Dear friends in Christ, the gospel passage we read today draws our attention to a very important teaching of Jesus. That is, keeping His word because of we love Him. Before Jesus returned to God the Father, He said to His disciples, “If anyone loves me he will keep my Word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.” In this passage Jesus reminds all who come to Him that if they truly love to be with Him and benefit from God’s grace, they must necessarily keep His Word; they have to abide by His teaching and become witnesses to the message of salvation. In doing so, they will have the Holy Spirit as their advocate. He (the Holy Spirit) will lead them to the complete truth that brings true and lasting peace to the world.
In the second reading we met Saints Paul and Barnabas bearing witness to the teaching of Jesus. They were ready to keep his word and bear credible witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus. They stood their ground against all odds to make Christ readily available to the gentiles to whom they ministered. And when there was the need, they referred the important matters to the apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem. This led to the floodgates of evangelization thrown open to the gentile world without hindrance.
Today the baton falls on us. It is our turn to keep Jesus’ word. More than ever before, there is a greater need to keep Jesus’ word and put it into practice. This is a better way of bearing witness to His love and to God’s mercy in our world.
If we love Jesus, we shall not be afraid to keep His word and make it known to the whole. It is by keeping His word and making it known that we would be able
Today, it is our turn to stand up to the incorrect teaching of our time and make Christ’s Word of life come alive in a world that sits in the darkness of its numerous sins.
If we take up our responsibility as Christians to bear witness to Christ’s Word of life, the world may soon know peace. And in knowing peace, we shall together build up to the Holy City of which St. John spoke in the 2nd reading. Because, when we can all live together in peace, God will be our life and our light and there will be no need to grope in the darkness of our sins again.
However, as we gather to worship, do we allow the Spirit of God to dwell among us, to inspire us to bear authentic witness to Jesus’ Word of life? Do we make ourselves ready to keep the Word of life that comes from God the Father through His Son Jesus? If we do, the world will know lasting peace.
For the greatest security Jesus offers His disciples is Peace. If we have peace that comes from God, nothing can make us renounce their faith.