2026 Cycle A - 6th Sunday Easter

Readings

6th Sunday Easter

Acts 8: 5--8, 14-17; Psalm 66: 1-7, 16-20; 1 Peter 3: 15-18; John 14: 15-21

Homily Theme

Love

This week I am going to concentrate on the words of Jesus in the Gospel because I think that they are the most important words I heard this week for this Sunday Homily. 

In the Alleluia verse you either said or sung the words, Whoever loves me will keep my word says the Lord, and my Father and I will love you and we will come to you. Let those words sink into our memory and remain there all next week. God keeps His word always so must we if we wish for Him to come to us in all our needs. It is a simple message and one worth remembering when we tell God our needs. In the Gospel Message itself, this important message is stressed again; If you love me you will keep my commandments.

What is the most important Commandment that God has given us?  It is that we love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as our self. Do we really love ourselves first? Do we look in the mirror and hate what we see?  Then don’t love your neighbor like that. See the one that God loves and then love yourself so you can love others.  God loves us even in our imperfections and ugly sins.  He doesn’t love us because we have lost a few pounds in weight.  He loves us as we are, not as we wish we were. We must learn to love others also as they are, not as we wish they were. Remember Jesus words are a command not a suggestion.  Love one another as I have loved you.  Before we can really learn to love others we must first learn to love others as they are also.  Remember it is God’s Command.

You may be thinking that this is too unrealistic.   You know that you don’t always like yourself and there are many others that you definitely can’t like, sometimes even a family member, But the command is, not that you like them, but that you love them. It is not a suggestion from Jesus but a command. How will this be possible then if you neither like yourself or others? What is the difference then between like and love?  Love is a decision not a feeling.  You can’t help what you feel when you look in the mirror or at somebody whose presence annoys you, but you can make a decision to love what you see.  To love them means to care for their welfare and their wellbeing and spiritual growth, including your own: Just as God does for you and me.

“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me.  And whoever loves me will be loved by the Father. and I will love you and reveal myself to you.

Have a good week loving !