Homily for the 7th Sunday of Easter

Charles Dickens wrote a novel called "Great Expectations." It tells the story of a boy named Pip who comes from a poor, lower-class family in a small English town. He has no hope of leaving his surroundings, getting a good education, or becoming successful. He seems destined to a life of poverty.

One day, while playing in the hills outside his town, Pip met an escaped prisoner who desperately needed help. Pip went out of his way to assist him. Months later, a lawyer from London arrived at Pip's home. He informed Pip's family that an anonymous donor had arranged to send him to London to be raised in an upper-class home and given the finest education.

From that moment on, Pip's life changed significantly. He was rescued from poverty and given a life of hope and opportunity.

Years later, when Pip was a successful businessman living in a fine London home, a dirty, lower-class workingman knocked at his door. Pip treated him unkindly and tried to get rid of him. The man was the prisoner that Pip had befriended years before.

This same man was the anonymous donor who rescued Pip from his life of poverty and ignorance and made possible the life of wealth and education he enjoyed. The man had used all of his resources to ensure that Pip was educated and living well, and he was very proud of his accomplishments.

This story is a parable of Jesus and us. Sin had doomed us to a life of slavery and despair. We had no hope. We had nothing to look forward to.

But then came Jesus. He rescued us from that doomed life and gave us a life of freedom and spiritual opportunity. We owe everything we have, are, and enjoy today to Jesus, who bought it for us at the price of His own life.

Now, we find ourselves in Pip's situation. Just as he realized how much he owed the man at his door, we know how much we owe Jesus. And just as Pip suddenly faced an important decision, so do we: How will we use our new life of freedom and opportunity? How will we show gratitude for all that Jesus has done for us?

And this brings us to today's Gospel reading. Like Pip, each of Jesus' Apostles had to decide what they would do with their new life of freedom and opportunity and how to show their gratitude to Jesus.

Each one, except Judas, decided to commit to Jesus and his life to complete the work Jesus began. And so, Jesus prayed to His Father for them, asking Him to protect them and saying, "As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world."

Our presence here in this Church, celebrating the Eucharist today, says that, like the Apostles, we have decided to cast our lot with Jesus. We, too, have decided to commit our lives to completing the task that Jesus began.

And so, that same prayer that Jesus prayed for the Apostles almost 2,000 years ago, He prays for us. Just as He sent the Apostles into the world, He sends us to complete His task on earth.

Let us close with the words from today's second reading: "Beloved, if God has loved us so, we must have the same love for one another… He has given us His Spirit. We have seen for ourselves the love God has for us."