In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke recounts the concluding moments of Paul and Barnabas’s first missionary journey. After evangelizing Derbe, they retraced their steps, revisiting cities where they had faced significant trials.
Newsroom (18/05/2025 22:13, Gaudium Press) The liturgy readings for this Fifth Sunday of Easter present the link between love of God and love of neighbour, which is manifested through the acceptance of suffering.
One cannot enter the Kingdom of God without suffering
In the reading from Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke recounts the final moments of the apostles Paul and Barnabas’s first missionary journey. After evangelizing the city of Derbe, they took the road back, revisiting the places they had passed through.
It was not without purpose that the Apostles insisted on the role of suffering with these disciples, since they had witnessed with their own eyes the sufferings endured by those sent by God in their cities: in Antioch, the rejection of the preaching of the Good News practically expelled the two Apostles, forcing them to shake the dust off their feet against their opponents; in Iconium, both were forced to flee in order not to be stoned; in Lystra, Jews from the other two cities stoned St. Paul to the point of giving him up for dead.
However, in none of these circumstances did the Apostles show the slightest sign of discouragement. On the contrary, with each new affliction, their hearts beat faster, and they were overjoyed to find themselves worthy of suffering for the love of Jesus.
Armed with the power of example, the two Apostles urged their disciples to follow in their footsteps.
God will wipe away the tears of faithful servants.
In the Book of Revelation, St. John the Evangelist sees the heavenly Jerusalem descending from God and presenting herself dressed as an adorned wife to her husband (Rev 21:2).
The image described by the beloved disciple is a reflection of the Church’s marriage bond with our Lord, for just as a wife should not adorn herself to please anyone but her husband, so the Mystical Bride of Christ adorns herself to please Jesus.
How does the Church please her Bridegroom?
Just look at the example given by the Apostles in the first reading. As living stones of the Church, they did not back down in the face of persecution, nor did they refuse to fulfill the mission entrusted to them by the Holy Spirit.
When we say that God will dwell “among men”, we shouldn’t mean “together with all men”. In fact, in the previous verses, St. John describes the scene of the second death, in which those who did not have their names written in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire. So the blessed ones to whom the author refers are those who have gone through the sufferings of the struggle against Satan’s followers and have not allowed themselves to be seduced by his allurements.
For these, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes”. Who could imagine a greater prize? The creature is being consoled by the Creator! Yes, after having suffered for love of God, they will enjoy immense joy.
The hallmark of a follower of Jesus
In the Gospel, the same Apostle recounts the last moments of the life of the Man-God before his passion. When the betrayer left the upper room, Jesus said that the hour had come when he would be glorified.
At this climactic moment, when the Redeemer was saying goodbye to his closest friends in preparation for his ascent to Calvary, Jesus concentrated his teaching and summed it up by saying:
In the past, Jesus had responded to a Pharisee, saying, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt 22:39). But here he gives it a new twist.
To those who lived close to him and were able to contemplate his gestures and way of being, Jesus invites them to the perfection of loving their neighbor, not simply by loving them as themselves, but by pointing out the new way of loving them, that is, “as I have loved you”.
This, after all, is the distinguishing mark of a disciple of Jesus.
He could say that the Apostles would be recognized by the miracles and signs they worked. But no! The divine Master wanted to emphasize the role of the example of life that they should give to the world, and nothing makes life more exemplary than love.
To love is to suffer for your neighbour with joy.
There is a close link between love of neighbour and suffering, and this is the point of convergence of the readings in today’s liturgy, because human coexistence is also a cross.
How often are we wounded by an aggressive word or a gesture of ingratitude, by contempt or rejection from someone we love? And it’s also true that the closer the relationship, the deeper the open wound.
It is worth mentioning the example of St. Monica, a mother who drank the cup of bitterness given to her by her son. It’s hard to imagine a more poignant scene than seeing a son sift his mother’s heart with grief.
However, the tears she shed for the conversion of the young Augustine were not in vain. She saw her son rise from the abyss of sin, receive baptism, and become a minister of the Lord. And if today we are fortunate enough to have a spiritual son of St. Augustine sitting on the throne of St. Peter, it is because one day there was someone who knew how to suffer for his neighbour with joy.
By Rodrigo Siqueira
Compiled by Dominic Joseph
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