1ST Reading: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29
2nd Reading: Revelation 21:10-114, 22-23
Gospel: John 14: 23-29
We finally arrived. My wife and I arrived at our destination tired and in need of nourishment, peace and silence. Yes, we had arrived at Mount Angel Abby in Oregon.
As we finished our initial class on our Marriage Encounter weekend, we realized what a beautiful place this is. Mount Angel, a beautiful hill in the middle of the country where the Benedictine monks reside and the seminary that trains men to become our future priests. This all sits at the top of this hill.
This hill is where we resided during our stay that weekend. As we gazed out our room window, which seemed to frame the beauty outside, we saw a panoramic view of the valley below. The first flowers making the announcement that Spring was just around the corner was in bloom. We were presented with the greatness and the majesty of God. The beauty and creative hand of God was so evident as we opened our eyes and opened our ears. The expanse of the valley below with its creeks and ponds dotting the landscape soothed the soul. A resident Bald Eagle took flight on the wind and soared in search of local delicacies and we felt a connection with nature as we heard the wind rushing through the bud laden branches which made the music of nature, the sun as it highlighted, with sparkling illumination, all that was touched by the rain drops just an hour before.
The sun headed West for the night. We sat and watched a marvelous drama in the sky as evening turned to night. The sun slowly disappeared and the clouds reflected brilliant colors. Out came the stars in full force and we were made to ponder the great bodies and distances present in the heavens. The greatness and majesty of God had been proclaimed from the top of that mountain that night.
I have to say that we were also drawn in deep thought of how all of this, all of nature, in fact the whole earth, is fragile and needs to be respected and cared for by all of us. This is God’s gift to us not to own, but to nurture and respect.
Our gospel for this sixth Sunday of Easter invites all of us to wrestle with another mystery equally as mesmerizing to the eyes of faith as the beauty of God’s creation. At the Last Supper Jesus, as the Good Shepherd preparing the leaders of his flock, says to the Apostles, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him to make our dwelling with him.”
The same almighty God, who fashioned the heavens and the earth, the same Father who gave us the beautiful nature scene with the birds, the rivers, creeks, the stars in the heavens, the trees and all of that, also chooses to love each one of us personally and to make a dwelling place in our hearts.
This is the mystery of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we hear about from time to time, the gift of Pentecost, the result of Baptism and Confirmation. The greatness and majesty of God, so obvious in creation, is revealed by his promise to enter into a personal union with you and me.
The Easter mysteries we are celebrating for 50 days make this promise possible. We have been redeemed by the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. Our sins are forgiven. The spirit of Christ enters our hearts and cleanses them with the fire of his love. He prepares our hearts and expands them, making room for God to dwell with us. This is the truth of our faith and when we sin, we put roadblocks in the way and we struggle in seeing God’s beauty of creation around us, we struggle with our own sense of peace until sin is confessed with true contrition, and forgiveness by God who in love and mercy does so.
I can’t help but ponder on what happens to each of us when we come to understand and accept this truth of our faith, what grace is offered to us to help transform our lives. We receive so many gifts from our Father. The gift of love, the gift of his Son who freed us from sin and death, the gift of each other and the gift of his creation which we live in.
I have to ask myself, how can we love our God, each other, and not take care of this earth? How can we take care of this earth and not love God, love one another? I truly believe that these go together. If we love, if we truly accept the greatest gift God has offered us through his Son, we can see and hear the greatness and majesty of our God in one another, in creation itself through the power of the Eucharist.
We see how John saw the majesty of God. This passage from Revelation describes the grandeur, joy, and peace of the city that gleams like precious stones. This passage is full of hope and glory and the greatness and majesty of God. He went on to say “The city had no need for sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb.”
I mentioned that we receive a host of gifts and one is that of peace. It is no coincidence that Jesus says in John’s gospel, “Peace I leave you, my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”
With our eyes and ears open to realize God’s greatness and majesty around us in his creation, nature and humanity, does he make his home in us. We know that deep within our hearts that we are loved,
that God is here in our world, that he cares with the tender concern of a father and that we need not fear. God gives a peace that the world does not have.
What do you feel when you look up and see the clouds forming images in the sky? What do you feel when you see a beautiful and colorful sunrise or sunset? What do you feel when you see a rose bloom or a rabbit cross you path, especially in Langley? This is the greatness and majesty of God and there comes a real and felt sense of peace.
We are so blessed to have a parish congregation that really cares, cares how we treat the environment, how we take care of one another through our Knights of Columbus who pick up trash from our highway through the Adopt-A-Hwy program, and the Annual Catholic Appeal, a vital way to reach out to those in need. Keep up the good work.
As my wife and I looked out our window that last night of our Marriage Encounter, we witnessed a storm. Wind made noises as if this was a horror film. The clouds became dark, the rain relentless. The greatness and majesty of God shown its face again and we were at peace. What did we hear in the gospel, “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”
What a gift we have been given. Let us open our eyes and ears to see and hear his greatness and majesty in one another, in the poor, the homeless, the disadvantaged. Let us see His creation as our responsibility to take care of, to nurture, to respect. Let us truly feel peace in the greatness, the glory and the majesty of God.