Third Sunday after Easter
In this time between Easter and Ascension, the Church reminds us of the words spoken by Our Lord at the Last Supper when He told the apostles of His impending death and resurrection. In just a little while, Our Lord will leave us, but in another little while, we shall see Him again. The world shall rejoice when He disappears, but we shall be sad. The comfort of our Lord’s words is double. First of all, He assures us that it will only be a little while. The entire length of our human life is just a little while; the entire length of the history of the world is just a little while compared to eternity. The second is that when He returns, we shall recover that intense joy we had with Him before, and then we will never again lose it, for the world will be unable to take it away from us.
The most fundamental lesson of all this is that we must not be discouraged or dismayed when we meet with tribulations; these are part and parcel of being Christian. The Christian must follow in the footsteps of Christ, and Christ chose the path of suffering and rejection by the world. All this is normal, but knowing this takes nothing away from its difficulties. The young athlete knows he must train hard for a very long time if he wants to be victorious, but knowing it does not make the training easier. What does make it bearable, if not easy, is the promise of the laurels, the crown of victory.
Along this path of our Christian life, this little while, there are many dangers that could waylay us. This is why, in today’s magnificent oration, we ask for the grace to reject the things that are contrary to the name of Christianity and to follow what is consonant with it. In other words, if we are Christians, may we truly live as Christians. If we are honoured with the name of Christ, we must show ourselves worthy. We must live up to the honour we have received in being called to partake of the grace of Christ.
In today’s epistle, St Peter lays out before us a number of the points that we need to practice. First and foremost is the resounding plea that opens today’s lesson: Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, to refrain yourselves from carnal desires which war against the soul. That is the first thing to keep in mind in a world that idolises the pursuit of carnal pleasures. These are at war against the soul, so if you pursue them, your soul will die, you will lose God’s grace and risk forfeiting your eternity. This point is frequently mentioned by all the apostles in their letters. They knew all too well that the world into which Christianity was born was one in which the idol of lust was considered to be the one that you were expected to worship, under pain of being considered abnormal. But, says Peter, we are only strangers and pilgrims. That is to say, this is not our homeland. We are foreigners here. Do not mix yourself up with the idols of the flesh because you belong to another country, a country in which the spirit reigns over the flesh, in which the delights of a peaceful mind and heart and a good conscience make those of the flesh appear as they really are, just base, vile amusements that are worthy more of pigs than of humans. The bottom line is that we cannot indulge in this life’s illicit pleasures and expect eternal pleasures in Heaven. It’s one or the other, and we must be careful not to be like Judas, who, as one of the texts of Holy Week reminded us, was an awful merchant: for thirty pieces of silver he never enjoyed, he lost his soul. That is really bad business. Let’s never forget that life is short, eternity is long, and eternity is at the doorstep. Put your money in God’s bank. He gives really good interest.
Peter goes on: Having your conversation good among the Gentiles: that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by the good works, which they shall behold in you, glorify God in the day of visitation. In other words, your life among the pagans must stand out like a light in a dark place; your good works must be visible, not that you do them in order to be seen, but that by the very way you dress and act, it should be obvious to anyone that you are not like other people. This alone will lead the world to give glory to God when they see what marvels of grace He accomplishes in frail nature.
St Peter adds: Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. True Christians are not of the world, but they are in the world, and being in the world means contributing to the common good, respecting authorities and trying to get along as best we can, even with those who are troublesome. We honour all men, whatever their religion or vices, as St Peter says because every man and woman is created in the image of God. In them, we honour God who created them, and we see one who is a potential servant of God and a saint if we have the courage to help and inspire them. While the Church is not inclusive in the sense that anyone can be part of it on their own terms, she is inclusive in the sense that she wants to embrace all, like the Good Shepherd. The grace of conversion and salvation is offered to all without exception, and this is something we must always keep in mind in a world that is often hostile. By offering up what we endure for the very ones who are causing it, we may very well obtain for them the grace of conversion.
Coming back to today’s Gospel, Our Blessed Lord compares the suffering of our present condition to that of a woman in labour. A mother suffers to bring a child into the world, but the birth wipes away her tears. Not that her pains are over, for she will continue to labour for many years to bring the child to maturity. The image is a powerful one in that just as the pangs of childbirth are intense but passing and are followed by a lifetime of joy that a new person has been brought into the world, so the labours and penances of this life are passing, but they are followed by an eternity of joy with God.
The mention of maternity in the Gospel is providential, for today is, of course, Mother’s Day, and as we all think of and pray for our own mothers, living or deceased, we also offer our sincerest greetings and best wishes to all the mothers among us. It is not without interest to note that St Paul compares the apostolic ministry of priests not only to paternity but also to maternity. He compares it to giving birth to souls and nursing them, as does a mother. To the Galatians, he writes: My little children, of whom I am in labour again, until Christ be formed in you (Gal 4:19), and to the Thessalonians, he writes: We became little ones in the midst of you, as if a nurse should cherish her children: so desirous of you, we would gladly impart unto you not only the gospel of God, but also our own souls: because you were become most dear unto us (1 Th 2: 7-8).
This reminds us to pray for all our shepherds and, in particular, for our new Pope Leo XIV, burdened by Almighty God with care for the universal Church. Let us pray ardently for him, that as a true father, he may guide us in the truth and ward off the intruders who would disturb our faith, but that he may also show concern and compassion for all of us, for those of us who were marginalised by his predecessor, as well as for those who are still outside the fold and whom Our Blessed Lord wants to bring into His fold, that there may be but one fold and one shepherd.
Evil does not win, Pope Leo said. Even if evil seems to win the day now, it will be overcome. Let us fervently pray that he may be protected from the Evil One and have the courage to play his role in overcoming the evil of confusion in the Church. The Holy Father’s very first words to the world, when he came out onto the balcony of St Peter’s, were the very same words our Blessed Lord pronounced when He first appeared to the apostles on Easter Sunday evening: Peace be to you. Peace is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It consists in the tranquillity of order, the divinely established order in the Church and in the world. So, by wishing us peace, the Holy Father wishes for all things to come into order in our lives, individually, as communities, and as a worldwide Church founded upon the faith of the apostles under the Kingship of Christ.
A particular sign of hope is that the Holy Father was elected on the feast day of Our Lady of Pompeii, and the first prayer he led us in was the Ave Maria. These are unequivocal signs of a particular intervention by the Mother of the Good Shepherd, watching over her Son’s flock, protecting us from the wolves, and never allowing us to founder in despair.
