MY daily reflection and prayer:
Sunday , April 24, 2016
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Dear my friends,
Here is the Gospel for us today according to St. John 13:31-35
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified; if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going you cannot come.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
***
IN today’s Gospel Jesus gives us a new commandment that we must love one another; even as he has loved us, that we also love one another. By this all men will know that we are his disciples, if we have love for one another.
What kind of love is Jesus has given to each of us? How does Jesus love us? Jesus loves us to the point of laying down his life for us.
Jesus Christ has loved us to the end through his suffering, death, and resurrection. It reveals the tremendous love and mercy of God the Father for the human race. It has brought us back to God. It sets us free to live no longer for ourselves but for Jesus Christ and his kingdom of peace, joy, and righteousness.
We are also called to love as he loves us. How can we love one another as Christ has loved us? Jesus Christ wants us to be the witness of his love by loving one another. So he says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
What is Jesus asking us to do? To love one another as he loves us. So he says, “As I have loved you, so you should also love one another.”
We can only love others in the same way as he loves us just because of his power in us. According to Jesus, love is the Christian’s name tag. So he says, “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Love is meant to be our name tag as Christians. It is not just of good feelings. It brings us to lay down our lives for others, just as Jesus laid down his life for us. The true nature of love is total self-giving and free offering of one’s life for the good of another.
In the 3rd century, Tertullian said that when the Romans referred to the early Christians they often remarked, “See how they love each other.” This was how they recognized them as Christians.
In his encyclical “Deus Caritas Est” (= God is Love), Pope Benedict XVI said that love can be commanded because it has first been given. We are infinitely loved by God through Jesus Christ, therefore we can be commanded to love others. So let’s love another.
In the Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist while worshipping Jesus Christ we learn to love one anothe as his disciples. We learn to lay our lives down as Jesus Christ has done for us all.
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, help us to love as you have loved us. May we be able to be your disciples by loving one another so that the Father glorified now and forever. Amen.
Kredit foto: Ilustrasi (Ist)
