5th Sunday of Easter (Year C)
Scripture: Acts 14:21-27; Ps. 145:8-13; Rev. 21:1-5a; Jn. 13:31-33a, 34-35
On this Fifth Sunday of Easter, the liturgy invites us to reflect on one of the most important themes at the heart of Jesus’ teaching: love. In the Gospel of John (13:34), Jesus says, “Love one another as I have loved you.” This commandment is not merely a moral instruction but the very core of Christian discipleship. It is radical, new, and transformative. What makes this commandment special is that Jesus not only taught it, He lived it. He qualified it with His life, His suffering, and His death. While the law and prophets spoke of love for God and neighbour, Jesus united them in His own person and raised the commandment of love to the highest level by making Himself the model: “as I have loved you.”
Jesus’ love was not sentimental or superficial; it was sacrificial. He loved to the point of enduring betrayal, denial, mockery, and crucifixion. This is what gives His commandment its depth and weight. In this way, love becomes the distinguishing mark of true Christian discipleship. It becomes the living sign of Christ’s presence among us. It becomes the criterion by which our lives are measured and the guide for how we are called to live in the world. Christian love is not abstract, it is embodied in concrete acts of mercy, forgiveness, endurance, and self-gift.
Today’s liturgy highlights a deeper aspect of this love: that true Christian love often passes through suffering and hardship. It is this love that makes Christ’s presence visible in the world. The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles shows us this clearly in the lives of Saints Paul and Barnabas. During their first missionary journey through regions that are now part of Syria and Turkey, they faced numerous hardships. Although they preached the Gospel with great zeal, they were met with rejection, slander, and persecution. At first, they preached in the synagogues, but many of the Jews did not accept their message. This led to hostility and expulsion. In some cities, the people plotted to stone them. In Lystra, Paul healed a crippled man, but the people misunderstood and thought he was a Roman god. The Jews, who opposed him, followed him even to Lystra, where they incited the crowd, and Paul was stoned and left for dead.
Despite all this, Paul and Barnabas did not abandon their mission. Their suffering became a visible sign of their faithfulness to Christ and their love for His people. It was through their trials that the truth of their message was confirmed. Their love, tested by suffering, became a witness to the power and presence of the Risen Lord. In the Gospel, Jesus gives the commandment of love during the Last Supper, just before His Passion. The evangelist uses the word “now” to indicate that the hour of His glorification had arrived, the hour in which He would reveal the full depth of His love through His suffering and death. The word “glorified” is used five times in just two verses, emphasizing that His glory is not found in power or comfort, but in the cross. Jesus suffered not only at the hands of His enemies but also at the hands of His own, Judas betrayed Him, Peter denied Him, and the others fled. Yet He did not withdraw His love. He endured everything to the end. And it is this love, sealed through suffering, that made His presence eternal among His disciples.
The second reading from the Book of Revelation offers a vision of hope and consolation. It describes the new heaven and the new earth, the holy city, the new Jerusalem, where God dwells permanently with His people. It is a place where death, mourning, and pain are no more. This is the promise for those who, like Paul and Barnabas, go through suffering with faith. Their tears are not forgotten; their trials are not in vain. The author of Revelation writes to a community experiencing persecution and reminds them that their suffering will be transformed. They will dwell in the presence of God forever, where He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
In this context, Pope Francis beautifully said, “In suffering, love becomes purification and maturity… Suffering that is accepted and offered can become a path of holiness.” In the world, love often disappears when life becomes difficult. But Christian love is different. It shines most brightly in times of pain, in the act of forgiveness, and in the sacrifice of self. It is in these moments that the presence of God becomes visible in the world. People who are lost or distant from God may come to see Him again, through us, through our suffering embraced with love, just as they did in the lives of Paul and Barnabas.
Today, we are called to be missionaries of that same love. We are invited to hold fast to Christ’s promises, especially when we face trials. Our love, purified through hardship, becomes a powerful witness. It is not through words alone, but through the cross carried in love, that we make Christ present to others. May we, like the apostles, allow our lives to be shaped by this commandment. May our love endure through every suffering, and in doing so, may it make Christ visible to a world in need of hope.
Amen.
