Gospel: May 18, 2025
May 18, 2025 (Sunday)
5th Sunday of Easter
Psalter: Week 1 / (White)
Ps 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13
I will praise your name forever, my king and my God.
1st Reading: Acts 14:21-27
After proclaiming the gospel in that town and making many disciples, they returned to Lystra and Iconium, and on to Antioch. They were strengthening the disciples, and encouraging them to remain firm in the faith; for they said, “We must go through many trials to enter the kingdom of God.” In each church they appointed elders and, after praying and fasting, they commended them to the Lord, in whom they had placed their faith. Then they traveled through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. They preached the word in Perga and went down to Attalia. From there, they sailed back to Antioch, where they had first been commended to God’s grace, for the task they had now completed. On their arrival, they gathered the Church together, and told them all that God had done through them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the non-Jews.
2nd Reading: Revelation 21:1-5a
Then, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and no longer was there any sea. I saw the new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God, out of heaven, adorned as a bride prepared for her husband. A loud voice came from the throne, “Here is the dwelling of God among mortals: He will pitch his tent among them, and they will be his people; he will be God-with-them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the world that was, has passed away.” The One seated on the throne said, “See, I make all things new.”
Gospel: John 13:31-33a, 34-35
When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. God will glorify him, and he will glorify him very soon. My children, I am with you for only a little while; you will look for me, but as I already told the Jews, now I tell you: where I am going you cannot come. I give you a new commandment: 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.”
Lectio Divina:
“God is love.”
Read: While Acts describes the trials undergone for the spread of the Kingdom, John foretells the fulfillment of the renewal of all things in Christ, when pain and suffering are things of the past. In the Gospel, Christ gives his disciples the new commandment of love, which imitates his own self-sacrificing love.
Reflect: Christ gives us a new commandment. We, as his disciples, are to imitate him in his love, a love that gives of itself for others. This love also becomes the means of communicating that we belong to Christ: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Saint Joseph Freinademetz, a Divine Word Missionary who worked tirelessly in China, said that “the only language understood by people everywhere is the language of love.” Love must be the starting point of every missionary endeavor, since it is understood and appreciated by people everywhere. And since God is love, it is a communication of the divine, even in the simplest of gestures.
Pray: Reflect upon your commitment to working for God’s Kingdom. Think of the challenges that you face in mission, pray for a loving heart, and meditate with hope on God’s triumph over suffering.
Act: Be a source of encouragement for others in your parish, like the early disciples.
