Seventh Sunday of Easter
Fr Dominic’s Homily
Today is the 7th and final Sunday of Easter. Next week is Pentecost Sunday where we celebrate the birth of the true Church of Christ.
Today we hear this discourse that Jesus gives on the night of the last supper. It’s his final prayer before his execution. And what does he pray for? Unity in the church! That they may all be one.
Remember that God is a trinity composed of God the Father, the son and Holy Spirit which is a community of love. This is the unity he wants for us. A supernatural unity. If we want the conversion of the world we need unity first. It’s not an optional extra.
What is the principle of unity that Jesus emphasises in his final prayer? The Eucharist. This is the principle of unity between all the churches. That I should abide in them as the Father abides in me and I in him. The Eucharist is the sign and sacrament of unity as the real presence of Christ.
Jesus wills that all people will come to know the truth and love of God. Both intellect and will are needed. Mind and heart. One is not more important than the other. Both. In this way we can be at one with God in the Trinity. This is the whole point of God’s plan of economy. To be drawn into the loving relationship within the trinity.
So God’s purpose is to bring the world into his unity. He is a bit like a magnet- we are all drawn to the person of Jesus because that’s the ultimate purpose of our lives. And the closer we are drawn to Jesus the closer we are drawn to each other. Like the spokes of a wheel leading to the central hub.
Where there is division in the world or community or even in a parish there is sin. And it needs healing. Ultimately anything opposed to God is sin and so sin always divides. God wants us to live. The glory of God is a person fully alive! The devil wants the opposite. Remember the word live in reverse is evil.
If you really believe in Jesus and that he is the Christ then you must desire these things because he wants them. He wants them so much that he made it his final prayer before his horrific 16 hour torture and execution.
JP2 wrote an encyclical about Ecumenism called “Ut Unum Sint” – that they may be one. In that he reminds us what Ecumenism is and what it isn’t. It isn’t just some cosy get together where you drink tea and say prayers. It must have direction and purpose.
That people will accept into their minds and hearts God the Fathers plan of truth:
Of Faith in Jesus
In the real purpose of the sacraments
And of the established nature of the apostolic Church.
Ultimately the whole point of the church is to transform the very world we live in by bringing it all back to Christ in a supernatural unity. But this is challenging. And it’s difficult to transform the world whilst it clings so tightly to its own truths which are getting more wayward…
Today anyone’s truth carries equal measure. The world tells us that I can be or do whatever I want in the name of freedom and equality. And we can see the results of that…
Remember that our lives are actually not about ourselves. They are about a bigger picture from God that we then get drawn in to. As soon as we leave him out of the equation things go wrong. When we keep him central things work out. Maybe not in the way we expected – but we have peace.
When we spread the real message of God’s truth to the world this then helps to draw all people to God through the person of Jesus Christ and his truth. This is the kind of unity that is needed.
And this is the ultimate way to achieve peace and joy in our hearts which is what Jesus so earnestly desired for us in his prayers to the Father.
Perhaps our prayer and question can be do we truly desire to work for unity in the church in the way that Christ wants it and gave his very last words for it?