May 18th, 2025: Fifth Easter Sunday Homily

One Sunday, a priest was finishing up a series on marriage. At the end of the service, he handed out small wooden crosses to each married couple. He said, “Place this cross in the room where you fight the most, and you will be reminded of Jesus’ new commandment—and you won’t argue as much.” One woman came up after the service and said, “You’d better give me five crosses.”

Christian charity and living out the new commandment of love means going beyond ourselves—stepping out of our own circles to share the love of Jesus. When I argue, I don’t want to step outside my own circle, my own space, or my comfort zone. I restrict myself and my relationships when I want to win an argument. Today’s readings challenge us to move beyond those comfort zones—to reach out with the love of Jesus to the needy, the vulnerable, and the brokenhearted in our communities.

Jesus says in today’s Gospel: “Love one another as I have loved you.” What did Jesus mean by “love”? And how did Jesus love people? If we can answer these questions, and the better we understand Jesus’ love, the more we will know what true love is all about.

We need only look at how Jesus accepted and respected people, regardless of their position in the community—whether the person was:

a learned scholar and Pharisee like Nicodemus,

a foreigner and outcast like the Samaritan woman at the well,

a cheat and a traitor like Zacchaeus,

a disfigured and socially rejected leper, or

someone possessed by demons, behaving wildly and dangerously.

It made no difference to Jesus what kind of background the person had—each one was still a person who should not be put down, looked down upon, or ignored. Each was a unique and precious child of God. No matter their condition or sin, they were of immeasurable value to their Creator and were loved and respected by Jesus.

St. Paul emphasizes this in his letter to the Philippians: “Sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind… the attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had” (Phil 2:3,5).

Throughout the New Testament, we find many examples of what it means to love as Christ has loved us—what it means to have the same attitude or the same mind as Christ:

Let love make you serve one another (Gal 5:13)

Accept one another as Christ has accepted you (Rom 15:7)

Carry one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2)

Be tolerant of one another (Eph 4:2)

Forgive one another (Eph 4:32)

Encourage one another (1 Thess 4:18)

Do good to one another and to all people (1 Thess 5:15)

Be at peace with one another (1 Thess 5:13)

Pray for one another (James 5:16)

Show respect for one another (Rom 12:10)

As you can see, the Bible describes love not just as a feeling, but as action.

Often, these actions are the result of a choice—a decision of the will—because if we relied only on feelings, we might not act at all.

So how do we love one another as Christ has loved us? The answer is: we empty ourselves on behalf of others.

One powerful example is Dr. Rebecca Dali, a Nigerian woman who founded an organization to care for people who have become refugees or are internally displaced due to the violence of Boko Haram. Her foundation, the Centre for Caring, Empowerment, and Peace Initiatives, provides food, clothing, supplies, shelter, and vocational training to people who have lost everything—including spouses and children. Her ministry has touched thousands of lives.

What struck me most about Dr. Rebecca’s story was her own suffering. She herself had been a victim of rape and kidnapping. Yet, out of her pain and devastation, she chose to create something that would help others. Her own healing has been made possible, in part, through helping others heal from similar wounds.

Brothers and sisters, each of us has experienced pain and loss in our lives. We’ve had to come to terms with sorrow, heartbreak, illness, rejection, and death—with the loss of dreams of what we or our loved ones might have become. When I look at Jesus—his willingness to suffer and die, to give utterly of himself on behalf of all humanity—I hear him calling us to do the same: to go to those places of hurt and loss and heartbreak, and out of them offer a way for others to be healed and made whole. And in doing so, we ourselves are promised healing and wholeness.

When Jesus calls us to love one another as he has loved us, I believe this is what he means. Will you have the courage to say “yes” to his call? To let the tender and broken places in your heart become sources of healing for others? You may not see yourself as a healer—but if there is something in you that has been hurt or broken, in that very place lies the potential for healing, if you allow God to use you to bless another.

Jesus said the world will know we are his disciples if we love one another—not just in word, but in action. When we allow God’s healing to flow not only to us, but through us, then God is glorified—revealed in fullness—even in our brokenness.

Let us allow ourselves to love and be loved.

Amen.