5th Sunday of Easter,Year C, 2019

May God through today’s Eucharistic Celebration bestow on you the grace to realise that God is in yourmidst and that you as member of his church will mediate the presence of the Risen Christ in the ordinary circumstances of your life.Happy Sunday +John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Acts 14, 21-27;  Revelation 21,1-5a; John 13:31-33a, 34-35: 5^th Sunday of Easter,Year C, 2019)

Paul and Barnabas’missionary journey is the subject matter of the first reading. A map of the ancient world will show the ambitious scope of their daring apostolic venture. The success of their preaching is evident. They made a considerable number of disciples in Derbe (v. 21). The purpose of their return to cities visited earlier (v. 21) was to strengthen the converts they had already made. Paul and Barnabas apostolic activities had not been without difficulties (cf. vv. 1-19). Hardship was  inescapable for any of them. In the cities they wererevisiting, the apostles established a kind of administrative structure like that found in the synagogues. The need for organisation is yet another evidence of the growth of the Church. They appointed elders who were probably entrusted with overseeing worship, discipline, instruction, and administration. The apostles were not independent missionaries. They had been sent forth by the Church in Antioch, and it was to that same Church they returnedto and reported what had been accomplished by God through them. It is important to note that the success of the mission is credited to God. Note how the final verse indicates that it was through Paul that the door of faith, an opportunity to believe in salvation through Jesus Christ, was opened for the Gentiles.

The vision reported in the gospel of this Sunday employs several images to characterise the new reality that will be brought forth in the age of fulfilment. While the passage begins and ends with the theme of newness, its chiastic structure suggests that the theme of God dwelling in the midst of his people is the dominant one. Every other theme serves this one.

The new heaven and new earth of the passage of the second reading will not be as a result of the transformation of the present heaven and earth but something entirely new in nature. First, the Greek word used (kainos) denotes new in nature as distinct from new in time (neos). Second, the disappearance of the sea is significant. At the consummation of the world, when the final battle is won by the forces of good, the sea, the symbol of chaos, will be no more. Something completely new will then be established. This understanding of newness is substantiated by the statement that there will be no more death. The new Jerusalem fulfils for the people of the new age what the former Jerusalem meant for the people of the past. It was a sacred place, the place where God dwelt in their midst in a special way (cf. lsa 65,17-20). Beyond its importance as a place, the name "Jerusalem" also stood for the People of God, whether they lived within the city or not. In this vision Jerusalem probably represents the redeemed in whose midst God dwells. To characterise the city as a bride signifies not only its state of pristine innocence but also the intimate relationship of love that exists between God and the people (cf. Isa 61,10; 62:5).

In the gospel reading, Judas’departure sets the machinery of Jesus' arrest, trial, and execution into motion. There is no going back now. The die is cast; the events of salvation are about to begin. The hour of eschatological fulfilment has come. While it looks like only suffering and death are on the horizon, this is in fact the moment of glorification. Lifted up in ignominy, Jesus will really be lifted up in glory, for surrender, death, resurrection, and exaltation are really all one event. The Son of Man is glorified both in his own willingness to obey God even unto death and in the fact that God will glorify him by making his sacrifice effective for the salvation of all. Glorification does not cancel suffering. Rather, it is precisely, at the moment of his being lifted up on the cross that Jesus will be lifted up in glory. Jesus' willingness to suffer also glorifies God, for it reveals the extent of Jesus' love for God and God's love for humankind. This mutual glorification flows from the intimate relationship that exists between God and the Son of Man. Addressing the remaining eleven apostles with the affectionate address of a teacher to students, my children he gave the commandment to love one another. The command to love was given long ago: Love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19,18). This is a new commandment, new (kainos) in nature as distinct from new (neos) in time. What makes it significantly different here is the measure of such love. They are to love one another with the same self-sacrificing love Jesus has shown them. This kind of love will be the universal sign of discipleship of Jesus. It will establish a new kind of order. The disciples are to love one another as Jesus has loved them. His love is manifested in his willingness to sacrifice himself. His self-sacrifice is identical with his glorification. His glorification is also the glorification of God. In this way the love the followers of Jesus have for one an­other redounds to the glorification of God.

On account of God in-dwelling with his people, everything is new! There is a new law of love, a new heaven and earth that is established in the Church, a new depth of communion there, and a new glory of God that shines forth from its members. The new community Jesus formed, in addition to tolerance, mutual respect requires self-sacrificing love. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to this love is the failure to accept the diversity of members of our communities. What is more is that we allow sentiments of tribalism, racism, to take upper hand in our thoughts and behaviours. It is hard enough to love those who are like us; how can we possibly love those who are different? And how can we love those who do not love us? It is no wonder the commandment is called new (kainos). This is something completely different. The new commandment is the law of the new heaven and the new earth established in the Church. Standards are entirely different there. The greater ones serve; the meek possess the earth; happy are the poor; woe to those who laugh. In the new heaven and the new earth children are cherished rather than ignored, those who are disabled are cared for rather than discarded, women and men are equally respected, all nations and tongues are welcomed. This is clearly a city that comes down from heaven, not one made by human hands. It is a city that embraces all who come to it. It is a city well beloved by God. God dwells in the midst of this city, in the heart of this people. God dwells with them and they dwell with God. Because of this special indwelling they are God's special people, and God is their special God, a God who is with them and for them. Previously they were considered children of God, born of the love that is God. In that new city they are joined to God as a bride is joined to her groom, in a love that reproduces itself, thus creating new life. Because of this love disciples go out to proclaim the good news, and other communities of love are established. Communities that so bind themselves in love become the living sacrament of God's presence. Through this new love, this new heaven and new earth, this new depth of communion, the glory of God is manifested in a new way. The eschatological future is anticipated in the present. The age of fulfilment has dawned. Because the glory of God is manifested in and through us in a startling new way, it is not necessary for the risen Lord to be tangibly present to us anymore. From now on Christ will remain in the Church in an entirely new way through us as much as for us. May we, therefore,  in today’sEucharistic liturgy gain the grace to realise that God is in our midst and that we as members of his church will mediate the presence of the Risen Christ in the very ordinary circumstances of our life. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye