Sixth Sunday of Easter – 25th May 2025
As we continue our journey through the sacred season of Easter, the gospel this Sunday describes another appearance by the Risen Lord to his friends. We are approaching the climax of Easter at Pentecost; the Feast of the Holy Spirit which we will celebrate in two weeks. But before that it clearly tells them that God will send the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name.
The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to encourage and teach the disciples and to remind them of everything that Jesus said and taught them. They are going to have to remember all this, because very soon, Jesus is going to entrust them with the mission of carrying on his work of proclaiming and promoting the Kingdom of God. They are not the only ones who have received this lifegiving gift; at our baptism and confirmation each one of us was blessed, anointed and filled with the same Holy Spirit.
And, just like those in the gospel, we too have been entrusted with the responsibility of carrying on the mission of Jesus in our time today.
But this is not the only gift that the Risen Jesus gives us; the second gift is the gift of peace. Jesus very quickly tells those in the gospel and us that this is not just ordinary peace; it is not the peace the world offers. Peace can be understood as lack of noise or the absence of war. History teaches that some consider peace to be the victory gained after the fighting stops. At the time of Jesus, there was a thing called the Pax Romana – ‘The Roman Peace’.