May 17, 2020
 Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter 
Father Peter Gideon 
   
“I will not leave you orphans.” 
  
In spite of the advent of fast-food outlets and eating meals on the run, the human instinct to celebrate with a meal has not left us. We celebrate the big occasions by inviting others to dine with us. Sometimes we refer to ourselves as religiously hanging on to certain traditions and this is particularly apt when we are talking about celebratory meals. Virtually all the great religions of the world celebrate their festivals with food and drink. Therefore, it is highly significant that Jesus used the great Jewish festival of the Passover to institute the sacrificial meal of the Eucharist as the means whereby his faithful followers would keep his memory alive. And, of course, for men and women of faith it is not just a matter of nostalgically recalling what Jesus said and did, but believing, knowing, that he is fulfilling his promise not to leave us orphans. 
  
The event of the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday evening is well documented by the evangelists Matthew, Mark and Luke. They tell us about Jesus transforming the bread and wine into his body and blood, but it is John who goes to great lengths to recall the lengthy conversation Jesus had with his disciples during the meal. Indeed, John devotes five whole chapters to that conversation, which culminates in our being able to eavesdrop on Jesus praying to his Father, a prayer which centres on us all being “one”. Today’s Gospel passage is part of the earlier conversation where we hear Jesus encouraging the disciples to enter into this relationship which he has with the Father. The key to our understanding will be the gift of the Spirit, who enables us to see what is going on. When we reflect on what we are being invited to consider, it is truly astonishing. We are being invited to dine with God and thereby share the very life of God. Just as it was through the Spirit that Christ was conceived by Mary and came among us, so now the Spirit will continue to make him present so that he may live in us; through the Eucharist we become the body of Christ.  
  
Down through the centuries much Christian spirituality has concentrated on our personal relationship with God, but today greater emphasis is being given to a more expansive vision, which embraces not just our relationship with God or even with one another, but also with the whole of creation. The New Testament is clear that Christ’s salvation is not limited: it is for all men and women of all time and indeed for the whole of creation. We hear today of Philip reaching out to the people of a Samaritan town and his efforts are followed up by Peter and John who make sure that they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then they too will have the wisdom to understand what God is doing for them. Likewise, in his letter, Peter is at pains to ensure that the early Christian community gives no cause for scandal, but lives with a clear conscience. 
  
When we receive Holy Communion, we are not just nurturing our own personal relationship with Christ and his Father; through the gift of the Eucharist we are able to recognise that it is an open invitation and so we are united with all our brothers and sisters who gather around the altar and indeed with those who have gone before us in the hope of eternal life. This reminds us of why devotion to Our Lady and the saints is so significant. When you have an experience as profound as a young mother with a terminal illness begging for her daughter’s First Communion to take place before she dies, then you see Christ’s gift and promise in a wholly new light. You see more clearly what Christ is offering us; how we are indeed all one with him and the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. Seeing the daughter coming forward to receive Holy Communion after her mother’s death makes the promise of Jesus even more poignant: “I will not leave you orphans.” Spend some time today reflecting on the wonderful gift that is ours and how in the Eucharist we are also caught up in the promise of Jesus, made just before today’s Gospel passage and which we heard last Sunday: that he is going to prepare a place for us and that in his Father’s house there are many rooms.