Love One Another as I Have Loved You
May you continue to experience the newness that comes from GOD’s unconditional love for you. One advertizing gimmick is to say that a product is “new and improved.” With it, according to the ads, comes a better life. All we need do to get this new product is spend more money.
We tend to seek that which is new. The readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter talk about newness. These new things are truly improved. They not only promise a better life, but actually cause a fuller life to happen. Yet, the process of bringing these new things about demands not our spending money, but our giving of ourselves, that in some ways costs us more, but will result in even newer and more improved life.
There is a sense of transition in today’s readings. In the passage from the Acts of the Apostles, Paul and his companions are completing their missionary journey, concluding their work by setting up a way by which the new faith assemblies can carry on without them. The Responsorial reminds us that even though things change, GOD’s reign will never end. The Book of Revelation assures us that GOD will create a new heaven and a new earth, for GOD is in the process of making all things new. Today’s Gospel takes place at the Last Supper when Jesus issues a revised, but new commandment to His followers before He physically departs from them, through His death on the next day, and eventually after His resurrection and ascension.
First reading Acts 14:21b-27 ‘They declared to the Church all that God had done with them.’
Commentary: Antioch was a big city, one of the largest in the ancient world. On the Mediterranean coast of Syria, it was at the end of the trade-route from the east. So it had a busy commercial life, and a large colony of Jews among the traders. A considerable group of them accepted Jesus as Messiah and Lord, and it was at Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called ‘Christians’ or ‘Messianists’. Other Jews thought the Messiah had not yet come. The community there had appointed the well-trained and eloquent Paul to accompany Barnabas (Barnabas was still the leader) in spreading the Good News about Jesus as the Messiah. At the end of their journey they reported back to the community at Antioch. It is significant that Barnabas and Paul appointed elders in each community. This was the normal constitution of a Jewish community. A synagogue is still ruled by a body of elders, of whom one is chosen to preside. Obviously, in spite of the upset of which we read last Sunday, these Christian communities felt themselves to be like the other Jewish communities, though accepting Jesus as Messiah, and living by his Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm 145(144):8-9. 10-11. 12-13b. I will bless your name for ever, my God and king.
The psalm today reminds us of GOD’s Goodness and compassion and exhorts us to respond to GOD’s mercy and kindness by giving thanks and blessings to GOD since GOD is always in control and the divine rule and dominion endures through all generations.
Second reading Revelation 21:1-5a ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’
Commentary: Like so much of the Book of Revelation, this prophecy of the New Jerusalem is heavily dependent on the prophets of the Old Testament. In the dark days of the Babylonian Exile the prophet Ezekiel had foretold that God would rebuild Jerusalem as a new city where God would dwell, a city named Hephzibah, ‘My pleasure is in her’. The prophets had long spoken of the relationship of Israel to God as that of a bride to her husband, a bride who was often unfaithful. Then Isaiah had foretold a joyful marriage-feast in which God would be the bridegroom and Jerusalem the bride, the final wedding of God to his people. God’s bride, Israel, who had so often been unfaithful, would at last be wedded to him for ever in fidelity and happiness. This was the intended meaning of the marriage-feast at Cana and of the parables of Jesus about a wedding-feast of the great king, to which the poor and the outcasts would be invited. Here the Book of Revelation promises just such a festival to those who have sustained the grimness of Roman persecution. Now, as we celebrate Christ’s triumph over death, we look forward to this same unalloyed happiness of God’s presence and his love.
Gospel John 13:31-33a, 34-35 ‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.’
Commentary: This is the start of John’s report of the great final teaching of Jesus at the Last Supper about the future of his Church and his disciples. From the sayings of Jesus the evangelist has composed a great discourse of Jesus about the obligations, duties and dangers which will come upon his disciples after his own death and resurrection. There were probably slightly different versions of this discourse, which were handed down by word of mouth; the slight impression of repetition results from the evangelist putting three versions one after another. As we approach the Birth of the Church at Pentecost we need to listen to how Jesus envisaged his community. This reading gives the essentials. At the head of the Christian community stands the glorified Son of Man, in whom God is glorified. But this is no distant figurehead, for he will come to be present among his disciples. And how? In the love which his disciples show for one another. One is reminded of the legend about the aged St John, wheeled into the church at Ephesus. When asked for the message of Jesus, all he would say was, ‘My little children, love one another.’
