Bishop Anthony B. Taylor delivered this homily April 28.
In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks about glory and love, and what he says is the opposite of what people think.
Most people think that glory means the esteem of others and people admire those who pursue the four pernicious Ps: power, possessions, pleasure and prestige. But in our Gospel, we see that true glory is enjoyed only by those who embrace the cross, living lives of sacrificial love.
Our passage begins with Judas going out to cut a deal with Jesus’ adversaries, so it is clear that all of Jesus’ words about glory are spoken in the shadow of the cross.
“When Judas had left them, Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified with him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself…’” So Jesus’ glory is the fruit of his sacrifice. But then he makes two further — unexpected — connections between glory and sacrifice:
1) Jesus’ cross also glorifies his Father. Why? Because by embracing this cross as his Father’s will for him, he is obeying his Father and thus honors his Father. We experience this in our own families: when children obey their parents, they honor them; when they disobey them, they dishonor them. When we disobey God, we dishonor him.
2) Jesus’ cross glorifies us. By sacrificing his Son, God whom we should honor honors us. That is the most astounding thing about glory: even for God it is the fruit of sacrifice. In the incarnation God humbles himself, taking on our broken human condition in order to set us free from the power of sin and death. But he doesn’t just want our appreciation: he wants our love.
God’s glory is most clearly revealed in Jesus writhing in agony on the cross, having sacrificed everything out of love for us: powerless; no longer possessing even his clothing; mocked and thoroughly degraded. Love that we in no way deserve, love that offers us a share in his glory.
And then in the second half of our Gospel Jesus tells us that he is looking for the same love from us in return, which is where our greatest glory lies too.
“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” Jesus loved us without any thought of personal benefit for himself and since that’s how he has loved us, that’s how he commands us to love others. Notice, this is not merely a recommendation. He says, “I give you a new commandment.”
In this regard I would like to point out something we often overlook regarding Jesus and regarding our own relationships, namely: that he loves us with understanding.
Jesus knew in advance who would betray him, who would deny him and who would abandon him. He accepted them just as they were, defects and all, and when the time came, he forgave them.
And he knows all the same things about us. If Jesus wanted to recruit 12 men with the finest human qualities, he had a lot of better options than the coarse men he chose for his inner circle.
That’s how we are to love too — without making distinction of persons and always ready to forgive because we know our own need for forgiveness too. And this is especially true regarding forgiveness within families. As they say, you can pick your friends, but not your family, like it or not. And the love that is too proud to forgive or to seek forgiveness will wither and die.
The people we hurt the most are often the people who we love the most, and it is doubly tragic when our pride keeps us from humbling ourselves and seeking forgiveness from them. That was the real tragedy in Judas’ life; it was also Peter’s saving grace.
“This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
