HOMILY FOR SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (A)

Fr Billy Swan

Dear friends. I love the readings we hear these days from the Acts of the Apostles. They tell the story of how inspired the early Christians were after the resurrection of Jesus; how bold and brave they were in proclaiming that he was alive and that the truth of everything he stood for had risen with him. We see it in the first reading today with Philip in Samaria whose preaching by the power of the Holy Spirit, lead to many sick people being healed and others exorcised of evil spirits. Yet, there are examples of other times when the preaching of the early Christians provoked anger, opposition and persecution.

I often ask myself what enabled these courageous people to do what they did – to leave that Upper Room where they once gathered in fear but now were fearless in their desire to share their faith. The obvious answer is the gift of the Holy Spirit but there is another explanation for their bravery – they believed in what they said was true. No one suffers and dies for a lie. Only the truth is worth living for and dying for.

We mortals struggle with our relationship with the truth. When we examine our conscience, we must admit that we don’t always tell the truth perfectly or live by the truth. So how important is the truth for us? How committed are we to knowing the truth, telling it and living it?

In these past few weeks, the Gospel passages are taken from Jesus’ farewell at the Last Supper. And in that farewell talk, Jesus promised his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit which is the Spirit of truth. This is the gift of Jesus’ own Spirit for in the Gospel last week, he declared himself to be the ‘Way, the Life and the TRUTH’. In that farewell talk, he prays that we, his disciples, be ‘consecrated in the truth’ and in the Gospel this Sunday we promises that we will receive the Spirit of truth to be our strength.

Later, during his passion as he stood before Pilate, Jesus said that he had ‘come to bear witness to the truth, for this he was born and that all who are on the side of truth will listen to my voice’. If the truth was so important for the Lord then it must be important for us too. God’s will is that we be consecrated in the truth, to seek the truth, to tell the truth, to love the truth and live the truth all the time.

So why then is the truth so important? Because it sets us free. It is our strength. If we tell the truth and live by what is true then nothing can hurt us and we need not be afraid. On the other hand, if we live a lie then we are always afraid – afraid of being found out, exposed and shamed. Truth will cost us little, but a lie could cost us everything.

For us Christians, the source of the truth is Jesus Christ and his Gospel. In the Gospels, he continually calls people back to the truth when they were blind to see it themselves. He lifted up those who thought they were beneath everyone else and pulled down those who thought they were above everyone else. From time to time we all need a reality check. It’s there waiting for us in the Gospels.

An ancient philosopher once defined the truth as ‘that which is’. Loving truth therefore is about facing bravely all that is real. It is accepting what science reveals to be true. It is about facing up to who I am and how the world is. It is the courage to conform ourselves to what is true rather than conforming truth to suit us.

Think of the early martyrs of the Church. Many of them were given final chances to deny their faith before they were fed to the lions or killed by the sword. They refused. Do we think for a second that they would have done this if their faith was based on an opinion or an idea? No, their faith was founded on the truth of Christ being alive and that all he stood for being true.

Friends, we might not have to die for the truth like they did but let us live for it. From the least matter to the greatest, may we once again commit ourselves to the truth for it will set us free and dispel our fears. This is the freedom of the children of God that he wants us to enjoy – to be courageous and strong Easter Christians, consecrated in the truth.