Today’s Gospel takes us back to the Last Supper. We heard the opening lines of Jesus’ last talk with His closest followers before his arrest. If you had listened even with your hearing aid turned down to low, you would have detected no anxiety or fears in him. Clearly Jesus is not running scared.
This is incredible. Keep in mind that Jesus knows Judas will soon betray him. He sees his fast approaching crucifixion with its dreadful pain. Yet he is circled in majesty. Jesus is the original Mr. Cool. He does need blood pressure pills. This is not a prisoner sitting in a death row cell ready to eat the traditional last meal. Rather, John portrays Jesus as a King hosting a lavish victory banquet. In the first two sentences of today’s Gospel, we heard the word glorify mentioned five times. Does this sound like a man who feels that He is defeated? Quite the contrary! The thought running throughout this narrative is supreme glory. The greatest glory in life, says William Barclay, a Scottish theologian, is glory that comes from sacrifice.
Whenever we Catholics come together to celebrate Mass, we salute not the apostles who survived that Good Friday but our savior who sacrificed Himself on the cross for us. John conveys the message that the more one gives, the more one will receive in return.
What prompts anyone to make a sacrifice? Love. Everyone can love from the baby to the elderly. Love isn’t a talent or an achievement; nor is love a skill. The more love is offered and shared, however, the greater love becomes. Love heals the wounds of sin by offering a balm of forgiveness and mercy. No wonder in his parting lesson Jesus tells us, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
His primary mandate is not, “Have warm and tender feelings for each another.” No, his primary mandate is, “I give you a new commandment: decide that you will act for the good of others; choose to do right to all whom you meet.”
The Christian decision to love means living the works of mercy such as emptying our closets of clothes we don’t wear; welcoming the newcomer into the parish or one’s neighborhood; listening to a friend who is angry or hurt; reaching out to the panhandler seeking help, accepting our brothers and sisters just as they are; apologizing to those whom we have hurt; being faithful to our spouse even when we are frustrated; being merciful like the Father.
If love is the mark of discipleship, why is there too often so little love among Jesus’ disciples? Why is there not only a lack of charity but hurtful words and angry denunciations? Why are we so resistant to God’s transforming love? Because we are selfish and too focused on our own well-being. Putting God first and others second is not our first inclination yet we respect those who do just that.
For example, who was the hero of Charles Dicken’s novel, A Tale of Two Cities? The beautiful Lucie Manette or Sydney Carton who allowed himself to be guillotined to insure that she might live a life of bliss? Most would answer Mr. Carton. Thus, if you and I can somehow break out of the confining cage of our own selfishness, if we stop hoarding our time, money, and energy, the bigger the payoff will be for our own Christian selves. If we take this Gospel message to heart with the seriousness that John intended, we might well become different men and women, making the kingdom real here and now.
We may not be called to some kind of missionary activity as were Paul and Barnabas or to martyrdom as many saints have been but we must be as unselfish in our service to others as the early Christians were. John’s vision of a new heaven and a new earth remains in the future only because we have failed to live it in the present. It is within our power to fashion a world, a neighborhood, a family where there is genuine love for one another and sincere concern for the well being of others. People who live this extraordinary love stand out from the crowd. They might be ridiculed for their manner of living, but they show that they are God’s people and God indeed dwells in them.
We are reminded daily of the privileged circumstances in which many of us live. We enjoy conveniences that others do not experience or possess, living in comfortable homes, driving wherever we please, helping our children or grand children plan for their futures. We must think of all this as God’s gifts to us and never take them for granted for by the grace of God, we are not presently struggling to recover in the aftermath of an earthquake or the carnage of a civil war. God has placed us here, enabling us to effect change, advocate for others and pray for their well-being. We have been chosen to be instruments of God’s grace, channels through which others may experience his love. Caring for others is a means for us to respond to Jesus’ command to love one another just as he loves us.
My friends, this gospel passage is an invitation to look into our hearts and see how we are answering the call to love in our lives and within our families. The danger lurks that we may be more in love with ourselves than with one another. The real test of love is how we respect others for no one can claim to be a friend of Jesus who does not love his neighbor.