May 18, 2025
V Sunday of Easter C
Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35
As Jesus fulfills His mission and returns to the Father, what remains of Him on this earth? What plant will grow from the seed He planted there?
Who will continue His mission, who makes visible the Kingdom He inaugurated?
We listen to today's Gospel (Jn 13:31-33a,34-35) to try and answer these questions.
We are in chapter 13 of the Gospel of John, the chapter that, after the section on signs, tells of the fulfillment of the Father's work of love for humanity—the gift of the Son.
Up to this point, Jesus has performed various signs, as the Synoptic Gospels also recounts: He has healed the sick, cast out demons, multiplied loaves, raised the dead. Not only that. He also told parables, he brought God's mercy to all, he opened the doors of the Kingdom, he had a good word for everyone.
Up to this point, Jesus has performed various signs, as the synoptic Gospels also tell us: he has healed the sick, cast out demons, multiplied loaves, raised the dead. Not only that. He also told parables, he brought God's mercy to all, he opened the doors of the Kingdom, he had a good word for everyone.
Jesus did all this so that those who encountered Him could recognize that God had drawn near, that the Kingdom was there, in their midst. By seeing his works, hearing his words, people could finally rejoice because the Kingdom of God had come.
Watching him act, people remembered the great announcements of the prophets, the great promises of God, the gift of His covenant with all humanity. The ancient promises are now fulfilled in Him.
It is not Jesus who proclaims Himself the Messiah, but His works and His words that bear witness to Him.
Well, the same is true for the Church: it is not she who can declare herself the new people of God, the people of the new covenant, but it is others who can, eventually, recognize her as such.
But how can this happen? For what reason should someone, looking at the Church, glimpse in her the features of the Risen One?
Not by her power, not by her size, not by her resources.
Not by great signs, not by the number of the faithful, not by the beauty of its churches....
But ‘This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’. (John 13:35).
Through this, the Church can be recognized as the Body of Christ, by the love that is exchanged among her members.
Only by this can she be recognized.
Let us dwell briefly on these words of Jesus.
Jesus first of all says that everyone will know.
The language of love is a language that everyone can understand.
It is not like a philosophy treaty, or a subtle doctrine that requires a brilliant mind, and rigorous training, reserved for a few.
Everyone can love, and everyone can perceive where love is present, and where it is not.
The Church's witness is a testimony meant to speak to all, and to speak with all.
Jesus also says that the disciples are called to have love for one another.
This expression—for one another—has already resounded at the beginning of chapter 13, after Jesus has washed the feet of His disciples. He immediately clarifies that just as He has done, so must they do: they must wash one another’s feet (John 13:14).
In both cases, Jesus affirms something important: before washing one another’s feet, before loving one another, the disciples must recognize that Jesus Himself has already done this for them and with them. He is the one who loves first, who sets the example (John 13:15)—that is, who shows with His life what it truly means to love.
Only then, if we let ourselves be loved by Him, then we too can do as He did, we can love with His own love, that which He first communicated to us.
And only then will everyone recognize that we are His disciples: in the humble and simple gestures of Jesus’ disciples, all will be able to see again the same gestures of the Lord, His same compassion for every woman and every man on this earth.
+ Pizzaballa
*Translated by the Media Office of the Latin Patriarchate
