Behold I Shall Make All Things New

05-19-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. Julius Kundi

Truly no one could have ever expected it to happen!!

People whom the Jewish people normally referred to as the dogs, the Gentiles, were listening to the preaching of Jewish missionaries and were flocking to become members of the New Way, the Way of Jesus Christ. So many people throughout the various lands were becoming Christians, that Paul and Barnabas had to establish Christian communities in these foreign lands.

Indeed it's extraordinary! The Gentiles were receiving the Word of God and responding. This was beyond comprehension as Paul and Barnabas reported all this to the Christian Community of Antioch. They were convinced that God had done this. He had called the Gentiles to himself. The world was being transformed. It’s all new!

Yes, the One who sits on the Throne said in the second reading from the Book of Revelations that “ The old order has passed away. There will be a new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem". A new world of loving as Jesus the Christ loves. In today’s Gospel He says, “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.”

Clearly, this is an invitation into a new relationship with God, and a new relationship with each other. But the question remains: is total love really possible in our world of today?

Remember there are always difficult situations where it is very demanding to love our neighbor as ourselves or even to love our neighbor in any way at all. In the face of Islamic extremism or any other form of terrorism, or in time of war, we are strongly tempted to dehumanize the enemy and regard them as no longer part of the human family, and so, unworthy of any kind of love or respect. But Jesus’ commandment to love, and his own example of forgiving those who crucified him, constantly call us to reconsider things and seek for reconciliation rather than total victory. Difficult as it may be, children of God must know that they can only love in this way by cooperating very generously with the grace of God. The power to do this is made possible by the New Covenant set up by Christ because, we have the living presence of the risen Jesus always with us to help us love in His way. It’s our love for others that keeps the great love of Jesus for people visible in our world today. An American journalist, watching Mother Teresa caring for a man with gangrene, remarked to her: ‘I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.’ Mother Teresa replied: ‘Neither would I… but I do it for love of God.’

Selfishness keeps us shut in, builds barriers, even walls, between us and others. What frees us is caring for others, being friends, being sisters and brothers to them, being good neighbors. We need the grace to do this and the world will be set ablaze again with the Fire of God's love.

Fr. Julius