Texts taken from the missal “On Your Word” May-June 2025
Fifth Sunday of Easter (C)
1st week, optional
FIRST READING
From the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 14:21b-27)
In those days, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and exhorting them to remain steadfast in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations.” They appointed elders for them in each Church and, after praying and fasting, entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed. Then, having crossed Pisidia, they reached Pamphylia and, after proclaiming the Word at Perga, went down to Attalia; from there they sailed for Antioch, where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work they had accomplished. When they arrived, they gathered the Church and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. - The Word of the Lord.
Commentary on the First Reading
After their first apostolic journey through the regions of present-day Turkey, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch, from where they had set out, and gave their report to the members of that Church. They were enthusiastic because everywhere they had set foot, the Gospel had been welcomed and the first Christian communities had been established. And to think that the two had set out without any means, rich only in their faith and hope in God. The one who builds up the Church is the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit needs courageous people who are fully available. Notice that Paul and Barnabas did not hide the difficulties: they had warned the first Christians that there would be tribulations. This is a principle taught and often repeated by the Lord Jesus as well: many times he had said that to enter the Kingdom one must pass through the narrow gate. Minimizing trials and sufferings is a mistake: people must know that being Christians means fighting against the forces of evil and preparing to overcome evil with good. The Spirit does not spare us trials: he enables us to overcome them through the divine power of the risen Christ.
SECOND READING
From the Book of Revelation of Saint John the Apostle (Rev 21:1-5a)
I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her bridegroom. Then I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, God’s dwelling is with humanity! He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples, and he will be their God, their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.” And the One seated on the throne said: “Behold, I make all things new.” – The word of God.
Commentary on the second reading
We must look to the life of Heaven to console ourselves and live through the sorrows of the present more peacefully. In Revelation, we are told that eternal life has both a communal and a personal dimension. Communal because it is a city: the new Jerusalem. The city is full of streets, buildings, shops, schools, public parks, and people moving about and interacting. We will be together in a different way, but we will be together. Moreover, this city is like a bride adorned for her bridegroom, and the bride is a single person. This means that the identity of the one who will be in Heaven will not be that of being one of many, a number, but of being like the one and only for Christ. If Jesus is the Bridegroom and I am the bride-soul, what great happiness and dignity it is to know that my God draws near to me to marry me! Both dimensions give us great consolation. Moreover, we know that there will be no memory of past evil, and there will be no more weeping or tears, because everything will be renewed. There is continuity between the present life and the life to come, because life is one, but all the evil we have done and witnessed will be no more.
GOSPEL
From the Gospel according to John (Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35)
When Judas had left [the upper room], Jesus said: “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. My little children, I am with you only a little longer. I give you a new commandment: that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you have love for one another.” – The Word of the Lord.
Commentary on the Gospel
Judas Iscariot gets up and leaves, hurrying to prepare his betrayal and the Lord’s arrest by the Sanhedrin. At that very moment, Jesus speaks of the “glory” that is about to come and of the love that must distinguish his disciples. The context is dramatic, but Jesus does not dwell on sad or painful thoughts: he knows that the betrayal, the arrest, and the death are ordained so that divine love may triumph. He suffers, but at the same time he tells us the price of this highest redemption: love. There is no joking with God: he died immersed in pain and rose again to give us his Spirit, and by loving one another, we do nothing less than make God live among us. Being Christians does not therefore mean getting by more or less well, loving those close to us as best we can, but entering into Christ’s death and rising with him to new life. And the new life is brotherly love. Yes, the true Christian community is made up of people who love one another, serve one another, and sacrifice themselves for each other’s good. There, God certainly lives and works. Only a community like this attracts souls and convinces them that living for others is always the most beautiful thing we can do.
