So much happens in today’s reading—great swings from evil to love and back to evil again.  The first terrible event that Jesus talks about is his betrayal by Judas. Then right after that is predicted, Jesus swings to the other side and shares the new commandment about loving one another, just as Jesus has loved us.  Isn’t it amazing that such words could be said against the backdrop of the meanness of betrayal that is about to happen?  St. John, whose Gospel mentions light so many times—the light of Jesus’ love—now has one of the shortest verses in the Bible as Judas goes out to complete his evil deed.  Verse 30 says very simply: “It was night.”

  Right after Jesus’ great words of love, we swing back to nastiness again when Jesus tells about the denial of Peter.  Here is Jesus, telling us about his new commandment to love one another, while on either side of his words are the coming betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter.

Can you love when you are in the middle of things not going so well for you?  Maybe you’ve even  felt betrayed by a friend, or at least others not sticking up for you when the going gets a bit rough.  Still, God gives us the power to love, even our enemies.  Think about how this reading applies to your own life.    

 John 13:18-38

Here is a sample of a seven-syllable breath-prayer
New commandment: loving all v. 34
For more information about
this creative way to pray, see Bible Breaths.

This is the Fifth Week in Lent
Spring in the north.  Year C
On Fridays in Lent and Easter we read the Gospel of John.

Seasons of Grace – A Calendar for 2019

Solar and Sacred Seasons
Some adjustments to make the church year simpler.

These Firestarters are from a new edition of The Bible Through the Seasons being developed for families with children. For the Firestarters in the original edition, I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand Firestarters with you on your phone or tablet.  More information…