Acts 15:7-21
...God, who knows the heart, bore witness by granting them the Holy Spirit just as he did us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for by faith he purified their hearts. 10 Why, then, are you now putting God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? 11 On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they.” 12 The whole assembly fell silent, and they listened while Paul and Barnabas described the signs and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles through them. 13 After they had fallen silent, James responded, “My brothers, listen to me. 14 Symeon has described how God first concerned himself with acquiring from among the Gentiles a people for his name. 15 The words of the prophets agree with this, as is written: 16 ‘After this I shall return and rebuild the fallen hut of David; from its ruins I shall rebuild it and raise it up again, 17 so that the rest of humanity may seek out the Lord, even all the Gentiles on whom my name is invoked. Thus says the Lord who accomplishes these things, 18 known from of old.’...
Psalm 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 10
R: Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
1 Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all you lands. 2 Sing to the LORD; bless his name. (R) Announce his salvation, day after day. 3 Tell his glory among the nations; among all peoples, his wondrous deeds. (R) 10 Say among the nations: The LORD is king. He has made the world firm, not to be moved; he governs the peoples with equity.
Yesterday, Jesus said in the gospel that He is the vine and we are the branches. We can only bear fruit and have life only if we are attached to Him, the Vine. We receive His grace, the sap flowing through the branches. It is noteworthy that in the gospel of John, it is very rare that Jesus gives a commandment. In today's gospel in John, He gives us this commandment, "Remain in my love..." This love is fully given to us but if we look carefully enough we will find that we don't deserve it. It's not because of something good we have done and get in return. It is not based on some kind of contract but more of a relationship. The love of the Father is the kind of love that exists even before the world came to be. The Father loves the world despite of its imperfection being under the power of the evil one. Thus He sent His Son to redeem the world. The death of Jesus on the cross is what draws the people to Him. We have to remain in God’s love which is the source that we should constantly come to. If we keep this commandment then God will remain in us. This commandment of love is repeatedly mentioned by Jesus in Chapter 14 of John’s gospel. This is not the kind of love that the world tries to show that is driven by passion. What the world tries to get across is this love that is shown through the media which is commonly passions of romance and violence. Thus people become poor in understanding this agape love of God. The people in the world follow the passions of our desires as we look into our history we see that these passions end up destroyed. What survived is the passion of the love of God. The kind of Christian love that Jesus gives us. It somehow depicts the aspect of the Blessed Trinity that we are made in the image and likeness of God so we imitate the life of the Trinity. When Jesus speaks and almost always He will say this, "I came not to speak on my own words but the Father's." We are all desirous of self expression. It is good to express one's self, whether it is right or wrong, though, self expression is not the ultimate good. As we come to know this, we must keep in mind that our Lord's words is one of the means of keeping the commandment. In order for us to remain in Him as we maintain our branches attached to Him, we must recognize the need to focus on Jesus, listen to Him as a response to this commandment and call of love. To love Him is keeping ourselves attached to Him. Sometimes we ask, "What about myself?" Many times we react negatively. We sometimes have trepidations and doubt whether we can be able to live out His commands. There is always the temptation not to follow the Lord's words in scriptures. We misinterpret happiness that the world offers. We give in to it and get drunk by what it has to offer. Only to find ourselves with a hangover and regret of what we have done. When we give in to temptation and start to sin we ought to remember too that only the nice stuff are being presented to us at that time of temptation. We ought to realize that what it offers to us is just a spur of the moment and fleeting joy but would never last. If we respond to Jesus' commandment and enter into the process of moving away from sin then we will have a joy that lasts and a peace that surpasses understanding as St. Paul says in Corinthians. We are no longer kids who want to play with an empty decorated box rather than own a diamond. God wants us to have the diamond which lasts forever. This is the reality of the joy that lasts and is complete. The gospel reminded me of the commercial about the vitamins in the Philippines . It claims to be the best vitamins for the body because it is complete. If we remain in God's love then we find complete joy in our hearts. Just imagine being truly, deeply and totally in love with a person to the point of doing everything you can to please that person. Sometimes we still end up disappointed but in the light of God's love we will always feel complete for He is perfect. The reality that Jesus rose from the dead is at the heart of the reality of the gospel. It is because of the Resurrection that we have the certainty that we are not doomed to eternal damnation and death. We are justified and made righteous because of his resurrection. In our life's struggles and difficulties it is always good to know that we have a friend in Jesus who will never disappoint us. Just like any other relationships, true friendship is put to the test and one thing I am sure of, in Jesus we've found the perfect and loyal friend. We always have a choice. We can be a friend or an enemy to someone whenever we choose to. But think about it, no matter how difficult life situations may be we always have a better choice and it is always wise to settle for the best choice. That is to listen and follow the advice of our one true and loyal bestfriend, Jesus. God is offering us something great and beyond our comprehensions. As in, "no eye has seen nor ear has heard" what God has ready for those who accept this invitation and obey this commandment of Jesus in today's gospel. God has the right to command us because He was the one who chose us first. When God gave up His only Son to die on the cross and Jesus obeyed unto death, even the angels and saints could not take this incredible sacrifice of a God. Jesus, the only Begotten Son of God, stripped Himself of this royalty and was subjected to the most humiliating and excruciating pain. It was through this that Jesus showed us the power of powerlessness. When we ourselves are confronted with such situations we might as well take it as a privilege and invitation to throw our powerlessness to God and receive the power of Jesus to lift us up. God has poured and emptied Himself out in every possible way. This should be our motivation. The great love of God is inexplicably incredible and wonderful. It reaches out to all of us and all He asks of us is that we acknowledge, believe and obey Him. Jesus said, "None of you can be my disciples unless he gives up all his possessions." What Jesus condemns is the selfish clinging. We need to detach from selfish clinging to things for their own sake and not for God. We need to develop a universal surrender to God. We are sometimes ruled by the pleasures being offered by the world. There is a condition in ourselves that we have to achieve before we can be completely free. If we have freed ourselves of that bondage then God can move into our lives. God does not force His way into us. He is like light that comes in open windows. God is very well mannered and will not interrupt. If we cling to things then we can not advance in our relationship with God. We must work for the virtues of prudence, fortitude, justice and temperance. If we are filled with these virtues and not tied down to the worldly things then we become free. Once we achieve this then God will give us anything we ask of Him. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 15:9-11
Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”
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