30 April 2027 · Latin Rite
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“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12
The council in Jerusalem has reached its decision, and now the Church puts it into words and sends it on its way. “The apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church,” choose two respected men, Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, to travel with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch with a letter. The letter is warm and humble. It admits that some had gone out “with no instructions from us” and had “unsettled your minds.” It calls Barnabas and Paul “our beloved,” men “who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And it contains one of the most remarkable sentences in the New Testament: “it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials.” The Holy Spirit and us: the apostles do not claim to have invented the answer, nor do they hide behind private visions. The Spirit speaks through the gathered Church and its shepherds. The essentials they ask, avoiding food offered to idols, blood, what is strangled, and sexual immorality, allowed Jewish and Gentile Christians to live and eat together in peace. When the letter is read in Antioch, “they rejoiced at the exhortation.” Good teaching, given with love, brings joy, not fear.
In the Gospel Jesus gives the one commandment that sums up all the rest: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Not simply as we love ourselves, but as he loves us, to the end: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.” Then he changes our name: “I do not call you servants any longer… but I have called you friends.” And he reminds us who took the first step: “You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” Today the Church remembers St Pius V (1504 to 1572), a shepherd boy from Piedmont who became a Dominican friar and then Pope from 1566. He gave the Church the fruit of the Council of Trent in lasting form: the Roman Catechism (1566), the reformed Breviary (1568) and the Roman Missal (1570), used for four centuries; he named St Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church. As Pope he kept the poverty of a friar, visited the sick in hospitals and washed the feet of the poor. In the troubled year 1571 he called on the faithful to pray the Rosary, and in thanksgiving he instituted the feast now kept on 7 October as Our Lady of the Rosary. Like the apostles' letter, his work was meant to hand on the essentials of the faith clearly, so that the friends of Jesus might love one another in the truth.
Theme: “You did not choose me but I chose you.”
The Church's letter in the Spirit, the friendship of Jesus, and the commandment of love; St Pius V.
“The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” Isaiah 11:2
“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.” 1 Corinthians 2:12
Apply: Before Pentecost, read one short document or homily of the Pope, and ask the Spirit to help you receive it with joy.
“Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” Exodus 33:11
“I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” John 15:15
Apply: Spend ten minutes this week speaking to Jesus as to a friend, telling him plainly what is in your heart.
“You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:18
“Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:11
Apply: Choose one person you find hard to love and do something good for them this week, as Jesus did for you.
The Spirit guided the apostles to hand on the essentials of faith, and the believers rejoiced.
Jesus chose us as friends and sends us to love one another as he loved us; St Pius V shows that clear teaching and humble service belong together.
Take-home resolution: Begin the month of Mary tomorrow by praying the Rosary, or one decade, each day of May.
Dear friends, the Church in Jerusalem has made its decision, and now it writes a letter. Listen to its humble, joyful tone. It calls Paul and Barnabas our beloved. And it says: it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials (Acts 15:28).
The Holy Spirit and us. The apostles do not say: we decided by ourselves. Nor: each of you decide for yourself. The Spirit speaks through the Church gathered with its shepherds. And when the letter is read in Antioch, they rejoiced at the exhortation (Acts 15:31). True teaching, given with love, does not crush; it lifts the heart and brings joy.
In the Gospel Jesus says what lies at the heart of every teaching: this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you (John 15:12). He calls us friends, not servants. And he reminds us: you did not choose me but I chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last (John 15:16). Before we ever looked for him, he had chosen us.
St Pius V, a shepherd boy who became Pope, spent his life handing on the essentials of the faith: the Catechism, the Breviary, the Missal. Yet he kept the humility of a friar and served the sick with his own hands. Teaching and love go together. Tomorrow begins the month of Mary; let us ask her, and St Pius V who loved her Rosary, to help us live as chosen friends of Jesus. Amen.
Children, do you have a best friend? Jesus says: you are my friends! He chose you, even before you knew him. And he asks his friends to do one thing: love one another as I love you. St Pius V was a shepherd boy who became the Pope, but he still visited sick people and helped the poor. Tomorrow begins May, Mother Mary's month. Let us say a Hail Mary together every day!
Lord Jesus Christ, you have called us not servants but friends, and you chose us to go and bear fruit that will last. Give us the Holy Spirit who guided the apostles in Jerusalem, so that we may receive the teaching of your Church with joy and love one another as you have loved us. Through the prayers of St Pius V, who handed on the faith clearly and served the poor humbly, keep your Church faithful and united. Who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.