THE RENEWAL OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

SUNDAY, FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER

Act 14:21-27; Ps 145:8-13; Rev 21:1-5; Jn 13:31-33,34-35

Glorifying God in our Mortal Body

The Christian vocation is to become Jesus Christ in our situation of life. God called us to undergo a spiritual rebirth and transformation into the Son of Man, which the sacrament of baptism initiates in us. In this sense, we understand the sacrament as initiation into the membership of Jesus Christ or the Church. To be incorporated into the body of the Son of Man, we must be familiar with the mysteries of the Son of Man, for each of us must go through these mysteries in our respective lives and become like him in all things. Hence, the ritual of baptism is only the introduction to the baptism which is the life of a Christian. The Son of Man longed to go through this baptism because it was the Father’s will for him. We must also long to go through the reality of our baptism, which produces real fruits of holiness and the life of the Son of Man in us. The gospel passage contains the words of Jesus Christ on the eve of his passion. He referred to his coming passion and death as glorification. “Now has the Son of Man been glorified, and in him God has been glorified. If God has been glorified in him, God will in turn glorify him in himself, and will glorify him very soon.” The Son of Man glorified God by remaining faithful to his will until death. He is also glorified by accomplishing the mission the Father sent him by offering his life for our salvation through the Holy Spirit.

By his steadfastness in suffering and death, the Holy Spirit and the Father present him to us as the Just One or the Son of God. At the same time, by his death, he demonstrated God’s love for us. What showed that God loves us is that he sent his Son to be the ransom for us sinners. God, in his faithful love, also glorified the Son of Man by raising him from death. The resurrection of the Son of Man demonstrates that his death is acceptable to the Father. It also shows that the Father has heard his prayer for our forgiveness. Hence, his resurrection proves his glorification. Likewise, his justification of many people through his death on the cross. The conversion of many souls to God and their reception of the Holy Spirit of adoption demonstrate the justification. The conversion of Jews and Gentiles to faith in Jesus Christ is part of the glory the Father gave his Son. In his name, many are pardoned and admitted to life of glory with him. So, the Church as the mystical body of Jesus Christ is also the glory the Father has given to the Son as the reward of his faithfulness.

The objective process of redemption that took place in the life of the Son of Man is now taking place subjectively in each of the believers. In each of us who professes faith in Jesus Christ and receives the Holy Spirit of adoption, Jesus continues his faithfulness to the Father’s will until death, and the Father continues to use these faithful witnesses of the disciples of the Son of Man to bring about the conversion of souls. The Son of Man is given the created heaven and earth as his inheritance after his faithfulness to his Father. To make these a presentable gift worthy of his faithful service, God the Father renews the created heaven and earth by pouring out his Holy Spirit. Thus, the evangelization, which continues through the faithful witnessing of Christians with the Holy Spirit to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in the world, brings about the renewal of heaven and earth.

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles gives us a screenshot of the renewal of heaven and earth. Paul and Barnabas were faithful to the work of proclamation of the Gospel to the Gentile nations. God glorified his Son Jesus Christ through the conversions they made through their proclamation of the Gospel in words and deeds. They participated in the mission of the Son of Man and his glory by their profession of faith and steadfast witnessing of the Gospel. Thus, we hear them encouraging the converts to walk the same way of steadfastness in doing the will of God in imitation of the Son of Man. “Paul and Barnabas went back through Lystra and Iconium to Antioch. They put fresh hearts into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith. ‘We all have to experience many hardships’ they said ‘before we enter the kingdom of God.’” The reference is to our journey into the mysteries of Jesus Christ. The hardships are occasions for our glorification as Christians and our glorification of God in our lives so that we may receive his ultimate glorification in the resurrection from death.

The graces we need to accomplish these feats are from God the Father, won by the sacrificial death of the Son of Man. Thus, the holy city that John saw in his vision is the people of God redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. “I John, saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband.” The new heaven and earth are made by God and according to the will of the Father. By listening and obeying the voice of the Son of Man who rose from death, whom the Father glorified by sending the Holy Spirit to live with us, the Spirit transforms us into members of Christ's body through the mysteries we experience. The Church of God is the new Jerusalem where God lives among his people. Through our faith in the risen Lord, God is fashioning a new people for himself, who will live forever to accomplish his purpose. Sin and death are overcome and the communion of God and men is accomplished by God in the Holy Spirit once every disobedience to the Father’s will is removed.

Let us pray: Almighty ever-living God, constantly accomplish the Paschal Mystery within us, that those you were pleased to make new in Holy Baptism may, under your protective care, bear much fruit and come to the joys of life eternal. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.