May 25, 2014 – Sixth Sunday of Easter
Acts 8: 5-8, 14-17; Ps 66: 1-7, 16, 20; 1 Pt 3: 15-18; Jn 14: 15-21
“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.” (John 14:20) Jesus is speaking to us about the Holy Trinity and our oneness with Him, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. If we fully accept that this relationship exists, and if we embrace it to lead God-centered lives, we are much closer to the ideal of holiness the Lord wants for each of us.
Stewardship is a God-centered way to live. One of the challenges of our secular society is that the way of life which we may see daily in all aspects of our experience, certainly on television and in motion pictures, is the opposite of stewardship. Rather than being God-centered it is often self-centered.
Through all the readings for this Sixth Sunday of Easter we can sense this call to be one with God. The first reading from Acts reminds each of us that we are filled with the Holy Spirit, just as the Samaritans were. Peter’s letter (the second reading) imparts the value of having Christ alive in our hearts. Of course, Jesus Himself, speaking to us through the Gospel of John, assures us that striving to be one with Him means that we have within us an Advocate, the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. This is the Comforter Who allows us to accomplish much.
