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Today is the sixth Sunday of
Easter and next Sunday we celebrate the Ascension.
This year, Ascension Thursday is next Sunday.
Then the following Sunday is, of course, Pentecost.
Today, as we prepare for the Ascension of Jesus into heaven and
the gift of His Spirit, we hear from the farewell discourse of Jesus.
In John’s Gospel, Chapters 14 through 16
are referred to as the farewell discourse, where Jesus gives His
disciples instructions before He leaves them, His last will and
testament, if you will. It is a very
important list of instructions that Jesus
gave them and, of course, gives to us as well. He
covers a number of things. Consistently He
tells them, “Now, don’t be afraid.” “I’m
leaving you but you’ll be alright.” Then
He tells them, “I won’t leave you orphans. I
will send you the Advocate, the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, who will
remind you of everything I said and who will guide you in all things.” Then He says, “I leave you my peace, not as
the world gives peace, do I give peace.” Finally,
He tells them, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”
As a matter of fact, He repeats Himself, as we heard in the
readings. “If you love me you will keep my
commandments.” A few sentences later,
“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me.” We should consider His commandments, which, of
course, include the Ten Commandments as well as the two Great
Commandments: to love God with all our
mind, heart, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
We can consider the Commandments in
a number of ways. I think we all agree
that we need to follow them. We need to
obey them. However, the question is, “Why?” There are a couple of answers to that question. First, fear of punishment.
If we don’t follow the Commandments, we will be punished. I don’t mean only at the end of our lives, but
I mean throughout our lives. It is clear
to see that if you look at the commandments, they are good for you. Conversely, if you disobey them, it’s bad for
you. Secondly, we can follow the
commandments because they give us a reward. Again,
they are good for us. They are indeed, to
some extent, a guide to better living. They
help make us happy and healthy. Finally,
we can follow the commandments because that is the way that we can
truly love God. That is what Jesus
tells us today. “If you love me, keep my
commandments.”
In the first case, we follow the
commandments because we are afraid of being punished.
That is true in many things we do. We
do many things that are good for us because if we don’t, we’ll be
punished, like paying taxes. Right? I’m sure there’s someone here who loves
writing out their check to the IRS. Actually,
my sister years ago used to tell me, “I like to send that check in. First of all, the bigger the check, the more
I’ve made. And it’s also because it’s my
gift to the country, my share as a citizen.” It
is amusing because she said that when she was making about $18,000 a
year. She since has done very well. She has not repeated that comment. It is the same with studying.
You have finals coming up, young people and you had better study
because if you don’t, you’ll be punished. I
guess again there are a few who love to study but not that many. Even exercise. If
we don’t exercise, we’ll be punished and yet most people won’t
exercise.
Secondly, the commandments, by
following them, are a guide to better living. I
can’t give you the exact source but it was about ten years ago that I
read a report on the results of a study done by the American Medical
Association. Among the findings of this
particular report was that many times doctors treat symptoms, not
causes. People present themselves to their
physicians with real pain and real problems but the underlying causes
of those conditions are psychological, emotional, and spiritual. Things like anger and pent up hostilities,
loneliness, negative feelings, destructive lifestyle, and addictions. All results, to some degree, of breaking
commandments that cause physical problems. Just
take anger and the lack of forgiveness. That
stuff will kill you. Don’t you think
there’s a correlation between anger and high blood pressure? I don’t know if a study has been done, but I
guarantee you, there is. The Chinese have
an expression, “When you seek revenge, dig two graves:
one for your enemy and one for yourself.” The
commandment to forgive is good for you. It
is. It lets you get rid of something that
is painful and something that makes you sick.
Finally, we can follow the commandments
because that is the way we can truly love God. That
is what He says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”
We obey not out of fear or even hope of reward but out of love. It is somewhat analogous to marriage. Can you imagine how amusing it would be if a
woman asked her husband, “Honey, why are you faithful to me? What’s your motive?” Fear
of punishment? After Mass last night one
fellow said before he got married, his wife told him, “You’re a two
rose bush husband.” And he said, “What do
you mean by that?” She said, “Because if
you are ever unfaithful to me, it will take two rosebushes to cover
your grave.” (Laughter) Or
perhaps, “Honey, why are you faithful to me?” “Is
it because when I’m faithful to you I’m happier and healthier? This is true. Of
course, the right answer is because I love you.”
Religion that is based on fear of
punishment or hope of reward seeks loopholes. How
far can I go before I sin? If you follow
the commandments because you love God, you don’t ask that question. On the other hand, how little can I give and
fulfill my obligation? Religion based on
love seeks opportunities. What more can I
do? Is there anything you need? How can I help someone? Love
always seeks to be of service. You know
these three ideas, though, I don’t think are really in conflict, this
idea of avoiding punishment or seeking rewards, or obeying God for
loves sake. Many a time people have come
to me, especially men, after they’ve had a child. It’s
really changed their lives. They’ve told
me that, “You know, I think I’m beginning to understand how God loves
me now, because I love my child with all my being.
I would do anything for that child. I
guess that’s somewhat, the way God loves me.” That
is that beautiful love, agape in Greek or hesed
in Hebrew, steadfast love, total love,
unconditional love.
In
turn, if your child was to ask you, “Mom, or Dad, how can I love
you?” You would tell that child to lead a good, holy, and healthy
life. Wouldn’t you? I hope every parent here would say the
thing they want most for their child is for their child to be
good. That is more important than being intelligent, successful,
or wealthy. To be good. If you are good, you will live
forever with Christ
and those you love. Jesus
tells us, “If you love me,” in effect, he is saying, “Be good.
Follow my commandments.” A big way of saying be good, lead good
and holy lives. “That’s the greatest gift,” Jesus
says, “that you can give to me.” That is how you can show your
love and that should be our motivation. The
interesting thing is if we love God by being good, then we get the
other aspects thrown in at no extra charge. We will be healthier.
We will be happier. We will avoid punishment in this life and in
the life to come.