Filipino Ministry of Northern Virginia at 26037 Rachel Hill Drive, South Riding, VA 20152 US - Weekly Bible Study and Prayer Guide

S E E D L I N G ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Weekly Bible Study and Prayer Guide SEEDLING can be used for individual or group study/prayer sessions. By following the R.E.A.P. method (Reading, Exploring, Application, and Prayer), individual/group users hopefully will be able to experience the rich harvest of God’s Word and deepen their friendship with the Lord of the harvest. 5th SUNDAY OF EASTER – Year C May 6, 2007 Opening Prayer: “Loving Father, help us to become more and more like Your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. May we clearly discover Your will for our lives and fulfill it promptly, joyfully, faithfully and fruitfully so that Your kingdom will grow in our hearts and in the world for the greater glory of Your name and for our salvation. Amen.” Focus: “I GIVE YOU A NEW COMMANDMENT: LOVE ONE ANOTHER.” A little boy came up to his mother one evening and handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. She read it, and this is what it said: “For cutting the grass, $2.00; For cleaning up my room this week, $1.00; For going to the store for you, 50 cents; For babysitting my kid brother, $1.00; taking out the garbage, $1.00; For getting a good report card, $5.00; For cleaning up the yard, $3.00; Total money you owe me: $13.50.” The mother looked at her son and then she picked up the pen, turned over the paper he’d written on, and this is what she wrote: “For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me, No Charge; For all the nights that I’ve sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you, No Charge; For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose, No Charge; When you add it up, the cost of my love is: No Charge.” When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight at his mother and said, “Mom, I sure do love you.” And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote: “PAID IN FULL.” True mothers (and fathers, too!) love their children without counting the cost or setting conditions. This is how Jesus wants us to love another because this is how He loves us. 1. READING a. Introduction to the Reading The gospel according to John has two main parts: (a) the Book of Signs (1:19-12:50) which shows that Jesus is God by presenting His signs, that is, the miracles that He did with the accompanying discourses that explained them, and (b) the Book of Glory (13:1-20:31) which gives us the greatest sign of Jesus, namely, His death and resurrection, in which the divine glory of Jesus shines forth. The reading for this Sunday is the beginning of Jesus’ FAREWELL DISCOURSE in the Book of Glory. The setting is the Last Supper. After the meal, Jesus gave His last instructions to the disciples before He was to undergo His Passion (13:31-17:26). He explained to them the significance and implications of His death and resurrection. b. Gospel Reading b.1 God is now about to sow the SEED of His WORD in you. Break open your mind and heart to Him as you pray, “Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening.” Now read JOHN 13:31-33, 34-35. b.2 Read the gospel text again, briefly but reflectively dwelling on words, phrases and lines which you find personally significant. (In a group study, participants read these aloud without giving any comment.) 2. EXPLORING THE GOSPEL MESSAGE Break open God’s Word by seeking (a) to understand its message with the help of the commentary and (b) to deepen your understanding of it by means of reflection, journal keeping and/or group sharing. a. A Commentary on the Reading a.1 Immediately preceding this Sunday’s gospel reading is Jesus’ announcement of Judas’ betrayal of Him. After Judas receives the morsel from Jesus, Satan enters him. Then Jesus tells him, “Do quickly what you are about to do” (John 13:27b). Judas leaves at once. The gospel writer notes carefully “it was night” (13:30b). The betrayal of Judas, which happens in the dark, is the backdrop against which the divine glory of Jesus is to shine forth: because of His love for His own, Jesus will be lifted up onto the cross of glory. Jesus’ self-sacrificial love will reveal that He is God, who is love. Thus Jesus can truly say, “Now is the Son of Man (that is, Jesus) glorified” (13:31). a.2 Speaking to His closest disciples, Jesus says, “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer” (13:33a). He is bidding them goodbye. His death and resurrection is His departure. At that moment, the disciples cannot accompany or follow Jesus (yet) in His passing over. Instead they are to receive a command, which when obeyed, will keep Jesus present and alive in them and among them. Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” a.3 We can better understand the newness of the commandment of Jesus when we consider the context in which Jesus reveals it. In a symbolical but real way, Jesus is establishing a new covenant at the Last Supper. In doing this, He is fulfilling the dream of the prophet Jeremiah: “Behold, the days are coming when I will make a new covenant…” (Jer 31:31-34). The new covenant calls for a new stipulation: loving as Jesus has loved. Those who wish to become part of the new covenant must become one with Jesus, again, loving as He has loved. They will be able to love as Jesus loves only if they themselves become new; they need to die to their old selfish, sinful selves. And once born anew, they start to love others, not simply as they love themselves, but as Jesus has loved them. A new world has begun. a.4 How has Jesus loved? His is a G.U.T.S.-y kind of love. It is GENEROUS, not withholding anything from those He loves; for Jesus, the measure of love is to love without measure. Jesus’ love is UNCONDITIONAL, not setting any preconditions; there are no if’s nor but’s to His love. His love is TOTAL, embracing everyone without distinction. Finally, Jesus’ love is SACRIFICIAL: in the literal sense of the word (from the Latin sacra, sacred + facere, to make), it makes those whom Jesus loves holy, that is, no longer broken but whole and renewed and no longer alienated but reconciled and united to God and others. The GUTS-y love of Jesus is the paternal-maternal kind of love, the kind of love by which God the Father also loves us. b. Deepening (Through Personal Reflection, Journal Keeping and/or Group Sharing) b.1 In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ death on the cross is the start of the manifestation of His glory. In what way are you suffering now? Can you see something “glorious” in your suffering? b.2 The spirit of Jesus is present and alive in and through His followers’ life of love. How fully is Jesus present and alive in your family, neighborhood, school/workplace, and parish community? b.3 Jesus’ love is generous, unconditional, total and sacrificial. How fully do you love as Jesus loves? 3. APPLICATION IN LIFE Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” (Lk 11:28). Consider now some concrete and specific (even if simple) ways by which you can put into practice the gospel message this week and so be able to follow Jesus Christ more fully. Suggestions: (1) Recall or try to imagine how your parents have/had taken care of you from the moment you were conceived. Thank them by means of a prayer or by a phone call/visit/letter. (2) Help somebody in great need in your family, neighborhood, and school/workplace? 4. PRAYER Guided by the Word of God and open to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speak to God from your heart, offering Him your A.C.T.S., that is, your prayer of Adoration (to praise and worship God), Contrition (to ask forgiveness), Thanksgiving (to express gratitude for blessings received) and Supplication (to ask the Lord for spiritual as well as material blessings for yourself and others). End by reciting/singing the “Our Father.”

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