5/7/2015 – Thursday of the 5th week of Easter - John 15:9-11

      In John’s Gospel, after Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples, he gave some discourses to them.  Yesterday we heard one of those discourses – the explanation of the vine and the branches. It was the same Gospel that we heard last Sunday on the fifth Sunday of the Easter season.  Today, we hear the explanation of that story in a very short Gospel reading that is only 3 verses long, but it is a very powerful Gospel reading nonetheless.  Jesus summarizes God’s commandments in the concept of Agape love, of a love that is unselfish, in a love that reaches out to the other person. Jesus wants us to love our neighbor in a way that would willingly suffer inconvenience and discomfort as a part of that love.  This love is called to be rooted in our faith and in our relationship with Jesus. 

      I remember we were having a discussion in an adult religious education group at St Richard about the difference between an action that comes out of our faith vs. an action that is altruistic and well-intentioned.  I remember that it turned into a rather tense discussion, as one of the ladies thought that this was a very arrogant and condemning comment.  It is not to condemn or to look down upon actions that take place outside of our faith, but it is to look at our motivation and how we live out our faith.  As I drove back from the hospice at 9:15 at night at the end of a very long, at the end of a string of very long days, I can tell you that I couldn’t be a priest and do what I do day after day after day without it being rooted in the love of Christ and love I try to have my ministry.  Let the agape love that Christ calls us to permeate our lives and our actions.