6 May 2021 - Thursday of the 5th week of Easter - John 15:9-11

     In the Gospel of John, right after Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples, he delivered a series of discourses to them.  Yesterday,  we heard one of those discourses, where Jesus explained that he was the vine and that the disciples are the branches, that they are intrinsically connected. This is the same Gospel that we heard last Sunday on the fifth Sunday of Easter.  Today, we hear an explanation of that Gospel story that consists of only three short verses.  We will hear these same three verse at the beginning of this upcoming Sunday’s Gospel reading. 

      Jesus summarizes God’s commandments in the concept of Agape love, of a love that is unselfish, of 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 versus an action that is altruistic and well-intentioned.  I remember that it turned into a rather tense passionate discussion, as one of the ladies thought that this was a very arrogant and condemning comment that was judgment and pejorative to non-Christians .  Yet, I saw this comment as not condemning or looking down upon actions that take place outside of our faith, but rather to look at our motivations and the way we live out our faith.  I thought of my life as a priest, working at the chancery office downtown Monday through Friday in administration, and then trying to fulfill my duties at St Jude as best as I can, which last week including celebrating Mass on 15 different occasions. You can believe I am super tired at the end of a long week, and then it all starts again on Monday morning.  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 in my ministry and my service as a priest.  May the agape love that Christ calls us to permeate our lives and our actions.