Word of the Week

5th Sunday in Easter

New: Kainos (Gk.): meaning, “new”, or “fresh”. This Greek term connotes a newness that is unprecedented, novel, uncommon, or unheard of.

The term “new” in our faith, and subsequently in our CCC, is at the heart of Divine Revelation and the Deposit of Faith. First and foremost, the term new points to the new covenant that God comes to establish in the blood of his son, re-ordering the law of the gospel to love and sacrifice (cf. CCC 612). In this paschal renewal, God opens up a “new heavens and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:13; Rev.21:1) where Christ transforms humanity under his headship (cf. CCC 1043). Furthermore, is our call to share in this renewal by becoming a new creation in Christ via Baptism (cf. 1999). In this lead sacrament of the Church, we are sanctified and set apart to put away the old man and put on the cloth of Christ, becoming a new man in Christ (cf. CCC, 1473). Consequently, the fundamental task at hand is to bear witness to the truth of the Gospel in both words and deeds (cf. CCC 1473, 2472), observing the law of love in sonship with Christ (cf. CCC, 1965-72). This means putting away a life of sin and putting on the cloth of virtue and holiness (cf, CCC, 2475).  

The Greek Kainos can be found 44 times in the New Testament. John uses it twelve times, seven in the book of Revelation, more than any other author in the NT. Generally, when we talk about new, as it relates to Scripture, we think of God’s Testament that is New. In fact, kainos is the Greek employed when Scripture uses the phrase “New Testament” (Mt.26:28; Mk.14:24; Lk.22:20). Moreover, each synoptic passage is within the contest of the last Supper (cf. CCC definition), the scene where Christ ratifies the New Covenant by instituting the Eucharist. In addition to this principle truth concerning Christ’s transformation of covenant life, is the equal principle that Christ sacrifices for man that man might share in Christ’s sacrifice.This Fifth Sunday in Easter affords us the opportunity to examine what this looks like in light of its biblical passages.

We hear in today’s gospel reading, words that ought to reverberate in our minds and hearts: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (Jn.13:31). Such a commandment is new by Jewish standards to the degree that we understand the Torah as a call to love neighbor out of a human love. Christ institutes a new and more radical way to love in denying self and following Christ to the cross. This transcends the human capability of loving and demands that we call upon the gift of the Holy Spirit to love with a heart for the supernatural. Such a challenge and way of life is the way of the “new man” in Christ (cf. Eph.4:24; Gal.6:15).

The term “new” has all sorts of connotation to it. The aforementioned etymology suggests things we might think about when hearing the word new: an unprecedented event; maybe a novel gift; perhaps something fresh, possibly food or even a second career. One thing is for certain, when we think of what is new, we rarely think of man becoming new. More personally, as a husband and father of two, buying (or making) things that are new is not entirely uncommon in our household. When a birthday, anniversary, or holiday rolls around, there is a certain excitement in the air in the Hollcraft family--often tied to a “new” gift that awaits, especially for our kids. In my heart of hearts, I firmly believe that God has that childlike anticipation each day when we wake up to pledge ourselves as a gift to him. God wishes to share us with the world in the same way that a child wants to share and play with his gift to the world.

 

“The new man, reborn and restored to God by grace, says first of all, "Father!" because he has now begun to be a son.”

--St. Cyprian

Primary Texts Consulted

•  Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
•  Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.

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