Scripture Reflections for Fifth Sunday of Easter

“why we should be concerned about the environment is based on today’s second reading from the book of Revelation...the mystery concerning the end of time and the general resurrection, means that we will see the physical world somehow again, in the new creation”

“He commands his disciples to love each other. We don’t choose who becomes a disciple. The Lord chooses them.”

“All human beings are related to God as creatures that are made in God’s own image. In Jesus Christ, however, the whole of the human race is represented in our relationship to God. There is a unity between humanity and divinity in the person of Jesus Christ which is unique, and which allows us to call God ‘Our Father’.”

“Under the humble appearance of loving service to our brothers and sisters each day is the way of glory. The letting go of the selfish ego to embrace God and neighbour is the way of true freedom and transfiguration”

“love is more than a commandment — it is a gift and it points to the gift of Jesus to the world by his Father”

“in commanding the disciples to love one another as he had loved them, Jesus was saying that they should love because he had loved them. Christians are capable of this rather astonishing kind of love because they have first received it from Christ himself.”

“The love in the eyes of the parishioners for their pastors was inspiring...And the love of the pastors for the people was evident in the long hours spent in service without losing their smiles or fervor for their work.”

“When we take up efforts for evangelization, we tend to think of strategies for outreach, of door-to-door canvassing, rallies, crusades, passing out brochures, parish missions...but more fundamental is whether the local Christian community actually demonstrates love for each other.”

“Today is a Sunday to vision, to dream, and to wonder: what if we loved one another as Jesus has loved us?”

“This little girl loved her bully enough to know that what she needed was Jesus in her heart”

“What a terrible feeling it must be to feel unloved and abandoned at a time when you are sick and in great need of love and care”

“Vast interconnectedness and relationships are continually being opened for us. How open are we to these dawnings? What do we need to understand, to embrace, to let go of?”

“His death is his glorification, the manifestation of his perfect unity with the Father, the Creator and King of the universe. And at the same time his death is an act of service, an act indeed of that perfect service and self-giving that we call love.”

“Sacrifice to God is an acted-out prayer by which humans render themselves a holy and acceptable gift to him. It expresses love and obedience as we surrender, pass over to the divine will.”