6th Sunday of Easter 2026
THE DIVINE FIRE OF FIDELITY
Friends in Christ, there is a peculiar modern malady that suggests freedom is the ability to do whatever one pleases. But on the contrary, look at the world! We have never been more "free" to indulge, yet the more "free" we become, the more we are enslaved to our anxieties and worries.
Today, the Gospel of John and the First Letter of Peter shatter this delusion by showing us that true liberty is not found in the absence of authority, but in the presence of an indwelling Love through the observance of His commandments.
The Gospel: The Liberty of the Law
In the Gospel, Our Blessed Lord says: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." To the modern mind, "commandments" sound like iron bars. But to the lover, they are the garden walls that protect the rose.
Let us make it more practical: think of a pianist or organist. Is he free to strike any note at random? Certainly, he is technically "free" to do so, but the result is noise and uncoordinated sound. It is only when he submits to the "commandments" of the sheet music—the laws of harmony, rhythm, chord progression, and harmonic intervals—that he can produce beautiful music. In the same manner, we must learn to submit to the commandments of Christ if we want to produce good fruit as Christians.
A Helper
Christ added that if we keep His commandments, He will ask the Father to send us a Helper (Paraclete), which is the Holy Spirit. The Paraclete is not a lawyer sent to argue our case, but a Guest sent to inhabit our souls. We do not keep the commandments to earn His love; we keep them because we have found it. The Spirit will ignite in us that real Love which makes the burden light because it changes the "I must" into "I want." Little wonder our Lord Jesus Christ said that His food is to do the will of His Father.
The Second Reading: The Reason for Hope
Turning to St. Peter, we hear a command that is strikingly practical for our skeptical age: "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope." Notice, Peter does not say give a reason for your opinion, your politics, or your complaints. He says hope. Hope is the silent language of a soul that is at peace while the world is at war.
But here is the tragedy: if you live exactly like the world, chasing the same shadows as they do, no one will ever ask you for the reason for your hope, because you won't appear to have any! But when you suffer with gentleness, when you return a blessing for a curse, you become a living "question mark." You force the world to wonder: What does this person have that I do not? And by doing so, you become a love letter from God to the world.
Practice in the Marketplace
This week, as you go into the marketplace, the office, or the kitchen, practice what St. Peter calls "gentleness and reverence."
When you are corrected, do not snap back. When you are ignored, do not pout. In that moment of restraint, you are "keeping the commandment" of love. And in that silence, the Holy Spirit speaks louder than any sermon. You are showing the world that your joy does not depend on your circumstances, but on a Guest who promised never to leave you as an orphan.
May the Lord bless and keep you. Amen.
Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Igwe, HFFBY