If we were to pick a theme for today from our readings it might be work, though work may not be something we necessarily want to reflect on first thing Sunday morning. So let's look at it from the viewpoint of the work of the Lord, and how he invites us to participate in his work as partners.
During the early days of the Church, at the time of the apostles Paul and Barnabas, the work of the Lord was clearly evident in a powerful way. In our time too, the work of the Lord, the activity of the Holy Spirit, is still evident. God is still powerful and present in our world today.
From the beginning of all things God established a purpose and plan to be carried out. We have the privilege to be part of that plan as God initiates and continues to establish his kingdom here on earth that will someday culminate into the Kingdom of Glory.
After his Resurrection, Jesus empowered the apostles with the Holy Spirit that they might go out and do his work, to carry out the plan for all time. There were several things in the readings today that caught my attention. First, I noticed the work of the apostles in strengthening the spirits of the disciples. The apostles encouraged and bolstered the early Church, while at the same time they made it clear that to enter the kingdom of the Lord "it is necessary to undergo many hardships."
More often than not various hardships are just part of life. I think of the daily work of being part of a family, of raising children and the responsibility of moms and dads. I also think of the daily work that most of us do to make a living and provide for our families. Often it involves certain hardships. Part of the virtue that the Holy Spirit gives us is to patiently endure in life's ordinary hardships; in doing so we remain in the "spirit" of being Christians.
There are also spiritual hardships to endure that are part of being a Christian. We are called to fight against that which stands in opposition to the establishment of the Kingdom of God. Throughout history Christians have often been called to endure ultimate hardships for the faith.
As we move toward Pentecost our readings will more and more prepare us to understand the action of the Holy Spirit among us. In next week's readings we will learn of the action the Holy Spirit working through the apostles as the teacher of the Church. This week we see the Holy Spirit at work in the apostles appointing presbyters or priest-elders preparing for the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God come down from heaven and establishing a new order of creation here with us. It is an order in which sin, division, and destruction have passed and we share in the work of bringing it into being.
The chief work of God was, and is still, the work of the Cross—not a thing of the past done and gone into the years immemorial, but a work still present, still effective, and made present to us in the liturgy or the work that done here at the Mass. It is a work in which we share and participate as we experience the sacrifice of the Cross, which is a visible sign of the Kingdom.
There remains a work to consider. It comes to us in the form of a commandment. In the gospel today Jesus says, "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know you are my disciples…" In our world today the meaning of "love" does not always come through clearly. Jesus' commandment is that we love one another as he has loved us.
The example of that love, of course, is the total self-giving sacrifice of the Cross. It is the example above all others of love, and it informs us of the particularities and actions belonging to commandment that we love one another. Love is the work and endurance of faith that we are to accomplish in our daily lives. Love is the substance of the Kingdom of God, and the building material of the new creation. The love required of us by God's commandment is a sacrificial and self-giving love. It is the love that does not seek its own but rather that we give to others. It can take many forms, but most often and most simply it begins with the work of prayer.
Our call today in the world where we live, in the world where there are still many hardships to undergo and new challenges daily, is to meet every one of those challenges with true and real love; that is, we are to go forth with faith and make a total gift of ourselves for the good of others. In doing so we follow the lead of the Holy Spirit, of the apostles and disciples of the past, and we make way for the coming of a new heaven and a new earth.
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