The Newness of Christ's Love!

(Homily for 5th Sunday of Easter Year C)

     The overriding theme emanating from the readings of this Sunday is that of “newness’, “novelty”. The recurring word is the adjective “New”. And we may begin to ask ourselves: What is this newness all about? What is new? It is the newness of the Love that renews and renders everything new, both the world and the Christian community. In the Gospel St. John speaks of the “new commandment” of Love. The second reading presents the “new world” that will emerge when all things are indeed renewed. However, the “new love” renders this new world and new order present even in the “already” of Christ’s Kingdom. The first reading reported about the “new communities” that Paul and Barnabas founded, which have become the nucleus for the exercise of the “new commandment” and indeed an anticipation of the “new world”. The proclamation of the new things takes place within the context of the Easter season, therefore to tell us that it is from the Resurrection of Christ that new things begin to flow. It is the “new event” that made it possible for renewal of all things. Christ was raised from the dead to a new life, “as Christ was raised from the dead by the father’s glorious power, we too should begin living a new life” (Rm.6:4).

     The passage of the Gospel (Jn. 13:31-33a, 34-35) began with a celebration of the enthronement of Christ as Son of man at his exaltation and an anticipation of his glorious coming. Little wonder, in the passage we see the shift from the past tense to the future: “Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified; if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once”. In this shift of tenses, St. John used the past tense to refer to the glorifying that took place through the Son’s revelation of the Father in the course of his incarnate life, while he used the future tenses to refer to the glorification that will take place in the event of Christ (His Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension). Therefore, this in no small way reveals the density of the theology of glory of St. John.

     In the second moment, Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment of love. Whenever Jesus speaks of love, he refers to a special type of love, unselfish and unconditional. The New Testament writers used the word “agape” to describe this special type of love. Jesus said: “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you”. This commandment has been there before now, then why does Jesus talk about its newness? We see it already in the Old Testament, “you will love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). The commandment in question has been so far practiced theoretically, an abstract ideal, but now Jesus wants this commandment to be concretized, love is not love until it becomes an action word. It is new because Jesus is giving a new content to this ancient commandment, for we can truly love as brothers, because he loves us. When the great Swiss theologian Von Balthasar discovered this, he exclaimed “Only love is credible”. Not an empty love. For this St. John tells us: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (Jn. 3:16). And again, “My dear friends, if God loved us so much, we too should love one another” (1Jn. 4:11).

      Similarly, the novelty or the newness of the commandment subsists in the “as I have”. In the Old Testament the neighbours to be loved are those of one’s family or from the same locality or the same religion. But Jesus instead loves all without distinction of any kind. He conquered his enemies with his love, such that in his love there are no longer enemies, all are under the coverage of his love. There is even preference to the poor, the weak and the so called enemies. This is how the disciple of Christ has to love. If we have not conquered our so called enemies into friends in and with the model of Christ’s love, we are yet to become his true disciples. Jesus himself confirms this: “it is by your love for one another, that everyone will recognize you as my disciple” (v.35).

     Here, it is neither the human person that is the measure of love nor the love of enemies; rather Jesus is the measure and model of human love. For we are called to love as Christ has loved us, no longer as we love ourselves. In Johaninnine parlance attention is no longer given to enemies because Christ’s love conquers the limits of enmity. His love is without frontiers. Behold when St Bernard was asked, what is the measure of love? He answered: “The measure of love is to love without measure”. Jesus gave us an example of love without measure. We are not to love in the measure of our human capacity, but in the manner and model of Christ. Jesus lived expressing and manifesting this love until the last moment of his life, “he loved us to the end” (Jn. 13:1). In fact, we may say that his entire existence was a manifestation of God’s love and an expression of his own love too. The extremity and density of this love was fulfilled on the Cross, when Jesus cried out “It is fulfilled” (Jn. 19:30). Loving us in this manner Jesus redeemed us; he made us his brothers and sisters, thus children of the same Father. Therefore, in, with and through this type of love, there is something in us that renders us lovable, for which the most unfortunate in life has to be loved. The motive is not because of beauty, sympathy or healthiness, but the “new” realty that has been created by Christ.

