5th Sunday of Easter Homily

Paul’s story is picked up in today’s first reading. He escapes to Jerusalem where he tries to join the disciples, but he is in for a rude awakening. The disciples are all afraid of Paul; they simply cannot believe that he has really changed. Given Paul’s punishing track record, the disciples’ suspicion seems all too reasonable. By his own admission, Paul had signed the death warrants of Jerusalem Christians; now he seems to expect ready admission into their inner circle. Barnabas, whose name means ‘’son of encouragement’’, takes charge of the new arrival. He introduces Paul to the apostles, telling them the story of his conversion and recent preaching.
  We are not told if the apostles are impressed, only that Paul begins preaching in the city. He does the same favor for Jerusalem that he did for Damascus; he causes a riot and turns his hearers into willing assassins. Another deadly response, another security operation, another emergency exit. And when he is gone, Luke tells us, the churches in the region are now left in peace. With the dynamite shipped back north, the churches can breathe easily again.
  But not for long. Paul refuses to go into hiding or retire from his new career; he cannot because he believes that he has been appointed by God to be an apostle and missionary. For all his belief in the divine authority of his appointment, however, the burden of his past never seems to leave him completely. Paul’s apostleship is never effortless; he admits that he appears before people in fear and trembling. He is always anxious to prove that he is as good as the other apostles, that he preaches the same message, that he has been chosen by the same Christ, that he suffers more than they do for the sake of the Gospel.
That need to overcome any suspicions about his authenticity makes Paul an energetic preacher, a tireless traveler, a fierce debater. He is no ‘’yes-man’’ submitting to authority before he has thought through the propositions. He is a great example of authentic humanity: he is sensitive, impulsive, obstinate, moody, thoughtful, demanding, driven, and caring. His idealism is tempered by his sense of realism, and his own struggle always serves to educate his spirituality.
  Above everything, Paul’s great lesson to us is his abiding love. He was a man who longed for friendship and the affection of people. As he wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians: ‘’I may have hurt you, but if so l have hurt the only people who could give me any pleasure…..it was not to make you feel hurt but to let you know how much love l have for you,” ( 2:2-4). It sounds like a lover’s quarrel. The poet Robert Frost could have been speaking about Paul when he wrote: And were an epitaph to be my story, I’d have a short one ready for my own. I would have written of me on my stone. I had a lover’s quarrel with the world.
  Jesus is telling us today, without him, all of our lives would go nowhere. He tells us: ‘’without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither.’’