Jn 15: 12-17 Full Readings
Saint Rose Venerini
Love one another as I have loved you
The words of Jesus in form of a commandment to his Apostles also speak to us today deep within our hearts: Love one another as I have loved.. if you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love....you are my friends if you do what I command you" These paraphrased words of Jesus from today's Gospel come to us as commands and as Christians we have to follow these commands so that we remain in Jesus' love and be called his friends.
Jesus' commandments are different from our usual understanding of human commandments. The word ‘commandment’ often implies coercion and regimentation, and ‘obedience’ implies an unwillingness or even against your will. In the case of God’s commands, however, a commandment is a gift, indicating the way in which love can be expressed; and obedience is a way of seeking to draw closer to God by imitation. The lover seeks to act like the beloved, to be modeled on the qualities which are loved and admired. The commands of God are not random or domineering, but are indications of the ways in which we can draw just a little nearer to the infinite qualities which are seen in the creating and redeeming God. The generosity seen in the beauties of nature and humanity, in the beauty of tolerance and forgiveness are reflections of the divine qualities. This is how Jesus kept his Father’s commandments and remained in his love, and how we too may do the same.
Therefore brethren, let us not be threatened when Jesus says 'my commandments', they are invitations to imitate God, his ways and to remain in his love. That's why he invites us to imitate Him when he says love one another as I have loved you. It's an invitation to be like Him and when we follow this invitation, we remain in him and him remains in us.
We are called to love and serve our brethren, for love and service go together. You can't say that you love someone if you don't show that love to him or her which we call service. Likewise you can't serve some if you don't love him or her unless you are compelled to do so and that even is not true service. So Brethren, as Jesus loved us and showed his love to us by being a servant, let us do so to our fellow brethren, so that we invite God in our midst for God dwells where there is love. This is also following Jesus' command which will enable us to remain in his love as he promises us.
Jesus showed his love for us by laying down his life and as the Gospel says there is no greater love than this. He saved us from our sins and in a way gave us an example to follow in serving our brethren: to give our life for the service of others and God. It might even be said that Jesus needed to suffer so that we might see that God too can endure suffering. Suffering and the supreme suffering of death are human experiences which cannot be predicated of God, and so Jesus himself took them on to share and ennoble these also. Jesus showed his love of the Father and his love of humanity by adopting and enduring the experiences which cannot touch an impassive God. Such is the full meaning of the love expressed by ‘as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.’
Since Jesus has loved us, he calls us servants no more but his friends. What a gift is it to be a friend of God! Being a friend to someone requires a lot of trust, you cannot make someone a friend if you don't trust him or her. Jesus makes us his friends because he trusts us and that's why he has made known to us everything he learnt from the Father, the way we can share your deep feelings to our intimate friends. Brethren, we therefore need to keep this friendship, and this requires total trust in him and following his commandments. In this friendship, he is the master, and we need him because he is the one who chose us not us who chose him. We are lucky to be chosen by God and so let's endeavor to stay near him and respond to what he commissions us to do.
When we are friends with Him he commissions us and let us always be ready to do errants for Him. This is what we learn from Matthias in the first reading and whose feast we are celebrating. He was a close friend to Jesus, and also to his Apostles, committed to follow Jesus though he was not among the twelve. This made him to be chosen to take the place of Judas Iscariot who left the mission of Christ. Are always ready to take on the Mission of Christ when need arises?
Let us encourage one another Brethren, not to give up on the Mission of Christ like Judas and not to let anybody take our place in the kingdom of God despite all temptations which may come on our way, otherwise we shall lose eternal life and end up badly like Judas. The interesting thing is that even if we give, the mission of God has to continue and others are ready to take it up, then why do we need to give up because it's us who lose when we give up.
Reflect today on your love for Jesus, for neighbors, and how you are keeping God's commandments. Are you ready to take up the mission of Christ when called to do so? Ask for Graces you need to love God more and serve your fellows as a way of following God's commands.
Let us Pray.
Lord give us your Holy Spirit so that we may always love you and our brethren and then remain in your love. May you make us ready to work for you in your vineyard and may we be numbered among your elect whom you call your friends forever. Amen.
Be blessed forever and Happy Easter Season.
No comments:
Post a Comment