Sunday, May 18, is the Fifth Sunday of Easter; Mass readings: Acts 14:21-27; Psalm 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13; Revelation 21:1-5a; John 13:31-33a, 34-35.

In today’s Gospel, Our Lord sets forth for us the power of love. If we tap into it and draw from its riches, we are able to live differently. Let’s look at today’s Gospel in three stages and discover what the Lord has done for us.

Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”

Note how the text speaks in the present tense; everything is unfolding exactly as foretold. The Son of Man will suffer but, in the end, will be glorified. This glory will make available for us a whole new life. So, what happened when the Son of God died and rose for me? Scripture says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might have a whole new life” (Romans 6:4). Jesus opens the way for us to a greater and fuller life.

Jesus then says, “I give you a new commandment: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”

Since the Lord loves me, I now have the power to love others.

We love, because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).

Hence we must first receive and experience love before we can extend it to others. The theological virtue of love is no mere human love; it is divine!

Christ also says, “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The faith, hope and love that we proclaim will not, and cannot, be a mere intellectualism; it must be something that others can see and experience at work within us. Hence, the proof, the evidence, the picture of God’s love, is not some vague feeling or a mere intellectual attribute in us. It is a powerful and dynamic force that equips, empowers and enables us to love, while also transforming lives and bestowing new life.