six sunday -c

SIX SUNDAY-C 

LOVE ONE ANOTHER. 

Good morning/evening everyone, we are very happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. Our special welcome to all our parishioners. Once two women were talking to each other. First woman said, “My husband is an angel”. The other woman innocently said, “Wow...you are so lucky, and my husband is still alive”. 

Dear friends in Christ, 

Last weekend we heard that Christ was giving a new commandment on love saying, “Love one another as I have loved you”. And He said that the whole world would come to know that we belong to Him and Him alone by the way we love and accept others. Love is the measurement to His discipleship. Anyone who loves others is already in Christ and Christ is in them. 

Today’s gospel is the continuation of that commandment. Christ says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love Him, and we will come to Him and make our home with Him”.  

Before ascending into heaven, Christ our Lord giving His disciples and all others His final instructions and commandments. He asks them to love one another. 

In early days, while the Roman emperors enjoyed watching the circus events in which the followers of Christ were tortured and killed by lions, gladiators, said to each other, “See how these Christians love each other”. Even in the face of great danger, Christians still had time to support each other. Jesus is talking about that kind of self-sacrificing and giving love.  

And He never stops giving them hope. During the forty days of His presence after His resurrection, He was appearing to them behind locked doors, giving them hope and sharing with them divine peace. Now He is reassuring them the gifts of the Holy Spirit. That is our Lord Jesus Christ. He will never abandon those who put their complete trust in Him. He will fulfill all their needs and then will take them with Him so that where the shepherd is, there also is the sheep. 

Once a king was told that a new preacher was in his town wanting to preach to his people. The King said to the men, “I will let him preach, if he would preach God’s love like Jesus preached; If he would suffer like Jesus suffered and die like Him on the cross”. For two thousand years, many tried their best to define love, but Christ and Christ alone established that divine love dying on the cross. 

What is the size of my faith that brings gives a new strength and courage to love and sacrifice?  

How can you know the size of your faith? All you have to do is just talk to one of your children who doesn’t practice his or her faith and their response to your faith  will be the size. 

And then you know how to increase that size by increasing your faith in Christ. Let our faith be fortified and let our love bring more hope to all. Amen.