Thursday in the Fifth Week of Easter, May 2, 2024

John 15, 9-11

Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.”

The Lord Jesus reveals not only his life with the Father, but his life with those who believe in him.  Previously he has referred to the faithful as “branches” belonging to him”the vine”.  Now he shows that this relationship abounds in more than the necessary nutrients for spiritual life: it abounds in that which is necessary for true happiness: love.  And this love is the greatest, purest, most selfless love: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15, 13).  He has already said that “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10, 10 but what he meant by “abundantly” was hard to understand.  He makes clear now that this “abundance” is this greatest level of love possible: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10, 11).  The Lord Jesus came to make us know his love for us so that we might be truly happy.  And how touching that he shows his concern for our happiness when he is shortly to be arrested by a gang of the Sanhedrin’s guards, and bound, and led off to those who hated him with an impossible level of hatred.

This humble Shepherd, burning with love for us, tell us to “remain” in his love.  How do we do this, to live in his love as though it were a dwelling?  By keeping his commandments: “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love.”  And what are these commandments that he gives?  Does he order more sacrifices in the Temple?  More foods to refrain from?  Works that can be accomplished only difficulty?  No.  It is something which is very simple: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15, 12).  That is, purely, unselfishly, looking for the other’s good.  Have we earned the Shepherd’s love?  Have we acquired it with money?  Do we deserve it in any way?  Likewise, we should love others not because they have done something for us or because they exhibit lovable traits, but because of who we are and know ourselves to be: loved passionately by the Son of God.  And we should love them also, who are so loved by him.

“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.”  So near to crucifixion and still speaking of joy: his joy and ours.  His joy, exulting in the Father; and our joy, exuberant over the One who loves us.  He shares his joy in his Father through revealing that he loves us with the love he has with his Father, a complete and total love, complete and total joy.

The twenty-second article in our continuing series on the Holy Mass: The Sign of Peace

Originally, this act of charity was called “the Kiss of Peace”, or, simply, “the Peace”.  Writers as early as St. Justin (d. 165) and Tertullian (d. 240) describe a greeting which the fully initiated Christians exchanged after the homily that followed the Gospel and after the catechumens and non-believers were dismissed by the deacon.  It served to mark the beginning of the second part of the Mass during which the Sacrifice was offered, and it also was used to ascertain that no one remained at Mass who did not understand what was to happen.  A serious problem for the early Christians came in the form of false accusations and outright slander regarding their rituals, especially the Mass.  Both Justin and Tertullian wrote works defending the Christian practices and denying that such things as incest or human sacrifice occurred in them, charges arising from a false understanding of the doctrine that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and that the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ appears on the altar.  After the legalization of the Faith in the early fourth century, the practical reason for the Kiss of Peace disappeared and the practice in some localities it fell into disuse or but in others it was moved to another place within the Mass.  

The Kiss of Peace was settled by the early Middle Ages in the place where it is found now, as part of the preparation for the reception of Holy Communion.  At the time it was moved, the “kiss” itself was relegated only to the clergy during high Mass, becoming very formalized.  At the more usual low Mass, the peace was exchanged only verbally between the priest and the server: “The peace of the Lord be with you.”  “And with your spirit.”  Nowadays the Missal allows the priest as the altar say, “Let us offer each other the Sign of Peace”, and people are free to exchange it according to local custom.  In the West this usually means a handshake.  While the verbal giving of the Peace is required, the physical sign of it is optional.  The priest may not opt for it and continue on either Mass, and parishioners need not engage in it.  A problem with the placing of the Sign of Peace at this place in the Mass is that it distracts the congregation from the divine Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, on the altar: Body, Blood, soul, and divinity.  Those aware of this may choose not to look away from the altar for any reason.  Those who do choose to exchange the Sign of Peace are supposed to do this only with those immediately around them and should not leave their pew.  The priest is not supposed to leave the sanctuary (the area around the altar) except for some grave reason, such as to greet a grieving family at a funeral Mass.  The exchange should not last longer than a few moments so as not to delay the consummation of the Sacrifice by the priest and the reception of Holy Communion by the people.

Next: The Fracture of the Host