Reflection for May 14, Thursday Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle; John 15:9-17

Gospel: 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.”

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Reflection:

What is an ideal life in this world? It’s a life that is forever attached to the love of God. Without attachment to the love of God life would be empty, barren and meaningless. The love of God is the essence of life for we were not born to love this world. We came into this world to live and love God.   

Let us think about loving this world more than God and we only create emptiness in our lives we end up with nothing except emptiness. It’s a fact of life that everything that is in this world is temporary: wealth, power and the like. All of these we will leave behind or will eventually leave us, but the love of God will always be there for us.

What matters is the love of God nothing else but the love of God. It’s no brainer therefore why Jesus is telling us to remain in His love. For if we always remain in the love of God we would be able to hurdle. Whatever trials that may come our way and we would be able to conquer whatever fears that we may have even the fear of death.

Do you always desire to remain in the love of God? Or you sometimes discard the love of God in favor of your love for this world? – Marino J. Dasmarinas