The Cross at the Center of All Things

+ J. M. J. +

Homily Outline for the 5th Sunday of Easter, Year C

At first glance this Sunday, our readings seem relatively mild and unassuming… Paul and Barnabas are going around doing their thing, proclaiming Jesus Christ. In our second reading and psalm we hear of the glorious splendor of God’s kingdom, where every tear will be wiped away, and in our Gospel, we hear a line we have heard many times, “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”

We find, ourselves, though, right at the very heart of the Christian Mystery, right at the very heart of this Easter Season, and right at the heart of the great beauty of our children making their First Holy Communion, this Sunday at Immaculate Conception, and next Sunday at St. Sebastian. The last line of the second reading rings out, “Behold, I make all things new.” How did Jesus make all things new? What is new and surprising about this making?

Here we come right back to the Cross, which sits at the heart of all things, at the heart of our Church, at the intersection of every truth. In the biological world of striving and struggling, of predator and prey, every creature seeks to eat or be eaten. Nature is no Earth Mother… nature is no mother at all! Nature is the promoter of a bare-knuckle tournament, a race-horse owner who offers two options: win or become dog food! Even among us humans this fierce struggle to get and take often rules the day.

However much our fallen world may operate on this principle of strife and violence, this is not how God operates. Our Gospel actually comes from the moments before Jesus’ Passion, and Jesus says, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him.” He is not referring only to the Resurrection, not only to His victory over sin and death, but even to His bloody path to Calvary. God is glorified when Jesus lays down His life for us, when He takes up on Himself every wound and sorrow… it is this laying down, this surrender that leads to the sunburst of Easter Resurrection. In light of this unlocking of all darkness, a new heaven and a new earth become possible.

So… at school, you must outperform the other students to make the team. Only the best grades lead to being valedictorian. The shiniest people get elected Prom King and Queen. Very often at work and at play we seem to be in a zero-sum game where one wins and another loses. And Jesus says, “Behold, I make all things new.” More fundamental than this world of eat or be eaten is the reality of Grace, of God, of Love. Jesus breaks down the dividing wall between God and us, and allows this reality to come into contact with our daily lives. He gives us a new commandment, “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” How did Jesus love us? Total self-gift, a total laying down of His life, a taking upon Himself of all our burdens. Perhaps now the beautiful and daunting invitation of our faith stands a bit more clearly before us… to love as Jesus loved! To love unto the Cross, unto death! Christian love is not the path to getting what we need, to finding superficial pleasure or satisfaction, to filling ourselves up in a worldly way, quite the opposite! We are glorified in God’s eyes, which is to say glorified in a real way, when we follow Jesus’ path to the Cross, to Calvary, to Resurrection.

And so, parents, love your children unto the complete self-emptying of Christ. Husbands love your wives as Christ love the Church! Wives, love your husbands unto the Cross! Children, love your parents, however much you don’t understand them, even unto their dying day. Brothers and sisters, love each other even as that causes you to sacrifice your own convenience. Parishioners, love each other as Christ loved us, and love each person in the world such that they see Christ in you!

Perhaps you’ve heard Mother Theresa of Calcutta’s line, “God calls us not to be successful, but to be faithful.” This doesn’t only refer to choosing Christ over worldly success, but also to trusting Jesus even when we seem to be failing in following Him. When we confront sin and darkness and deception in our lives, we don’t often overcome it all with one try, in one swoop… we have to keep trying, we fall, we get up, we keep trying. Our Church is not a club of the perfect, it’s a hospital for sinners. God is doing something new in our midst, but it’s often messy, and incomplete, and confusing. When people see our lives, will they see people who think they’ve arrived, so to speak, or people who are on the journey, on the road, walking towards the Cross and towards Christ’s glory? How is Jesus calling you to love concretely today?  How is Jesus calling you to love concretely today?

“As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” Jesus didn’t stop by telling us what to do, He showed us, and He continues to show us at each Eucharist. With infinite humility at every Mass Jesus who is God comes to us hidden under the appearance of Bread and Wine… Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. He makes all things new, lays down His life before us, and fills us with Himself. A new heaven and a new earth is breaking forth within our midst! Having been filled with Jesus Christ, may we begin once again to love as He did.

+ A. M. D. G. +