Acts 14:5 -18,
Psalm 115:1-2.3-4. 15- 16,
John 14:21-26 Full Readings
Loving Jesus invites the Trinity to dwell within us.
Brethren, Jesus today tells us that: "anybody who loves me will be loved by my father and I shall love him and show myself to him" (John 14:21). He adds, "If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him." Brethren, these words show us that it is wonderful to love Jesus. Imagine being a home for God. What a chance! Today, Let us try to reflect on these words and let them become an invitation to Love God and neighbor.
Jesus equates this love to receiving and following his commandments. This means, loving Jesus is to listen to what he teaches and then following what the teachings demand. This is not a matter of mere obedience but of loving imitation. If I love a person I want to keep that person’s commandments, both out of loyalty and out of respect for that person’s qualities: the commandments will reveal and mirror that person’s qualities. These are the qualities we have to imitate. Keeping Jesus' commandments therefore involves receiving them, doing what they command in the way of imitating Jesus himself for these commandments reveal what He is.
When we keep his commandments, we have love Jesus and when we love him, we have loved the Father and in turn they will love us back. However, this does not mean that God loves us with conditions, God's love is unconditionally and it's always waiting for us. We shall feel that love when we respond to it by Loving Him back. When we love Him, we invite that love to us. This means that though His love is unconditional, God does not force that love unto us, it's us who have to invite that love to our lives and it's only then that we will experience God's love.
How do we know that we love God? Firstly, as we have seen, it is through following his commandments but those commandments must be put into practice by showing Love to our neighbors. We only know that we love God when we love our neighbors. John tells us that "Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen" (1 John 4:20). Brethren, to love God is to love your neighbor, if not you are lying to yourself.
It is when we love our brethren that God will come to dwell in our hearts. God dwells only where there is love, because God Himself is love (Deus caritas est) Therefore, if there is no love among us brethren, God will not come to dwell among us, we are chasing Him away not only from our lives but also from loving us.
Let us therefore love one another and we shall give way to the Trinity to dwell within us. The love of God is ignited in us if we allow ourselves to be taught by the Holy Spirit which Jesus promises us in the Gospel. If we are led by the spirit of God, we shall always dwell in love and they also (God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit) will always dwell in us and when they dwell in us we are going to do marvelous deeds which will make everyone give glory to God the Father.
It's because the Trinity was dwelling in them that we see Paul and Barnabas in the first reading spreading the word of God boldly and doing miracles in the name of Jesus until they were even called gods. We shall always do the same works if we love God.
However, let us learn from Paul and Barnabas of their humility. Though they were called gods, and people wanted to offer them sacrifices, they didn't accept because they knew they were not doing those works by their powers but by the power of God. Brethren, let us not boast of anything we do but we should always urge people to give glory to God alone as the psalm says. Let all glory be to God alone not to us. It's all the work of God not ours, if we boast we shall be humbled and even our gifts will be taken away.
Let us reflect today on our love for the Trinity: how deep is it? How are we inviting God to dwell in us by our love of one another? Are we keeping and following God's commandments? How humble are we when we are using our gifts and talents? Is the Holy Spirit the leader and guide of our lives? Let us spend some time to reflect on these questions and on today's readings and then ask for the necessary Graces we need to love God and our neighbours.
Let us pray.
Lord, I love you and I invite you to come and live in my heart. Make my heart Your dwelling place. Help me to see You there, to meet You there, to converse with You and to love You in my soul and may this love guide me to love my brothers and sisters. Amen.
Be blessed forever and Happy Easter Season
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