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"This I command you: love one another" |
John 15: 9-17
The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050921.cfm
During her inspiring and active ministry in India a British journalist interviewed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, now St. Teresa of Calcutta, whose legendary work with the poorest of the poor on the streets of Calcutta, India continues today through the selfless work of her sisters and priests around the world.
Mother Teresa was asked how she could keep going in her
work knowing that she will never meet all the basic needs of those dying on the
streets. She famously said, “I am not
called to be successful, I’m called to be faithful.” That simple statement
revealed not only her deep abiding faith in what she believed God had called
her to do but also uncovers for us a central theme of our readings this Sunday as
we come close to the end of the Easter season.
Mother Teresa
deeply believed that God had called her to this mission and so she responds
with an unselfish heart. God chose her
and she answered. It’s not about being successful and counting up the number of
people she saved on the streets. It
would be about her faithfulness to do what God asked of her. The mission would
continue but she was called to set the example par excel lance.
In our Gospel passage from John we hear Jesus continue
his farewell address with his Apostles at the last supper. This is how he wants to be remembered and how
we should live in a way that shows others we are truly disciples of Jesus in
the world. But it is far more than just a memory as we would remember a loved
one who has passed. It is a promise of
his continued abiding presence among us in and through his Church and the heart
of all believers as we live out our call to “love one another” as God has loved
and chosen us.
In the second reading from St. John: “In this is love: not that we have loved God,
but that he has loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.” What
could be more reassuring, more incredible than to know we have a God who is in
search for us. The mystery of his grace
moves within us creating a desire for prayer, a hunger for himself that can
only be fulfilled when we surrender to his invitation and allow ourselves to be
found by him. And we then respond to the divine love expressed for us as we
extend that to one another.
Further in the Gospel Jesus advises us: “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.” What distinguishes
the Christian faith from other world religions is the universal emphasis on
love and forgiveness. That all, without
distinction or prejudice, are invited to share in the life of “agape” which our
Lord offers us. That the love we extend
to others comes back and grows within us which then creates a fellowship,
“agape,” of unity and community.
Even more fundamental to our Christian way of life, as Bishop Robert Barron comments, is the last part of today’s Gospel. There Jesus tells us: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you . . .” If it is true, then, that God is choosing us first, then rather than thinking that my actions and choices will “make me holy,” the right attitude is really one of surrender to God’s will and not to come before God saying, “look how hard I’m trying, don’t I deserve something for this?” But rather to make myself available, to allow myself to be found by God and to move with the grace he offers me.
Why? This is a God
who reaches out and desires to covenant himself with us; to make us not
strangers but his friends: “I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does
not know what his master is doing. I
have called your friends, because I have told you everything . . . “
Like friends to one another, Jesus reminds us that in
walking his way, we create an atmosphere of friendship with him and submit to
his search. He is shepherd, we are
sheep; he is vine, we are branches; he is God and we are called to be his
friends. And so with one another to
express that bond in love.
That is the Easter message he leaves us. And in order to cement that for all time, he
offers us a gift of friendship – himself in the Holy Eucharist. Any gift I give to you is a sign of my
respect and love. While God does not
separate gift from giver, he does so by making himself the very gift he gives;
his presence in the Eucharist.
Through that gift of his love we then create a bond of
community between us with Christ himself as the head. That is a unity of oneness. All we need do is take a look around our
parish Churches on a Sunday morning and we see the inclusiveness and diversity
of a Church universal. If you’ve ever
had the experience of attending a public audience of the Pope on a Wednesday
morning in Rome, you see there the universal nature of the Church as people
from everywhere gather to share that moment with the Holy Father.
Are we perfect in all we do? Of course not. We have sin, imperfection, prejudice, and
other forms of anti-love among us. We
have to constantly work at rooting out what divides us and support and grow towards
the agape, fellowship in Christ, that Jesus desires and offers us.
If we follow them, true fellowship will happen for then
we are united with Christ, primarily at Mass through the Holy Eucharist, and
the kind of “love” Jesus desires will happen. But to receive that love we must
give it away for that is the way of growth in his grace. He is present, alive
and risen among us and has not left us orphans.
As we come soon to the end of our annual Easter season,
this is what Jesus hands on to us. Is
there anything else greater, even money, that will make the world go round? I think not since this kind of love, by its
nature, has the potential to bring humanity together. Idealistic and
unrealistic? Yes, if we never take it
seriously. No, if we actually open our
hearts to Christ and this Way.
Grant, almighty God,
that we may celebrate with heartfelt
devotion these days of joy,
which we keep in honor of the risen Lord,
and that what we relive in remembrance we may
always hold to in what we do.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity
of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
(Collect of Mass)
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