5th Sunday of Easter – 2025
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: March 18, 2025
I have faith and I believe in God, but I do not need the church. We hear that from people now and then. Do we need the church? What is the purpose of the church?
Of course, it is Jesus himself who began the church. When he gathered disciples to follow him and named some of them to be Apostles, he was establishing the church that we belong to today. He left this assembly of believers who would keep his memory alive through the ages and wouldcontinue the mission of God in our world. Without the church, we would not have the Bible today, we would not have our encounter with Jesus today. The Gospel brought to us in Jesus would have been lost long ago.
Jesus does not just call us to love God alone, he says, “love one another.” It is not just about a private relationship with God. Together with other disciples we form the church, a communion of believers forming the body of Christ.
There is a beautiful and important line in our second reading today from the book of Revelation. “See, the home of God is among humans.” God does not dwell in the clouds disconnected from our world and our lives. God is not found in a private, individual relationship with nothing to do with our lives. God is found among humans. Therefore the church must be present in the midst of human history and human lives. That is where we will find God.
Today God is active and visible among humans through the disciples of Jesus. The followers of Jesus, who form the church, are called to continue the mission of Jesus.
So, what is the mission of the church? Each reading at this Mass gives us insight into the mission of the church:
During this Easter season we hear from the Acts of the Apostles. A book of the Bible that is all about the early church and how it was developed and spread. Paul and Barnabas were two of the important figures in that early church. In the reading we just heard we see how the Gospel began to spread even to the Gentiles. It says that through the work of Paul and Barnabas, God “had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles.”
Opened a door of faith. This is one of the missions of the church. As disciples of Jesus we are to share the Good News. We are to live our faith in such a way that a door of faith is opened in others. Do we witness to the faith in such a way that we open a door of faith for others, or do we close a door of faith for others?
In John’s Gospel we hear Jesus present what is the real core or focus of the church. Jesus says, “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” Everyone will know that we are the disciples of Jesus if we have love for one another. Here we see an important foundation of the life of the church. People who experience the church should experience being loved.
At times, our very human church has failed in this regard. There are some people, certain groups of people, who have not experienced themselves being loved by the church. You could say that one of the most important jobs of our parish is to insure that each person who encounters our parish, experiences themselves being loved. Anyone who experiences our parish should go away knowing that they are loved.
Finally, in our second reading, in a passage from the book of Revelation, there is a beautiful line about the work of God among us human beings. It says, “God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” This is one of the missions of the church. Wherever people are grieving, or suffering, or sick, or lonely, we are to allow the hands of God to wipe away their tears.
It is why I am so glad that our parish has a grief support program. Each of us should look in our families, where we work or study, in our community, and ask ourselves, who needs the hands of God to wipe away their tears? How can I be an instrument of peace for those who are grieving or suffering in any way?
The church does matter. It keeps the memory and mission of Jesus alive in our world.
What is our mission?
- Live our faith and share the gospel in such a way that we “open the door of faith” for others.
- Be a community of faith in such a way that anyone who encounters us or our church will
experience themselves being loved. - Be the hands of God wiping away tears from those in our midst who are grieving, suffering,
lonely or hurting in any way.
This offers us a good examination of conscience for each disciple of Jesus and for any Catholic parish. Through us, is the door of faith opened or closed for others? Do people who encounter us experience themselves being loved? Are we instruments of God wiping away tears?
The home of God is among humans and it is through the church, the disciples of Jesus, that God is made visible among us. We belong to the church in order to continue the mission of God in our world.
