Reading I
After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news
to that city
and made a considerable number of disciples,
they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.
They strengthened the spirits of the disciples
and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,
“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the kingdom of God.”
They appointed elders for them in each church and,
with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord
in whom they had put their faith.
Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.
After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.
From there they sailed to Antioch,
where they had been commended to the grace of God
for the work they had now accomplished.
And when they arrived, they called the church together
and reported what God had done with them
and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Gospel
When Judas had left them, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him,
God will also glorify him in himself,
and God will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.”
Reflection
On this fifth Sunday of Easter, our Gospel reminds us that the glory of Jesus Christ is not just in His risen state when all the suffering is behind Him. Rather, as soon as Judas leaves Jesus to begin his betrayal, Jesus says “Now is the Son of Man glorified.” Christ willingly embraces the suffering and death ahead of Him, and this sacrifice “at once” glorifies Him--and God in Him. This truth can be both a challenge and a comfort to us. It reminds us that suffering for the sake of love—for the sake of Christ—glorifies us and glorifies God. As Paul and Barnabas remind us in the first reading: “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” All that we endure in this life makes us into beings who will enjoy an eternity of Heaven. What is more, the fruits of that sacrifice start blossoming at once, even if we may not see it.
Jesus goes on to say: “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” He has just demonstrated what it means to love like Him: it is to embrace God’s mission for you and make yourself into a gift of love for others, glorifying God in and through the hardship. To love like Jesus is to love one another even when others cause you pain. Jesus could very well have said, “love one another as I have loved Judas.” Christlike love seeks to give, and it is not contingent on what the other has done or can do for us.
No, this call to love does not mean we should seek out or stay in abusive situations. Sometimes, distance from certain people is required for us to have a healthy spiritual life. However, loving one another the way Christ loves us does mean that we must not wallow in resentment, withhold mercy, or refuse generosity to those who have hurt us. We recognize that betrayal, pain, and hardship are a means of glorifying God, and so with God’s help we can rise above and love through any hurt.
I invite you to pray for those who have hurt you today. Ask God for the grace to love them as He loves them—to love them as He loves us.
Please be assured of my prayers for you before Our Lord, present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
+ Bishop Schlert
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