Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection May 18, 2025
Fifth Sunday of Easter
18th May 2025 (Sunday)
Psalter: Week 1
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Acts 14:21-27
In those days: Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
Psalm 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13 (R. cf 1)
R/. I will bless you name forever, my king and my God. Or: Alleluia.
Second Reading: Revelation 21:1-5a
I John, saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Glory and praise to you, O Christ.
R/. Glory and praise to you, O Christ.
V/. A new commandment I give to you, says the Lord, that you love one another: just as I have loved you.
R/. Glory and praise to you, O Christ.
Gospel : John 13:31-33a, 34-35
When Judas had gone out, [from the upper room,] Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Opener: Jesus came to change our old life of sin, darkness, and death into a new life of grace, light, and life
1. Today’s impressive and recurrent theme is Newness. All three readings revolve around various aspects of newness. In the second reading from Revelation, God assures, “Behold I am making all things new”. In the gospel of John, Jesus gives a new commandment. And in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we find some concrete signs of new life in Christ.
2. Some of the features of the new life that God promises in Revelation are: A new abode, a new dwelling place, and new situations, symbolized by “a new heaven and a new earth”, and “the dwelling place of God is with them”. It is a new life of holiness and heavenliness, symbolized by a “new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God”. It is a new life of beauty and intimacy, symbolized by “a bride adorned for her husband”. It is a new life of total belongingness between God and His people, indicated by that “they will be his people … and God himself will be their God”. It is a new life of joy, indicated by the fact that “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death or mourning or crying or pain”.
3. In the gospel, Jesus gives us a new identity, a new vocation that is, being his disciples. He gives a new duty and mission and that is bearing witness to his discipleship. He also gives a new means, a new way, a new commandment, and that is to love another. But what is new in this so-called new commandment?
4. It is new because it expands and extends the hold and scope of Leviticus 19.18 of loving one’s neighbour as oneself. ‘Neighbour’ is no more tribalistic, a member of one’s own group; rather, a neighbour is universalistic, anyone in need, bound by the bond of faith and fraternity. It is new because the model is Jesus himself and his love. Jesus commanded: Just as I loved you, you too love another. Therefore, our love for one another should be like his love with the same passion, commitment, sacrifice, and service. Further, it is new because ‘loving one another becomes the identity mark of discipleship, the fulfillment of our mission and the fitting way of glorifying God.
5. Now in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we see some concrete effects and manifestations of this new life. It is a new life of strength, strengthening the souls of the disciples. It is a new life of courage, encouraging them to continue in faith. It is a new life of openness, opening a door of faith to the Gentiles. It is a new life of commending and committing the believers to God with prayer and fasting. It is a new life of accomplishing and fulfilling all the works in God’s name and for His glory.
Direction: God is constantly calling us for a new life and offering us a new life. Then, why do we go on clinging to the old and former ways of sin and evil?
