FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER C
ENTER INTO HIS GLORY
John 13:31-33a, 34-35
MESSAGE
The gospel’s keyword for this Sunday is “glory.” But this short, simple word is not an easy one—it is rich in meaning and full of mystery. The Father gives glory to the Son. The Son glorifies the Father in himself. The Father, in turn, glorifies the Son in himself. This glory is happening now, in the present, and continues forever.
In the life of Jesus, glory did not mean comfort, human approval, success, or victory. It was far from how we typically imagine glory. In fact, the Lord’s path was marked by rejection, opposition, condemnation, and crucifixion. Even at the moment of glory in his Resurrection, Jesus still bore the marks of the sufferings he endured.
I recall a short phrase once shared with me by Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales: “After the Cross… glory!” The Resurrection of Jesus does not offer us a shortcut to our own resurrection. If we want to share in his glory—if we wish to glorify the Father as he did—we must embrace the daily crosses of life. When accepted with love and humility, these crosses become channels of God’s blessings.
At the end of the Gospel, Jesus commands his disciples to love one another. Love, too, is a short and seemingly simple word—sweet and fascinating, yet in truth, hard and demanding. We will attain the glory of God if we try to love as he commanded, if we strive to be loving in little and big ways, and if we seek to love in every moment.
REFLECT
One of my favorite Bible verses that inspires me to seek God’s glory in daily life is this: “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever else you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). May the Risen Lord help us seek God’s glory each day—by putting love into all that we do or say, and in all the simple things that happen to us and around us.
