Location: St. James Catholic Church-Gonzales
Today, this whole community is confirmed in its mission to work for the greater unity of the Church. St. James, your patron saint, went to the ends of the world to announce the Good News, and so you too are called to go as far as you can to be faithful witnesses of the love of Jesus.
We, mankind, have broken the world with our biases and prejudices. This is evident not only in the political sphere but also in the Church and even in our own families. Wars, exclusion of migrants, abuse, marginalization, destruction of the lives of unborn children. All of this is part of what Pope Francis calls “the throwaway culture.” These are manifestations of our distinctions, contrary to the love of God. Globally, the east and the west, the north and the south are in conflict. Even our cities have neighborhoods very differentiated by socioeconomic level and ethnic origin.
All this obscures the perspective offered to us throughout the Easter season.
God makes no distinction between people. However, our behavior does determine our identification with the God revealed by Jesus, who shows a preference for the small and the discarded. Notice the difference: “There is no partiality with God.” (Rom 2:11). Yet, God does have preferential options. Jesus has told us that the ultimate destiny of our soul is determined by our ability to discover God’s face in the hungry, the sick, the immigrant, the imprisoned. God’s preferential option for the “little ones” of this world reveals the universal nature of God’s love revealed by Jesus.
In the Gospel, Jesus gives us a new commandment, to love one another as he has loved us. In this we know the love that the Father has for the Son and we get to participate in God’s own Love.
As the evangelist John says in the second reading: “God is love.” Pope Francis has said that figuratively, “In Jesus, God dies in our place.” Loving with the love of God is not only the path to the salvation of the world through our collaboration. God’s love, working through us, makes the fruit of the very joy of Christ flourish in us. Jesus has revealed the face of the Father to us so that our joy may be his own joy and our joy may be complete.
Experiencing the love of God allows us to overcome every temptation to discriminate or divide. The love of God alive in us leads us to promote better conditions for those whose dignity is overshadowed. The divine life in us is the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit produces unity among people, communities, and nations. The Holy Spirit does this through his gifts, acting in us as we work for reconciliation.
It is the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus present in the world through his Mystical Body, which is the Church, the Holy People of God. It is the Holy Spirit who brings harmony in diversity and who begets our communion.
The love of God has been entrusted to us so that we may make it known through our modest initiatives to do good and avoid evil. In this way, the love of the Father becomes present in our world, simultaneously filling us with a joy that cannot be described in words. It is the Word of God made flesh and dwelling among us. As you receive the sacrament of Confirmation, your bond with the Universal Church is strengthened, so you are called to work always for stronger unity.
May the Holy Spirit help you follow the example of St. James and may Our Lady of Guadalupe help you be instruments of the love of God.
