Cycle C - Year II:

24 April 2016: Fifth Sunday of Easter

(Liturgical color: White)

Gospel: Please read John 13:31-33a, 34-35

"Love one another!"

Sometimes we tend to complicate our lives by creating so many laws and ordinances. And those who are called experts in the law add to the confusion with their different interpretation of same law. So that in the end we live our lives in fear of transgressing these laws. Such fear takes away the joy of living.

In this Sunday's Gospel Jesus gives us a practical and simple command to live a good christian life. The Gospel reading is part of Jesus' farewell discourse during the last supper with his disciples prior to His passion.

Jesus said to his disciples: "I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another."

What is new and unique about Jesus' commandment to love one another?

Well, our Lord Jesus speaks of love that is unconditional, without limit, without qualifiers or prerequisites, and totally self-sacrificing. There is no greater proof of God's love for us than the cross of Jesus Christ. Because in the cross we witness a new way of loving, a love that is selfless, sacrificial, forgiving and compassionate beyond comprehension.

For in God's kingdom the definition of love is not "having good feeling about another person." Rather, love is serving others before I serve myself, especially serving those who do not normally get such devotion or do not even deserve it.

That is why when Jesus commands us to love, He asks us to go beyond the normal love of friendship, beyond the love of family members, and beyond the love of a man and a woman. Because Jesus asks to love to the point of suffering, as He has loved us.

It was this kind of love that moved Mother Theresa to reach out to the poor and the dying people of Calcutta. And it is this kind of love that moves parents to keep reaching out to wayward children.

So in a very real sense love is our only mission here on earth. We came from love, we will go home to love, and in between we are called to be people who can give and receive love.

The preface for the Wedding Mass says it beautifully: Love is our origin. Love is our constant calling. Love is our final fulfillment in heaven.

Our love for one another must include not only human beings but the entire creation, like our environment and the rest of our world. Because we are stewards of God's creation.

In sum, loving one another, as Jesus loved us, is our witnessing of God's love. And when we love others unconditionally, we love God Himself.

Let us use our Lord's new commandment of love in terms of serving others as our guide in choosing our leaders this coming election.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!