Reflection for Sunday 18th May, 2025

(5th Sunday of Easter)

God presence in a Community of Love (John 13:31-35)

Where is the risen Lord to be met? The liturgy each Sunday in this Easter season directs our thoughts to various ways that the Lord is present and active in our midst.

The message of today is the presence of the Lord in the Church as a community of people inspired by the new standard of love as revealed in the example of Christ.

It rarely happens that all three Sunday Mass Readings touch on the same theme. This Sunday however has the theme of newness in all three Readings.

“And the newness of every stale thing, When we looked at it as children”

Fresh hearts for a suffering people

The Apocalypse is a highly imaginative but difficult book, written to sustain hope for Christians who were suffering violent persecution at the hands of the Roman Empire. After all sorts of monsters, calamity and terror, the visionary finally sees a new Jerusalem coming down from heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband. “Look, here God lives among human beings. He will make his home among them; they will be his people, and he will be their God, God-with-them.” (Apoc 21:3)
One is reminded of the exciting words of Patrick Kavanagh in his poem, Advent.
“And the newness of every stale thing
When we looked at it as children”

Jesus told us that unless we become like little children, we will not enter the sort of kingdom that he came to establish. Faith retains the child’s sense of wonder which goes beyond human science. The Psalms encourage us to sing a new song unto the Lord.
In the Acts of the Apostles, the preaching of Paul and Barnabas put fresh heart into people, encouraging them to persevere in faith. Faith gives a new, refreshing way at looking at the hardships of life. The eyes of faith keep mind and spirit ever young. Some of the youngest people I have met are well advanced in years but very young in spirit. Boredom and staleness are not part of their vocabulary.

I give you a new commandment.

This leads us to the Gospel of the day, taken from the parting words of Jesus to the apostles at the last supper. Judas had just left them. The evangelist tells us that night had fallen. This indicates that the Passion of Jesus was about to begin. However, the death of Jesus would not be a tragedy but would open the door to glory. There would have been no resurrection if there had been no death. And the resurrection opened the closed doors when the Risen Lord told the confused disciples, “As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.”
The new community is inspired by the standard set by Jesus: “I give you a new commandment: love one another, just as I have loved you, you also must love one another.” Even some pagan philosophers in Rome admired how these Christians loved one another.
The commandment of love was not entirely new as it was there for hundreds of years in the Jewish writings. However, the teaching of Jesus was new in two ways: in the standard of love that he set; and in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus set an example of love that has no limitations, extends to enemies, totally forgiving, refusing to be poisoned by the wrongs done by others, generous in sharing and caring, and is self-sacrificing. These ideals are beyond natural instinct but become possible by the supernatural grace of the Holy Spirit. “By this love that you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.”
The Gospel is a reminder that the supernatural grace of the Holy Spirit can transform people into Spirit-filled missionaries inspiring people into a kingdom of love, truth, justice and peace.
The greatest proof of the Resurrection is not the fact that the tomb of Jesus was empty but the transformation of the Christian community into a new way of thinking, acting, forgiving, sharing, caring, making peace and praying. No room here for mediocrity or minimalism. “By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.”

Prayer

O God, you can make all things new. The prophet Ezechiel promised that you would remove our hearts of stone and put a new spirit within us.
As we look forward to Pentecost, we pray that you will remove the hardness of heart which refuses to forgive: the mediocrity which settles for the bare minimum: and the selfishness which fails to care and share. Send forth your Spirit to renew the face of the earth. Enkindle within us the fire of your love.