A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John 15:9-17
(Glory to you O Lord!
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. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!)
Reflection: “Love one another as I have loved you”
This command of our Lord Jesus helps me recall an episode depicted from the series called, “The Chosen”. There is a scene where Simon goes out fishing late at night. Again and again he casts out his net and every time the net comes up empty. Hour upon hour comes and still no fish, and he shouts out his frustrations to God. His dear friends, James and John with their father, accompanied by his brother Andrew arrive with their own boat to help. They know of Simon’s great need to capture fish to pay off his great debt, and to avoid prison. To no avail, they are dumbfounded as they are also unable to catch any fish throughout the night and into the early hours of the morning, even as dawn approaches, and the sun appears on the horizon.
In surrender, they stop fishing and head back to shore. Andrew notices Jesus in the distance teaching a crowd of people and tells his brother that it is the Messiah that the baptizer John spoke about!. Upon arrival, Jesus asks Simon and Andrew if he could stand on their boat so that the people can hear him better. Andrew let’s Jesus into the boat and Jesus convinces Simon to stay for a few moments and shares that he will have something for him later. Shortly after finishing his story, Jesus tells Simon to set out from shore and to cast out his net. Simon tells Jesus that they have been fishing all night and have caught nothing. Simon relents, and the brothers move their boat away from shore and cast out their net once more.
Suddenly, their boat begins to list to one side as the weight of the net was pulling them over. They shout out for help! Their friends rushed over to help pull up the net filled with a very heavy load of fish. They head back to shore with the boat load of fish. Simon falls to his knees in front of Jesus in fear and gratitude and exclaims “Depart from me Lord. I am a sinful man”. Jesus has Simon rise to his feet, and tells him,“Do not be afraid. Follow me, I will make you fishers of men”, and Jesus also tells Andrew, James and John, “you too, follow me”, as their father also tell them to go and follow Jesus!
What a beautiful example of love! The love of Andrew for his brother, and the love of their dear friends to help Simon in his great need, willing to sacrifice their time and efforts, as our Lord Jesus shared his miracle of love to the apostles with the almost unimaginable catch. A whole boat load of fish! God is always with us as he provides small and great miracles every day!
Do we also have an opportunity to help and love those who are in need? Like how the first apostles, as well as St. Matthias were chosen to be followers of Jesus, we are chosen by God to follow Jesus command to love and care for one another!
Is there someone we know or do not know that needs help? Have we been asked to consider doing something out of our comfort zone to help in some way? May we not ignore the opportunity to share kindness, to be willing to have hearts of mercy, to foster and maintain harmonious relationships with each other, to give a helping hand, to help and love one another! Our Lord Jesus is our example of love. Follow Jesus command to love one another as He has loved us!
Action for the Day:
Jesus is journeying with us daily through His Spirit, ready to help and guide us on how to love one another. Do we we make time for silent prayer, to share our joys, our sorrows, our concerns, our gratitudes, our time and our petitions with Him?
Are we aware of Jesus daily calls and promptings to help someone we do not know or even someone we know? We always have an opportunity to share God’s love whether it is a beggar on the side of the street, a friend or relative in sorrow or in need, someone who is difficult to love, or even someone who vulnerable or is being bullied. Let’s make the decision to share God’s kindness, mercy and love!
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