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Acts 14:21-27
Rv 21:1-5a
Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35 The second reading from Revelation 21 declares, “There shall be no more death.” The Easter season celebrates the basis of this promise: Christ has conquered the kingdom of death by his own death and resurrection, and has given us a share in this victory through our baptism. Moreover, the victory embraces the entire universe, physical as well as spiritual: “I…saw a new heaven and a new earth” scripture declares. Any power that death exercises now, through evils like abortion or the threat of our own death, is a temporary and fleeting power that has lost both its foundation and finality. That’s why the Church proclaims the Gospel of Life with utter confidence, and why we are to engage in pro-life activities with the same confidence. We do not just work “for” victory; we work “from” victory. We share Christ’s victory over death and through that victory we shape our society and build a culture of life. A new heaven and new earth have already begun in Christ and the Church. He says “Behold, I make all things new.” These are words God speaks daily. He speaks them to us and through us. This new order of reality, in which death no longer has the final word, is why the Lord says that his commandment, “love one another,” is “new.” The law and the prophets had already instructed love; but only in Jesus Christ’s victory over sin and death can love and life have the final word. Only in him can we love with a divine as well as human love. Only in him can we love the vulnerable and the unborn, and all people, with the very same love that he has, and therefore persevere through the “many hardships” that are necessary “to enter the Kingdom of God” (First reading).
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