Reading I Acts 14:21-27 After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” They appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith. Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now accomplished. And when they arrived, they called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13 R (cf. 1) I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God. or: R Alleluia. The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. R I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God. or: R Alleluia. Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD, and let your faithful ones bless you. Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might. R I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God. or: R Alleluia. Let them make known your might to the children of Adam, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is a kingdom for all ages, and your dominion endures through all generations. R I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God. or: R Alleluia.
Reading II Rev 21:1-5a Then I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.”
The One who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”
Alleluia Jn 13:34 R. Alleluia, alleluia. I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you. R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35 When Judas had left them, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and God will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV "Love is the root of all good, the foundation of all virtue." "Love is the means to reach God." "Conjugal love is a sacrament, a manifestation of God’s love." "Love is a duty, a commandment from God." "Love is the force that guides man to overcome difficulties."
ENCYCLICAL LETTER DEUS CARITAS EST OF BENEDICT XVI THE PRACTICE OF LOVE BY THE CHURCH AS A “COMMUNITY OF LOVE”
The Church's charitable activity as a manifestation of Trinitarian love
19. “If you see charity, you see the Trinity”, wrote Saint Augustine.[11] In the foregoing reflections, we have been able to focus our attention on the Pierced one (cf. Jn 19:37, Zech 12:10), recognizing the plan of the Father who, moved by love (cf. Jn 3:16), sent his only-begotten Son into the world to redeem man. By dying on the Cross—as Saint John tells us—Jesus “gave up his Spirit” (Jn 19:30), anticipating the gift of the Holy Spirit that he would make after his Resurrection (cf. Jn 20:22). This was to fulfil the promise of “rivers of living water” that would flow out of the hearts of believers, through the outpouring of the Spirit (cf. Jn 7:38-39). The Spirit, in fact, is that interior power which harmonizes their hearts with Christ's heart and moves them to love their brethren as Christ loved them, when he bent down to wash the feet of the disciples (cf. Jn 13:1-13) and above all when he gave his life for us (cf. Jn 13:1, 15:13)....
ENCYCLICAL LETTER DILEXIT NOS OF HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON THE HUMAN AND DIVINE LOVE OF THE HEART OF JESUS CHRIST 1. “HE LOVED US”, Saint Paul says of Christ (cf. Rom 8:37), in order to make us realize that nothing can ever “separate us” from that love (Rom 8:39). Paul could say this with certainty because Jesus himself had told his disciples, “I have loved you” (Jn 15:9, 12). Even now, the Lord says to us, “I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15). His open heart has gone before us and waits for us, unconditionally, asking only to offer us his love and friendship. For “he loved us first” (cf. 1 Jn 4:10). Because of Jesus, “we have come to know and believe in the love that God has for us” (1 Jn 4:16)....
POPE FRANCIS REGINA COELI 19 May 2019 Today’s Gospel takes us to the Upper Room to have us listen to some of the words that Jesus addressed to the disciples in the “farewell discourse” before his Passion. After washing the feet of the twelve [Apostles], he says to them: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (Jn 13:34). But in what sense does Jesus call this commandment “new”? Because we know that already in the Old Testament, God had ordered members of his people to love their neighbour as themselves (cf. Lev 19:18). To those who asked him which was the greatest commandment of the Law, Jesus himself would reply that the first was to love God with all your heart and the second, to love your neighbour as yourself (cf. Mt 22:38-39).
What then, is the novelty of this commandment that Jesus entrusts to his disciples? Why does he call it a “new commandment”? The old commandment of love became new because it was made complete with this addition: “as I have loved you”, “love one another as I have loved you”. The novelty lies wholly in Jesus Christ’s love, with which he gave his life for us. It is God’s universal love, without any conditions or limits, which reaches its culmination on the cross. In that moment of extreme abasement, and in that moment of abandonment to the Father, the Son of God showed and gave to the world the fullness of love. Thinking back to Christ’s passion and agony, the disciples understood the meaning of his words: “As I have loved you, so you too must love one another”.
Jesus loved us first. He loved us despite our frailties, our limitations and our human weaknesses. It was he who ensured we become worthy of his boundless and never-ending love. By giving us this new commandment, he asks us to love one another, not only and not so much with our love, but with his, which the Holy Spirit instills in our hearts if we invoke him with faith. In this way — and only in this way — can we love one another not only as we love ourselves but as he loved us, that is, infinitely more. Indeed, God loves us much more than we love ourselves. And thus, we can spread everywhere the seed of love that renews relationships between people and opens horizons of hope. Jesus always opens horizons of hope. His love opens horizons of hope. This love makes us become new men, brothers and sisters in the Lord, and makes us the new People of God, that is the Church, in which everyone is called to love Christ and to love one another in him.
The love that was manifested in Christ’s Cross and that he calls us to live is the only force that transforms our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh; the only force capable of transforming our heart is Jesus’ love, if we too love with this love. And this love makes us capable of loving our enemies and forgiving those who have offended us. I will ask you a question; each of you can respond in your heart. Am I capable of loving my enemies? We all have people — whether ‘enemies’ I do not know — but who do not get along with us, who are on “the other side”; or some have people who have hurt them.... Am I capable of loving those people, that man, that woman who hurt me, who offended me? Am I capable of forgiving them? Each of you can respond in your heart. Jesus’ love shows us the other as a present or future member of the community of Jesus’ friends. It spurs us to dialogue and helps us to listen to one another and to mutually get to know each other. Love opens up toward the other, becoming the foundation of human relationships. It renders us capable of overcoming the barriers of our own weaknesses and prejudices. Jesus’ love within us creates bridges, teaches new paths, triggers the dynamism of fraternity. With her maternal intercession, may the Virgin Mary help us to receive from her son Jesus the gift of his commandment, and from the Holy Spirit, the strength to put it into practice in everyday life.
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Reading I
RispondiEliminaActs 14:21-27
After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news
to that city
and made a considerable number of disciples,
they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.
They strengthened the spirits of the disciples
and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,
“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the kingdom of God.”
They appointed elders for them in each church and,
with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord
in whom they had put their faith.
Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.
After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.
From there they sailed to Antioch,
where they had been commended to the grace of God
for the work they had now accomplished.
And when they arrived, they called the church together
and reported what God had done with them
and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13
R (cf. 1) I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R Alleluia.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R Alleluia.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.
R I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R Alleluia.
Let them make known your might to the children of Adam,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is a kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R Alleluia.
Reading II
Rev 21:1-5a
Then I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth.
The former heaven and the former earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more.
I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race.
He will dwell with them and they will be his people
and God himself will always be with them as their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain,
for the old order has passed away.”
The One who sat on the throne said,
“Behold, I make all things new.”
Alleluia
Jn 13:34
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment, says the Lord:
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35
When Judas had left them, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him,
God will also glorify him in himself,
and God will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV
Elimina"Love is the root of all good, the foundation of all virtue."
"Love is the means to reach God."
"Conjugal love is a sacrament, a manifestation of God’s love."
"Love is a duty, a commandment from God."
"Love is the force that guides man to overcome difficulties."
ENCYCLICAL LETTER
EliminaDEUS CARITAS EST
OF BENEDICT XVI
THE PRACTICE OF LOVE
BY THE CHURCH
AS A “COMMUNITY OF LOVE”
The Church's charitable activity as a manifestation of Trinitarian love
19. “If you see charity, you see the Trinity”, wrote Saint Augustine.[11] In the foregoing reflections, we have been able to focus our attention on the Pierced one (cf. Jn 19:37, Zech 12:10), recognizing the plan of the Father who, moved by love (cf. Jn 3:16), sent his only-begotten Son into the world to redeem man. By dying on the Cross—as Saint John tells us—Jesus “gave up his Spirit” (Jn 19:30), anticipating the gift of the Holy Spirit that he would make after his Resurrection (cf. Jn 20:22). This was to fulfil the promise of “rivers of living water” that would flow out of the hearts of believers, through the outpouring of the Spirit (cf. Jn 7:38-39). The Spirit, in fact, is that interior power which harmonizes their hearts with Christ's heart and moves them to love their brethren as Christ loved them, when he bent down to wash the feet of the disciples (cf. Jn 13:1-13) and above all when he gave his life for us (cf. Jn 13:1, 15:13)....
ENCYCLICAL LETTER
EliminaDILEXIT NOS
OF HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
ON THE HUMAN AND DIVINE LOVE
OF THE HEART OF JESUS CHRIST
1. “HE LOVED US”, Saint Paul says of Christ (cf. Rom 8:37), in order to make us realize that nothing can ever “separate us” from that love (Rom 8:39). Paul could say this with certainty because Jesus himself had told his disciples, “I have loved you” (Jn 15:9, 12). Even now, the Lord says to us, “I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15). His open heart has gone before us and waits for us, unconditionally, asking only to offer us his love and friendship. For “he loved us first” (cf. 1 Jn 4:10). Because of Jesus, “we have come to know and believe in the love that God has for us” (1 Jn 4:16)....
POPE FRANCIS
RispondiEliminaREGINA COELI
19 May 2019
Today’s Gospel takes us to the Upper Room to have us listen to some of the words that Jesus addressed to the disciples in the “farewell discourse” before his Passion. After washing the feet of the twelve [Apostles], he says to them: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (Jn 13:34). But in what sense does Jesus call this commandment “new”? Because we know that already in the Old Testament, God had ordered members of his people to love their neighbour as themselves (cf. Lev 19:18). To those who asked him which was the greatest commandment of the Law, Jesus himself would reply that the first was to love God with all your heart and the second, to love your neighbour as yourself (cf. Mt 22:38-39).
What then, is the novelty of this commandment that Jesus entrusts to his disciples? Why does he call it a “new commandment”? The old commandment of love became new because it was made complete with this addition: “as I have loved you”, “love one another as I have loved you”. The novelty lies wholly in Jesus Christ’s love, with which he gave his life for us. It is God’s universal love, without any conditions or limits, which reaches its culmination on the cross. In that moment of extreme abasement, and in that moment of abandonment to the Father, the Son of God showed and gave to the world the fullness of love. Thinking back to Christ’s passion and agony, the disciples understood the meaning of his words: “As I have loved you, so you too must love one another”.
Jesus loved us first. He loved us despite our frailties, our limitations and our human weaknesses. It was he who ensured we become worthy of his boundless and never-ending love. By giving us this new commandment, he asks us to love one another, not only and not so much with our love, but with his, which the Holy Spirit instills in our hearts if we invoke him with faith. In this way — and only in this way — can we love one another not only as we love ourselves but as he loved us, that is, infinitely more. Indeed, God loves us much more than we love ourselves. And thus, we can spread everywhere the seed of love that renews relationships between people and opens horizons of hope. Jesus always opens horizons of hope. His love opens horizons of hope. This love makes us become new men, brothers and sisters in the Lord, and makes us the new People of God, that is the Church, in which everyone is called to love Christ and to love one another in him.
The love that was manifested in Christ’s Cross and that he calls us to live is the only force that transforms our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh; the only force capable of transforming our heart is Jesus’ love, if we too love with this love. And this love makes us capable of loving our enemies and forgiving those who have offended us. I will ask you a question; each of you can respond in your heart. Am I capable of loving my enemies? We all have people — whether ‘enemies’ I do not know — but who do not get along with us, who are on “the other side”; or some have people who have hurt them.... Am I capable of loving those people, that man, that woman who hurt me, who offended me? Am I capable of forgiving them? Each of you can respond in your heart. Jesus’ love shows us the other as a present or future member of the community of Jesus’ friends. It spurs us to dialogue and helps us to listen to one another and to mutually get to know each other. Love opens up toward the other, becoming the foundation of human relationships. It renders us capable of overcoming the barriers of our own weaknesses and prejudices. Jesus’ love within us creates bridges, teaches new paths, triggers the dynamism of fraternity. With her maternal intercession, may the Virgin Mary help us to receive from her son Jesus the gift of his commandment, and from the Holy Spirit, the strength to put it into practice in everyday life.