TODAY’S GOSPEL READING
14 MAY, 2025
John 15:9-17
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 might be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”
THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD!
REFLECTION
In this passage, Jesus calls us into the deep intimacy of His love—a love that mirrors the Father’s love for Him. He urges us to remain in this love by keeping His commandments, not as a burden, but as a pathway to complete joy. The commandment is clear and profound: to love one another as He has loved us. This is not a shallow or sentimental love but one that is sacrificial, choosing others above self, even to the point of laying down one’s life. Jesus elevates His disciples from servants to friends, revealing the heart of God and inviting them into His divine mission. This friendship with Christ is not passive; it is a calling to bear fruit that lasts, empowered by love and grounded in obedience. Our ability to love comes not from ourselves but from being chosen and appointed by Christ.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us with the same love the Father has for You. Teach us to abide in that love, to rest in it, and to reflect it in our lives. Help us to keep Your commandment—to love others as You have loved us. May our love be selfless, sacrificial, and sincere.
Call us daily into deeper friendship with You. Let our joy be made full in obedience to Your will. Strengthen us to bear lasting fruit, to serve with compassion, and to love without condition. We surrender our hearts to You, chosen and appointed, ready to live lives that glorify Your Name. Amen
