5th Sunday of Easter
Opening Prayer (Roman Rite, Novus Ordo)
God our Father, look uponn us with love. You redeem us and make us your children in Christ. Give us true freedom and bring us to the inheritance you promised.
Reflection
Love is an indefinite thing to most of us; we don’t know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the loftiest preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that this sovereign preference be for Himself (see Luke 14:26 ). Initially, when "the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit" ( Romans 5:5 ), it is easy to put Jesus first. But then we must practice the things mentioned in 2 Peter 1 to see them worked out in our lives.
The first thing God does is forcibly remove any insincerity, pride, and vanity from my life. And the Holy Spirit reveals to me that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. Now He commands me to show the same love to others by saying, ". . . love one another as I have loved you" ( John 15:12 ). He is saying, "I will bring a number of people around you whom you cannot respect, but you must exhibit My love to them, just as I have exhibited it to you." This kind of love is not a patronizing love for the unlovable— it is His love, and it will not be evidenced in us overnight. Some of us may have tried to force it, but we were soon tired and frustrated.
"The Lord . . . is longsuffering toward us, not
willing that any should perish . . ." ( 2 Peter
3:9 ). I should look within and remember how wonderfully He has
dealt with me. The knowledge that God has loved me beyond all limits
will compel me to go into the world to love others in the same way. I
may get irritated because I have to live with an unusually difficult
person. But just think how disagreeable I have been with God! Am I
prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life
and His sweetness will be continually poured out through Me? Neither
natural love nor God’s divine love will remain and grow in me unless it
is nurtured. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained through
discipline. - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
Possible Themes
Perseverance
Quotes
Jesus said love one another. He didn't say love the whole world. - Mother Teresa
We are not primarily put on this earth to see through one another, but to see one another through. - Peter De Vries
Study and Exegesis
Extensive Commentaries with Text
The Life of Christ, Fulton J Sheen - Google Books
Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible - Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Google Books
The Acts of the Apostles, Volume 1 - Page 10 by Jean Calvin, John W. Fraser
The Gospel of John by Francis J. Moloney, Daniel J. Harrington