6^th Sunday of Easter, Year B: Reflection from Fr Julian Ekeh

THEME: LET US LEARN FROM THE FATHER'S LOVE

(John 15:9-17)

The Gospel of today began with: 'As the Father loved me so have I loved you'. Wonderful acts of love performed in the past. But very much relevant to the present. Thus, Jesus added: 'abide in my love'.

It was not careless that Jesus called 'Father'. He could have said 'God', but He chose to call 'Father' as He taught about the love that lasts, the love that saves, the love that generates.

It is very common to cloth love with a feminine garment. Mothers enjoy much love and are spoken of as loving more. Men are often tagged hard, mean, and beings without feeling. It is not true. The Father loves. He loves genuinely. His love is unique and objective. It is sometimes overlooked. The mother bears the child in the womb, but the father bears the mother and the child in his heart till delivery and continues. Jesus calls us to remain in this love.

Let us, therefore, learn from the love of our heavenly Father and make it an example for our earthly fathers and all father figures. Let us also endeavour to love the heavenly Father and indeed our fathers and all father figures and institutions the way we ought to. May we reflect on the qualities of the Father's Love and its implications for us.

 

LOVE THAT IS RIGHT

The love of the Father is a genuine one. It is a love that is in love with keeping the commandment. Thus, Jesus says, "If you love me, keep my commands." The Father loves the Son that is Obi nna ya (one that does what pleases Him). He is proud of the son or daughter who represents Him well. Fathers are groomers of law abidingness in their offspring. This can be done with the rod, but out of love. He insists you do it the right way. Only love can do it.

 

INSTRUCTIVE LOVE

The love of the Father is educative, instructive, filled with knowledge, understanding, it is love that is pure, true, holy, and spiritual. It is not materialistic nor destructive.

This love builds on what is spoken. Jesus says: 'These things I have spoken to you'. What do our fathers tell us these days? Do fathers still speak words of wisdom to their children? Can your children boast of hearing good parables and inspirational nuggets from you, their father? This is how the Father loves. It may not always be pampering. That undiluted truth is heard from the father. The voice of the father never dies. Let's accept the guidance, directives, and counsels of our Father in heaven through Jesus Christ and, indeed, our biological fathers here.

 

ENCOURAGING LOVE

The Father is the origin of the family. He initiates the idea of moving out, the idea of the 'otherness'; "Let us create." The thought of other beings into existence is his brainchild. He leaves the mother and father to join. It is in the nature of the father to unite. Is it still that way? Do you encourage love among your children?  Do you encourage love among the States, tribes and races in the country that look up to you as a father figure? Do you encourage as a political father, religious and traditional father harmony among the people entrusted to you? As the boss in that office, as a principal in that school, etc, do you promote love? As a Bishop, how do you promote peace among your priests?

 

SACRIFICIAL AND FRIENDLY LOVE

The Father loves from the heart. He wants the best for his family. He goes out of his way in search of greener pastures to provide for the home. He sacrifices his pleasure to ensure the security of His family. For him, there is no need to relax when there is no food on the family table. He takes a lot of risks even without mentioning them. He can do any type of job wearing just a pair of trousers but buys jewelries for the wife and best of wears for the children while paying the bills as well. Only a friend can do these.

Are you a friend, confidant, and listener to your children? Do you make out time to play with your family? Do you sacrifice your serious time for their nonsense? Do you care to understand their silence? Do you give them your shoulder to cry on?

God, the Father, in his love, understands our loneliness and gives solutions to it. He saw when man was helpless and sent us Immanuel as a Saviour. This love of the father frowns at indifference, suppression, and master-slave relationship.

 

LOVE THAT BEQUEATHS BLESSINGS

The father blesses the children and wishes them well in life. When Jesus was sent into the world, God gave Him graces and blessings with which He went about doing good. He lavishes the love of the Father on us.

Fathers should be blessings to their family and not curses. They should be blessings to the human family at large and not a curse unto them. They should hand on good fruits to their children.

