The Heart and Soul of Christian Life

Homily for Thursday of the Fifth Week in Eastertide

The first reading records a pivotal moment in the life of the early Church: the very first recorded meeting or council. Known as the Council of Jerusalem, it was decided at this event that Gentile converts did not have to keep the ritual prescriptions of the Mosaic law. In fact, the ritual prescriptions of the Law had come to supersede the Law itself. Unfortunately, something like this has happened among some of the members of the Church as we know it.

The Gospel text for today emphasizes that we are to remain in God’s love by loving one another as Jesus has loved us. Apart from love, ritual acts are meaningless. There is a constant danger that rituals will take the place of love. Therefore, we pray for the grace to keep love as our guiding virtue, and repent for our failures to do so.

This does not mean that we should completely give up our participation in ritual actions. When we keep the proper perspective, rituals can be expressions of our love for God. The most important of these rituals is the Eucharist itself. In the Eucharist, we are nourished by the boundless and inexhaustible love of Jesus – a love that is the heart and soul of Christian life.