Living with the End in Mind, 7th Saturday of Easter, May 19, 2018

Fr. Roger J. Landry
Visitation Convent of the Sisters of Life, New York, NY
Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter
May 19, 2018
Acts 28:16-20.30-31, Ps 11, Jn 21:20-25

To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below: 

The following points were attempted in the homily: 

• Today on this last day of the Easter Season, we learn how to live with our end in mind. St. Peter today, right after the Lord prophesied that he would give his life for him and keep his word that, given a second chance, he would die for him rather than deny him, Peter descends from fulfilling Christ’s demand to “Follow me” to curiosity, asking what would happen to St. John. He had lost focus as to what he was to be about. Jesus told him that it was not his concern. Peter’s business, rather, was to follow Jesus. That is what he would do after the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, as we’ll celebrate tomorrow. We, too, can often be distracted by curiosity questions such that we don’t focus on what our task is. Jesus wants each of us to follow him down the path of agapic love by feed and tending his sheep and lambs. The Holy Spirit wants to help us to keep that loving focus.
• Today we have three examples of how that is done.
  • The first is Peter’s, on which we focused some yesterday yesterday. He would eventually follow the Lord Jesus all the way and join him in crucifixion, stretching out his arms and letting another drag him to the stake in the Circus of Caligula and Nero. But he prepared to be faithful to that supreme witness by the martyrdom of each day, sacrificing himself in order to tend and feed Christ’s sheep and feed his lambs. Each of those self-denials to affirm God and others in love was a preparing for the ultimate test. It’s the same way for us. We prepare for the great witness by the witness of each day, of choosing Christ each day. The Holy Spirit helps us to live this daily martyrdom, whether white or red, dry or wet.
  • The second end is St. John’s, which we see in today’s Gospel. St. John writes today, “There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” Even though not all the libraries on the planet would be enough to exhaust the mystery of Jesus, St. John didn’t spend the rest of his life writing about details. He essentialized, just like he did in the Gospel. He states today, “It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them.” John spent his whole life testifying to Jesus, verbally, with his writing of the Gospel and letters, and his own life in Jesus. He lived to be very old — hence the rumor in the early Church he debunks today that he would live forever! — and St. Jerome says that the story was passed that until he died, the message he proclaimed got increasingly simpler, just repeating, over and over again, “Little children, let us love one another,” saying he never tired of repeating that message because the Lord never did. That’s what he tried to do, to love each other, in imitation of the Lord’s love. That’s what the Holy Spirit wants us to do, too.
  • The third end is St. Paul’s. Today we see the end of the Acts of the Apostles. It doesn’t describe St. Paul’s martyrdom by decapitation in the forest to the south of Rome. It ends with St. Luke’s description of what he was doing under house arrest in Rome awaiting trial: “He received all who came to him, and with complete assurance and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” He wasn’t complaining about his imprisonment but using it for the Gospel. It shows how hospitable he was, receiving “all who came to him.” It also shows us faith and boldness, proclaiming Christ the King and his Kingdom with “complete assurance and without hindrance.” One would have thought that it was impossible to proclaim a triumphant kingdom of one who was crucified and a kingdom that involves imprisonment, but he did so with great faith. He was helped in giving this witness by the Holy Spirit who was advancing the Gospel in this way — not just then but with the future of the Church in mind — perhaps even more than he would have been had Paul been free. The Holy Spirit wants us likewise to receive everyone as dearly beloved of God and announce Christ to them without fear and full of faith.
• So as we prepare to go from the pulpit to the altar, from the Word to the Word made flesh, having pondered the ways St. Peter, St. John, and St. Paul, how will we live ours?

The readings for today’s Mass were: