(The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde during the Baccalaureate Mass at Marymount University in Arlington on Saturday, May 8, 2004 for the Vigil Mass for the fifth Sunday of Easter.)
What is it that makes the Christian message timeless yet relevant in every generation? Its newness and fresh vitality! Indeed, at the end of today's second reading from the Book of Revelations, the Lord affirms this: “'Behold, I make all things new.'”
Newness freshens: this is what Christian living is all about: a new relationship between God and human beings; new relationships among the members of Christ's body, the Community of His disciples; a new purpose to life itself; and a new strength rooted in God's life within us, divine grace, which reaches its fullness beyond the grave.
This image of newness is confirmed by the world of nature; it is springtime " the season of new beginnings. This image of newness is confirmed also by the liturgical season of Easter; the Risen Christ is the very cause and source of newness. As one of the Easter Prefaces proclaims: “In Him a new age has dawned, the long reign of sin is ended, a broken world has been renewed and man is once again made whole” (cf. Easter Preface IV).
Yes, the newness and freshness of the Christian message finds its source in the Risen Lord Jesus and its clearest expression in the new commandment which Jesus gives us. “I give you a new commandment: love one another.” The command to love one another is not new to Christianity because it is found in the Jewish faith and in eastern religion. What is new is loving one another in the same way as Jesus loves us. “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” There is newness and freshness in our lives and relationships only when we love one another in the same way as Jesus loves us.
So if the way Christ loves us is the measure our criterion for our love of one another, then we must consider how Christ loves us. “Jesus loves us just as we are, in spite of our faults, our dull minds and our stubborn wills; he loves us in spite of our sins "” (cf. Magnficat, May 2004, p. 125). The movie The Passion of the Christ depicts vividly and unequivocally how much Jesus loves " faithfully, unconditionally, without end. All our love for one another must constantly seek to imitate Christ's; we must never give up trying to forgive, to reconcile, to reach out, to show kindness and mercy again and again and again.
Obviously, it would be impossible for us to love in this way completely on our own. However, the Lord does not ask us to love on our own; He gives us His transforming power to love the way He loves us if only we invite Him into our lives and ask Him to send us the Holy Spirit who will empower us to love with the love of Jesus Himself. “Without me, you can do nothing” Jesus reminds us, and St. Paul affirms that “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.”
Dear members of the Class of 2004, your education and formation here at Marymount University have equipped you to make the decided difference in our society. Whether in the smaller circle of the family or the workplace, or in the wider circle of the community, in the arenas of persuasion, influence and decision-making, yours is the privilege and the challenge to bring the light of Christ's truth and the fire of His love. In your relationships and interactions, love others the way Christ loves us. Christ's love is life-giving precisely because it is rooted in the truth, and when you live the truth and love like Jesus, you will be life-giving. Witness to the Christian message, which is forever new and fresh, Saint Augustine puts this so well: “This is the kind of love that renews us. When we love as [Jesus] loved us, we become new [people], heirs of the new covenant and singers of the new song.”
