Weekly Scripture Reflections
May 9, 2007-Easter 5
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Cycle C
Readings: Acts 14:21-27; Ps 145:8-13; Rev 21:1-5a; John
13:31-33a, 34-35
What’s new?
We seem to tire so easily of the ordinary in life. Many of us are constantly
looking for something new, something exciting. We want to be entertained by life
and to have the latest of everything. We are often taken in by the
advertisements that insist: ‘This is REALLY NEW, and you can’t live without
it!’
The readings for today make precisely this claim: ‘This is REALLY NEW, and
you can’t live without it!’ However, the biblical authors are not talking about
something that is merely new and improved today, but will probably be replaced
tomorrow. When they speak of “a new heaven and a new earth,” “a new Jerusalem,”
or “a new commandment,” they are referring to eschatological reality.
The reading from Revelation sets the context for our reflections. The vision
found there is rich in symbolic language. The new heaven and new earth represent
all of reality. Within it we find the new Jerusalem, the people personified as a
bride. Marital imagery characterizes the loving union between God and the
people. The scene is really a vision of the new age of eschatological
fulfillment inaugurated by the death and resurrection of Jesus. When he burst
forth from the grave, he completely altered the powers of both heaven and earth.
In the gospel reading, Jesus instructs his disciples to “love one another.”
Here he speaks of a love that requires total commitment and trust. It is the
kind of love with which God loves us, a love that should be the model of the
love we have for others. When we examine the demands of this love, we realize
just how revolutionary it is and what a change in attitude it requires.
The
new kind of love that Jesus holds out to us might require us to open doors that
we have closed against others, to respond to appeals that cry out for our help,
to forgive oversights or mistakes of others. This love opens our eyes to facts
that we might otherwise overlook, such as the realization that the poor in the
world belong to our family; that those who live in despair might be saved by our
care of them; that peace can come to the world through our efforts.
John’s vision of the new heaven and the new earth is in the future only
because we have failed to live it in our present. We have entered the age of
fulfillment. If we expect it to be Pollyanna Ville, we are badly mistaken.
However, it is within our power to fashion a world, a country, a neighborhood,
and a family where there is genuine love for one another and sincere concern for
the well being of all.
Shortly after the Second Vatican Council banners appeared with the message: “We are Easter people!” The slogan may not have had a wide appeal, but the challenge that it implies continues to be true. Indeed, we are Easter people. We have been raised with Jesus from the dead, and now no power on earth can really conquer us. What is holding us back from transforming the world?
© 2007 Catholic Theological Union