QUINTO DOMINGO DE PASCUA 2025

Queridos hermanos y hermanas:

Nos estamos acercando al final de este tiempo de Pascua y Jesús nos invita a reflexionar sobre el amor que Dios nos tiene y sobre la manera en que lo vivimos y expresamos a los demás. Este domingo, el libro del Apocalipsis nos recuerda que Dios va a crear un cielo Nuevo y una tierra nueva, y que quiere renovar por completo la creación para que viva de acuerdo con su proyecto. El libro de los Hechos de los Apóstoles narra cómo diversos pueblos paganos acogieron el Evangelio de Dios y la alegría y el asombro que produjo en los primeros cristianos al ver que estos pueblos, que vivían en las tinieblas y el pecado, entraron en la luz de Cristo. En el Evangelio, Jesús les dice a sus discípulos tres cosas muy importantes acerca del amor. En primer lugar, que Él ha sido amado por el Padre; en segundo lugar, que ese mismo amor que Él ha recibido se lo ha transmitido a sus discípulos; y, en tercer lugar, que los discípulos deben compartir el mismo amor con los demás para que estos crean que son sus discípulos y también puedan vivir en el mismo amor.

Por lo tanto, nuestro cristianismo se trata del amor, de un amor que se vive, se siente, se experimenta y se comparte con los demás. Lo más importante es el amor de Dios hacia nosotros, el sentirse amados y llenos de él. Quien se siente amado y querido por Dios siempre compartirá lo mismo con los demás. Nuestra tarea es, por lo tanto, una tarea de amor y solo podremos llevar a los demás a Dios a través del amor. Hoy debemos entender que Dios nos ama simplemente por ser sus hijos y que no tenemos que hacer nada extraordinario para ganarnos su amor. Lo que más se parece al amor de Dios en esta tierra es el amor de una madre: es sincero, incondicional y gratuito; una madre no nos ama por las grandes cosas que hacemos, sino porque somos sus hijos. No importa lo que hagamos o dejemos de hacer, ni lo que pensemos o seamos; si estamos en la cima o en el piso, simplemente nos ama porque somos sus hijos. Así es el amor de Dios para con nosotros. Él nos ama porque hemos salido de él y hemos sido creados a su imagen y semejanza para amarlo a él y a nuestros hermanos como a nosotros mismos. Vale la pena preguntarnos hoy si nos hemos sentido amados por Dios en nuestras vidas y si compartimos ese mismo amor con los demás.

Permíteme que te haga algunas preguntas más sobre el pasaje del Evangelio que hemos leído hoy: ¿Has fracasado alguna vez en tu vida? ¿Qué sientes cuando no logras el éxito deseado? ¿Piensas que una derrota humana puede ser una victoria espiritual? Ahora escucha a Jesús cuando habla tras salir Judas del cenáculo para traicionarlo. «Ahora es glorificado el Hijo del Hombre y Dios es glorificado en él. Seguramente podemos preguntarnos cómo es possible que Jesús vea su cruz, su pasión y su muerte como el momento de su gloria. ¿Desde qué perspectiva mira Jesús para ver su fracaso como su mayor gloria? La respuesta es simple: desde la perspectiva de Dios. Solo desde allí, desde una mirada que está por encima de la nuestra, es posible percibir el fracaso como un triunfo. Allí donde los seres humanos solo ven fracaso y humillación, Dios ve glorificación. Te invito hoy a que le pidas a Jesús que te ayude a descubrir las bendiciones y los frutos espirituales que acompañan a muchos de nuestros fracasos humanos. No olvides que por el amor que profeses los demás reconocerán que eres discípulo suyo.

P. Luis Segura M.S.C.

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FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER 2025

Dear brothers and sisters: 

We are approaching the end of this Easter season, and Jesus invites us to reflect on the love God has for us and on the way we live it and express it to others. This Sunday, the Book of Revelation reminds us that God is going to create a New Heaven and a New Earth, and that He wants to completely renew creation so that it may live according to His plan. The Book of Acts narrates how various pagan peoples welcomed the Gospel of God and the joy and amazement it produced in the early Christians when they saw that these people, who lived in darkness and sin, had entered the light of Christ. In the Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples three very important things about love. First, that He has been loved by the Father; second, that the same love He has received He has passed on to his disciples; and thirdly, that disciples must share the same love with others so that they may believe that they are his disciples and may also live in the same love.

Therefore, our Christianity is about love, a love that is lived, felt, experienced, and shared with others. The most important thing is God's love for us, feeling loved and filled with him. Those who feel loved and cherished by God will always share the same with others. Our task is, therefore, a task of love, and we can only bring others to God through love. Today, we must understand that God loves us simply for being his children and that we don't have to do anything extraordinary to earn his love. The closest thing to God's love on this earth is the love of a mother: it is sincere, unconditional, and free. A mother loves us not for the great things we do, but because we are her children. It doesn't matter what we do or don't do, or what we think or are; whether we are at the top or at the bottom, she loves us simply because we are her children. This is God's love for us. He loves us because we came from him and were created in his image and likeness to love him and our brothers and sisters as ourselves. It's worth asking ourselves today if we have felt loved by God in our lives and if we share that same love with others.

Let me ask you a few more questions about the Gospel passage we read today: Have you ever failed in your life? How do you feel when you don't achieve the desired success? Do you think a human defeat can be a spiritual victory? Now listen to Jesus when he speaks after Judas leaves the Upper Room to betray him. "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him." We can surely ask ourselves how it is possible for Jesus to see his cross, his passion, and his death as the moment of his glory. From what perspective does Jesus look to see his failure as his greatest glory? The answer is simple: from God's perspective. Only from there, from a perspective that is above our own, is it possible to perceive failure as a triumph. Where human beings see only failure and humiliation, God sees glorification. I invite you today to ask Jesus to help you discover the blessings and spiritual fruits that accompany many of our human failures. Don't forget that through the love you profess, others will recognize that you are their disciple.

