May 19^th 2019.  Fifth Sunday of Easter
GOSPEL   John 13:31-33A, 34-35

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

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GOSPEL   John 13:31-33A, 34-35

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."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the Gospel, Judas leaves the Upper Room to betray Jesus, and Jesus immediately begins talking about the glory of God! It might seem like a strange thing to talk about glory just before the moment of betrayal and ignominious crucifixion. We think of glory in terms of the vain hype and spectacle of the sporting or entertainment worlds. But the Hebrew word for “glory” refers to the weight or value of a thing. The glory of God is related to his love. It is at this very moment that Jesus gives his new commandment: to love one another as he has loved us. In the Old Testament, I was asked to love my neighbour as myself. I was the measure of love. Now, with Jesus, everything changes. His sacrificial love becomes the measure of true love. How am I to achieve this kind of love? With willpower? With my own efforts and capacities? No! Unfortunately many people in the Church continue to believe that it is a matter of effort and application. But love that depends on my own capacities will never arise above mediocrity. It is only when we are invaded by the love that Christ has for us that we become capable of loving in return. When we are immersed in Jesus, he begins to love in us. A valley echoes back a voice which comes from outside of itself. We must become like valleys that echo back the love of God. Like a valley, we do not produce the sound, but we do have the capacity to make it reverberate! A true Christian is not distinguished by his wonderful personal talents, but by the fact that he echoes back the love that he has encountered in Christ. This is the glory of God, this is the glory of Easter, a passage from an existence based on myself, to an existence based on the love that Jesus has for me.

What is God’s glory? A big show of light and sound?

Judas leaves the Upper Room and at that moment Jesus begins a strange line of discourse: "Now the Son of man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him". What is the connection between the glory of Jesus and Judas who betrays him? What is the glory of God? Does it involve a big external show of light and sound? No! In Hebrew "glory" means the weight of a thing, its substance, its truth. The glory of God, its specific weight, is love. This is why the liturgy this Sunday is careful to include the mention of the person of Judah in the Gospel. The Lord loves this man who will lead him to being massacred. Jesus continues to love the one who is about to sell him out for money. It is in the light of utter benevolence towards Judas (and towards each one of us) that Jesus speaks of his glory.

A new measure of love: we are no longer the parameter for true love; Jesus sacrificial offering becomes the yardstick

It is in such a dramatic context that the new commandment is given: "love one another, as I have loved you ..." This is very distinct from the old commandment of the Old Testament: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself". Here the parameter of love was myself: as I love myself, so I must love my neighbour. With Jesus’ new instruction, everything changes: we are still asked to love one another, but not as we love ourselves. Now we are asked to love as Jesus loves us. The criterion of love is not found in us but in Him. After Jesus' Passover, the disciples will have time to look back and understand that each of them, like Judas, was loved by Jesus despite his defects. In fact, all of them failed but all were loved regardless. What is the meaning of this Easter time we are celebrating? It is the passage from an existence based on ourselves to a new parameter of existence - the love that Christ has for us. It is an entrance into the glory of God, which allows us to love, not in the impoverished way that we love ourselves, but as He alone knows how to do.

When love remains a mediocre effort

How many, even in the Church, are deceived and tortured into believing that love is a matter of willpower! So long as I continue to think that love originates in my own abilities and is based on my individual characteristics, it will never take me beyond myself. Love that depends purely on my capacities will never arise above mediocrity. Christ alone shatters this closed circle, loving us in a way that goes beyond our narrow logic.  In Jesus, we find ourselves visited by a love that is greater than ourselves. And once we are invaded by his love, we discover that Christ loves in us. He knows us and knows that we are fragile and weak. Our love becomes one of response to His. Think of it the following way. In certain valleys, if one shouts aloud, the cry resounds with an echo. What is it that comes back? The sound of our own voice. This is what God does in us. He loves us and we are like a valley, which receives a sound from outside of itself. We do not produce the sound on our own, but we do have the capacity to make it reverberate. Christians are not distinguished by their personal skills, but by the fact that they are an echo of the love they have encountered. They do not love because they are so capable, but because they themselves have been loved. They have seen the glory of God, his limitless mercy, the love that Jesus manifested in his Passover. This is what makes them suitable bearers of gratitude and forgiveness.