This Sunday’s Scripture readings are about renewal and new things: “the New Jerusalem,” “a new Heaven and a new earth,” and “a new commandment.”
The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles (14, 21-27), describes how the early Christian communities helped the work of renewal in their members by their selfless love, imitating the love of St. Paul and St. Barnabas. The second reading, from the Book of Revelation (21, 1-5), explains how God renews His Church, the New Jerusalem, by being present in her members, in our parish communities, and in our liturgical celebrations: “See, I am making all things new.”
Today’s Gospel passage (John 13, 31-35) gives us the secret of Christian renewal as the faithful practice of Jesus’ new commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus has added a new element to the Old Testament command of love by teaching us that the true test of discipleship is to love other people in the same way that He has loved us, with sacrificial, selfless, unconditional love. Hence, the renewal of Christian life means a radical change of vision and a reordering of our priorities in life. Such a renewal brings us to embrace new attitudes, new values, and new standards of relating to God, to other people and, indeed, to our whole environment.
Among the countless stories told about as St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa, 1910-1997) and her Missionaries of Charity, this one is fitting for this Sunday. Mother and her sisters were tending to the poorest of the poor on the streets of Calcutta, as was their daily custom. They happened upon a man lying in the gutter, very near death. He was filthy, dressed in little more than a rag, and flies swarmed around his body. Immediately, Mother Teresa embraced him, spoke to him softly, and tended to his wounds. A passerby was repulsed by the sight of the man and exclaimed to Mother Teresa, “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.” Her response was immediate, “Neither would I!” Obviously, monetary gain did not motivate the Saint of Calcutta – love did. What motivates us?