Fr. Luis Segura M.S.C.

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We have heard what Jesus told his disciples before leaving this world and returning to the Father. He told us what it means to be a Christian: “Even as I have loved you, so you must love one another” (Jn 13:34). This is the legacy that Christ bequeathed to us, the ultimate criterion for discerning whether or not we are truly his disciples. It is the commandment of love. Let us stop to consider two essential elements of this commandment: Jesus’ love for us – “as I have loved you” – and the love he asks us to show to others – “so you must love one another”.

First, the words “as I have loved you”. How did Jesus love us? To the very end, to the total gift of himself. It is striking to think that he spoke these words on that night of darkness, when the atmosphere in the Upper Room was one of deep emotion and anxiety: deep emotion, because the Master was about to bid farewell to his disciples; anxiety because he had said that one of them would betray him. We can imagine the sorrow that filled the heart of Jesus, the dark clouds that were gathering in the hearts of the apostles, and their bitterness at seeing Judas who, after receiving the morsel dipped for him by the Master, left the room to enter into the night of betrayal. Yet at the very hour of his betrayal, Jesus reaffirmed his love for his own. For amid the darkness and tempests of life, that is the most important thing of all: God loves us.

Our Christian lives begin not with doctrine and good works, but with the amazement born of realizing that we are loved, prior to any response on our part. While the world frequently tries to convince us that we are valued only for what we can produce, the Gospel reminds us of the real truth of life: we are loved. Acknowledging this truth requires a conversion in the way we often think of holiness. At times, by over-emphasizing our efforts to do good works, we have created an ideal of holiness excessively based on ourselves, our personal heroics, our capacity for renunciation, our readiness for self-sacrifice to achieve a reward. This can at times appear as an overly “pelagian” way of viewing life and holiness. We have turned holiness into an unattainable goal. We have separated it from everyday life, instead of looking for it and embracing it in our daily routines, in the dust of the streets, in the trials of real life and, in the words of Teresa of Avila to her Sisters, “among the pots and pans”.

The love that we receive from the Lord is the force that transforms our lives. It opens our hearts and enables us to love. For this reason, Jesus says – here is the second element – “as I have loved you, so must you love one another”. That word “as” is not simply an invitation to imitate Jesus’ love; it tells us that we are able to love only because he has loved us, because he pours into our hearts his own Spirit, the Spirit of holiness, love that heals and transforms. As a result, we can make decisions and perform works of love in every situation and for every brother and sister whom we meet, because we ourselves are loved and we have the power to love. As I myself am loved, so I can love others. The love I give is united to Jesus’ love for me. “As” he loved me, so I can love others. In practice, what does it mean to live this love? Before giving us this commandment, Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet; then, after giving it, he gave himself up to the wood of the cross. Then, to give one’s life. This is about more than simply offering something of ours to others; it is about giving them our very selves. Holiness does not consist of a few heroic gestures, but of many small acts of daily love.

[Synthesized from Pope Francis, Homilies, 15 V 22]

Rev. Rajesh Peter M.S.C

5th Sunday of Easter 2025 - C

My friends, like last week, our gospel today is very short.  At first glance, I thought it was strange that the Church would chose a gospel about the Last Supper while we’re still celebrating the Easter Season and the Risen Christ. 

At the Last Supper, after the betrayer left them, Jesus told his faithful disciples that he will not be with them much longer.  “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.”

That’s why we have today’s Gospel Reading.  The reason the Church chose this gospel is that in two weeks, we will celebrate the Ascension when Christ Jesus departed from his disciples and was taken up to Heaven.

Usually, when someone is making final arrangements for when they die, the most important things are written down or discussed.  Such is the case in today’s gospel.

So – what is the most important thing that Christ wanted to say to his closest Disciples ?

The answer is very clear:  “Love One Another.”  That’s it.  Love One Another…

Over and over in the Gospels, Jesus taught the Two Great Commandments:

• Love God.

• Love your neighbor as yourself.

These two are the crux of Jesus’ teaching.  Not only did Jesus teach these commandments, he gave us simple, yet profound examples of how to obey his commands:

• In Matthew 25: “I was hungry and you fed me. 

• Again in Matthew 25:  “I was  stranger and you welcomed me.”

• In Luke 10:  Healing or caring for the sick – as did the Samaritan man who cared for a complete stranger, spending his own money to do so.

• And, in Luke 21:  Giving alms – as did the poor widow when she gave – even though she had little.

 In today’s gospel, we hear Jesus say: 

“I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”

Today, we have more than a teaching; more than an urging. 

Today, Jesus gives us a command:  “Love one another.”

Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone lived according to this Commandment ? 

No wars; no killing; no abuse; no hunger; no turning away strangers and foreigners. 

One of the Four Core Values of our Diocese of San Bernardino is Welcoming.  As stated by Bishop Emeritus Gerald Barnes:  “We will answer the Lord’s call to “Welcome the Stranger regardless of their race, class, or background.”

My friends, the virtues of charity and caring for each other are good and holy but they are not the pinnacles of  Christianity – but a good beginning.  If charity and caring for each other were inherent in humanity, Jesus would not have had to command us to love one another… 

Or – as Jesus said in Luke 17:

“When you have done all you have been commanded – say to yourselves: ‘We we have done no more– than what we were obliged to do.’”

Our Gospel today ends with these beautiful words:

“This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”