Year C Fifth Sunday of Easter

          Today, Fifth Sunday of Easter, Jesus gives us a new commandment.  In chapter 13 of the Gospel of John he says: 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.

          This new commandment of Jesus may be the easiest and at the same time the hardest of all His commandments.  The easiest because this is very easy to say – it can become an easy platitude.  We just say the words and not really mean them.  The easiest because it is really easy to love family members when everything is going well and everything is going our way.  We just love them as love naturally comes to us when it comes to our parents, siblings, cousins and relatives.  The easiest because to love our friends requires no real effort, especially when we are loved by them in the first place and all we do is return the love.  We reciprocate the love first shown by them to us.

          Now, in practice, in real life, and as we really try to put into flesh, to put into our everyday lives this commandment, we find that it is not the easiest, but it is easily the hardest commandment of them all.  Love one another is the hardest commandment of all the commandments given by Jesus.  At the same time it may be considered the most important and the most distinguishing of all the commandments.  It becomes therefore our ID so to speak, it becomes our brand.  We are Christians when like Christ we have truly loved one another.  They say, see how they love one another.

          This commandment is the hardest when we are required to love those who are indifferent to us.  They wouldn’t even recognize our presence.  We do not matter to them.  But since Jesus loved them too we must also love them.  They are our neighbors too and we are our brothers’ keeper.  It becomes the hardest when we have to love those who do not love us back.  They are those who do not return our advances, our good deeds, our good words and kind approaches.  They acknowledge our presence but they just receive our graces but do not give their graces back.  Maybe they do so not out of spite, but just because that is life.  It becomes the hardest when we have to love those who hate us, those who have tried and have succeeded in injuring our feelings and even our persons, physically.  It is very difficult to love our enemies.  How does one love one’s enemies when they are trying to harm us?  But since Jesus loved and even died for those who put Him on the Cross, we as Christians, His followers must follow suit, must follow His examples.  Some would even consider us as crazy persons because of such resolve but then again that is why loving one another is not just a commandment but THE commandment which sets us aside as Christians from the pagans.

          This is therefore our prayer today.  We are conscious that this commandment although at times may be the easiest, in reality it is really the hardest because it runs counter to our feelings, counter to our logic, counter to everyday dealings, counter to what everybody else thinks.  We pray to Jesus to grant us the grace to learn from Him, to get the secret recipe from Him so to speak, to learn how to truly love one another as He has loved, as He has laid down His life, as He has died for all of us.  Lord make me understand all these, make me want to do all that You Yourself have done, make me love my brothers and sisters and You want me to love them.  Amen.

          Ngonian na Domingo, ika-lima na Domingo kan Pasko kan Pagkabuhay-liwat, si Jesu Cristo satong Kagurangnan may importantehunon na Tugon sa satuya.  Sabi Niya sa capítulo 13 kan Evangelio ni Juan: “Magkaminorootan kamo arog kan pagkamoot ko saindo.  Kun magkaminorootan kamo, maaaraman kan gabos na kamo mga disipulo ko.”

          Ining Tugon na ini puede niatong ma-considerar o saro sa pinakamadali, o saro sa pinaka-dificil.

          Saro sa mga pinaka-facil ta facil man nanggad pagsambiton ining Tugon, facil sabihon.  Nagigin sana ining sarong marhay na sasabihon na kadakul na veces duda kun udok sa puso.  Nagigin marhay na tataramon sana asin an agyat iyo an tunay na paghinguha na maisabuhay ini.  Facil man baga an pagmoot sa satuyang mga ka-familia, kadugo, asin ka-relacion sa comunidad asin sociedad.  Natural sa satuya an mamoot sa satuyang pinaghalean, sa mga nakaiba niato sa pagdako, sa mga kaiba niato sa kabiyadean asin kaogmahan.  Siring man facil an pagmoot sa satuyang mga amiga asin amigo.  Pag namomoot-an kita ninda, kita man natural man an satuyang pagmoot sa sainda.  Tatao kita magbalos ki karahayan sa karahayan, afecto sa afecto, pagkamoot sa pagkamoot.

          Pero sa realidad mas masasabi na tunay na dificil ining bag-ong Tugon.  Dificil magmoot sa kapwa na indiferente sa satuya.  Ni satuyang presencia ni satong existencia dai ninda aram.  Papaano kita mamomoot sa mga tawong ni bako niatong kilala?  Dificil man magmoot sa kapwa niato na bako man binabalos ki karahayan an satong karahayan sainda, ki afecto an satong afecto, ki pagkamoot sa satong pagkamoot.  Ginigibo na niato gabos para sainda asin sinda dai man ki simbag: minsan bako man ta habo ninda kun di di lang talaga sinda an mga tipo kan tawo na magsisimbag.  Papaano kita mamomoot sa mga tawong bako ibinabalik sa satuya an satong pagkamoot sainda?  Dificil lalong lalo na mamoot sa mga tawong kaiwal ta ta nakakulog sa satuya sa ano man na paagi, nakakulog sa mga namomot-an niato sa buhay, asin ni maghagad kapatawaran habo.  Tunay na masasabi kan iba na bako lang ini dificil kun di imposible.  Hinihiling ninda na kabuahan para sa mga Cristiano Catolico an pagmoot sa mga enemiga asin enemigo, sa mga kaiwal.  Lalong lalo na sa perspectiva na ini mahihiling niato kun gaano kabag-o asin makabago ining Tugon na ini, ta antes an tugon iyo an mata sa mata, ngipon sa ngipon, ngonian pagkaminorootan an Tugon.  Pero siring na si Cristo nagpatawad asin namoot mismo sa mga nagpako Saiya sa Cruz asin naggadan Saiya, iyo man an boot kan Tugon na ini na paggibohon niato.  Asin kita tunay na mga Cristiano kun sa Tugon na ini maimbod kita ki Cristo.

          Mga tugang sa pagtubod, dai masyado akong maioofrecer saindo na mga kasimbagan ngonian na Domingo na ini.  Halos puro ini mga kahapotan na cada saro sa satuya magigin tatao simbagan lalong lalo na sa Espiritu Santo asin sa ejemplo asin gracia mismo ni Jesu Cristo.  Dai ki ciencia sa mga bagay na ini, puro ini arte Cristiana, arte kun papaano mabuhay ki tama asin totoo an sarong parasunod ni Cristo.  Kaya iyo ini an satuyang pamibi sa aldaw na ini: Kagurangnan, tawi kami ki kadonongan na maintiendihan totalmente asin completamente kun ano an boot sabihon kaining Tugon mo.  Tawi kami ki kusog na gibohon ini sa samuyang pang-aroaldaw na buhay minsan ngani iba man an pigsasabi kan iba, minsan ngani iba man an ginigibo kan kadaklan.  Tawi kami kan puso asin gracia mo Jesus nuestro, tanganing mamoot kami sa kapwa, siring na Ika namoot hanggang sa kagadanan sa Cruz.  Amen.