The family is the visible sign of God's love in our lives.

There is the story of the young priest driving to Church on a Sunday morning.  Realizing that he was a bit late, he increased his speed so that he would be on time for Mass.  Lo and behold, the police officer stopped the young priest and was about to give him a speeding ticket.  So the priest said:  “Officer, I’m just a poor preacher.  I can’t afford a stiff penalty.  The officer looked at him and said:  “I know Father; I’ve heard you.”

Growing up Catholic, in our family home, in my bedroom, around my neck, in the classroom of the school, and in our Church, the crucifix is part of the DNA of my Catholic upbringing.  The crucifix symbolized the giving love of Jesus for me and for the whole world. 

The message of the crucifix in the sanctuary of our Church is that for Jesus his dying is his greatest act of giving.

In today’s Gospel take from Jesus’ farewell discourse at the Last Supper, Jesus is speaking to his disciples about his own death.  “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.”

Jesus is saying he is about to glorify God by his actions and as a result will himself be glorified by the action of God in the resurrection.

“My children I will be with you only a little while longer.”  Jesus is preparing his disciples for his real absence. 

Then Jesus says: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another…By this all shall know that you are my disciples, by the love you have for one another.”

Jesus understands his dying as central to the eternal purpose of God.   Death is not a defeat.  Jesus’ death is a process of glory, a revelation of divine love saving human life.  Jesus’ death is the supreme expression of love for his disciples.  “I lay down my life for the sheep.  This laying down of life out of love creates a new commandment.   “By this all shall know that you are my disciples, your love for one another.”

We deeply believe God has first loved us.  The love of Jesus for us joins us in our deepest fears and sustains us through our greatest loss.  Whenever and wherever we can trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, our lives are very much blessed.

Today’s clear Gospel message is:  Jesus’ dying is his greatest act of giving.  And as his disciples, by this all shall know that you are my disciples, the love you have for one another.  Love is the first priority of our lives as the disciples of Jesus.  In loving, we are to give of ourselves in the service of one another.

In his most recent apostolic exhortation, Pope Francis has just written Amoris Laetitia  --  The Joy of Love.  Following the Synod of the Family, Pope Francis wrote his exhortation on marriage and family, on the vocation and the mission of family life.  The Pope writes that the Bible is full of family stories, of births, of love stories, and family crises.  For people of faith, there is the experience of the joy of love and the joy of the Gospel.  Pope Francis that the family is the visible sign of God’s love.  The family is the school of love.  Now I don’t mean to canonize your family life just yet.  Yet, it is in our family that we learn to love and be loved.  The spirituality of your family life is revealed in the ways you love one another.  This is the new commandment given to us by Jesus.

The Church must help families of every sort, and people in every state of life, know that, even in their imperfections, they are loved by God and can help others experience that love.  “Amoris Laetitia” offers the vision of a pastoral and merciful church that encourages people to experience the “joy of love.”

In this Easter season, the Gospel is a flash back to the Last Supper, to the Last Discourse of Jesus, an after dinner speech, in which is summarizing his most important message to his disciples, “If I have loved you, you too are to love one another.”

There is no way we can feel comfortable in our discipleship of Jesus if we are not generous givers and generous lovers.  When it is a sacrifice, when our giving does challenge us, when we are forced to make sacrifices, this is what Gospel giving is all about.

When we begin to feel on overload and too much is being asked of us, behold the cross.  Know that the dying of Jesus is the greatest expression of giving, the greatest act of loving.   If I have to simplify my lifestyle a bit because I’m being asked to give, know these little acts of dying prepare us for the ultimate act of giving which one day we will all be called to.

Jesus’ example of love was to lay down his life for us.  How does our giving express the love that is in our hearts?  What keeps us from giving?  Do we see the essential connection between sharing our time, talent and treasure and our living out the first priority we have as disciples of Jesus – our giving reflects our loving.

As we transition into the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the Mass calls us to enter the doors of the Church.  We enter into the House of God to give thanks, to be fed and nourished at the Table of the Lord, and to be immersed into the mystery of God’s love.  We are called to celebrate the Eucharist Sunday after Sunday after Sunday all the days of our life.

It is so important for our spiritual life to know we are not only called to enter the doors of the Church, but we are also missioned to go from the Church to bring the love of God into our family, into our community, and into our world.   We are to go in peace glorifying the Lord by the actions of our lives.  Jesus glorified his heavenly Father by his giving love revealed on the cross.  We too are to glorify God by being a witness of the giving love of Jesus in all we say and do.