Acts 14:21-27;
Psalm 145:8-13a;
Rev. 21:1-5;
John 13:31-33,34-35 Full Readings
Love One Another as I have Loved You
As we slowly approach the birthday of the church, that is Pentecost, we continue to listen and we need to listen to how Jesus how Jesus prepared and envisaged his community for the ministry and life without him. The great discourse “Farewell Discourse,” presented in today's gospel marks this reflection on how Jesus prepared his community for life without him physically. It is about the obligations, duties and dangers which will come upon his disciples after his own death and resurrection.
Today's gospel gives the essential part. At the head of the Christian community we see that there stands the glorified Son of Man (through death resurrection and his ascension into heaven), 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.’ Jesus insisted on the love of one another if we are to his true followers and a community he leads.
Jesus, though knowing that he would be betrayed by those whom he loved, he continued to speak about love as the defining characteristic of his followers. He didn’t qualify his directive to love. 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. If we are only to love one another as we love ourselves, what about those who don't love themselves, will they be obliged by this commandment too? Jesus put this commandment as universal one and he shown the type of love he meant by dying on the cross.
There is no greater love that a person giving up his life to die for the sake of the other (John 15:13). This is what Jesus means that love one another as I have loved you, the love without bounds. 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. St 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.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.
As St. Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 13:7, “(Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” When we consider this kind of love, we can think of times we have heard that a particular person “didn’t deserve” another’s love. In Jesus’ example, we see that love isn’t based on the other person’s behavior but on our relationship with the Lord. May we never rationalize or justify ourselves when we fail to love as Jesus does.
In these precious moments, as Jesus prepared his disciples for his passion, he didn’t give them tasks to do, moral laws to follow, or acts of piety to perform. Of course, this doesn’t preclude the importance of our actions, but his words show us what he most desires of us: “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another." While each of these elements has a place in our lives as we follow Our Lord, our actions, behaviors, and practices will naturally flow out of us when we allow Christ to love us and form us. On the other hand, focusing on the externals without striving to love God and neighbor is hollow. As St. Augustine said: Anyone can bless himself with the sign of the cross of Christ; anyone can answer “Amen”; anyone can sing Alleluia; anyone can be baptized, enter churches, build the walls of basilicas. But the only thing that distinguishes the children of God is charity. Those who practice charity are born of God; those who do not practice charity are not born of God. It is indeed an important sign, an essential difference. No matter what you have, if you do not have this one thing, everything else is of no avail; and if you lack everything, and have nothing else but charity, then you have kept the law.” What kind of disciples are we? Do we consider ourselves faithful followers because of what we do–whether in apostolate, prayer, or the moral life–or are we faithful because of how much we love God and neighbor?
Our ability to love like Jesus does not depend on our own power but on being drawn to Jesus by the Father (John 6:44) and then learning from him. Sometimes we can feel overwhelmed and defeated, as if our ability to love like Jesus depends upon our strength and our will but in a very real way, it depends upon us letting ourselves be loved by God, allowing him to dwell within us and act through us. The Catechism tells us that “It is impossible to keep the Lord’s commandment by imitating the divine model from outside; there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the heart, in the holiness and mercy and love of our God” (CCC 2842). This participation comes from the life of the Trinity within us, and the indwelling of the Holy Trinity capacitates us to pour ourselves out in love as Jesus did. This is what guided the Apostles to perform the same works that Jesus did and spread his love to all the nations after resurrection as we see Paul and Barnabas in the first reading.
The reward and the result of loving as Jesus has loved us is the new heaven and new earth of which John elaborates in today's second reading. The promise of new heaven and earth was long ago prophesied by Ezekiel and is now seen in revelation by John, as the one where God will dwell in the midst of his people, be their God and them his own and then wipe away all the tears, sadness and mourning because there will be no more death but new life in God and his son Jesus. God will indeed dwell among us if we love one another for God is love and dwells only where there is love. Are you ready to behold the new heaven and a new earth? Then love One another as Jesus loved us.
Let us Pray
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. Amen
Blessed Sunday
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