What type of fruits do you encourage your children to bear? What examples are they moving out with?  Are you leaving behind peace, progress, and love or injustice, anarchy, and greed? 

 

May God our heavenly Father bless all the Fathers and Father figures in the world. May we show them real love that will encourage them in their responsibilities in the home and in the world.

May God bless His word in our hearts.

 

LET US PRAY

God our Father, thank You for the gift of our Fathers. They face a lot of challenges in our world today. Save them from the dangers that threaten to ruin them and the sacred task you have given to them. Make them blessings to their wives, children, and our society at large. Bless them with wisdom and bless them with happy old age in good health. May we not break their hearts. Reward them abundantly in heaven after living to the glory of your name here through Christ our Lord. Amen

Happy Sunday (6th Sunday of Easter)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

 

6^th Sunday of Easter, Year B: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima

Theme: Love: the true identity of Christians

Readings: Acts 10:25-26,34-35,44-48; 1Jn. 4:7-10; Jn. 15:9-17

Dearest friends in Christ, the readings of today give us the real identity or distinguishing factor of Christians. Friends, we all know that every establishment in this world has its identity, its trademark, let us say a quality that distinguishes it from other establishments. Also, every country has its identity, which can be seen in their nation’s flags, languages, coat of arms, etc. People also have their distinguishing factors seen in their cultures, languages, dressings, foods, hairstyles, etc.

For many centuries, Christians have also evolved means to show the world who they are, ways of letting the world know that they belong to the body of Christ. The hierarchies in the church, for example, Cardinals, Bishops, priests and religious, use uniforms to show who they are. On many occasions, the lay Christians have also identified themselves and their groups in the church through uniforms, badges, pinups.

However, dear friends, the readings of today are drawing our attention to a higher factor that should be our identity in the world, a factor that should distinguish us from the rest of the world. This factor is called love. It was Shakespeare who said that the ‘hood does not make a monk’ (Cacullus non facit monachum). He was right, because uniforms can be changed anytime, anywhere, and we have also seen occasions where people of the same uniform fought and killed themselves. Hence, uniforms are not enough distinguishing factors for Christians, they cannot be our identity before the world.

Before the chapter of today’s gospel, Jesus had already informed his disciples in Jn 13:35 that ‘if you love one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.’ In the today’s gospel, He added: this I command you, to love one another. It is a command, not a suggestion from Christ. I see the other parts of the gospel of today and the second reading as further lessons on this real identity, trademark or distinguishing factor for Christians.

The second reading gave us a reason why love should be the identity of Christians. The first reason why we should love is because God is love, and he who loves is from or of God and, consequently, knows God. Therefore, he who does not love cannot say he knows God because God is love. If you love, it means you know God, but if you don’t love, it means you don’t know God. Hence it is by loving that we can convince other people that we know God and that we belong to God, not by wearing uniforms. The love of God does not discriminate, it is a love that is shown to both friends and non-friends. Let us not talk about showing love to enemies because for those who love, there are no enemies, there can only be non-friends, and non-friends are not enemies. The first reading showed us how this love was poured on people who were not yet Christians. The type of love that is our Christian identity does not segregate.

In the Gospel of today, Jesus showed us more qualities of this love that should be our identity. This love for one another, he said, must be according to His own love for us. And at the heart of the love Jesus has for us is sacrifice, the laying down of one’s life for his friends. Hence, Jesus is telling us that the love that should distinguish us from other people is a sacrificial love, a love that is ready to burn out like a candle in order to light others. A love that does not end on the lips but is shown in service to others. A love that is ready to sacrifice something precious for the sake of the beloved. This love can be expressed through offering of one’s time, money, and talent for the good of other people. It is a love that goes out in search of those who offended it so that it can forgive them. It is the love that defends the poor and the weak. It is a love that is founded on honest service to other people. This is the type of love that should be the identity of every Christian.

Dearest friends, we will lose our Christians identity whenever we hate other people. We will lose our resemblance of God whenever we fail to love as Jesus loved. We will cease to represent Christ in the world whenever we hate our neighbours, friends and other people.

Peace be with you

Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima