Sixth Sunday of Easter

Sixth Sunday of Easter
Oblate James Holzhauer-Chuckas, ObSB
Executive Director

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

This Sunday's Gospel makes it simple for us. Jesus gave us two Great Commandments: to love God and love one another. In His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus showed us the love of God. How do we repay God for the immense gift given to us? Simple. We love God by loving one another. We love God when we pray for one another, when we serve one another, when we accompany one another, and return all of the ways God loves us to others. 

Unfortunately, you don't have to look far to see the hate that exists around us. The things that are not of God: war, cancel and throwaway culture, racism, sexist, hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community, and more. Is any of that how God shows us love? Is any of that what Jesus sacrificed Himself for? If you even have to think about it, you need to think about why your answer isn't "of course not." 

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.

In this Gospel, Jesus reminds His followers that He calls them friends. He reminds us how important it is to be willing to die for one another. As extreme as this may seem and is, it is part of our call. Are we willing to follow Jesus and give of ourselves to the extent He was willing to give of Himself, which was His own life? It is powerful. How much are we willing to give of ourselves for not only our friends, but for all? 

As we begin to think about the close of another Easter Season, what have we learned? What will we hold on to that will help send us forth at Pentecost? I think starting with realizing the immense love of Jesus and how we are called to live in that love is a good start. If we remain in Him, we remain in His love and are intended to show that love to others.