Easter Sixth Sunday B. May 21, 2006. Our Lady of Grace 5:15PM.. Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48. I John 4: 7-10, John 15: 9-17.
Have you ever turned on a light switch after a big midnight lightening storm and found that nothing happened? Even though all the electrical wiring in the house was perfectly in place and all the light bulbs were good and all the switches were on, there will be no light in the house if there is no electricity coming into the house from the outside. When a transformer blows or the big electric company generators burn out, our house will be in darkness no matter how good our own equipment is.
While we all like to be powerful and self sufficient, wisdom tells us that our power comes to us from the outside. We were born, not because we willed it or controlled it, but because God and our parents empowered our birth and called us to life. As we grew through our childhood we were empowered and called deeper into life by our parents, our teachers and our friends. Throughout our lives forces around us empower us to use our gifts and our talents and all the wonderful equipment that we call our own. All by ourselves, without connections to the outside world, we would be isolated, alone and powerless, like a well equipped house when the electric power is cut off.
Just as the sun is the source of all light, heat and energy in our solar system, God is the source of all power, truth and goodness in the universe. Cut off from God we would soon freeze and wither away. If we want to be truly empowered and alive, if we want to be more than a meaningless speck floating through the vast expanse of outer space, everything we have and everything we are must begin with God and end in God. For God alone is the source of the power that made all things come into being. We may try to generate power of our own using our own personal power plant, but apart from the vast resources that God puts at our disposal we are not able to meet the massive drain on our power for very long by ourselves.
The First Letter of John says, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God… Whoever is without love, does not know God; for God is love… this is love, not that we have loved God, but that God has loved us and sent his Son as the expiation for our sins.” The mistake that we often make is to begin with ourselves, with our love, our effort and our goodness. It is easy to forget that the love that gave us life and the power that allows us to face the challenges of life comes from God, not from us. Left to ourselves we can accomplish very little. John says, “This is the love that I mean – not our love for God, but the love that God poured out on us through the life giving death of Jesus on the Cross.” Focusing on ourselves we will eventually be discouraged because the challenges of life are just too big, especially in the world of today. If we plug into the love and power of God we will find that we are able to do things we never imagined possible, not because of our love, because of God’s love for us.
The fisherman Peter was sent by Jesus to convert the world. He knew his Jewish heritage and the obligations and customs of Jewish culture. He was completely unequipped to meet the pagan gentile world that came crashing down upon him. He learned in a hurry what the fish he caught felt like when they were pulled out of the water. Peter was pulled out of the comfortable waters of Jewish life and plunged into a pagan world. When pagans came to him and wanted to hear about Jesus, Peter was at a complete loss as to what he was to do. Jews did not socialize with gentiles. They lived in two separate worlds. Peter had to make one of the most important decisions ever made by a leader of the Church. Peter had to decide whether Christianity would continue to be a small group of believers within the Jewish community, or would Christianity move into the bigger gentile/pagan world, accepting non-Jews into the Church without making them become circumcised Jews first. It was a big and scary decision that completely changed the face of the Church. Peter listened to the Holy Spirit. He watched as a power greater than his own was poured out upon gentile listeners. Peter trusted in the wisdom and power of God, even when he didn’t understand, and he baptized Cornelius and his households without having them become Jews first.
If we have to solve our problems and the world’s problems by our wisdom and power alone, we will end up confused, isolated and alone. Unless we are connected to the source of power that created our universe we will never be big enough or strong enough to meet the challenges of life. God alone can change our strength with gentleness, our suffering with compassion, and our knowledge with eternal wisdom. Outside of God’s love our personal generators are just too small and too earth bound to meet our deepest needs. The deep answers we seek begin with God’s love, not our own.
As we celebrate our 60th Anniversary we are grateful for the many good things that have happened here in building God’s kingdom since Our Lady of Grace was founded in 1946. Good and generous leaders and parishioners looked to God for guidance at the beginning and marvelous things took place. The challenges of today are the same and yet very different. We know that we will continue to grow in grace and love because God loves us first and foremost. The story of Our Lady of Grace Parish is about people who have learned how much they need God’s grace. It is about a parish that has opened itself to the love that only God can give. For this parish community we give God thanks and praise.