To know joy, we must choose love
Reflections on the readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 6, 2018): ACTS 10:25-26,34-35,44-48, PS 98:1, 2-3,3-4, 1 JN 4:7-10, JN 15:9-17
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
Today’s readings remind us that God is not just the source of all love, but love itself.
He created us from the depths of His love. After our time on earth, our Almighty Father planned that we would spend eternity in heaven. When original sin came between God and His people, He sent His Son to sacrifice His own life for our redemption. Divine love is clearly far more than sentiment or feeling: it is also choice and action. And it reaches out to embrace each and every human being of every generation. Moreover, God wants us to return His love and then to share this overwhelming gift with one another. “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.… I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and your joy might be complete. This is My commandment: love one another as I love you” (John 15:9-12).
Jesus wants us to realize that loving Him and loving others means saying “Yes!” to the will of God. Love means making the decision to open ourselves to all He asks of us and to share His goodness and mercy with every person we meet. Love means that God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and all of us, His children, are joined together in this beautiful, mysterious relationship.