Reflection: How does God reveal his glory to us? During his last supper with his disciples on the eve of his sacrifice on the cross, Jesus speaks of his glory and the glory of his Father. What is this glory? It is the cross which Jesus speaks of here. The cross of Jesus reveals the tremendous love and mercy of God the Father and his beloved Son for the human race. John the Evangelist writes, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
The true nature of love
There is no greater glory and honor that one can offer than the willing sacrifice of one's life for the sake of another. This is the true nature of love - the total self-giving and free offering of one's life for the good of another. A mother who loves her child will do everything in her power to nurture, protect, and save the life of the child. A soldier devoted to his country's welfare, will endure any hardship and suffering and willingly sacrifice his own life to defend his people. God the Father showed the unfathomable depth of his love and mercy by willingly offering his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world. To ransom a slave God gave his only Son. That slave is you and me and the whole human race which is bound in sin and death and separation from God.
The cancer of sin is healed by Christ's merciful love
Paul the Apostle tells us, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). The Lord Jesus died for our sins to bring us abundant new life in his Spirit and to restore our nature in the true image and likeness of God. The cancer of sin shows us the ugliness of greed, hatred, and envy which destroy the very core of our being and rob us of life and love. That is why evil infects the world which God created out of his boundless love and goodness. God did not create evil and suffering, but through suffering he conquers evil with goodness, truth, and mercy and righteousness.
That is why Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment and way of love - not a commandment that replaces the Old Covenant commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself. This new commandment transforms the old commandment with the love and mercy which the Lord Jesus poured out for us on the Cross of Calvary. There death was defeated, and sin was covered with merciful love and forgiveness, and Satan's power was crushed through Godly meekness and obedience. Jesus proved that love is stronger than death. That is how we overcome the world and conquer our enemies - Satan, who is the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning, the world which stands in opposition to God, and our own sinful pride and fear of death.
The love of Christ conquers all
The Father has glorified his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, by raising him from the dead. And the Lord shares his glory with us and with all who believe in him as their Lord and Savior. Augustine of Hippo wrote, God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love. God's love is direct, personal, and wholly oriented to our good welfare and happiness. What can hold us back from loving the One who suffered and died for us and who offers us abundant joy and happiness with him forever? Nothing can separate us from that love except our own stubborn pride, envy, and self-deception. Satan rebelled out of pride and envy - he wanted to be God's rival. Adam disobeyed because he listened to Satan's lie and deceptive promise to glory apart from God. We sin because we love ourselves more than we love God and our neighbor. Only the cross can break the curse of sin and bring full restoration of body, mind, and soul.
We are called to love as Christ loves us
We were made for glory - the glory which comes from God and which lasts forever. That glory can only be obtained in the cross of Jesus Christ. And the price for that glory is the total offering of our lives for the One who loved us first and who died on the cross to save us from everlasting death and destruction. God offers us the free gift of faith which enables us to believe in his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who frees us from slavery to sin so we can live as sons and daughters of God. The distinctive mark of the followers of Jesus is love - a love not bound by fear, greed, or selfishness - but a love full of compassion, mercy, kindness, and goodness.
God's love has been poured into our hearts
How can we love one another as Christ has loved us? Paul the Apostle tells us that "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). Jesus poured out his Holy Spirit on his disciples at Pentecost and he pours out his Spirit today on all who believe in him. If we yield our hearts to Jesus and submit to his will for us, then the Holy Spirit will purify all that is unloving, unkind, and unforgiving in us. The Lord wants to transform our minds so we can understand his word of truth and life which has power to set us free from ignorance, unbelief, deception, and prejudice.
This is the power that overcomes the world - the triumphant cross of Christ which breaks the destructive forces of sin, hatred, and division. And we share in the power of Christ's victory by embracing the cross which the Lord Jesus sets before each one of us. What is the cross that I must take up daily in order to follow the Lord Jesus? When my will crosses with God's will, then his will must be done. The cross of Christ sets us free to live no longer for ourselves but for Christ and his kingdom of peace, joy, and righteousness (moral goodness). Our calling and privilege is to serve as Christ has served and to love and he has loved. That is the way we share in the glory of our heavenly Father who gave us his beloved Son who laid down his life for each one of us.
The distinctive mark of every disciple and follower of Jesus Christ is love - a love that is ready to forgive and forget past injuries, to heal and restore rather than inflict revenge and injury. The cross of Jesus is the only way to pardon, peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Every other way will fail or fall short of the glory and victory which Jesus Christ has won for us through his death and resurrection. If we embrace his love and truth and allow his Holy Spirit to purify and transform our hearts and minds, then we will find the inner freedom, joy, and strength we need to love without measure, to forgive without limit, and to serve without reward - save that of knowing we are serving the One who wants to be united with us in an unbreakable bond of peace and joy forever.
