Illustration:Jesus saying farewell to his eleven remaining disciples, from the Maesta by Duccio, 1308–1311
Pope Leo’s Regina Caeli 6th Sunday of Easter
St Peter’s Square – Sunday, 10 May 2026
Sunday Gospel (John 15:14-21)
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.“I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also.
In that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you.
He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
Pope Leo’s Regina Caeli
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today’s Gospel passage contains some of the words that Jesus addressed to his disciples during the Last Supper.
As he transforms the bread and wine into a tangible symbol of his love, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
This statement frees us from the misconception that we are loved only if we keep the commandments, as if our righteousness were a prerequisite for God’s love.
Rather, God’s love is the basis for our righteousness.
We keep the commandments according to God’s will when we recognize his love for us, as Christ revealed it to the world. Therefore, Jesus’ words are an invitation to enter into a relationship, not blackmail or a suspicious ultimatum.
This is why the Lord commands us to love one another as he has loved us.
It is Jesus’ love that inspires love within us.
(John 13:34 — “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.”)
Christ himself is the standard and measure of true love—the love that is faithful forever; pure; and unconditional.
It is the love that knows no “buts” or “maybes”; the love that gives without seeking to possess; the love that gives life without expecting anything in return.
Because God loved us first, we too can love.
When we truly love God, we truly love one another.
It is like life itself: only those who have received life can live, and only those who have been loved can love.
The Lord’s commandments are a way of life that heals us from false loves.
They are a spiritual lifestyle that leads to salvation.
The Lord does not leave us alone in life’s trials precisely because he loves us.
He promises us the Paraclete—the Advocate and the “Spirit of truth” (Jn 14:17).
The world cannot receive this gift as long as it persists in evil, oppressing the poor, excluding the weak, and killing the innocent.
On the other hand, those who respond to Jesus’s love for all will find in the Holy Spirit an ally who will never fail.
Jesus said “You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).
Therefore, we can bear witness to God, who is love, always and everywhere.
Love is not just an idea in the human mind; it is the reality of divine life through which all things were created out of nothing and redeemed from death.
By offering us true and eternal love, Jesus reveals his identity as the beloved Son. “I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”.
This all-encompassing communion of life refutes the Accuser—the Paraclete’s adversary and the spirit opposed to our defender.
While the Holy Spirit is the power of truth, the Accuser is the “father of lies” (John 8:44) who seeks to set humanity against God and people against one another—the very opposite of what Jesus accomplishes by saving us from evil and uniting us as brothers and sisters in the Church.
Dear friends, we are grateful for this gift and ask for the Virgin Mary’s help.
She is the Mother of Divine Love.
