5th Sunday of Easter

Two very good men who loved Jesus and were filled with the Holy Spirit are at the heart of the Scriptures today.  The first, of course, is John, the beloved disciple. In today’s gospel reading from John, Jesus speaks to the disciples on the night before He dies and tells them they need to stay close to Him.  They need to stay connected to Him, as much as a branch is connected to the vine.  When they do that, they will bear fruit. 

Although we have not seen Jesus the way the disciples did, the need to stay connected to Jesus is as true for us as it was for them.  We need to pray to Jesus each day, to receive Him in the Eucharist whenever we can, to trust Him in both joyful and difficult times.  If we neglect our relationship with Jesus, we risk wandering into places and patterns in our life that are not good for us. 

In the second reading from John’s first letter, John is an old man and speaks with the simplicity of one who has known the love of Jesus all his life.  John tells us the one thing that is needed: to keep the command of the Lord.  And that command is twofold: to believe in the Lord and to love.  Belief is not merely assenting to truth with the mind, it is trusting a Person with the heart.  Believing in Jesus is another way of expressing the need to stay close to the Lord, to abide in His love, to surrender to all He will do for us.  And to love is to respond to Jesus by loving Him in and others, especially those in need.  Belief, trust, love, and service are all ways of staying united to Jesus and, in doing so, bearing much fruit. 

We are able to do this because the Holy Spirit has been poured into our hearts.  The Spirit, Jesus told us, is given to us to remind us of all that Jesus did and said, and to enable us to do even greater things than He did.  The Holy Spirit will lead us and show us what to do.  And that is where the example of the second good man in today’s Scripture readings comes in.

Luke tells us in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles that Saul is in Jerusalem, but the Christians are fearful of him.  It is understandable, given what Saul had been doing to believers.  How do they know they can trust him and his story of conversion?  Maybe this is a trap.  Who knows what might happen?

But God was at work, and the Holy Spirit moved Barnabas to step up and offer to talk to Saul and to introduce him to others.  Barnabas was able to put aside any fears or hesitations he might have had about Saul and do what he knew was the right thing: welcome Saul and help him to become a part of the community.  What Barnabas did was certainly the right thing, and we know from Acts that Barnabas and Paul traveled and worked together and brought the Gospel to many.  Had not Barnabas been open to Saul at the beginning, perhaps none of that would have happened.

What a wonderful gift it is to have someone who is open to everyone and is willing to take a risk and welcome someone new into the life of a community.  Jesus prayed that we would all be one, but factions and divisions often happen due to fear and the false need to be exclusive.  Thank God for those like Barnabas who work against all of that and step out to bring others in.  There is no judgment or suspicion; there is only welcome and acceptance. 

Today’s Scriptures remind us to stay close to Jesus, to trust Him, to love others, and to be welcoming and open, especially when it comes to the Christian community.  We ought to ask God to make our hearts like that of John and Barnabas: confident in the love of Jesus, and open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit when it comes to the various people the Lord puts before us.  In answering that prayer, not only will God make us holy, but the Lord may use us to help others to become holy as well. 

Had Barnabas not taken Saul under his wing, perhaps Paul would not have gone on to do the great work of preaching to the Gentiles.  The Church is indebted to Paul, and Paul to Barnabas.  When we are open to the Spirit’s prompting, God can do great things in and through us as well.  And all this is possible as long as we stay connected to Jesus.