If you Love Me, You Will Keep My Commandments

05-14-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

Today we celebrate the Sixth Sunday of Easter, and in two weeks we shall be celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles on Pentecost. This is precisely why the Readings at the liturgy this weekend revolve around the effects of the coming of the Holy Spirit on members of the early, and post- Resurrection, Church.

The First Reading narrates the story of the “Samaritan Pentecost,” as the Holy Spirit descended on the much maligned descendants of Northern Israel. After Philip had preached the Good News to the Samaritans with appreciable success, the Apostles in Jerusalem sent Peter and John who prayed and laid hands on them. They received the Holy Spirit through this sacramental ritual. The outpouring of the Spirit of God on the Samaritans was a fulfillment of the prophecies that God would restore the relationship between He had with the people of Northern Israel. Recall that after the reign of Solomon, Israel split into two with roughly ten tribes in the North and two tribes in the south. Around 720 BC, the Northern kingdom was destroyed and its inhabitants deported. Those who remained intermarried with Gentiles and became known as the Samaritans. They were despised by the Jews in the first century. However, God had promised to “sprinkle clean water” upon the whole of Israel (Ezikiel 36:10) and to put His Spirit within them (Ezekiel 36: 25-27). The coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Samaritans was the direct fulfillment of this Divine promise.

The First Reading also tells the story of the beginnings of the liturgical form of the Sacrament of Confirmation, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in its fullness on the faithful to strengthen and animate them, thereby completing the Sacrament of Baptism. It is instructive that, though the Samaritans had received Baptism from Philip, they did not receive the Holy Spirit in its fullness until Peter and John (the Apostles) laid hands on them and prayed for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to Confirm them.

In the Second Reading, St. Peter encouraged the early Christians who had received the Holy Spirit through Baptism and Confirmation to stand firm, ready to gently explain to others the basis of their hope and faith and to be prepared to be maligned, defamed, and even suffer persecution for their belief.

In the Gospel passage, Jesus makes the keeping of His Commandments the mandatory proof for loving Him and the necessary condition for receiving the Holy Spirit. Through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father has made available the gift of His Holy Spirit to all people: Jews, Gentiles, Samaritans, everyone. But this is dependent on one condition: that we believe in His Son and keep His Commandments. Thus, as we await the coming of the Holy Spirit In two weeks, we are invited to examine our attitude toward the twin Commandments of love of God and love of neighbor. It is only when we love one another, as Christ has loved us, that we can truly hope for a fruitful participation in the outpouring of God’s animating Spirit at Pentecost. May we be aided by Grace to keep God’s Commandments of love so that we can experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh

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