TODAY’S GOSPEL READING
23 MAY, 2025
John 15:12-17
Jesus said to his disciples:
“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 commands His disciples to love one another as He has loved them—a love so profound that it leads to laying down one’s life for friends. He elevates the disciples from servants to friends, revealing the intimate relationship He shares with them. This is a calling not only to love sacrificially but to abide in the joy and purpose found in choosing to love as Christ did. It’s a reminder that we are chosen and appointed to bear lasting fruit through love.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, thank You for calling me Your friend and for showing me the depth of true love. Teach me to love others with the same sacrificial heart You showed. Help me to remain in Your love and to live in obedience to Your command. May my life bear fruit that honors You, and may I never forget that I am chosen and appointed by You for a divine purpose. Strengthen me to love genuinely and serve faithfully. Amen
