LOVE ONE ANOTHER

V SUNDAY OF EASTER - Acts 14:21-27/ John 13:31-33, 34-35 Apocalypse 21:1-5

In the first reading, Paul and Barnabas returned to the communities they had evangelised, and they appointed elders in each one of them. We see in action the process of establishing and building up the Church, thus guaranteeing continuity.

Paul and Barnabas were sent on a mission of evangelisation by the Church of Antioch, and they kept their ties with the community which sent them. “On their arrival they assembled the church and gave an account of all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the pagans.”

The building of the Church implies perseverance in the faith, which is not an easy task, since we go through many hardships. That’s why Paul and Barnabas “commended them (the elders) to the Lord”. They will need God’s grace and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This first great mission establishes a pattern for future missions. In the name of the Church, preachers will be sent to announce the Good News in foreign lands, where the Church will deepen her roots and become a local Church with her leaders. After being evangelised, she will become an evangeliser. In this evangelisation work, the missionaries are guided by faith and strengthened by hope. The risen Christ will bring about a new world, where God will be all in all (Ep 1:23). In one of his visions, John “saw a new heaven and a new earth”. 

In this new world, “God lives among men. He will make his home among them; they shall be his people, and he will be their God; his name is God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.” In the new world, we will be filled with God’s love, a love that we must live and experience while in this world. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we must love one another, putting into practice the new commandment:

“I give you a new commandment:

love one another;

just as I have loved you,

you also must love one another.”