Fifth Sunday of Easter
Twice in my life that I have made major moves - in 1983, I left home to join the seminary and then in 1999, I left India for Europe and then the United States. Like most of you, I am an adventurist. I love new places, tasting exotic foods and I welcome new experiences. Most of the time, though, my new experiences end up being bitter-sweet. Sweet because I enjoy every new experience; bitter because I want my family to experience what I experience. I clearly remember standing under the Eiffel Tower at the turn of the millennium. It was the most electrifying moment. When the Eiffel Tower broke out into the most spectacular fireworks, I called home from a pay phone. And I remember saying to mom and dad, “I wish you were here with me.” It was the same when I visited New York City. I stood night in the middle of Times Square and called home from a pay phone. And I promised them that one day, I would bring them here to see what I am seeing. I delivered on my promise. My parents have been to the United States not once but twice. And I took them from New York, to DC to Philadelphia to Florida. On the one hand, it was about seeing places they have only seen in books and magazines. On the other hand, it is about being together with them in the same place. Similarly, when mom and dad visited places in India and Europe that I have not visited, they would always say to me, “I wish you were here with us.”
I am sure that your experience is not very different than mine. Those of you preparing to send your kids to college for the first time, I am sure you fear the absence of your child. Those of you whose children live far away and those of you who have lost someone in death, how often have you longed to be with them! It is in this way that I understand the words of Jesus in today’s gospel reading when he says, “… so that where I am you also may be.” Jesus came to us from God and he was about to return to God. Having loved us to the end, as John would say, he wants us to be where he came from and where he was going. In the Catholic context, Jesus’ desire to be one with us and our desire to one with God is called communion. Today’s homily is about communion. I think that spirituality based on communion is a very Catholic way of understanding our relationship with God and others.
Three things about communion spirituality:
a) Communion. Let me begin taking about communion with Jesus’ words in today’s gospel reading. When Thomas said to Jesus that the disciples did not know the way to where Jesus was going, Jesus said in reply, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” And then when Phillip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father,” Jesus said to him, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” In these words, Jesus reveals the depth of his love, intimacy and union with God. In Catholic theology, God is communion – Father, Son and Spirit. But then, Jesus goes a step further. He invites his disciples into this very communion with God through him. Jesus so longs for this communion that he says that he is “going to prepare a place for us.” Jesus words show the depth of his love for us. It shows the kind of relationship, the intimacy and communion that Jesus desires with us. In fact, this communion explains the entire salvation history. From the time that our first parents sinned, God has desired to bring humanity back into the communion with God. Every act of God in human history and every word God spoke were aimed at this communion. And now, having accomplished human redemption through Jesus, God invites us into the same communion that Jesus has with God. This communion returns us to the original state that God intended for us at creation.
b) The practical implication of Jesus words is simple yet life changing. Jesus’ invitation into communion calls for a paradigm shift in the way we imagine life. If we examine life, we spend much of our time, energy and resources on professional, financial, and social (family and friends) well-being. In itself, all this is not bad. The question that arises is the question of the communion that Jesus is inviting us to. Where does Jesus’ invitation to communion figure in our scheme of things? There are two paradigms that may be at work in our lives. The first is to take our earthly existence very seriously and somehow accommodate communion with God into our busy schedules. So we may attend mass regularly or occasionally, make room for prayer daily or when we need help, read scripture when we need inspiration and do charitable work with sincerity to gain brownie points with God. In this paradigm, communion is merely another element among others. Sometimes there may be a disconnect between earthly pursuits and communion. The other paradigm is to make our earthly pursuits a means of entering into communion with God on earth as it will be in heaven. This is no easy task but then holiness and eternity are no easy tasks. The questions we ask are – how does my daily work integrally connect me to Christ? How am I using my resources both personal and financial to enhance communion? How do the choices I make in my social life (in my relationships and in my leisure) enhance communion? When we imagine life this way, every aspect of life is at the service of communion with God. It gives a deeper meaning of the mundane tasks of daily life.
c) Thus far, I have limited my reflection to communion with God. One of the things that separates Catholics from other shades of Christianity is our emphasis on communion with others. Just as Jesus was not merely concerned with his communion with God but takes his brothers and sisters along with him, so too our communion with God is incomplete if we stand alone before God. Like Jesus, communion must include the community. We see this played out in today’s first reading. There was a division on the early church because the Greeks felt alienated from. Immediately, the church sprung into action to bring about healing and communion. Paul’s ecclesiology (how we understand church) is a communion ecclesiology. If we share in the one bread and drink of the one cup, then we must be in communion. For this reason, Paul always asked charismatic individuals in the early church to use their gifts for the common good, rather than to pump their own ego. For this very reason, Paul always sought to heal the division between Jews and Gentiles in the church, between the rich and poor at Eucharistic gatherings and between the self-sufficient communities and communities in the wider church. It is not sufficient for us to seek communion with God. Our communion with God must showcase itself in the communion we seek with God’s people.
As we celebrate this mass let us remember that this mass is our communion with Jesus and through him with God. Paradoxically, when we enter into communion with Jesus we also enter into communion with each other. Amen.
Fr. Satish Joseph