Fifth Sunday Easter (Cycle C)
If the Cross is the sign of the Christian, Love is the identifying mark. Love and the Cross go together.
In today’s gospel the Lord opens His heart to the disciples. His time is running out and He has much to tell them still. And so there is an urgency in His words. He wants the disciples—and us—to know how we must be recognized as His followers, and the answer is love, the love with which He loved us, a sacrificial love. Odd as it seems, Christ is glorified by the Cross, the throne from which He reigns, the throne from which He shows His love. And so the commandment: “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another”(Jn 13:34).
It seems strange that during the Easter Season the Church invites us to ponder on the words of the Lord at the Last Supper. But if we consider them as Jesus’ last will, then it is good that we bring them to mind now; for we must carry them out until the end of time: “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35).
God bless you!
Fr. Luis R. Largaespada
This week we are invited to realize how much God loves us, how He does not grow tired of showing this love to us in the simplest of ways: by looking at us, being moved by us, having pity on our deficiencies, in bending dow to touch our sorrow and binding our wounds, in teaching us about His kingdom, in giving Himself up for us on the Cross and, by rising from the dead, gifting us with eternal life. All He asks is that we become aware of this, because by becoming aware of His love, we can in turn love our brothers and sisters as He loves us.
