Fifth Sunday of Easter - 2023

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He  ...will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Rev. 21:1-5 ... + ... John, in his gospel account of the events that would take us into the passion and death of Jesus, during the Last Supper, describes this chilling scene, Jesus handing Judas a piece of bread. “So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. AND IT WAS NIGHT.” John 13:30 Night, with its absence of light, is John’s way of describing the human condition without God’s presence and guiding light.  In Genesis 1 we read: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And seeing that the light was good, God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” Jesus said in John, "As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4 Having a living, active faith in Jesus is often described as walking in the “Light of Christ”. I am the light of the world Jesus tells us. But there are times in our faith journey when a dark shadow overtakes us, and we find ourselves floundering in the darkness of confusion and error. St. Ignatius talks about such times in his Spiritual Exercises. He points out that when we deliberately choose to sin, we bring such darkness upon ourselves; intentionally cutting ourselves off from God’s grace. But there are other times when it is God who hides his light from us. He does this so that we will intensify our search for his truth, thus gaining an even deeper faith and a more secure walk with him. Ignatius directs how we should respond in these times of darkness. First, realize that true peace of heart is not constructed from the things of this world nor the people with whom we interact. True peace comes directly from God and him alone. God wants us to learn how to distinguish between these two realities. People and things are imperfect at the best of times and they can also be the cause of the worst of times. When we make the things of this world the source of our peace and happiness, we are building our house on sand. “When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”. These are Jesus’ words in his parable in Matthew 7. (We can really appreciate the imagery of this parable today by just by looking at the pictures in the weather reports.) “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock.…” The rock is Faith, faith built on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Yet so many today have little or no connection to this rock nor do they build their life on it. Today’s second reading tells us that heaven is not on earth. God’s plan is for a new heaven and a new earth, this earth is only for a time. So, where and on what are you building that place in which your heart will dwell?

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Second Reading  Office of Readings - 5th Sunday of Easter From a sermon by Saint Maximus of Turin, bishop CHRIST IS THE DAY Christ is risen! He has burst open the gates of hell and let the dead go free; he has renewed the earth through the members of his Church now born again in baptism, and has made it blossom afresh with men brought back to life. His Holy Spirit has unlocked the doors of heaven, which stand wide open to receive those who rise up from the earth. Because of Christ’s resurrection the thief ascends to paradise, the bodies of the blessed enter the holy city, and the dead are restored to the company of the living. There is an upward movement in the whole of creation, each element raising itself to something higher. We see hell restoring its victims to the upper regions, earth sending its buried dead to heaven, and heaven presenting the new arrivals to the Lord. In one and the same movement, our Savior’s passion raises men from the depths, lifts them up from the earth, and sets them in the heights. Christ is risen. His rising brings life to the dead, forgiveness to sinners, and glory to the saints. And so David the prophet summons all creation to join in celebrating the Easter festival: Rejoice and be glad, he cries, on this day which the Lord has made. The light of Christ is an endless day that knows no night. Christ is this day, says the Apostle; such is the meaning of his words: Night is almost over; day is at hand. He tells us that night is almost over, not that it is about to fall. By this we are meant to understand that the coming of Christ’s light puts Satan’s darkness to flight, leaving no place for any shadow of sin. His everlasting radiance dispels the dark clouds of the past and checks the hidden growth of vice. The Son is that day to whom the day, which is the Father, communicates the mystery of his divinity. He is the day who says through the mouth of Solomon: I have caused an unfailing light to rise in heaven. And as in heaven no night can follow day, so no sin can overshadow the justice of Christ. The celestial day is perpetually bright and shining with brilliant light; clouds can never darken its skies. In the same way, the light of Christ is eternally glowing with luminous radiance and can never be extinguished by the darkness of sin.  This is why John the evangelist says: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never been able to overpower it. And so, my brothers, each of us ought surely to rejoice on this holy day. Let no one, conscious of his sinfulness, withdraw from our common celebration, nor let anyone be kept away from our public prayer by the burden of his guilt. Sinner he may indeed be, but he must not despair of pardon on this day which is so highly privileged; for if a thief could receive the grace of paradise, how could a Christian be refused forgiveness?

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