progress, there are also challenges, many of a social/spiritual nature, like those faced by the fledgling Church.

The Early Christian community was, of course, Jewish. But, as the Apostles and disciples intensified their efforts to evangelize, the numbers of Gentiles attracted to the Good News increased substantially. This created a social/spiritual crisis as intense and critical as any we face today.

Jewish religious law controlled every aspect of day-to-day life, including “table fellowship” (who you could eat with and what you could serve). “The Law” was settled and was to be strictly interpreted and strictly observed. Disobedience, oftentimes, resulted in swift and severe punishment.

So, the Apostles and disciples found themselves in a conundrum. How could they be “in community” with people whom “The Law” forbid them from sharing a meal? Weren’t they required to “stand by things that had been decided” for generations?

As they searched for a resolution, they must have recalled the Lord’s words: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law…” (Matt. 5:17)

At the same time, however, they most certainly enjoyed vivid recollections of the numerous times when Jesus seemed to…shall we say… “relax” The Law.

The Gospels offer multiple examples of The Lord appearing to back away from rather than “standing rigidly by things decided” with the same strict, judgmental, and punitive manner of the religious leaders of His times. However, there is one Law that, to Jesus, was not merely unshakable, but one which He embodied. Jesus Christ gave Flesh to the Law of Love.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31).

The manner in which they negotiated this first social/spiritual obstacle to unity and peace within the Christian community proves that the Advocate sent by God to help them to learn and remember had truly come to dwell with them. Respectful of and standing by the long-established Laws regarding table fellowship, our ancestors in faith came to an acceptable compromise.

They remembered how Jesus met every social/spiritual crisis with patience, forgiveness, tolerance, and above all…LOVE! And they learned that when they trusted the Holy Spirit to guide them, they would somehow come to a deeper understanding of God’s will and God’s way…and in that way, find PEACE!

There are so many issues disturbing our PEACE, dividing us and depleting our hope for the future. We really need to REMEMBER how the Apostles and disciples negotiated social/spiritual crisis by looking to the Holy Spirit for guidance. We need to LEARN from their example. When we are, first and foremost, obedient to the LAW OF LOVE, interacting with one another with patience, forgiveness, and tolerance…we will once again live in PEACE!