Life itself is our best school, and God is our teacher.

 

Seventh Sunday of Easter  C   2025

We find ourselves on this 7^th Sunday of Easter in a kind of in-between time.  The Ascension has taken place – Jesus has returned to the Father – and Pentecost is just around the corner.  The Church waits in prayer and anticipation go the coming of the Holy Spirit.  It’s a sacred pause,a time of transition.  And today’s readings speak to us deeply about saying good bye and embracing the mission Jesus gives to the Church.

Today between the Feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost, we are marking Jesus’ leave taking from the disciples.  There is sadness for the disciples of Jesus on the Feast of the Ascension.  What the first disciples had to learn is a lesson for all of us -- many, many times we have to let go and say good-bye and trust that with each letting go, God promises that he will not leave us orphans.  We have to change many times in our discipleship journey.  We choose some of the good-byes of life; other times our good-byes are not of our own choosing.  With each transition, we are called to trust in God’s continuous presence in our life.

Personally, today is my 57^th anniversary of priestly ordination.  I am many times blessed.  Over these many years, I have had several assignments which involves saying  good bye to people I love in one assignment and trusting in God’s plan for me in my next ministry assignment.  Also, I have presided over many, many funerals in my family and my parish family of beloved parishioners.

With each goodbye we experience, we are called to trust more fully in God’s continuous presence in our life.  God never says goodbye but always us to trust more fully in his unending love for us.

I invite you to hold on to this truth:  Life itself is the best school.  God is our teacher.  The problems we are facing right now are our best assignment from God.  In your present challenge, whatever it is, you may have to let go; you may have to take a risk; but please God this challenge may invite you to place even more trust in the plan of God for your life.  We face challenges in our community, in our parish, and In our personal life. We are facing the challenge of senseless gun violence in our schools and in the streets of our city:  we are facing the devastation of the war in Ukraine and in the Middle East; in our parish life we ask ourselves how can we better engage the young families in our parish; in grieving the loss of a family member; in dealing with your illness or sickness in one you love, we are left with questions that don’t have the answers we would like.

As I say, life itself is our best school.  God is our teacher.  In the problems we are facing just now, what are we called to let go up and take the risk of faith and to trust even more deeply in the plan of God for our lives.

The Gospel is taken from the end of Jesus’ prayer at the Last Supper.  We are privileged to eavesdrop on Jesus’ intimate prayer with his heavenly Father.  In the Upper Room on the Eve of his Passion, the Lord prayed for his disciples gathered around him.  At the same time, Jesus looked ahead to community of disciples of all centuries.  In his prayer for all disciples of all time, he saw us too, and prayed for us.  He prayed that we be consecrated in truth.

In today’s Gospel, we are listening to the prayer of Jesus to his heavenly Father.  This takes place at the Last Supper with Jesus being conscious of His impending death on the cross.  Jesus does not see his death as ending, but rather his going home to his heavenly Father and a new way of being with us who are in the world.

Overhearing Jesus at prayer is our way of understanding the identity of Jesus and our participation in the divine plan.  The mission of Jesus to be become our mission.  What is this mission – to release divine love into the world. This is such an awesome mission for us as a parish community.

 May the prayer of Jesus be our prayer as well.  The prayer of Jesus is that we all may be one.  Jesus prayed for us to experience a unity based on our love for one another.  We needn’t be reminded for its need.  We often witness breakdowns of communication in families, enmity among members of the same faith community, dissension in civil society. 

Jesus’ unity  is to overcome all such divisions, especially those within the fold.  Jesus wants a unity like that between himself and the Father – a unity that preserves individuality, but which is close and intimate.  That union of the Father and the Son is our model.  It is a unity in which people will love and serve each other because they love and serve him; it is heart speaking to heart.  Its key is love.

Like Jesus, we find our glory in doing not what we will but what God wills.  What would it take for all of us to be committed to the petition we make in the Our Father: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 

In the first Scripture reading today, Stephen was beautifully releasing divine love into the world by offering forgiveness to those who were stoning him to death.  Forgiveness is an essential element for achieving the unity that Jesus prayed for.

What a challenge this is for us.  We may not face martyrdom, but we all face situations of conflict and hurt.  Can we – like Stephen – pray for those who wrong us?  Can we work toward reconciliation in our families, communities, and parishes?

 

At the end of the day, may we claim the prayer of Jesus to be our own prayer.  Jesus prayed: “I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”  We are missioned to make the Lord’s name known in our parish and in our community. We make the Lord’s name known best when we release divine love into our world.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.

 

Have a Blessed Day.