6th Sunday of Easter May 25, 2025

Readings:  Acts of the Apostles 15:1-2,22-29; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29

The words of Jesus at the Farewell Discourse during the Last Supper are intended as encouragement, concluding with a solemn farewell from the Lord: “Peace,” (in Hebrew, “Shalom”). This is not just a friendly salutation, but intended as a gift, something real and tangible, a state of the soul which cannot be compared with anything else. We might call it happiness, joy or satisfaction, but only if we understand it on a deeply spiritual level, as something that goes beyond feeling, and is a state of being, that only God can give.

The important point of this Sunday’s Gospel is that all who follow Christ must demonstrate their love for Christ by persevering in faith, hope and love, what we call the “Theological Virtues.”

Separation from the Lord, as when he ascended into Heaven, may be painful, but it does not mean being abandoned. The Master returns to the Father, which should fill the hearts of believers with peace, especially in the light of Jesus’ promise of sending the Holy Spirit whose other name is the Paraclete, that is, the Comforter, who leads us along the way to eternal union with the Blessed Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. This is a possibility for all of us!

In this Second Reading at Mass this Sunday, from the Book of Revelation, we are given an inspiring and vivid vision of the heavenly Jerusalem, where the Church Triumphant, composed all who have passed from life to God’s Glory, are present with the Holy Trinity. It is another way of expressing that “God will be all in all,” as Saint Paul describes it in his First Letter to the Corinthians (chapter 15, verse 28), when our redemption will be fully accomplished.                                                                           

      Fr. Terry.