6th Sunday of Easter (C)

 Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Rev. 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn. 14:23-29

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” What a beautiful and intimate promise this is! It is not simply an invitation to follow commandments or to obey rules, but an invitation to a relationship so deep that God wants to dwell within us. It’s a promise of divine presence, of a spiritual home where God is not a guest, but a resident. In a world where so many feel lonely, abandoned, or misunderstood, this assurance gives profound comfort: God wants to live in us, with us, and through us.

There is a touching story about a little girl in Sunday school who was deeply focused on drawing. Her teacher asked, “What are you drawing?” She said, “I’m drawing God.” The teacher, amused, said, “But no one knows what God looks like.” The child confidently replied, “They will in a minute.” Sometimes, children get it right better than adults. When we allow God to dwell in us, we become His image

5th Sunday of Easter (C)

 Acts 14:21b-27; Rev. 21:1-5a; Jn. 13:1, 31-33a, 34-35

During the supper, after Judas had left to carry out his betrayal, Jesus turned to his remaining disciples and spoke words both heavy with grief and radiant with divine purpose: "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him... I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." (John 13:31-35). These words are not a mere farewell or ethical maxim. They represent the heartbeat of Christian discipleship. In the context of betrayal, impending suffering, and parting, Jesus emphasizes love as the identifying mark of His followers.

The passage begins with Jesus' declaration of glory: "Now the Son of Man has been glorified." It is important to understand that in John's Gospel, glory is intimately connected with the cross. The cross, a symbol of shame, becomes for Jesus the very throne of glory. The Old Testament offers glimpses of this paradox. The suffering servant of Isaiah (Isaiah 53) bears our infirmities and

4th Sunday of Easter (C)

 Acts 13:14, 43-52; Rev. 7:9, 14b-17; Jn. 10:27-30

The passage from John 10:27-30 encapsulates the heart of Jesus’ message: a relationship of intimacy and security between the Good Shepherd and His sheep. Jesus’ voice calls us to follow Him, offering eternal life and the assurance that no one can take us out of His hand. This message resonates deeply across ages.

The imagery of the shepherd is deeply rooted in the Old Testament. God is depicted as the Shepherd of Israel in Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” David, the shepherd-king, foreshadows Christ as the ultimate Shepherd who knows His flock intimately and leads them to safety. Ezekiel 34 speaks of God’s promise to search for His sheep and care for them, an echo of Jesus’ mission.

Consider the calling of Samuel (1 Samuel 3). As a young boy, Samuel heard the voice of God calling him by name. Initially mistaking it for Eli’s voice, Samuel eventually responded with the words, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” This readiness to hear and obey mirrors the call Jesus extends to His sheep.