For love of our Lord, let us keep His commandments
Reflections on the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter (May 10, 2020): Acts 6:1-7; PS 33:1-2,4-5,18-19; 1PT 2:4-9; JN 14:1-12
MISSIO offers “Mission In Scripture” to nurture a missionary heart, providing reflections on the missionary themes in the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days
The message of our Lord is salvation.
On this Sunday before we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, we hear more of His last words to the Apostles on the night before He died. Christ wants each of them – and each of us – to realize that love is everything in our relationship with Him and with one another. “I am in My Father and you are in Me and I in you. Whoever has My commandments and observes them is the one who loves Me. And whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him” (John 14:20-21). Our Lord is always providing for our welfare. He assures us that we will never be abandoned, never alone. He is sending the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to be with us. Jesus did not just tell the truth to those who would listen, rather He is the truth – and He wants us to understand and to share His Good News with people everywhere.
The message of our Lord is salvation. He wants us to embrace His commandment to love because only then will we be open to the grace that will guide us all our days. While the Apostles were listening to Jesus, they still did not know what would happen to Him and to the world over the next few days. Still, He had spoken to them so often about loving and serving and trusting God that they must have grasped some sense of this profound message. His love for us and the love He wants in return is no vague feeling. It is the power of faith and hope transformed into the essence and action of life. And it takes shape when we offer our love for Christ to others. Other people see the reality of God’s love when we reveal it to them. And we, too, become ever more aware of the immeasurable power and strength of His love when we experience it through the generous goodness and compassion of those around us – family and friends, colleagues and neighbors, and strangers as well. Let us be there for others, ready to share – and to gratefully receive – the mercy of our loving Lord.
Suggested missionary action: We need to be ready to speak up on behalf of our faith. We can ask the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to guide us in joyfully revealing our belief in Jesus Christ and His Church.