5th Sunday of Easter Year C

Most of us would be quite familiar with the Synoptic Gospels, that is, the Gospel of Matthew, Mark and Luke. One common theme which could be found among these Gospels is the theme of 'love', where the Gospel writers repeat the key teaching of the Old Testament covenant that is to love God and love our neighbour as ourselves. The key point made here is that our love for neighbour must be similar to our love for ourselves. On the other hand, today's Gospel is from the Gospel of John, and we are told: "I give you a new commandment: love one another; just as I have loved you, you must also love one another." Many of us are familiar with God's commandment to love, so what is so 'new' about this commandment as stated in the Gospel of John?

The 'newness' stems from the fact that our love for one another is not based on the criteria that we love ourselves: "love our neighbour as ourselves", but the criteria is now that Jesus loves us: "just as I (Jesus) have loved you, you must also love one another." Our 'love' for ourselves is often inadequate and incomplete, and no longer becomes a standard by which we love others, but Jesus' love for us is what enables us to love. This is because God's love is perfect, since God is love.

If we are to be Jesus' disciples, then we must learn to love the way He loves us. We need to show our love through our words and deeds, taking Jesus' love as our guide and standard. When we do so, then as the Gospel tells us: "By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples." But we realise that Jesus' love is a high standard which is not so simple to attain as it sounds, because we are not God. That is why we must continue to support, encourage and pray for each other, following the example of Paul and Barnabas in the first reading where "They put fresh heart into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith."

Today, let us pray that we will have the strength, patience, perseverance and courage to love one another as Christ loved us. Love is not a sign of weakness or defeat. It is an act of courage that rejects a culture of hatred, pride and prejudice prevalent in the world today. May we take Christ as our example and learn more and more to be like Him in His love for all of us.