Fifth Sunday of Easter
Dearest Brothers and Sisters,
Today’s Gospel shares with us a beautiful message: to love one another as Jesus loves us. Jesus loves in so many ways, particularly through His compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and mercy (Col. 3:12). Jesus doesn’t just command us to love, He shows us how to love! Think of how often we fail to love others, whether it be by putting ourselves first, struggling to forgive, or lacking patience. Loving at all times is not an easy task, but you can ask Jesus to help you love better! As the one who “makes all things new,” conformation to Christ is possible, especially as you grow in your relationship with Him (Rev. 21:5).
Why does Jesus ask us to love one another? So that His “joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (Jn. 15:11). Such joy can come from loving someone, or as St. Thomas Aquinas puts it, from willing the good of another. Jesus tells us in John 15:13 that “greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” We can lay our lives down for others by being imitators of Christ! Jesus loved us so much that He willingly died on the cross for us. We also love God by loving others, thus fulfilling the Lord’s commandment to love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind (Mt. 22:37). Jesus dwells within all of us! Especially in those we ought to serve: those who hunger and thirst, both physically and spiritually, strangers who we ought to welcome, the naked we ought to clothe, and the sick and prisoners we ought to visit (Mt. 25:35-36). As you do to the least of these, you do for Christ!
So remember, be patient and kind like Jesus, not jealous, boastful, arrogant, or rude. “Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right” (1 Cor. 13:4-6). When we were children, we spoke, thought, and reasoned like children, but now that we’ve grown, we are to give up our childish ways (1 Cor. 13:11). Put on Christ and be the light of His love that this world so desperately needs! Then, He will know that you are His disciples, if you have love for one another (Jn. 13:35).
-Giulia Mazzarelli, Penn FOCUS Missionary