Gospel Reflection May 18 – Deacon Paul Zemanek
Sunday, May 18
Fourth Sunday of Easter
John 13:31-33a, 34-35
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.”
Gospel Reflection:
The theme for today’s reading is clearly one that is focused on “love.” In the Gospel from John, Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment. Now, Jesus didn’t say, “Love Jesus or Love God as I have loved you.” No, instead Jesus said, “If you want to be my disciples, then you must love one another as I have loved you.”
Friends, truly our love for God, and our love for one another are two sides of the very same coin. We cannot have one without the other. Our Catholic teaching and our faith call all of us to do all that we can to protect the rights and the dignity of all people, especially those who are poor and those who are vulnerable.
The type of love that Jesus speaks about today is a very different one from the love that we hear about in pop songs or much of the love that we see on TV and that we see in the movies. For you see friends, love is not a question of keeping a set of rules or commandments, but it is instead a way of living, and it is a way of life.
Let us be reminded that every person we meet, whether we like them or not, is made in the image and in the likeness of God. Jesus does not want us to love our neighbor as ourselves. No, Jesus instead wants us to love others in the very same way that he loves us.
And so, today and every day let us follow the command of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and let us “Love one another!”
Deacon Paul Zemanek
