Pastor's Note from Fr. Szparagowski 📝 - [May 18th Bulletin]

We give praise and thanks to God for the graces and blessings He has given us. Today's Gospel brings us back to the Upper Room, to the night of the Last Supper. In these final, intimate moments with His disciples before His Passion, Jesus gives them – and us – a new commandment: "Love one another, as I have loved you, so you also should love one another."

At first, this may not sound so new. After all, the command to love appears throughout Scripture. But the way Jesus tells us to love is what is radically different. "As I have loved you." Jesus sets Himself as the model. Not just love as you would like to be loved, but love as He has loved – selflessly, sacrificially, completely.

How did Jesus love? He washed the feet of His disciples, taking the posture of a servant. He broke bread and gave it as His body, offering His very life. He prayed for those who would betray, deny, and abandon Him. He loved to the point of death on a Cross. This is the measure of love that Christ calls us to – not a love of convenience, not a love based on how we feel at the moment, but a love that chooses the good of the other, no matter the cost. A love that forgives. A love that serves. A love that endures.

And Jesus tells us something else: "This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Love is meant to be our Christian identity card. It is how the world should recognize us – not by our possessions, not by the clothes we wear, not by our achievements, but by the way we love. This is both a beautiful gift and a great responsibility.

Imagine if every person who met a Catholic thought, "they are different because of how much they love." Imagine if the Church, in every time and place, was known first and foremost as the community where no one was left behind, where the lonely found family, where the broken found healing, where enemies found mercy. That is the kind of love that has the power to change the world – and that is the kind of love Christ entrusts to us.

But we must remember; we cannot do this on our own. Love like Christ's is not something we can simply will ourselves into by trying harder. It is something we receive first – from Him. It is Christ's love within us that enables us to love beyond our human limits. When we come to Mass, when we pray, when we open our hearts to God's grace, we are filled again and again with His love – not to keep it for ourselves, but to share His love with others.

As we continue our journey through the Easter season, let us ask ourselves honestly; Who in my life needs to experience Christ's love through me? Is it someone who has hurt me? Someone I have neglected? Someone in my family, my workplace, my parish? Jesus is not asking for perfection. He is asking for faithfulness – for hearts willing to love as He loves, one choice, one moment at a time. May our love – humble, and steadfast – proclaim to the world that Christ is truly risen and alive in us.

Please invite someone to Mass today.

St, Philip Neri, pray for us.

Fr. Szparagowski