Homily For Thursday Fifth Week of Eastertide Year B, 2nd May, 2024. The Memorial of St. Athanasius

 

Readings: Acts 15:7-21; Ps.95;  John 15:9-11

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

AS THE FATHER HAS LOVED ME SO I HAVE LOVED YOU SAYS THE LORD

 

The word “love” means a lot of things to different people. For some, love is one of the common words we use to express our deep feeling of affection for someone or something. But the fact remains that love is much more than that. Why? Because it is something greater than the nature of the human person. For me Love is God’s nature which he shares with His creatures. It is that nature of God which we share with one another. Love is beyond human nature. When we love, we are actually acting out that very nature of God in us and this can be overwhelming and mysterious because it is the nature of God that we share.

 

Therefore, love is God's greatest gift to humanity. A gift that shows how much He loves us by sending His Son whose life giving sacrifice means salvation for the world. So, the love that Jesus has for us is nothing less than the Divine love that unites the Persons of the Trinity, and Jesus presented this love as life that must continue among his disciples. That is why in our Gospel passage today he said to his disciples: ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

 

Dear friends, let us keep the Lord’s commandments, let us embrace Jesus and the love he is offering us. Let us serve the Lord and his Church faithfully by spreading his love everywhere we find ourselves. The truth is that, it actually feels right and awesome to experience and share the love of God. I don’t know if you have ever loved someone and you show it, or someone loves you and shows it? Or somebody loves you and you know it, it is something great and awesome, because love bring life, healing and wholeness into people’s lives.

 

 

Thus, it is by loving God in our neighbours that we can share and experience this nature of God in us and by so doing, we will conquer the world full of hatred, self-centeredness, greed and sin. This is what we see in the life of St. Athanasius whose memorial we celebrate today. For his life inspires us to bear witness to the faith we have found in Jesus, by identifying ourselves with Christ who is the bread of life full of love and goodness. St. Athanasius also thought us to live a life of holiness and to build a good relationship with other people.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we listened to your words today, may we resolve to keep your commandments and remain in your love. Help us through the intercession of St. Athanasius to spread your love to the world and by so doing conquer the hatred, self-centeredness, greed and sin rooted in our families, societies and the world at large. Amen  Do have a favorable day.