Lord Jesus, your love knows no bounds and surpasses everything I could desire and long for. Fill me with the fire of your love and with the joy of your Holy Spirit that I may freely serve my neighbor with loving-kindness, tenderhearted mercy, and generous care for their well-being.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Christ's love goes further than anything previous, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)
"He plainly indicates the novelty involved in his command here - and the extent to which the love he enjoins here surpasses the old idea of mutual love (Deuteronomy 6:5) - by adding the words 'Even as I have loved you, you also should love one another.' ... The law of Moses mandated the necessity of loving our brothers as ourselves, yet our Lord Jesus the Christ loved us far more than he loved himself. Otherwise, he would have never descended to our humiliation from his original exaltation in the form of God and on an equality with God the Father, nor would he have undergone for our sakes the exceptional bitterness of his death in the flesh, nor have submitted to beatings from the Jews, to shame, to derision, and all his other sufferings too numerous to mention. Being rich, he would never have become poor if he had not loved us far more than he loved himself. It was indeed something new for love to go as far as that! Christ commands us to love as he did, putting neither reputation, wealth or anything else before love of our brothers and sisters. If need be, we even need to be prepared to face death for our neighbor's salvation as our Savior's blessed disciples did, as well as those who followed in their footsteps. To them the salvation of others mattered more than their own lives, and they were ready to do anything or to suffer anything to save souls that were perishing." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 9)
hard lessons
“We must undergo many trials.” —Acts 14:22
At the close of the very first Christian missionary journey, Sts. Paul and Barnabas instructed their disciples: “We must undergo many trials if we are to enter into the reign of God” (Acts 14:22). Trials, in fact, many trials, are a given for a disciple, even though Jesus gives a yoke that is easy and a burden that is light (Mt 11:30).
Life is hard. This is not the Lord’s idea. He did not make original sin, “death or mourning, crying out or pain” (Rv 21:4; see Wis 1:13). He will eventually abolish all these evils. By our sins, we have made life hard, and the Lord has permitted this to continue.
By sin, we harden our hearts. Hard objects can be broken up by other harder objects (see Prv 27:17). The Lord can use hard lives to break up and open up our hard hearts. So He lets us “learn the hard way” so that we might repent (see Mk 1:15), give our lives to Him, and not enter the everlasting hardness of hell.
“Oh, that today you would hear His voice: ‘Harden not your hearts’ ” (Ps 95:7-8). Repent of any hardness of heart and go to Confession. If your heart is so hard that you refuse to repent, may the hard life you are making for yourself shatter the hardness of your heart.
Then, if we open our hearts to the Lord, He will let us share in the hard sufferings of His cross (see 1 Pt 4:13) so as to open the hardest hearts.
Prayer: Jesus, You gave us Mary to be our mother shortly before You died on the cross (Jn 19:26-27). Let Mary teach me the hard facts and sublime joys of the cross. This is how all will know you for My disciples: your love for one another.” —Jn 13:35. “Rejoice always” (1 Thes 5:16). “He has been raised up!” (Lk 24:6) Thank You, Jesus!
The personal action for today is: What can I do to bring the newness of GOD’s love into a particular situation? Is there a situation today (this week) that can be renewing by my acting in a more loving way? Who needs to experience a sense of renewal that I can help bring about by my loving him/her/them?
Saint John I: Pope John I inherited the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. Italy had been ruled for 30 years by an emperor who espoused the heresy, though he treated the empire’s Catholics with toleration. His policy changed at about the time the young John was elected pope.
When the eastern emperor began imposing severe measures on the Arians of his area, the western emperor forced John to head a delegation to the East to soften the measures against the heretics. Little is known of the manner or outcome of the negotiations—designed to secure continued toleration of Catholics in the West.
On his way home, John was imprisoned at Ravenna because the emperor had begun to suspect that John’s friendship with his eastern rival might lead to a conspiracy against his throne. Shortly after his imprisonment, John died, apparently from the treatment he received in prison.
John’s body was transported to Rome and he was buried in the Basilica of St. Peter. We cannot choose the issues for which we have to suffer and perhaps die. John I suffered because of a power-conscious emperor. Jesus suffered because of the suspicions of those who were threatened by his freedom, openness, and powerlessness. “If you find that the world hates you, know it has hated me before you” (John 15:18).