It’s More than Friending on FaceBook

Homily for May 21, 2017 (6th Sunday of Easter)
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; Psalm 66; 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21

Now I know where I really stand in the world!  Pope Francis has over 10 million Twitter followers, which would seem like a lot until you consider that Katy Perry and Justin Bieber have 98 million and 94 million, respectively.  I have 16—not 16 million, just 16.

How many followers would Jesus have if he had a Twitter account?  Would he be able to top Katy Perry or even President Trump?  With are an estimated 2.2 billion Christians in the world, 1.2 billion of whom are Roman Catholics, we hope so.

Yet as we learn in today’s excerpt from Jesus’ Last Supper Discourse in the Gospel of John, following him means a lot more than signing up for an account, clicking a button or even being baptized.  It’s more than “friending” him on Facebook or “liking” him on Snapchat or Instagram. Following Jesus means committing ourselves to a relationship rooted in love—first his love for us and then our own loving responses to that grace.

Jesus tells his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments….Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me.”  Most of us don’t think of obedience as an expression of love—maybe respect, custom or even fear, but not love.  Yet it was the love that Jesus had for his Father and for us that enabled him to stay true to his vocation all the way through his passion to death on the cross.

It’s that same love, nurtured by the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to give his disciples, that enabled them to be faithful to their own calling even at a time when they had to endure personal hardships and the persecution of the church.  In our second reading, Peter describes that love as sanctifying Christ as Lord in our hearts, with a readiness to share the reason for our hope gently, reverently and with clean consciences.

It’s that same love that enabled Philip, even while he was fleeing the persecution led by Saul following the stoning of Stephen, to remain utterly focused on the mission that Jesus gave his disciples at the Ascension:  “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  As the people of Samaria accepted the Good News, Peter and John were sent to pray with them and over them so that they might receive that same life-giving and love-filled Spirit.

Several years ago, ads for a popular soft drink commanded us:  “Obey your thirst.” The word of God tells us today:  “Obey your Christ”—not as a biological or sensory impulse but rather as an act of love.  Such are the followers he seeks.  +