May 2, 2010
Fifth Sunday of Easter
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
After they 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.” Acts 14:21-22
“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.” John 13:34-35
Piety
The hard knocks of Christian living are all too real when we lose our vision of the Cross of Christ as the most loving moment in the history of the human race. The New Jerusalem that John talks about in the Book of Revelation will wipe away from our eyes every tear. God will always be with us and we will be his people and God himself will always be with us as our God. Our desire to be with Christ draws us to the crosses of discipleship. We need but hear the voice of Christ in our hearts to take up our crosses and to follow him if we want to be his disciples. We are called to this discipleship by the love of Christ. It is the love of Christ that calls us to love one another as he has loved us on his cross. Loving another draws us to a closeness that includes buying into all that is happening with the beloved. How could I think of being rich when my beloved is poor? How could I want to live when living would cost me my love of Christ? How could I hold back any part of my life from him who is willing to be my all?
Study
Judas left Christ because he was the smartest of all the Apostles. He saw where Christ was leading them and wanted to force Christ to accept an easier road. He wanted his Christ to be a Messianic king and that was not to be. He had studied Christ well and appreciated the incredible powers that Christ possessed as the Son of God and believed he could be gotten to use those powers for the sake of a new nation like the King David had founded. Christ chooses the less travelled road of love. He will not use any of his power for his won aggrandizement. He will not hold back the truth of the word the Father put on his heart as his destiny. He will follow the plan of the Father revealed through the Prophets and live out the prophecy of Isaiah of the Suffering Servant. Christ stands in for all the sinfulness of the human race if we will accept his dying for us. Christ gives us the invitation to love one another as he has loved us. We need to look closely into the mirror of our souls to see how we hold off Christ in our lives.
Action
We will be known as his disciples if we have a Christ love for each other. We need to live our lives such wise that people will say of us. “See how those Christians love one another.” How can I be rich if my brother is poor? How can I have clothes in my closet which I do not use when my bothers are naked? How can I waste my money on things I do not need when I am surrounded by people who do not have housing and are living on the streets? Actions speak louder than words. Love gives birth to healthy communities. Love leads us to share our lives with neighbors. We keep Christ close to us in all the ways we reach out to his poor in sharing our lives with the Christ who considers anything done for the least ones as done for him. The Son of God is glorified in our lives when we live out our love for the loveless ones of our world. Our love for one another is the glory of the Son of God. The throne of Jesus is the Cross and our taking up our crosses in his name is our share in the glory of Christ that will be in heaven our claim on the glory of Christ.