     This is the final, conclusive and synthetic commandment of the will of God, a will of love. The love of the disciple has to have as foundation the same love of Christ; it has to be an expression of his love. The love of the disciple has to have as criterion the same criterion of Christ’s love, as such, in Christ’s parlance, to love signifies essentially to serve (Jn. 13:14-15), it entails giving oneself for others, especially the weak and the needy. In the measure Christians live this love, they become credible disciples of Christ in the world. This is a command, not an invitation, not a request or an option. And as an order it calls for total obedience. Love for a Christian therefore is not optional, it is an obligation.

     In the second reading (Rev. 21:1-5a) we see John’s vision of “new things”, of new heaven, new earth and New Jerusalem. As a matter of fact, these new things have been made possible through the resurrection of Jesus and they are anticipated in the life of the Church. In this passage, John presented the ideal image of the community born out of the Easter Event; the new Jerusalem, humanity renewed by the word and the sacrifice of Christ. And therein he saw the most touching and beautiful image of the bride adorned as at her wedding day. God himself proclaims “Behold I make all things new” (v.5a). In the prophecy of Isaiah Yahweh foretold: “now am going to reveal new things to you, secrets that you do not know. They are created now” (Is. 48:6b-7). In this new order, God dwells with men, especially through his word and sacrament. There is therefore, the foretaste of the eternal joy, but it is only at the end that all tears will be wiped away from all eyes. Irrespective of the fact that, mourning, sadness and crying still abound in the world, but our faith brings to our consideration and reason confirms that even at the present moment all things are being made new, they are in a process of renewal.

     In the book of Revelation the author elsewhere speaks of a “new song” (5:9), unfortunately so many years after Christ’s proclamation of a new commandment, in our cities, society and families we do not hear still the new song of love, rather we still hear the old song of guns, of hatred, violence and racism. However, in the midst of all these, let us not allow our faith and hope to tremble. This dream of Christ of a new thing on earth, which is love has already been realized on his Cross, but we are now called to continue its realization in our daily life. In presenting that ideal image of humanity and the Church, John must have known that it will not be realized fully on earth, the new heaven and new earth, rather it will be when God at the end of the human history will proclaim again: “it is fulfilled”. At the meantime, we are reminded that we live in an earthly city, where the wheat and the weed grow together, where the net of the fishermen gathers both the good and the bad fish, even those that are half good and half bad. This is the context and the situation in which the Christian community has to grow, expanding the tenth of love, in preparation of the coming of the heavenly Jerusalem here on earth.

     The first reading (Acts 14:21-27) presents this in a concrete way; it talks about the Christian community, who “through many tribulations” prepares herself to enter the kingdom of God. It is striking to see how courageous and audacious the apostles were in those early days of the Christian community, in preaching, organizing internally, praying, and living in communion in order to bring to the pagan world the wonderful novelty of Christ’s love.

      On the other hand, the passage narrates the first missionary experience of Paul and Barnabas, where they revisited the new communities already established by them. In this passage St. Luke reported the ordination of elders (presbyters) in verse 23, St Paul appointed presbyters, and as he appointed them he stretched out his hands over them. This is the laying on of hands we see when a priest is ordained. Paul left presbyters in every church he founded to ensure that the people receive the sacraments for the grace to love in this new way. However, the function and purpose of all these ministries is to keep the church on the already laid foundation of the Apostles. As narrated by the author, when the apostles returned to the Church in Antioch, they reported not what they have done or what they have been able to accomplish, rather what God has done with and through them. God in his merciful love opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, and not through the missionary strategy or the ingenuity of the apostles.

     Above all else, however, the new commandment of Christ is equivalent to the commandment of forming the Church as a community of love and reciprocal service. A true and authentic community, where the members pray together, know each other, and pardon each other. In the Eucharist, we encounter the source of that new love, “We love because he first loved us” (1Jn.4:19), and St. Paul invites us to “follow Christ by loving as he loved you, giving himself up for us as an offering and a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God” (Eph. 5:2). And above all, with the image of the grain of wheat that falls on the soil, we continue to nourish our hope and promise that one day, God will indeed make all things new!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)