GOSPEL READING:
John 14:21-2621 He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" 23 Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. 25 "These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Meditation: Do you know the love that surpasses all, that
is stronger than death itself (Song of
Songs 8:6)? In Jesus' last supper
discourse he speaks of the love he has for his disciples and of
his Father's love. He prepares his disciples for his imminent
departure to return to his Father by exhorting them to prove their
love for him through their loyalty and obedience to his word. He
promises them the abiding instruction and consolation of the Holy
Spirit.
Saint Augustine says the Lord loves each of us as if there
were only one of us to love. God's love for each of us is as
real and tangible as the love of a mother for her child and the
love of a lover who gives all for his beloved. God made us in love
for love - to know him personally and to grow in the knowledge of
his great love for us and to love him in return.
God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit
How can we know and be assured of the love of God? The Holy Spirit
helps us to grow in the knowledge of God and his great love. The
Spirit enables us to experience the love of God and to be assured
of the Lord's abiding presence with us (see
Romans 5:5 and 8:35-39). The Holy Spirit
also opens our ears to hear and understand the word of God. Do you
listen attentively to God's word and believe it? Ask the Holy
Spirit to inflame your heart with the love of God and his word.
Lord Jesus, in love you created me and you drew me to yourself. May I never lose sight of you nor forget your steadfast love and faithfulness. And may I daily dwell upon your word and give you praise in the sanctuary of my heart, You who are my All.
Psalm 115:1-4,15-16
1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
2 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?"
3 Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
15 May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth!
16 The heavens are the LORD's heavens, but the earth he has given to the sons of men.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: God is pleased to dwell in us, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"God is not too grand to come, he is not too fussy or shy, he is
not too proud - on the contrary he is pleased to come if you do
not displease him. Listen to the promise he makes. Listen to him
indeed promising with pleasure, not threatening in displeasure,
"We shall come to him," he says, "I and the Father." To the one he
had earlier called his friend, the one who obeys his precepts, the
keeper of his commandment, the lover of God, the lover of his
neighbor, he says, "We shall come to him and make our abode with
him." (excerpt from Sermon 23,6)
