Every year the Church in Canada sets aside one week as a special time for prayer and reflection on life and the family. During this year of Mercy, it is particularly appropriate that we turn our attention to the privileged role of the family as the first and most important school of mercy – the place where parents sustained by God’s grace, are meant to become icons of Divine Mercy.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites us to “abide in his love.” To “abide” is one of those wonderfully evocative Biblical words: it means “to remain”, “to dwell”, “to draw life”, “to be at home with.” Keeping the commandments Jesus gives us is not just observing some set of external rules, fearful that we will be punished if we disobey.
In today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we learn that through the efforts of Paul and Barnabas, God “opens the door of faith” to the Gentiles. In our very secular world, with so many people expressing indifference or even outright hostility to faith, how might we go about doing that?
“God’s flock is in your midst: give it a shepherd’s care.” These words of advice from St. Peter to his fellow “elders” are but the echo of the commission given to him by Christ after the Resurrection, in that wonderful conversation “by the beach” reported by John in last Sunday’s Gospel. Three times Jesus asks, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Three times, Simon Peter responds, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” And three times, Jesus commissions Peter to feed his lambs, to tend his flock, to give them a shepherd’s care.
St. John tells us that on the evening after Jesus rose from the dead, he came and stood among the disciples. He said to them, “Peace be with you!” Showing them his hands and his side, he also showed them his wounds. They knew it was truly him, the Lord, and they were filled with joy. Eight days later, Jesus came once again into the Upper Room and showed his wounds to Thomas, so that he could touch them also, and so believe and become himself a witness to the Resurrection.
St. Monica's Parish