HOMILY FOR THE 6TH
SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR B
1.Acts
10:25-26, 33-35,44-48
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2.John
4:7-10
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3.Jn15:9-17
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“Command
to Love”
Most of secular music
songs more especially in talents exhibition express the feeling of Love. Is
that the type of love Jesus is talking of in today’s gospel when he says “As
the father has loved me so I have loved you” (Jn15:9), and he says “This is my commandment:
love one another.”(John 15:12).
Jesus in this context
is talking of a very special kind of love, love that does not think of oneself,
but this is the sacrificial love for the sake of the other. In order not to
confuse this very special type of love with other types of love, the writers of
the New Testament used a very special word to describe the love of Jesus for us
and the love of God for us. They said that the love Jesus is telling us in the
scripture is agape, the love that does not think of oneself but sacrifices for
the sake of the other. Jesus is our model for loving with this sacrificial
love, loving others for their benefits without advancing personal self
interests. As we celebrate mass, every mass is a celebration of this kind of
special love of Jesus giving himself for us on the cross. From this, time to
time God reminds us of Jesus giving himself on the cross for our sake.
Love means choose and
being chosen, the experience of being chosen by someone can be a welcome one.
The one who chooses means he trusts the person he has chosen. For example the
experience of good and happy marriage is due to fact that the marriage couple
keep on going experience of choosing each other in their marriage life. The
heart true friendship is the similar choice people do make. As in marriage the
choice must be mutual if the marriage is to last, when the choice is one sided
the friendship will not last. This can be best explained in the case of
friendship whereby friendship and love exist only on conditions, like sharing
some common interests where by each party is benefiting, for example business
parteners will find themselves friends because there is a common business
concern that is uniting them, removing that concern you will not be able to see
love concern among them. The love of Jesus is not all about reciprocation, it
is the love that does not seek gratification or interests, it is the disinterested
love ( the love that does not seek interests). Jesus in giving his life for us
on the cross, Jesus chose us personally; he called each of us friends. The
words of the Lord “ I call you friends” keep on resonating during the holy mass
when as the community of believers gathers for the breaking of bread ( word of
God and the Eucharist). In our own life experiences to choose one means not
choosing another. This is not the case with the Lord who is able to choose each
of us equally. As Peter says in the first reading “ God does not have favourites”
There is a proverb that
goes on like that “Tell me your friend, I will tell who you are” to have friends is not an issue, the real
issue is what kind of friends and friendship do we make? Is our friendship
constructive or destructive? Even robbers/thugs also make friendship. The true
friendship and love get their existence from virtuous life (good deeds). The
true friendship is grounded in the very love of Jesus dying on the cross,
Agape.
The mature love has the
following qualities
You need somebody
because you love him
You are loved because
you love,
You need somebody to
help you because you love him/her this is what mature love is all about.
Yet we are challenged
that there are some people who tend to love because of material utility, such
people tend to use others not as the end in themselves but rather as the means
to attain their ends ( goals), this in other words in utility friendship. This
kind of love is not love Jesus is aging us today. i.e the person is loved because
he is of the great need. If there is a need it is when the person is loved, for
sure this cannot be said to be love. A true friend is one who love endlessly
regardless of his/her friends limitations, and the one who corrects his friends
failures.
In making true
friendship we dare to express forgiveness to our brothers and sisters. Henry
Ward Beecher had this to say about forgiveness “Everybody has to maintain the
average height of the grave on which he/she will bury sins of his/her friends.”
To forgive is the condition to be forgiven. In our mother African Continent we
need to make social and political systems that will be preaching forgiveness
instead of hate and hatred.
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Chapisha Maoni