FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B

Acts 9 :26-31 
Psalm 21 
1 John 3:18-24 
John 15:1-8

ABIDING IN JESUS CHRIST

On this fifth Sunday of Easter, the gospel proposed for our meditation is the parable of the vine (John 15:1-8). This parable is an invitation to abide in Jesus Christ so as to bear much fruits. Either you are connected to Christ or you are disconnected from him. If you abide in him, you will bear much fruits. But if you do not abide in him, you become fruitless, sterile. You go from frustration to frustration, from crisis to crisis, for a life without Christ is a life with crises: “For without me, you can do nothing”, says Jesus.

Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. Consequently, the fruitfulness of our life depends on our connexion or intimacy with Jesus Christ. We must therefore remain always connected to him. We must develop a personal relationship with him through prayer, listening to the Word of God and the celebration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. To remain in Jesus also means finding the reason to live and hope in spite of everything. It is to make him our shelter, our dwelling, therefore our security.

One cannot abide in Jesus without being like Jesus, without loving like him. To abide in Jesus means keeping his word that calls us to love one another (1 John 3:18-24). To abide in Jesus has therefore a social dimension. Sometimes, it means integrating sinners, the rejected, the marginalized and the abandoned into our community. Other times, it means forgiving others and lettting go the wounds they had inflicted us.

This is exemplified in the first reading. The community of believers in Jerusalem found it difficult to accept Paul, despite his conversion on the road to Damascus, for he was a persecutor of Christians. It took the intervention of Barnabas for him to be recognized as a disciple of Christ.
May the Lord help us to abide in him so as to bear fruits to the glory of God. Amen

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B

Acts 4:8-12
Psalm 117
1 John 3:1-2
John 10:11-18

SHEPHERDS AFTER THE HEART OF JESUS CHRIST

The fourth Sunday of Easter is also known as “Good Shepherd Sunday” and is set aside to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. In today’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims that he is the Good Shepherd. As the Good Shepherd, he freely lays down his life for his sheep, knows them, cares for them, defends them from foreign attacks and goes out to look for the lost sheep. He gathers his sheep into one sheepfold (John 10:11-18).

Praying for vocations therefore is a way of asking the Lord to give us shepherds after his own heart, as he himself had promised (Jer. 3:15). For we need priests and religious who care for God’s people, who are close to them, know them and listen to them. We need holy priests and religious, people who touch lives by their way of life.

There are two main vocations by which the Lord calls each one of us to service. One is the married life and the other priestly and religious life. God has called each one of us, but what we are to be has not yet come (1 John 3:1-2). Therefore, as pilgrims, let us cultivate the virtues of patience and perseverance. We live in a world which is becoming more hostile to the Gospel. Like Peter in the first reading, let us be bold and fearless in preaching the truth about Jesus Christ, for in him alone there is salvation (Acts 4:8-12).

Let us all pray for, encourage and support vocations. Let us pray expecially for young people that many may respond positively to the call of the Lord and give their lives to the Risen Lord in priestly or religious life. Amen

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B

Acts 3:13-15.17-19
Psalm 4
1John 2:1-5
Luke 24:35-48

THE WITNESSING CHRISTIAN

Jesus of Nazareth, the Prince of Life was put to death, but death could not overcome him. This is an old news but always new, transforming lives to the glory of God. Today, he appears to his disciples. It was in the evening of the day of his resurrection. The prevailing atmosphere among the disciples was one of fear and doubt, sadness and deception. But the encounter with the Risen Jesus renewed their faith and filled them with joy.

Today’s appearance story follows Jesus’ manifestation to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, where they recognized him in the breaking of bread. Three things are worth highlighting in today’s passage. First, he offers peace to his troubled and frightened disciples and reassures them that he is the same who was dead but now is alive. Second, he makes them understand the Scriptures which foretold his Passion, death and resurrection. Third, he invites them to be witnesses of his saving work.

Consequently, in the first reading, Peter boldly bears witness to the Risen Lord before the people and calls them to conversion. St John, in the second reading, reminds us that Jesus’ death is the expiation for our sins and those of the whole world. This way, he has become our advocate before God.

Indeed, Jesus died, but now he is alive. He died for our sins. This is the news we must preach to the world and call our contemporaries to conversion. But we ourselves must be converted first so as to be living testimonies of God’s mercy and love.
May the Risen Lord give us peace and joy. Amen

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B

Acts 4:32-35
Ps 117:2-4,15-18, 22-24
1 John 5:1-6
John 20:19-31

DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

If the Risen Christ appears to his disciples many times, it is to strengthen their faith, and assure them that he has not abandoned them. Henceforth, he is present and active in the sacraments to offer them consolation and reconciliation. Today, he shows them the marks of his Passion, expression of God’s Mercy for mankind.

John narrates the appearance of the Risen Lord to his disciples. In the evening of the day of his resurrection, Jesus offered three gifts to his disciples: peace, the Holy Spirit and a mission. The peace he gives them is the peace that forgives, forgets their failures and mistakes, reconciles them with himself and assures them of his presence. He breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit to strengthen them for the mission he entrusts them. Their mission is to be his representatives in the world as ministers of God’s mercy, as he himself is the Face of God’s mercy.

Moreover, today’s gospel outlines the appropriate response to Jesus’ resurrection: faith. After one week of doubt, Thomas finally makes a great and unparalleled confession of faith in the Risen Jesus: “My Lord and my God”. According to the second reading, faith in the Risen Lord as the Son of God is the great weapon to overcome the world (1 John 5:1-6).

If we profess and live out our faith in Jesus Christ as we ought, indeed, we shall overcome today’s world marked by selfishness, individualism, corruption, division, consumerism, desire to exploit others, etc. Our faith will inform us that we ought to live our life with and for others. The first Christians understood this; that is why they put their belongings in common, sharing them to each according to his needs (Acts 4:32-35).

Let us also cultivate the habit of sharing. May the Risen Lord help us be authentic witnesses of his resurrection. Amen