GOSPEL READING:
John 15:9-119 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Meditation: Do you know the love that no earthly power
nor death itself can destroy? The love of God the Father and his
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ is a creative, life-giving love that
produces immeasurable joy and lasting friendship for all who
accept it. God loves the world so much because he created it to
reflect his glory. And he created each one of us in his own image
and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). He wants us to be united with
himself in an inseparable bond of unity, peace, and joy that
endures for all eternity. That is why the Father sent his Son, the
Lord Jesus, into the world, not to condemn it, but to redeem it
from the curse of sin and death (John 3:16-17). Paul the Apostle
tells us that we can abound in joy and hope because God's love has
been poured into our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit
who has been given to us (Romans 5:5).
Through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, God offers pardon for all
of our sins and failings, and he calls us to lay aside everything
that might hold us back from loving him above all else. We owe him
a debt of gratitude and love in return. We can never outmatch God
because he has loved us first and has given himself to us without
measure. Our love for him is a response to his exceeding mercy and
kindness towards us. In God's love alone can we find the fulness
of abundant life, peace, and joy.
A new commandment of love
The Lord Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment - a new way
of love that goes beyond giving only what is required or what we
think others might deserve. What is the essence of Jesus' new
commandment of love? It is love to the death - a purifying love
that overcomes selfishness, fear, and pride. It is a total giving
of oneself for the sake of others - a selfless and self-giving
love that is oriented towards putting the welfare of others ahead
of myself.
There is no greater proof in love than the sacrifice of one's
life for the sake of another. Jesus proved his love by giving his
life for us on the cross of Calvary. Through the shedding of his
blood for our sake, our sins are not only washed clean, but new
life is poured out for us through the gift of the Holy Spirit. We
prove our love for God and for one another when we embrace the way
of the cross. What is the cross in my life? When my will crosses
with God's will, then God's will must be done. Do you know the
peace and joy of a life fully surrendered to God and consumed with
his love?
Lord Jesus, may I always grow in the joy and hope which your promises give me. Inflame my heart with love for you and your ways and with charity and compassion for my neighbor. May there be nothing in my life which keeps me from your love.
Psalm 96:1-3,10
1 O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!
2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established, it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity."
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Joy in rejoicing over us, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"And what else is Christ's joy in us except that he is pleased to
rejoice over us? And what is this joy of ours that he says is to
be made full, but our having fellowship with him?... His joy,
therefore, in us is the grace he has bestowed on us, and that is
also our joy. But he rejoiced over this joy even from eternity
when he chose us before the foundation of the world (Ephesians
1:4). Nor can we rightly say that his joy was not full. For God's
joy was never at any time imperfect. But that joy of his was not
in us. For we, in whom that joy could exist, had as yet no
existence. And even when our existence commenced, it began not to
be in him. But in him it always was, who in the infallible truth
of his own foreknowledge rejoiced that we should yet be his own.
Accordingly, he had a joy over us that was already full when he
rejoiced in foreknowing and foreordaining us. And there could
hardly be any fear intermingling in that joy of his that might
imply a possible failure in what he foreknew would be done by
himself." (excerpt from TRACTATES ON THE
GOSPEL OF JOHN 83.1)
