It is curious that, in a text for the Easter season, this Sunday's Gospel brings us back to Judas' betrayal of Our Lord. Surely we should focus on the risen life of Christ, not on the betrayal that led to his death. And yet, even in this passage, there is what we might call a "resurrection." For while Judas goes out to betray him, Jesus speaks to us of love. "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.".
And in fact, every act of love, and in particular every act of forgiveness, is like a mini-resurrection. If hatred is a form of murder-a miniature murder, a partial violence while murder is its fullness-forgiveness overcomes evil with love. It rises above it. In a sense, Jesus had already risen when he prayed to his Father on the Cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.". His love, his mercy, "rose above" their hatred. With the forgiveness of his heart, he had already entered a new way of life: unconditional love. And, indeed, we see how Jesus was always open to Judas, reaching out to him to the end. Even at the moment of his betrayal in the garden, our Lord calls him "friend" (Mt 26:50). The door to return was open to him until he closed it in despair and hanged himself.
The second reading invites us to look towards the heavenly Jerusalem, our final home if we wish, where God will wipe away all the tears from our eyes, "and there shall be no more death, no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain.". God then declares: "See, I make all things new.". Heaven is the full fruition of love, and what makes new is love. Jesus made the crucifixion "new" by turning it from an act of evil brutality into an expression of sublime love. In the first reading, Paul and Barnabas teach that "one must go through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God.". But then we see them establish new communities with their respective leaders. Thanks to love, they overcome tribulations and the Church, the kingdom of God on earth awaiting its heavenly fulfillment, moves forward. Through love and forgiveness, resurrection becomes a daily reality in our lives and in the Church.
