Good morning good people,
May the Lord give you peace and health in the Holy Spirit.
We celebrate the Sixth Sunday of Easter.
We reflect from Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; 1John 4:7-10; and the Gospel John 15:9-17.
Having reflected on Jesus, the Vine and we are the branches last week, we are invited to meditate on the discourse of God’s love.
Impartial Love: The first reading speaks of the impartial love of God to all people. St. Peter confesses to Cornelius “God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God. (Act. 10:33). God’s Love and salvation are not exclusively for a particular race, creed, and culture. The Holy Spirit descends on the entire household of Cornelius as Peter was preaching the Good News of salvation to them.
The word love comes nine times in the second reading and the Gospel, respectively. “There are three things that last,” St Paul tells us, “faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13). Yes, God’s love outlasts everything. The feeling of God loves me no matter what settles all our fear and anxiety in life. In justice we are to be punished for what we have done but God’s love saves us all through Jesus.
God is the one who loves us tirelessly even today, knowing fully that we would reject, forget, and use God for our selfish purposes.
“In fiction good people do good things and bad people do bad: that’s why it is called fiction!” (Oscar Wilde) In real life, bad people can do good things and good people can do bad things.
A priest stood up to preach on a Sunday Morning Mass. He asked the faithful: do you know the subject I am going to reflect on today? People said, “no.” He replied saying, I refuse to preach to an ignorant group like this. The following week he began the preaching with the same question. Remembering last week ordeal, people said they knew the subject he was about to preach. He left the pulpit telling them that there is no point in telling what you know already. The third week he started with the same question. Divided in answering some said they knew, and others said they did not. The preacher left the pulpit telling those who know already to tell those who do not know.
Gospel presents us with the last part of the farewell discourse during the Last Supper.
The disciples were considered as slaves or servants by the Jewish rabbis. But Jesus tells His disciples that they are His friends. As proof of friendship, Jesus passes on the impartial, faithful, and untiring love of the Father to them. In the First Testament, God called Abraham His friend. (2 Chron. 20: 7; James 2: 23)
Innovative Love: Christ is the model of love. “Not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent God’s Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 Jn.4:7). We the disciples need to mirror the self-giving love of Christ through our caring, sharing and serving. The proof of Jesus’ love is displayed in the way He laid down His life for us all. We are chosen and appointed to bear in loving others. St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta beautifully presents it: “True love causes pain. Jesus, in order to give us the proof of His love, died on the cross. A mother, in order to give birth to her baby, has to suffer. If you really love one another, you will not be able to avoid making sacrifices.”
First Decisive Love: “You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” (Jn.15:15). God did not wait for our response in loving us. Without expecting anything in return, we need to love. In truth, we have not loved perfectly yet to this day. There is a grey spot in every human love. God has decided to love no matter what we are and what we do. It is our duty to appreciate God’s choice of us. God chooses to love. God empties himself in His Beloved Son Jesus in loving us. “For the love of Christ urges us on to love.” (2 Cor.5:14).
Fake Love: what we witness today is a plastic love, fake and pampered love out of guilt and
Last Love in choice: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus sealed this commandment with His sacrifice on the Cross. Every day we have innumerable opportunities to love. By choosing to love even when there is betrayal, denial, and all irregularities in love. Love costs everything. True love hurts us.
Friendly love: “I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.” Remarks Abraham Lincoln. Allan and Britto met with the accident. They were so close friends. One lost the eyes, and another got severely injured. During the healing time, he wrote a letter and told the doctor to give the eyes to his friend. After the funeral, Allan went to Britto’s home. The mother of Britto entrusted a letter to Allan. In it, “I am going to give you my eyes after my death. This letter is an acknowledgement of that.” After reading it, Johnson regrated for not seeing such a friend.
Lasting Love brings happiness and communicates in prayerful moments. Love gives value to our life. God loves each one of us without any condition.
Love is the one and the only commandment sealed by the sacrifice of Jesus that will either take us to Heaven or Hell.
What we all need to master in the life of love are: giving and receiving; nurturing and nearness; sharing and participating; relating and reassuring; encouraging and reassuring, guiding and guarding, accompanying and accepting.
Are we missing out on love at home and looking for love in the church, priests, friends, and relatives?
If we have failed to love one another, then we have surely failed to comprehend the depth of the love of God. May the Lord bless us to have the courage to love like Jesus. Have a love-filled day.