Fr. Bob's homily for 6th Sunday of Easter - Only God's Love is Certain

Certainty...people crave or at least desire to know about life, to have definitive answers. We think and we feel this will make us safe. We want to know where we stand. We want to know what is going to happen.

Clearly at this time people crave it. One question often posed “Tell us when the churches will be open!” People want a definite date. Then the anger comes, from a few, when the response, the only response, is “When we can, when it is safe for all people.”

The reality is, in this mysterious world of which we are mere creatures, very little is certain. We have very very little control over anything.  Sure there are little things that will be certain; like the rain will fall down, not up; the sun will rise in the east and set in the west. These are facts though, based on natural laws.  Imagine though the wonder of waking up one day, and the sun rose from the west, from behind the sierra? Or water on our ground, formed droplets and went up?

Imagine if we knew all what was about to happen?


Salvation means the freedom to participate in the work of God; the freedom to join in and help make the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth; the freedom to live fully as the children of God. What was Jesus’ message? The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!  

Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and life. He fulfills our salvation. He reveals the fullness of God and thus the fullness of who we are to be.  When we say we accept Christ, it is to accept that truth. But, it also means we live with a degree of uncertainty. It means belief.

The word “belief” is not an intellectual compliance; the original intent is trust. Trust in the uncertainty. Trust in the darkness, so that we can go forward. Trust always in God’s love for us, for everyone one of us.

How and when does Trust grow?...when we are uncertain. When confronted by a situation we have no control over, when we do not know the outcome..when it is dark. We can curl up in our fears, our anger, our sadness, but what kind of life is that?

Or we take a step forward into it. We Trust God is with us.

You know, Jesus did not leave a playbook, a detailed plan of action of how we are to live our lives day in and day out. He left a lot of uncertainty. The disciples encountered this and struggled with this as they lived the faith.

Jesus did not leave a playbook, a detailed plan of action of how we are to live our lives day in and day out. The disciples encountered this and struggled with this as they lived the faith.

Jesus did give core principles to which we can live; by which we can act when we are faced with uncertainty: the abiding core principle is Love.

When we trust in the goodness of Jesus Christ, the Father and the Spirit; When we trust that truly God only wishes to raise us up and never ever punish us; as we trust that God gives to us the power through the Spirit to be fully engaged in living, then we will Love in return. Not as a command per se, but as a normal, virtuous action.

When confronted by situations that seem beyond our control (which 99.99% are) we can trust that by doing the good; we help build the kingdom.

When we face doubts about ourselves and others; we look for the goodness in ourselves and others, and seek to bring that out. That is Love.

When confronted by hurt, disappointment, even betrayal...we choose to love by forgiving, by being humble, by being patient.

When we want that certainty, we can choose to wait and discern.

A Core Truth, God has never ever abandoned humanity. Even after humanity rejected and murdered Jesus, God raised him up and returned him to us. So much so that God sees the goodness in us. God is love.

So God will never get back at us for anything else. God only wants to raise us up...certainty in that.

It is normal for us to be scared in these times of uncertainty. It is normal to want to get back to the way things were, and to the way “I” want or the way that “I” think “I” must have it.  As Christ’s disciples though, we act differently; we must act differently. We must act with love, because Love is within. Love is the hope.

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