Homily for Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C – 25 May 2025

PEOPLE ARE SEARCHING

After Pope Francis's death, global Google searches for “how to become a Catholic” surged by 373% in just six days. The trend has continued with the election of Pope Leo XIV. Added to this, recent reports from the United Kingdom are that a growing number of young people are embracing Catholicism, with young men particularly being drawn by the tradition and sense of certainty in the Catholic Faith.

It seems that people are searching. It is fair to say that most people suffer from restless heart syndrome. People are in search of a peace that the world cannot give. Significantly, Pope Leo, who is an Augustinian friar, has already referenced St Augustine a number of times since becoming pope. He has referred specifically to the quote from St Augustine in which he prays, “You have made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you”. Pope Leo’s first words, when he appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s as he was presented as the pope, were, “Peace be with you,” the first words of the risen Jesus to his disciples after rising from the dead, and the same words of peace that hear Jesus say in the Gospel for Mass this Sunday.

The context of the Gospel passage for this Sunday is the Last Supper and Jesus is teaching his disciples. We who are gathered together for Mass are in communion with those disciples listening to Jesus. In this Last Supper place, our church, Jesus reminds us of who we are as his disciples and what he wants for us. We are invited to consider our worth in God’s eyes, and the peace that Jesus gives.

OUR TRUE IDENTITY

Firstly, this Gospel challenges to consider our our sense of who we are, our true identity. Jesus tells us that we are loved by God, and that God wants to live in us. As true as this is, it is something we might often struggle to really believe. Let’s face it, most of us struggle with a sense of unworthiness or worthlessness, at least at some stage of our lives. We might feel that we’ve got it all wrong, that we just aren’t matching up to the expected standard, or that we are not terribly important to anyone.

The spiritual test which I try on myself and which I frequently recommend to others in spiritual direction, and as an encouragement in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, is to put oneself in prayer before Jesus, and acknowledge that you are utterly loved by him, that you are completely loveable. Mostly, in that scenario, we are likely to struggle to acknowledge that we are loved; we would naturally raise all the objections of our past failures and sins, and our weaknesses. Our issues of low self-esteem will try to block this flow of God’s love. And in that spiritual test, the point it is to experience the Lord brushing aside all our objections and insisting on his love for us; that we are loveable.

You see, every human being has a dignity and a value beyond description. Our worth comes not from what we can do for God or anyone else. Rather it comes from how God sees us and loves us, and what he wants to do for us. We see this when Jesus says, “My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

GOD LIVES IN EACH ONE OF US

I wonder how many of us really think about what it really means that God lives within us. On the one hand, we might easily take this for granted, but to do that would mean that we have underestimated who God is. On the other hand, we might find it difficult to accept that we are worthy of God living in us, but that would mean that we have underestimated God’s love for us. That God lives in each one of us, should inform the way we think about ourselves and others.

God created us and knows each one of us intimately. He thought about us with love when he created us. He knew each one of us individually even before we were born. He knew what we would look like, he knew what our strengths and our weaknesses would be. He knew what good choices we would make and what wrong choices we would make. And still he created us. In fact, he could think of nothing better to create, because if he had thought of something better, he would have done it. That God has created us to be who we are, and that he knows us intimately, in itself gives each one of us immense value.

And this God who created us and knows us intimately, wants to make his home in each one of us. St Augustine wrote that human beings have a capacity for God, that we are capable of God. Not only that, but God is the remedy for our restless hearts.

” LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLES, NEITHER LET THEM BE AFRAID.’’

Then, Jesus speaks of the peace that he gives to his disciples. This verse is the prayer we use just before communion during Mass when the priest prays: “Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles, Peace I leave you, my peace I give you.” Directly following this is the beautiful and comforting message of Jesus in which he says, “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

When we consider our world and the people in it, when we think of people we know and love, we are aware to some degree of the burdens they are carrying. We know that people are in pain and circumstances and issues trouble their lives. Sometimes we will be able see it on the faces of people around us. Likewise, each of us carries our own burdens and troubles. There are times when we can be gripped by fear and agitation, when we might feel overcome with anxiety and worry. These experiences can immobilise us and rob of us of all peace and joy.

Into this situation, into our troubled lives, Jesus speaks these words of peace. What is this peace that Jesus speaks of? Clearly isn’t just a state of untroubled calm. It’s not some kind of floaty detachment, a carefree lack of concern about others, and about the tensions and struggles of today’s world. What is this peace like?

We can say it is a quiet, but solid confidence that we are loved by God, that he lives within us, that he will bring about good for us out of whatever situation we are facing. It is a peace that is founded on trust that we belong to God. This peace allows us to carry on with a quiet confidence and an inner strength, with a faith in the Lord’s closeness, knowing his care and providence. Despite overwhelming difficulties and sorrow, we can draw on a strength given to us by God.

We might need to allow ourselves to experience this peace, and enter into it more deeply, by taking the time to reflect and be in the presence of God, to pray and receive the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. At every Eucharist, Jesus gives us his peace when he says: “Peace I leave you; my peace I give you.”

We can place all the troubles and difficulties of our lives in the hands of the Lord and receive his gift of peace.