To watch Fr. Joe’s Homily from the 7th Sunday of Easter: CLICK HERE!
As I prepared my homily this week, I was very much aware of the tension between Israelis and Palestinians that is under way in Israel, the Birthplace of the Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Israelites and Palestinians seemingly on the brink of war.
And today as we gather to pray, a people of faith, we, like Jesus, pray that ALL may be one, that PEACE will prevail in our World.
And then we hear in today’s second reading, “we must love one another” – “No one has ever seen God, yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is brought to perfection”.
How many times in our lives have we sung, “Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me.” Yet 30 nations of our 195 nations worldwide are involved in a Civil War…
Yes we need to pray for peace among nations and within countries. Yes, we need to encourage our leaders to work for peace, but we cannot leave ourselves out of the process.
So this week, maybe we can look within ourselves, and see where we are making efforts to love one another, and we may need to begin to make efforts in our love for another, for others, by our attitudes, our words, our actions, big and small.
By imitating Christ’s compassion, forgiveness, acceptance, love and so much more… we can continue to transform the lives of people in our everyday world by those many acts of kindness that proclaim the Gospel of the Risen Jesus to others each and everyday!