This is my favorite verse from the Bible, John 15:16a. It is the one that clarifies God’s love for me and is not based on my initial belief that I am the one who sets the parameters for my relationship with God, but that He does out of His love. I am truly created in the divine image and likeness of God and called to be His disciple.
Being called is a concept that seems easy to accept. And yet it takes a life time to understand because we believe we are not worthy. Therefore, we don’t quite know what to do to activate it in our lives and others. Because of that, we often fall short in acceptance, growing in it and sharing it with others.
Our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles addresses acceptance. The circumcised believers were astounded that the Holy Spirit would fill the gentiles so they could speak in tongues and glorify God. These Jews were biased in that they only accepted those who were named as the chosen people to receive such gifts. They must have missed the teachings of Jesus when He consistently reached out to those not of the Jewish faith or decided to ignore it.
The First Letter of St. John speaks of growing the love God has given us. He writes: “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that He loves us and sent His Son as expiation for our sins.” In other words, the love of God consists in God loving us first and always! This is the foundation from which we grow love in ourselves and in our relationships. It needs to be unconditional to be reciprocal with God and with all He created.
St. John’s Gospel today talks about sharing love because it initially came from God to be shared. By doing so, love blossoms and bears much fruit. It is in the bearing of this fruit that God has taught us how we will endure and be granted by God the Father whatever we ask in the name of Jesus both in His Kingdom on Earth and for our eternal salvation when we enter into His Kingdom in Heaven.
“The command I give you is this,” Jesus says, “that you love one another.”
If we truly espouse our Catholic faith as Christians who accept God’s truth, then we have no other choice but to commit to our baptismal promises of loving God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength and loving one another as Jesus loves us.
We need to put aside our preconceived notions of what we think needs to be done to balance our Christianity with what the world teaches us. Our balance is not manipulating this or that to survive in a world that is self-centered. We must put our total trust in God’s ways because only He has the answers to all the questions of doubt we throw His way. If we do that, He will lead us down the right path of what we need.
To do this, we must practice courage and strength, because God does not promise us the journey will be easy; just the opposite. We must make wise choices that will enlighten us with understanding beyond just getting through the day or a longer period of time. We must seek a life filled with peace and joy to ensure our relationship with God and all He has created is grace filled. It is this gift of grace which fills us with the love we need to make every decision in our life God-filled.
God’s love is a gift. We cannot earn it. Let us accept the gift with gratitude and humility to continue God’s work on this earth for as long as we live here. When it is our time to leave, God will welcome us into our eternal life as the good and faithful servants He so wants us to be now. That’s why we are chosen to bear fruit that will remain. It is the perfect plan with God’s seal of approval known as LOVE!
Reading 1: Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Reading 2: First John 4: 7-10
Gospel: John 15: 9-17
Great reflection Deacon, I enjoy your insight.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless You!