Tick yes or no to let us know what you think.…………………..
We are well used to the instant checking of views and opinions which can be easily delivered through responding to a series of questions with the simple response of Yes/ No. On many issues we might have a strongly held opinion, but equally we can give an answer to matters that really are not crucial in any way for us. We can give our answer and then forget about the issue and just get on with life.
And then there is the answer where, in a sense, our response is truly sacred. When we might give yes as our answer, but the word can just as well be expressed by our “amen”. Our assent to God’s presence within us.
Our whole life’s journey can then be seen as a continual and increasing process of saying “yes”
Our second reading and gospel today merge together in pointing to the way in which we are to make our yes become clearer
The first letter of Peter calls the followers of Jesus to “always have their answer ready for people who ask for the people who ask for the reason for the hope that you all have”. The gospel in turn surely points to the reason for and the source of that hope. It brings before us the indwelling of God in our lives.
Continually we here the expressions:-
he is in you, he is in you
because I live and you will live
I am in my Father and you in me and I in you
The relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit brings to us also the nature of God’s relationship with us.
Unlike so many other religions, the Christian faith is the one where the one who is God continually goes in search of us, who wants to make his home in us., who requires simply our “yes” in order to live in us.
To say “yes”, of course, means to be open to God’s presence. Ultimately it means to put into practice, continually, our positive response to the words “Love one another as I have loved you.” To make God’s ways our ways. Just receive and love.
If we have the trust and courage to accept Jesus call as the way to continually move forward in life, then surely that response indeed brings us to be living continually as a people of hope. If God will live in us, then we can extend the ambient of our own living in love. It means to be able to love without conditions and limits being imposed continually as to how we will be loving. It means to be open in life to the indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit.
There we truly discover how to live out our “yes”, our Amen to the Father who loves us, who comes to us and Who tells us that He takes delight in making his home in us.
Fr.Peter
6th Sunday of Easter 2020.